Preface

About OpenStax

OpenStax is part of Rice University, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable corporation. As an educational initiative, it's our mission to improve educational access and learning for everyone. Through our partnerships with philanthropic organizations and our alliance with other educational resource companies, we're breaking down the most common barriers to learning. Because we believe that everyone should and can have access to knowledge.

About OpenStax Resources

About *Workplace Software & Skills*

*Workplace Software and Skills* covers applications from the Microsoft 365 (formerly Microsoft Office) suite and Google Workspace. Coverage of both suites aligns with contemporary business use and prepares students for workforce needs, especially introductory students who have had limited exposure to these software programs. By teaching their basic and advanced features, users of all levels can learn the skills necessary for success in their jobs.

Pedagogical Foundation

Answers to Questions in the Book

The end-of-chapter Review Questions, Written Questions, Practice Exercises, and Case Exercises are intended for homework assignments or classroom discussion; thus, student-facing answers or solutions are not provided. Sample answers are provided in the Instructor Solution Manual, for instructors to share with students at their discretion, as is standard for such resources.

About the Authors

Additional Resources

Technology in Everyday Life and Business

Chapter Scenario

Computing from Inception to Today

Computing in the Workplace

The rise of computers for work came out of a need to manage a massive quantity of numbers. The early computers essentially were developed to be “data crunchers.” Their origins date back to the 1800s in France. Joseph Marie Jacquard, a textile merchant, developed a machine to automatically weave designs in fabric using a punch card system, as you can see in [link]. This punch card system laid the foundation for more advances in number calculations, including those developed by Herman Hollerith for the 1880 U.S. census. Hollerith went on to improve the initial punch card system and eventually founded IBM, one of the first major computing companies.

Computing for Personal Use

By the 1970s, new workplace technology filtered into homes in the form of entertainment devices. With technological improvements and more accessible prices, the value of a computer in the home—to help manage everything from household finances to children’s homework assignments—was becoming evident. The advertisement for the Apple II computer shown in [link] shows what this early technology looked like.

Technology Today

The rapid trajectory of innovations in computing has forever changed today’s workplace, where computing power is at our fingertips. It is difficult to imagine any industry that doesn’t depend on computing technology as an integral part of its business. Some of the more basic technologies that are present in businesses may include:

Mobile Devices, Digital Imaging, and Gaming

It might be hard to imagine a world without access to information at our fingertips—or, for that matter, a world without Xbox or PlayStation. Today, many households no longer have a traditional landline phone, instead relying on mobile devices. It is estimated that less than 10 percent of homes in the United States have a traditional landline phone. Think about how advances in digital imaging technology over the past half century have forever changed the way we capture and preserve life’s notable moments—our days are now routinely filled with screens and images. The rise of the computing industry has brought along changes in companion industries that have impacted most of our lives in one way or another.

Advances in Technology

Technology is advancing faster than what was previously believed to be possible. In just a short period of time, we have gone from having no computers to today where nearly 90 percent of people in the United States have some access to a computing device. What’s also impressive is that 90 percent of data in the world today was generated in just the last two years. Today’s 5G technology is 100 times faster than 4G, and the rate of adoption of new technologies has diminished from years to mere months in some cases. As you can see in [link], older technologies such as refrigerators and landlines took decades to reach widespread adoption with a majority of Americans buying them, while today’s smartphones and tablets achieve broad adoption as soon as they enter the market.

Workplace and Career Implications

Technology in the workplace has made processes faster and more reliable, increased collaboration, made it possible to work from anywhere, and, overall, changed the typical office culture. The adoption of new technologies in the workplace has some distinct career implications for individuals, while organizations need to figure out the best mix of humans and technology to allow the business to thrive.

Importance of Lifelong Learning

To protect your job security in the workplace of the future, you will want to demonstrate to your employer that you are committed to lifelong learning. With the rapid acceleration of technological change, some employers today are actively seeking employees with a lifelong learning mind-set. Lifelong learning requires continuous self-improvement and education—the motivation to be a continual student. It often occurs outside a traditional educational system and includes both informal channels and formal ones such as corporate training programs. Employee development is a core part of many human resources departments within organizations. Mandatory training or education may be required for your position, or voluntary opportunities may be offered to employees. Taking the initiative to learn and adopt new workplace technologies can be both professionally and personally fulfilling.

Computer Hardware and Networks

What Is a Computer?

Although today’s computers look and behave differently from early efforts, they include the same core features. A computer is simply a programmable machine that can execute predefined lists of instructions and respond to new instructions. A very large computers called a mainframe is capable of great processing speed and data storage. Mainframe computers today typically function as servers. Servers are powerful computers that act as a central hub of the technology needs for the organization. Servers support data storage, sharing of computer programs, and hosting websites. Another name for a computer program (language) or set of programs with the end goal of converting data into processes and actions is software. Software, such as Microsoft Word, allows the user to interface with the computer. Accessories such as a keyboard, mouse, printer, and monitor are called hardware. These input and output devices allow us to communicate with the computer and to extract information from it.

Information Processing, Storage, and Memory

Businesses take great care in procuring computers that can handle the work that needs to get done. Before selecting computers, they’ll investigate some basic functions that have to do with how fast the devices process information and how well they store data. The information processing cycle is the sequence of events involved in processing information—input, processing, storage, and output:

Networks

Talk about networks is common in the workplace. You will hear that the network “has gone down” or “is running slow.” What does this mean? What is a network, anyway? A network is a connection of two or more computer systems, as well as devices, by either a cable or a wireless connection. Networks may be simple or complex, self-contained within a small area like your home or dispersed over a large geographic area.

The Internet, Cloud Computing, and the Internet of Things

The Internet: From Inception to Today

The internet as we know it today originated in the 1960s with the idea of using a traditional telephone switching circuit to wirelessly connect computers in a network. The telephone system would allow these computers to communicate with one another, exchange data, and run shared programs. Researchers and engineers from both the public and the private sector came together to form the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) to investigate ways the U.S. military could improve communications, with the goal of protecting the country from unexpected enemy attacks.

Communication, Collaboration, and Social Media

Through the internet and the software programs available today, we can stay connected to colleagues and family across great distances. Email, the Google Workspace of programs, Microsoft 365, and social media sites have all had a significant impact on business and personal productivity. Email first became a reality with the ARPANET. Today, we have many options when it comes to our email service. Gmail from Google and Outlook by Microsoft led the email market. These programs are directly integrated into their other products to aid in communication and collaboration between users. The enhanced capabilities of email programs today allow easy sharing of photos, documents, video, and large files. Just the ability to connect to colleagues who are outside of your general geographic area on a regular basis greatly improves productivity and connectivity.

