Excel: Future Value Function

I often find myself calculating the the future value of various things.  Most often the cost of buying something large, or debt or sometimes calculating the growth of retirement devices (such as 401k's).  Here is the formula for using Excel to calculate the Future Value of something:

FV( interest_rate, number_payments, payment, [PV], [Type] )

I'll post up an example.

Questions

Questions people email in will go here.

Question:
What I would like to be able to do is tie the two worksheets together so that when I change a quantity on one page it will change the similar cell on the other page. I believe this is possible but I do not know how to do it or what to call it.

Answer:
The name of what you will be doing is called "Create a link to a cell in another workbook".  Its easy to do, a little awkward to explain.  Its almost as simple as linking to another cell in the same worksheet.  Example "=B2".  However you need to add the name of the 'source workbook' into the destination excel field.

Here is a example of linking to another workbook:

"=[EBAY Bookkeeping.xls]Sheet1'!$C$7."

Notice that the source workbook name is in brackets "[" and "]" followed by the source sheet name "Sheet1" followed by the specific cell info, the "$" make the focus lock on the row and column.

Depending on your version of Excel , this can also be accomplished by "PASTE SPECIAL - LINK" , copy the cell in the source workbook and then paste special - link in the destination cell.

This should be enough to help you get on your way.  If you have follow up questions please include the version of excel that you are using.

Conclusion

Conclusion

Microsoft Powerpoint

Microsoft Excel

Common File functions:
New
Save
Save As
Close
Print
Undo / Redo

Basic Formatting:
Bold
Italics
Underline
Align - Left, Center, Right
Font Type
Font Size
Font Color
Cell Color
Merge Cells
Number format -  Dollar, Percent, Decimal Places

Simple Formulas:
Addition
Subtraction
Multiplication
Division

Sum / Autosum
Average
Count
Min/Max

Find / Replace
Sort / Filter / Autofilter
Insert / Delete Row(s)

Simple Formulas

CELL FORMATTING

 

Spreadsheet Example - Phone Book

Spreadsheet Example - Check Book

 

Microsoft Word

Business Letter Example:

Microsoft basics

For some students, this may be your first exposure to the world of Microsoft or to a computer.  This blog post will contain some tips that will be useful throughout all of the programs we will learn about: Word, Excel and Powerpoint.


Navigation

1) The Start Button

2) Program Menu

3) Desktop Icons

4) The Cursor

3 Main Triggers:

• Left Click Once (sets focus)
• Left Click Once and Hold Down (and drag)
• Right Click (quick functions)

 

 

Universal Functions

5) New, Open, Save, Save As

6) Help