Become an Excel Superhero: Macros Save the Day!

Have you ever spent too much time on a repetitive task in Microsoft Excel and known there has to be a better way? There is! Macros can be used in Excel for everything from automating common tasks to creating custom functions. 

Excel has many features that can be created with a macro that aren't included in the program itself. Simply put, macros in Excel save you time, money, and effort. Let's look at some ways macros can make your life easier - then register for Excel Advanced to learn how to use macros.  

• Scenario: You regularly import sales data to maintain inventory levels. The data comes to you as a .csv or formatted text file with thousands of transactions, which you have to then import by hand, check the data's veracity and consolidate, and then update your inventory spreadsheet. The process takes hours out of your day. 
  
  Solution: Build an inventory management system using Excel. The backbone of this system is a series of macros that will do all the work for you. Macros can automate the process to the point where all you need to do is open your inventory spreadsheet, hit a button, select the sales data .csv file, and hit enter.
  
  The macros in the workbook will import and arrange all of the data, as well as consolidate it and update a your inventory worksheet. You can even train the macro to alert you if inventory levels are low and automate e-mail invoices to suppliers! 
   
• Scenario: Your organization is transitioning from its old Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) tool to a new one. You've been charged with migrating the organization's historic data to the new system, which involves several formatting changes and reordering the data.
  
  Solution: Use Microsoft Excel 2010's macro recording function to teach Excel what you need it to do. With just a few clicks, you can start the recording, move your data around, change the formatting, finish the recording, and you have a one-click solution to save you hours of time.  
   
• Scenario: You manage a workbook with dozens of worksheets of historical data on a broad variety of topics. This workbook is used by management frequently for reporting purposes, but because they do not work with it regularly, the