Libraries and Media

The internet has changed the way that libraries operate and store/share information. Many libraries still house extensive collections of books, reference materials, magazines, and the like. In fact, you may be surprised to learn that reading print books still outpaces reading electronic books. Some college students have reaped the benefits of e-books by purchasing their textbooks in (often cheaper) electronic formats. Unlike a traditional print copy of the same material, these textbooks are interactive, enabling the publisher to include updated information and links to relevant extra materials that cannot be included in the print edition. With the availability of the internet and today’s technology, students can also rent electronic textbooks, which can save a good deal of money over time. Currently, electronic textbooks hold about 30 percent of the total market.

Web Applications

A web application is a software program that is not installed directly onto the user’s computer. Instead, the program and data associated with it are stored on the internet, and the application is accessed through a browser or app rather than through an installed program on the computer. In the past, users had to purchase a license key to install programs directly onto their computer. This takes up memory and storage space on the computer and presents limitations on updates to the program. The user would generally have to purchase the program on a regular basis to get the most updated version or purchase an upgrade. Web-based applications give users access to the most up-to-date version of the software while sometimes freeing up essential storage on the networks and allowing seamless collaboration between users in real time. Companies pay monthly or annual subscription fees for these programs, often based on the number of user licenses they want to purchase. Throughout this text, you will become familiar with the Google Workspace of products and Microsoft 365, so that you can develop basic computing skills for the work world.

E-commerce

Electronic commerce, or e-commerce, refers to conducting business transactions online—buying and selling goods or services in an online environment rather than in a traditional brick-and-mortar storefront. The first e-commerce transaction was in 1994, but it is helpful to think of e-commerce as a modern-day version of the catalog sales (Sears, JCPenney, Montgomery Ward) of times past, except that the ordering is done over a computer rather than over a telephone or by filling out a form and mailing it through the post office.

The Cloud and Cloud Computing

Technological advances have made working remotely, or telecommuting, a possibility for many employees. In fact, one recent survey estimated that nearly 90 percent of U.S. employees would like to work remotely. Today, there are almost five million workers in the United States (nearly 40 percent of the U.S. workforce) who telecommute. Since 2015, the number of businesses that have allowed telecommuting has increased over 40 percent. Even for those who do not telecommute full time, access to the internet and such technologies as cloud computing in the workplace enable many employees to work from home at least once per month, with nearly 50 percent doing so once a week.

Internet of Things (IoT): Integration and Collaboration

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the extension of internet connectivity beyond computers, to enable the transfer of information between machines and other objects, people, and animals by connecting them to the internet in some way. With the IoT, the physical connects to the virtual. Today, many consumers seek out products that connect to the internet, and some simple adjustments enable many nontechnical, inanimate objects, from light bulbs to dishwashers, to be part of the IoT.

Safety, Security, Privacy, and the Ethical Use of Technology

The Importance of Computer Safety and Security

The protection of computer systems and information that prevents unauthorized use is referred to as computer security. Computer ethics are guidelines for the morally acceptable use of computers in society. Any criminal offense that involves a computer and a network is referred to as cybercrime. One of the most common types of cybercrimes is identity theft, which occurs when an unauthorized user steals an individual’s personal information, such as a Social Security number or credit card information for economic gain. An increase in the number of hackers—individuals who gain unauthorized access to computer systems in an attempt to steal someone’s information—has prompted the development of software programs designed to protect consumers’ identities, such as LifeLock.

Ensuring Privacy

Privacy involves practices related to the collection and use of data about an individual. Many companies will have privacy policies when you sign up as a customer or purveyor of their content. It is important to read these policies to ensure you are not inadvertently providing permission to use your data and information in a way that you do not actually approve of. In addition, many companies will disclose they sell your information to other companies seeking similar customers. It is important to decline these permissions to avoid circulation of your contact information.

Essentials of Software Applications for Business

Chapter Scenario

Software Basics

What Is Software?

When using a computer, we often hear the terms *programs*, *software*, and *applications*. Sometimes these terms are used interchangeably. However, there are some distinctions. Programs are the instructions that tell the computer how to operate and run specific tasks. Whereas software consists of the step-by-step instructions that tell a computer how to operate with its hardware. Software is essentially a collection of interlinked programs. More specifically, the instructions enable the program to perform specific actions such as printing, saving, or formatting text. These step-by-step instructions are written in computer language or code. Different types of programs include the Microsoft Office suite, educational software, and antivirus software.

Common Applications in Business

Task-oriented applications include word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and database management programs. [link] shows the icons for the popular applications in Google Workspace.

Installing and Maintaining Software

Installing software is an automated process for the most part. Although there are some differences based on both the software and the operating systems (Windows or macOS), software installation follows a basic process. Acquisition of the software often begins with visiting the software website and purchasing the software download. Not all software requires a purchase. Some programs are freely available. Also, not all programs are directly downloaded onto your computer. With today’s cloud-based technologies, some software exists in the cloud and instead you are downloading an app on your device to get access to the software.

Files and Folders

Using and Organizing Folders and Files

A file is a collection of data, such as a document or a program. Files are stored within a folder, which can contain subfolders as well as individual files. Files contain information, unlike folders, which are used to organize the files. For example, you might organize the photos on your phone into folders labeled by year or by type of photo (family, friends, events). In addition to those folders of photos, your phone contains other folders, each named based on its contents.

File Types

Information in computers is stored in a system of files. Each file will have a unique file name followed by an extension, using the file name.extension format. The file format depends on the usage of the file, the program in which the file was created, and/or the size of the file. The computer will store the data in a particular file format, which is the way the data is encoded, depending on the type of data and the application the computer will use to read it. There are many different file formats. You may be familiar with some of them, such as .doc or .txt. The .txt file format is a general format for a text file that can be recognized by almost any word processing application. The text contained in a .txt file does not contain any formatting such as underlines, special spacing, and other related items.

Best Practices in Using and Organizing Folders and Files

Remember that Word allows users to save documents in different file formats and in multiple versions within a single format, designated by changing the file name—for example, from “version1” to “version2.” Word also lets you choose between different file formats depending on how you want to use the file. You may also want to publish your document on the web, using a file format that allows it to be read correctly by web browsers.

Google Drive, SharePoint, and OneDrive

Both Microsoft and Google have applications to help you manage, organize, and share your computer files. Drive is the online, cloud-based file storage system in Google. Drive is free and allows you to store, organize, manage, and create files online through the Google platform. Drive also has the capabilities to sync with multiple devices and has convenient sharing tools to share files and images with others. You will get your Drive when you create a Google account. There are limits to the storage capacity on Drive, but you can pay for more storage if needed.

Communication and Calendar Applications

Communication in the Digitized Office

Effective communication is essential for enhancing organizational performance. Communication is needed from upper management to effectively convey the strategic goals of the organization. Communication among colleagues is needed to ensure that work tasks are being completed in a timely manner. And, finally, external communication of an organization to key stakeholders such as customers or vendors is necessary to increase the customer base or garner additional funding if needed. External communication is essential when marketing your company. WorldCorp can use external communication via a variety of ways (such as a website and emails to potential customers) to raise awareness about a new product line they are offering. With technology today, business can be conducted without the individuals being in the same physical space. It is likely that you will encounter a digitized office environment in your career.

Communication Applications

WorldCorp uses email, instant messaging, and video applications because it has several employees who work remotely. Technologies of this kind are called communication applications, or software that facilitates communication between individuals or groups.

Calendar Applications

There are several applications that can help you keep organized. One such category of applications is calendars. Suites such as Microsoft and Google include calendar applications. One key feature of calendar applications is the ability to have both your personal and business schedules in one place that can be accessed from virtually anywhere. You can integrate the apps with your phone so that you no longer have to carry a separate day planner or schedule book with you. With the sophistication of the calendar apps today, you can enter appointment information into one place and it can be updated across many different programs and even shared to other people.

Essentials of Microsoft 365

Overview of Microsoft 365

Microsoft launched Microsoft Office in 1990. This suite of applications included three main programs: Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. These programs are bundled as a package to give the user the full range of productivity tools to meet a wide variety of needs. Office applications offer the flexibility to appeal to various preferences with the many ways to perform tasks within the software.

Overview: Ribbons, Tabs, and Commands Menu

Since its initial release, Microsoft’s suite of office products has been a driver of change, introducing new features in each subsequent version. Since the 2007 version, the apps have used the ribbon—an interactive bar of commands at the top of the application—as their user interface. With the ribbon, all the functions are clearly organized and user-friendly.

File Tab

If you open a Microsoft product without opening any specific file, you will see the welcome screen, which provides a Backstage view. The Backstage view is located in an application for managing most tasks related to the documents. In Backstage view, you can open, close, rename, print, and control the settings for the application. There will be many commonalities within the Office programs for the tabs. When you have opened a file in an application such as Word or Excel, the Backstage view gives you information about that file you are working with. As you can see in [link], the file properties are shown on the right pane of the Backstage view, which displays critical metrics about your document, such as its size, number of pages, number of words, file name, last saved time, and when it was printed. Backstage view also includes important commands such as file protection, inspecting the document, and managing the document, which will be discussed later in this chapter.

Home Tab

The Home tab is where you begin to create your document, spreadsheet, or presentation. The ribbon for the Home tab in Word is shown in [link]. You can view the ribbon as command central for the application: It is a collection of commands and command groups that govern the basics of the program you are working with. Each group of commands is separated by a thin vertical line (see arrow in [link]).

Insert Tab

The Insert tab allows you to insert a variety of items into your file, including visual images such as pictures or diagrams, tables, links, and equations or special symbols. The Insert tab will differ a bit by program. [link] shows what the Insert tab looks like for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. For example, in Word and PowerPoint, you have options to insert SmartArt. Excel has many options to insert charts and graphs. More details about the specific insert options will appear in the chapters to follow on each of the programs.

Design Tab

The Design tab is found on the ribbon in Word and in PowerPoint. See [link]. The tab includes options to customize the look of the document or presentation. There are preset themes that you can use to enhance the document or slide, or you can create your own theme. The options on the Design tab are covered in more depth in Creating and Working in Documents and Preparing Presentations.

Layout and Page Layout Tabs

The Layout tab (Word) and Page Layout (Excel) tabs control items such as spacing and margins in your file. You can use the options on the tabs to insert page breaks, change the orientation, and define the print area. In Page Layout in Excel, you can also apply a theme to your spreadsheet to enhance the visual appeal. This is similar to what you would find on the Design tab for Word and PowerPoint. [link] shows the tabs for Word and Excel. The chapters on Word and Excel will cover these tabs in depth.

Review Tab

The Review tab is found in three Office programs (Access does not have a Review tab). In Word, the Review tab is useful to check spelling, track changes within a document, and compare previous versions of documents to each other. The Review tab in Excel also contains a spell-check feature, but also allows you to add comments and to protect the worksheet from editing by others. Finally, the Review tab options in PowerPoint are very similar to those in Excel. The Review tab is a great place to reference to make sure your file is ready to share with others and to collaborate by adding comments. [link] shows the Review tabs for Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.

View Tab

The View tab is also seen in Office applications, except Access. It can customize what you see on the screen. You can change the options to show you what the file will look like when printed by choosing the Print Layout view. You can use the options to zoom in to make the screen larger. Finally, there are options to view files open in the same program side by side or to switch between the open windows when working with multiple files at a time. Notice the slight differences in options between the three applications in [link].

Help Tab

The Help tab looks the same in all the Office applications. The Help tab gives you options to seek help on an issue with the application you are working with. Through the tab, you can use the Help search by clicking on the question mark or you can contact support directly. The Show Training is a good place to start if you have not used the program at all before. It gives you a collection of help tutorials to walk you through many of the more common features used in the program. When you select any of the options on the Help tab, a window will open at the right to assist you further (see [link]).

Other Tabs

Based on the application you are using, there are different tabs that are included in the ribbon specific to that program. These tabs offer options that relate to the functionality of the program. For example, in Word, you have a Mailings tab that can send a document to a large database of individuals. In PowerPoint, you have the Slide Show tab that contains options for developing your presentation. [link] gives you the default tabs for each program. Remember, using the Customized Ribbon option, you can change which tabs you have displayed in the programs.

Essentials of Google Workspace

Overview of Google Workspace

Google Workspace consists of several applications that are useful in the workplace. You may be most familiar with its communication and scheduling tools (Gmail and Google Calendar, discussed in Communication and Calendar Applications). Google also offers a suite of applications similar to those in Office, including software for word processing (Google Docs), spreadsheets (Google Sheets), and presentations (Google Slides).

Menu Overview

As you’ve learned, all the applications in the Google Workspace share some general features and functions, which are found in the menus. Although there are slight differences between the apps, they all contain these essential menus: File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Tools, Add-ons or Extensions, and Help, as [link] shows. These menus are similar to the tabs in Office, but in Google they are called menus.

File Menu

The File menu is used to open files in Drive, to create new files, and to print materials. In addition, the Make Available Offline option lets you work on files when you do not have internet access. (See [link].)

Edit Menu

The Edit menu contains the expected choices: Undo, Redo, Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete, Duplicate, Select All, and Find and Replace. Clicking on Find and Replace brings up the window shown in [link]. You type in a word from your file. For each occurrence, you confirm whether you want to replace it with another word. Although most misspelled words will be caught by the spell-check function, if, for example, you have misspelled a title or name throughout the file, using Find and Replace is an efficient way to make sure you catch all the errors.

View Menu

The View menu controls the way your document or file appears on your screen, allows you to show certain components to others, and lets you set three different modes in Docs: Editing, Suggesting, and Viewing. The default mode is Editing, which allows the user to edit the document directly. The Suggesting mode is similar to Track Changes in Word, as shown in [link]. In this mode, the changes you type into the document become suggestions rather than actual edits. You can then either accept each change by clicking on the check mark or reject it by choosing the X. You can also add comments to the edits, which is especially useful when you are collaborating with others on a document.

Insert Menu

The Insert menu is used to insert a variety of items into a file. The different apps may offer different items that are best suited to the purposes and uses of that app (see [link]). In Docs, the Insert menu includes items such as inserting images, footnotes, headers, and page numbers. Sheets insert options include inserting columns/rows, charts, and formulas. Finally, Slides includes options for inserting tables, drawings, text boxes, and WordArt. Other chapters will cover the Insert menu in more detail.

Format Menu

The Format menu enables you to alter the visual appearance of most elements within your document, spreadsheet, or slide. Most frequently, you will be formatting text, paragraph setting, spacing, and layout in Docs. In Sheets, you will be formatting the information in the cells and adding conditional formatting based on specific rules. For Slides, the Format menu is much like that of Docs. To see the differences between the Format menus, see [link].

Tools Menu

The Tools menu is where you’ll find the tools you need to help ensure the quality of your document, sheet, or slide. Let’s examine some of the Docs offerings, shown in [link]. “Spelling and grammar” allows you to check for misspelled words, to ensure phrasing and sentences are grammatically correct, and to create a personal dictionary to which you can add frequently used names or words that are not in a standard dictionary. There are also tools for quickly checking editorial matters, such as counting the number of words in your document or seeing a list of linked objects. Notice how the menu also includes keyboard shortcuts. The Tools menu also offers the option of typing by voice recognition, and it includes accessibility settings such as the ability to use a screen reader to read the text on a page aloud and a magnifier to see content at a very large scale. The Tools menu among the three Google apps is very similar.

Add-ons or Extensions Menu

The Add-ons menu is where you will find accessory programs that can be used for additional features compatible with Google. For example, in Docs, if you need to work on a document with lots of mathematical formulas and equations, you can install an add-on like MathType, which has offerings that go beyond Docs’s equation feature. Or you might install Box, a cloud-based, file sharing, and storage app, to share files with colleagues or clients.

Help Menu

The Help menu is self-explanatory: It contains the body of available knowledge concerning each Google application, as well as all the fine print of the terms of use for the consumer or business. You can search for content related to your question and you can access training materials in the Help menu (see [link]). Conveniently, Docs also offers the user a dialog box with a list of all the keyboard shortcuts. The Help menu in each of the Google apps is similar to the one shown for Docs.

Other Menus

Some Google products have menus specific to the application. For example, Sheets contains a Data menu to help format and organize data. Slides has both a Slides tab, with a variety of options specific to the presentation page, and an Arrange menu for organizing the various slides within a presentation. You will learn how to use these specific menu features as you practice using the software later in the course.

Collaboration

Collaboration in the Digitized Workplace

Reasons for collaboration are numerous. Collaboration provides innovative solutions to problems through the sharing of ideas and ways to solve the issue at hand. But some results of collaboration can be more concrete. For example, through shared resources, cost savings can be realized. Goals can be attained sometimes at a faster pace with collaboration. Collaboration can contribute to enhanced job satisfaction as well as develop employees’ skills.

Collaborative Meetings

Meetings are necessary in nearly all types of organizations. Business meetings may be more discussion-based or more centered on making specific decisions. Meetings are used to make decisions, exchange information, announce changes, convey organizational goals, solve a specific problem, meet with stakeholders outside the organization, or celebrate successes. Historically, meetings have occurred face-to-face, either in a traditional conference room setup or in an individual’s office. But today’s technology enables us to conduct meetings virtually, and this is where collaborative software programs come in handy.

Collaborative Work

One of the biggest differences between Word and Docs is Google’s capacity for sharing. Workspace was first in the market for use in offices based on sharing and collaboration. Its biggest advantage is that it allows many people to work on the same document at the same time, with all participants having the document open at once and seamlessly writing and editing different parts of it. Microsoft 365 incorporates some of these capabilities now, but Google has secured a strong market share since its introduction in 2006. Because both Microsoft 365 and Workspace are widely used, it’s necessary to learn to use and collaborate in both systems, especially in the file sharing and editing functions.

Sharing a Document

In Google, you can choose to send your file to individuals by simply typing in their emails, as shown in [link]a. There are various restrictions and modifications you can add to your sharing invite. By clicking the drop-down menu next to the person’s name, you can choose to make this person a Viewer, Commenter, or Editor. This is the most basic level of adjusting the sharing settings by person. You can also select the gear icon at the upper right of the sharing window and uncheck the options you don’t want, as shown in [link]b. The first choice allows for collaborators to edit and share the Google file; keep it checked if you want them to be able to edit, or unchecked if you don’t want the recipients to edit. If you want recipients to just read, uncheck the first option and keep the second option. But if you don’t want readers to be able to edit, print, download, or copy the file, you should uncheck both options.

Accessing a Saved Document with Drive

Your options for sharing and viewing files will depend on how you save files in Drive. Drive is the main location from which you will create and save your Docs. However, Drive can also act as simple data storage, where you can keep your Word documents, pictures, PDFs, and many other types of files. Word documents are compatible with Docs to some extent; you can even open a Word document directly from Drive and edit it in your browser. However, you may notice some differences between your original Word file and the way it opens in Docs. For example, some formatting may not seamlessly transfer to the Docs version of your file. Be aware that you may need to make adjustments to clean up any incompatibilities. (Some other file types, like PDFs, may need a separate application to edit.)

Creating and Working in Documents

Chapter Scenario

Navigating Microsoft Word

Tabs

Word comes with a set of default tabs (or menus), which are the interface for most of the functions and features you will use. Those tabs are File, Home, Insert, Draw, Design, Layout, References, Mailings, Review, View, and Help.

Navigation Pane

The Navigation pane serves various purposes. The Navigation pane is accessed directly by checking the box on the View tab in the Show command group. You can also get the Navigation pane by selecting Find from the Home tab. With either of these options, a pane will open on the left side of the screen. There are three tabs in the Navigation pane: Headings, Pages, and Results. The first tab, Headings, is the first thing you will see when you open the Navigation pane. This tab shows the outline of your document, but only if you have placed headings for each section and subsection (which you will learn more about in the section on Formatting Document Content in Microsoft Word). The Pages tab shows a thumbnail representation of the pages of the document. The Results tab is used for searching for a particular word, phrase, or number throughout the document, as [link] shows. You can always activate the Find function with the Ctrl+F keyboard shortcut.

Formatting Document Layout in Microsoft Word

Page Setup

The Layout tab contains commands and tools for adjusting the overall page setup of your document, located within the Page Setup command group. Page setup typically includes adjusting the paper size, margins, and orientation, as well as adding features like section breaks and columns. There are accepted standards for document formatting, but these can vary by target audience and by industry. For business reports, such as your market trends report, a 12-point font for body text (Calibri, Times New Roman, and Cambria are some popular fonts), and one-inch margins on all sides (top, bottom, left, right) are typically standard. Most reports also have sections and section headings to help break up and organize the content. The line spacing in the reports can vary, but the most common spacing will be either single-spacing, 1.5-spacing, or double-spacing.

Working with Section Breaks

Sections in Word are especially useful for long documents. A section allows the user to partition part of the document, such as front matter, body text, and back matter, and apply different styles and formatting to each section, while still maintaining all the text in one document. Sections are also important when creating a table of contents and assigning page numbers in a large report. These concepts will be covered in more detail in the chapter on Document Preparation.

Formatting Document Content in Microsoft Word

Formatting Font

There are many ways to change your text formatting in Microsoft Word. The most basic ways of adjusting your text are through the font, font size, and font style (bold, italic, or underlined).

Formatting Paragraphs

Paragraph formatting entails customizing the way the text appears on the page and how it flows from one paragraph to the next. Specifically, this includes line spacing, tab indentations, and alignment justification of text.

Headings

A heading helps readers understand the organization of a document by breaking it into meaningful chunks. Different heading levels can be used to create a hierarchy of content that also helps users best understand the material. In Word, headings can be set using styles that give them additional functionality, such as quickly displaying an outline of your document and providing the ability to link to or between sections. You can also generate a table of contents using headings.

Adjusting Graphic and Text Layouts

If you are using graphics in your document, you will need to determine how the graphics and text should interact in the layout. When you insert a figure into a text document, the figure can be positioned in several ways in relation to the text using the text wrapping menu, as [link] shows. Text wrapping refers to how the text is placed around an image or figure you place in the document. Text wrapping is accessed through the Layout tab in the Arrange command group. Your wrapping style may depend on the size of the graphic, as well as its purpose. If it is an important figure being discussed in the text and/or if it has a caption, you may want to clearly separate it from the text with the “Top and bottom” option, allowing the text to flow above and below the image, but not to either side of it. If the image functions more as a design element, such as a logo or photo to add interest, you might have the text wrap around it.

Collaborative Editing and Reviewing in Microsoft Word

Review Tab

The Review tab is vital for teamwork between collaborators of documents. Many documents are created in collaboration across functional departments, and each contributor to the document needs to record their changes and suggestions so others can review them. The Review tab also has several proofreading tools you might need for editing a document, such as a thesaurus.

Editor Tool

The Editor tool in Word adds another level of document support with a more comprehensive editorial review. Essentially, it is like a virtual editor, which goes beyond simple spelling and grammar checking. The Editor tool is on the Home tab and can also be found on the Review tab. Simply click on the icon, and it will review your document and provide a report and score. You can set the Editor to review for formal writing, professional writing, or casual writing.

Document Design

Using Styles and Themes

Your supervisor has suggested that you apply a theme to the WorldCorp market trends report. A theme is a cohesive set of fonts, font sizes, and colors that can be applied to your whole document. However, before you apply a theme to your document, you must “code” your document’s style. Styles are preset formatting for font type and size, line spacing, and other formats that are used to change the appearance of text in a document. Generally, you choose the style for the document before beginning to input the text. By choosing the style, you are coding the document so that Word knows how to format various sections. These codes tell Word which parts of the text are body text, titles, subtitles, and so on. Without these style codes, the theme won’t know how to apply itself to your document.

Page Background Command Group

The Page Background command group on the Design tab allows users to apply a page border, page colors, and watermarks. A watermark is a lightly colored image, logo, or text that exists in the background of the document. Like changing the page background color, adding a watermark will apply to the whole document. Some companies choose to use watermarks to indicate the status of a document (e.g., “Draft”) or to imprint their company name on each page of the document. To insert a watermark, select the Watermark icon and choose Custom Watermark, as you can see in [link].

Navigating Google Docs

Menus

What tabs are to Word, menus are to Docs. In Word, the tools we use to prepare documents are arranged in tabs and then in command groups within those tabs. In Docs, the tools are arranged in menus instead of tabs. There are some similarities between the names of the menus and tabs: For example, you have the Insert tab in Word and the Insert menu in Docs. Docs also has a nice, user-friendly feature in which the tools that are used more frequently, such as some of the alignment tools and the font tools, are on a toolbar under the menu. This toolbar is called the action bar, and it is a static menu bar; it doesn’t change, like Word’s ribbon. This keeps those tools handy so that it is faster and easier for the user to change items in the document. Many of the tools on the action bar are similar to what you will find on the Home tab in Word. The menus in Google were covered in more detail in the Essentials of Software Applications for Business chapter, which discussed the essentials of the Google programs.

Creating a Doc

We are going to begin by creating our market trends report, starting with industry analysis information. The most direct way to create a new Doc is to log in to your Google Drive. Once you are in the Drive, you can create a new Doc by selecting the New plus sign, as discussed in the chapter on Essentials of Software Applications for Business. Then, choose Google Docs from the list. This will automatically open a new window with a blank document. You could also hover over the arrow to the right of the Google Docs icon and choose Blank document or From a template to create the new file. As an alternative, once in your Drive, you can create a new document by selecting the Google Apps icon, as [link] shows. This will open a drop-down menu, and you will choose which app to access, in this case that would be Docs for the Google word processor application. A new tab will appear in your browser with the Docs. Here, you can choose to open from recent documents or create a new document either by a template or an entirely new file (by choosing blank).

Formatting Layout and Content in Google Docs

Document Formatting

There are different key formatting options that you can do at the start of each document, such as set the paper size, normal text font, line spacing, inserting columns (if desired), and more. You can also select the title text of the headings and insert sections. The indent options and margins are important, too. You can certainly change these items at any point in the document creation process, but by thinking through some of the formatting at the beginning, you can make using additional tools, such as inserting a table of contents, a bit easier. Determining some formatting choices at the beginning can help with collaboration and readability as you work toward a final document.

Working with Section Breaks

Adding sections to your document is important for formatting headings and creating the table of contents. To add sections in a Doc, place the cursor where you want the section to begin, then go to the Insert menu and look for the Break command group. Select Section break (Continuous) if you want the break to stay on the same page, or Section break (next page) to start a new section on a new page, such as starting a new chapter.

Page Setup

As in Word, the Page Setup commands are for selecting the paper size and orientation (horizontally or vertically). In Docs, it is all done from the File menu; Page Setup is near the bottom of the File menu. In [link], you can see the options in the dialog box. The first combo box is for choosing whether to apply page setup to the whole document, or just a section. You can also adjust the paper size; there is a combo box with popular paper sizes like letter and legal. Additionally, you can change the margins to create custom margins. You can also adjust the margins manually on the top of the window, using the mouse to move the margin markers on the ruler ([link]). Many of the page setup tools in Docs are straightforward and minimalistic. Google programs are intentionally designed to be user-friendly, and this is just one example of how easy it can be to make changes to your document.

Collaborative Editing and Reviewing in Google Docs

Tools Menu and Collaborating

The Tools menu options include spelling and grammar, citations, the Explore command, tools for reviewing changes in Suggesting mode, and the dictionary. The Docs Tools menu contains some of the same tools that are found on the Review tab in Word. These are tools and commands to make your document professional and polished, as well as enable collaboration. These tools make collaboration between cowriters and coeditors possible, as everyone can review the suggestions and comments, tag others in the comments, and add citations and references.

Versions and Version History

Versioning in Docs

With versioning, you no longer have to worry about losing your files if your laptop battery dies. You do not have to be concerned if your program suddenly shuts down before you had a chance to save that last paragraph you typed. Docs has a feature that, as long as you are connected to the internet, autosaves every change you make to the file. There is no Save or Save As command because Docs is constantly saving in Google Drive, which creates version histories. This version history can be accessed by going to the File menu, then hovering over Version history, then selecting See version history. A sidebar will spring up to the right, as shown in [link], listing many versions of the file, each with a time stamp and the name of the person or people using it at the time it was saved. With this Docs feature, it is not necessary to save multiple drafts of the same document. An alternative way to access the version history is by clicking on the title bar that says, Last edit was . . ..

Versioning in Microsoft Word

Microsoft Office has many options for accessing version histories but can be done only if the file is stored in OneDrive or SharePoint [link].

Document Preparation

Chapter Scenario

Microsoft Word: Advanced Formatting Features

Advanced Configuration

As you learned in the chapter Essentials of Software Applications for Business, the File tab contains the configuration options for Word. As the market trends report evolves, you will be collaborating with others to produce the final report. You want to make sure the document options are set so that you can keep track of the contributors to the document. Recall that you can enter Word’s settings by choosing Options from the very bottom of the File menu. The Word Options dialog box shown in [link] shows eleven different sets of settings tabs, from General to Trust Center. It is helpful to learn about these settings because the settings in Options allow you to adjust the editing options, save options, and sharing options for the program. The options can be adjusted to your personal preferences as you work through the document on your own and collaborate with others.

Page Numbers

Most professional documents need page numbers. You will likely see page numbers on business plans, marketing plans, strategic plans, or any kind of business report. The process of adding page numbers to your document so that they automatically update as you build the document is called page numbering. Recall from the Creating and Working in Documents chapter that to insert a page number, you go to the Insert tab, and then find the Page Number drop-down menu. You can choose to place the page number in four different places: top, bottom, margins, or current position. Normally, business reports have the page numbers at the bottom of the page, and you can choose to have your page numbers on the left, center, or right. You can also format the page number field with various fonts and styles, as you can see in [link].

Headers and Footers

Have you ever opened a book and seen the title at the top of every page? This area of the page is called the header, in which you can put essential information about the document, such as the name, chapter name, author, and page numbers. The header will appear on every page of your file by default, but you can change this if desired, as will be discussed later in this section. If you glance at the bottom of a page, you may see the text “Page x,”; this is part of the area of the page called the footer. Many documents simply use the footer for page numbers, but you may also add your contact information, the document file name, or the contact information and logo of your company.

Lists

As you are crafting documents, you may find that some information is better suited to a list, rather than a paragraph of text. You learned about lists in the chapter on Creating and Working in Documents, but here you will go into more depth. Lists are useful for summarizing a long topic. The market trends report will certainly include lists, such as a list of competitors, major markets, and major product lines. Pulling information into a list can bring it to the reader’s attention and help the flow of the document by preventing it from getting bogged down in page after page of paragraphs. You can choose to put text into a list after typing into the document or you can select your list type before beginning to compose the text.

Working with Graphics and Text Tools in Microsoft Word

Tables

Tables are a critical feature of many business documents. They are typically the most popular way of presenting results and/or data. They are particularly useful for presenting simple data with only one or two variables. You can easily glance at a table to see, for example, how many sales were made in a given month by a given group of salespeople. In other words, tables are a good way of presenting a limited amount of information in an easy-to-read format. Keep in mind that they are not best suited for complex data or information sets with multiple variables, as the tables can quickly become overloaded with information and hard to read.

Illustrations Command Group

The Illustrations command group is for inserting images, shapes, SmartArt, or charts. For the market trends report, you will be inserting some graphs and charts that show the size of the market and other related information. You might also want to include images of new developments in the industry or current products on the market from competitors. The Creating and Working in Documents chapter covered the arrangement and aligning of objects. This section will cover how to insert different types of objects.

Text Command Group

Like the Illustrations command group, the Text command group is located on the Insert tab. It houses the Text Box, Quick Parts, WordArt, Drop Cap, Signature Line, Date & Time, and Object commands. These commands are all related in their functionality, as they are tools to insert autogenerated text or specially designed text.

Symbols Command Group

The Symbols command group is also part of the Insert tab. A symbol is a special character not found on most keyboards, and includes characters such as currency symbols, en dashes and em dashes, arrows, Greek letters (often used in economic or financial math), and many other characters. [link] shows some of the character choices available in Word.

Managing Long Documents in Microsoft Word

The Pages Command Group

The Pages command group is on the Insert tab, and it contains three commands. The most used one is Page Break; this command allows the user to finish writing on the current page and start writing on a new page. (You can also access many of these same tools on the Layout tab in the Page Setup command group.) Adding a page break can be particularly useful at the end of a chapter or section. To insert a page break, place the cursor where the break will be (the start of the new page), and select the Page Break option. You may also just use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Enter to place a page break. If you turn on the ability to view hidden characters, you can see exactly where the page break is on your page (see [link]). You can also view it easily in the Print layout option on the View tab. Here, we can add a page beak at the end of each major section of the market trends report.

Format Painter

Another tool in Word that helps manage long documents is the Format Painter. Format Painter is a command on the Home tab. It is used to copy formatting from another document or section of the same document. This can be useful when you have formatting in one section of the document that you want to copy over to another section, saving you the time and effort of having to format the new document or section again manually.

References Tab

The References tab is for working with citations and the front/back matter of books. This is an important tab for anyone who is creating a document with many sources, such as a journal article or economic report. It is also helpful when dealing with long documents that include many sections such as the market trends report. Managing a table of contents, a citation list, or a bibliography manually can be unwieldy, and, fortunately, Word provides lots of tools to help users keep these organized and looking professional.

Linked Bookmarks

Another helpful tool for navigating long documents is the bookmark. You can add bookmark links throughout your document for better navigation. Place the cursor where you want the bookmark to link up to—a section header, for example, or the beginning of an important paragraph—and go to the Insert tab and click Bookmark. In the dialog box, type a name for your bookmark [link]. In this case, we chose to bookmark the start of the body text. Now, select a word that will link up to the bookmark, right-click on it, and select Hyperlink from the context menu. The same hyperlink dialog box will appear, but this time select Place in This Document. Click on the bookmark you just made, and then click OK; the link will be set [link]. Conversely, if you want to remove a bookmark from Word, click the Bookmark command in the Insert menu, locate it, and then select Delete.

Google Docs: Enhanced Formatting Features

Page Numbers

The tool for placing page numbers into a Google document has fewer customizable formatting options than the tool in Word. There are only two page number styles: top right or bottom right. These are both available in the Insert menu. Let’s start with the market trends draft and add page numbers ([link]). If you select More options, a few more customization options appear. You can choose to have your page numbers start counting from the second page of your document, which could be useful if your first page is a cover page or a table of contents. You can also start your page numbering at a certain number (i.e., other than the number 1), as shown in [link]. The page number is always placed in the header or footer.

Headers and Footers

You can add headers and footers to your document in Docs. The Headers & footers command is also located in the Insert menu. Once you have added your header or footer, you can choose to further configure it by choosing Options, the blue command that is located on the header or footer itself. This Options button opens to a drop-down menu with a few choices. If you select Header format or Footer format, you will see a dialog box with the option of applying certain header/footer settings to a section of the entire document, as seen in [link]. You can also control the height of each header/footer in inches, as well as choose to not have the header or footer appear on the first page. This latter choice is useful in documents for which you have a cover page. Simply tick the box Different first page. When you are finished configuring the headers/footers, select Apply.

Lists

The chapter Creating and Working in Documents briefly discussed how to insert a bulleted or numbered list in Docs. In this section, we will use the document outline we used earlier in this chapter to create a multilevel list in Docs.

Working with Graphics and Text Tools in Google Docs

Inserting Special Characters and Equations

Docs has a way for the user to insert special, nonstandard characters and symbols directly into the text. In Docs, this function is accessible from the Insert menu. However, Google has some interesting functionality that Word doesn’t have, such as drawing symbols, a higher degree of searchability, and automatic replacement.

Inserting an Image

Docs has a few more interactive options than Word when it comes to inserting images. Because Docs is a Google product and you are typically online when you are using it, there are some integrations with other Google services, like Photos and Drive, that make inserting your own images easy. First, go to the Insert menu, and select Image. As seen in [link], you have a number of different options: You can choose to get the image from your computer, do a Google Image search, insert a photo from your Drive or your Photos account, type in a web address where the image is located, or insert an image from the camera on your laptop/tablet/smartphone. This huge array of options allows for a lot of personalization. Keep in mind copyright protections for images that you might find on the internet. Be sure to cite properly when using images that are copyrighted.

Using the Google Drawing Tool

Google’s Drawing tool is an interactive tool that allows the user to create custom shapes and insert preset shapes. Drawings is its own application that can be accessed either by going to Google Drawings or through applications such as Docs. You can create drawings and save them to your Drive. Creating custom shapes or drawings can be particularly useful if you want to insert a specific shape or combination of shapes that isn’t available in the roster of preset shapes. The Drawing app also gives the user the option to insert standard preset shapes or WordArt.

Tables

Inserting and modifying tables in Docs is similar to the same process in Word. To add a table, go to the Insert menu, navigate to Table, and hover your cursor over the number of rows and columns you want, as shown in [link].

Managing Long Documents in Google Docs

Paint Format

The Paint format command in Docs is the equivalent of the Format Painter in Microsoft Word. You use it in the same way: selecting a format you want to copy from the original source, choosing the Paint format icon from the action bar (it looks like a small paint roller), and using the cursor to apply it on the target text.

Table of Contents

As in Word, a table of contents in Docs requires that you have your headings properly styled, your section breaks in place, and page numbers.

Hyperlinks, Bookmarks, and Links to Other Files

Hyperlinks can be input in various ways in Docs. As in Word, these help with citations and navigation in long documents. First, you need to select the text you want to make into a link, then you can choose to use the menus or the right-click context menu to create the link. You can see both methods in [link]. They both lead to a dialog box that asks for the web address, which you input, and then click Apply.

Advanced Document Preparation

Chapter Scenario

Creating Different Document Types in Microsoft Word

Templates

In Creating and Working in Documents, we defined what templates are and where to find them in Microsoft Word. There are also a number of templates available on the internet. Word has web search capability so that you can look for additional templates on templates.office.com, as you can see in [link]. On the Office template website, there are thousands of templates that can help entrepreneurs and small businesses start making their business more systematic. You can find Word templates for email advertisements, calendars, brochures, memos, business cards, invoices, business plans, warehouse receipts, and more. Once you download the template, you can populate it with data and further modify its appearance.

Business Memos

Word has templates for memos and newsletters. These are similar forms of communication in that they both inform a large group of new changes or trends in a company and may call for action. Yet there are some differences. Memos are used internally, while newsletters are for external audiences. Memos also usually have a standardized format. Newsletters have more freedom of form and may incorporate a lot of graphics. Like brochures and flyers, both have been digitized in the form of emails.

Letterhead and Envelopes

A letterhead is a type of heading that contains company contact information and a logo. It can be used in many scenarios, both personal and professional. [link] shows an example of a professional letterhead for a business. The logo and company contact information will go at the top right of the document. The information in the template is generic so that you can customize the template with your specific company information.

Business Cards

A business card is a small, typically wallet-sized card that contains your contact and company information. It is usually given to clients or potential clients when you meet them, so that they have your contact information easily available. Business cards may be provided to you by your company, or, if you are self-employed, you may make them yourself. They usually contain basic contact information, like your name, your position (title) with the company, your phone number, and your email address, in addition to some eye-catching design elements, like a logo or image. Business cards are usually printed on thick, sturdy paper called cardstock. Many companies will order business cards for their employees using approved company designs and layout; at WorldCorp, the marketing department is responsible for providing business cards to employees. However, if you are a small business owner or freelancer, you might have a need to create your own business card.

Brochures and Flyers

Both large and small businesses use advertisements to display what the company offers and detail the specifications of the offer. Brochures and flyers are a printed form of advertisement. Although many advertisements are found on the internet these days, printed ads are still popular. Flyers tend to be graphic-oriented, contain minimal text, and often advertise an event or temporary promotion. Brochures can be an introduction for a company or specific product and may be used for a longer duration than a flyer.

Invoices

An invoice is an important document. It is essentially a bill given to a customer for a product or service provided by a company. You may encounter invoices either as a recipient or the sender. If you are the one purchasing a good or service, you will receive an invoice. The invoice tells you how much you need to pay. If you are the one selling the goods or services, you will need to create the invoice yourself, then send it to the company or person making the purchase. In both cases, an invoice should always explain what was provided, sold, and what is owed.

Business Plans

A business plan is a document that describes a company’s plan for growth and profitability. Business plans may have different uses and applications depending on the type of business and stage of growth that the business is experiencing. For instance, some start-up business plans are used to seek funding for a venture. They may describe a detailed short-term plan for the company’s first few months of activity, then a broader long-term plan for future growth. There are also business plans for established companies, such as capacity-building business plans. These types of plans are used to explain why a company needs funding to buy a new capital asset, such as a manufacturing plant, or to refurbish an existing one. The business plan templates you will find in the Microsoft Office database will give you a head start on designing and formatting your business plan, but keep in mind that these templates will not give any advice on what to include or what kind of language to use in your business plan. For that, you can get some examples of an already-made business plan online. [link] shows an example of the first couple of pages of a business plan template in Word.

Résumés and Cover Letters

As you start your career and begin your job search, you will want to present yourself as a serious candidate, ready to take on challenges. One way to put yourself on the right track toward professionalism is by having a résumé. A résumé displays your work experience, academic degrees, and overall skills. Some résumé experts say that you should limit your résumé to one or two pages, but depending on the position, you may want to describe your studies and experience in more detail.

Mail Merge in Microsoft Word

What Is Mail Merge?

Many businesses stay in touch with their clients and customers using some form of communication. Some of these communications may be printed ads; some may be email newsletters. These communications are sometimes personalized with the name of the recipient. How do businesses automate this personalized process? One way to do this is by using mail merge. Mail merge is a tool in Word that lets the user write a form letter or advertisement, while leaving some areas of the document blank. These blanks are fields that can be programmed to contain personalized information: the recipient’s given name, phone number, address, or any other type of customized field.

The Main Document

The first step of the mail merge is to compose your main document. The main document could be an existing document, a template (.dotx) document, or a brand-new document. In this example, let’s use a business letter template as the main document. You can type it up yourself based on the example in [link], or use the text provided in the downloadable Mail Merge document. This letter will be sent to WorldCorp customers, informing them of the upcoming holiday hours for the warehouses so that they can plan for delayed shipments.

The Source Document

The source document needs to be a listing created in Excel or Access. But this walk-through will build a new list rather than using an existing list. You will build the new list with just a few customers so you can see how mail merge works. But remember, mail merge can be used with many customers and is virtually limitless. The capacity of the mail merge is limited by the capacity of your computer.

Merge Fields

Now that you have created the main document, and created and saved the source document, you now need to insert the merge fields into the main document. First, insert the blank fields on the letter so that Word can automatically fill them with personalized information: First name, Last name, Address, City, State, and Zip. In [link], you can see the icons in the Write & Insert Fields command group on the Mailings tab. These give us some common merge fields: Address Block, Greeting Line, and Insert Merge Field. For this example, use Insert Merge Field. When you select the option, you will notice that the fields available in the drop-down list are the fields from your source document. Therefore, make sure the fields in your document are descriptive and as separated as you would like them to be, for example, if you are sending a mailing out to voters, consider whether you should include all the members of the household in one mailer, or if you should address them separately (in which case, you should list each of their names individually).

Creating Forms in Microsoft Word

Developer Tab

To create surveys in Word, you need to enable the Developer tab. This is typically not one of the default tabs in Word, so you need to manually add it. Go to the Options command on the File tab, then on the Customize Ribbon tab, then enable the Developer tab.

Controls Command Group

The Controls command group includes several different icons to represent the fields you can use in your form. [link] identifies the icons you will be using to create the form. The remaining icons in the command group are used for building sophisticated templates in Word. The controls we are using in this example are called content control fields. These fields give people a space to type in, add a date or image, or choose their response from a list. In other words, they are interactive fields that can be specially programmed to receive input from recipients. The content control fields create a user interface that seeks input from the respondent.

Creating a Form

Before adding the fields, you should first develop the plan of the form. One way to do this is to type out the information or questions that you will ask into a blank document. Creating the form using a table is one option for presenting a professional appearance; this format helps keep everything organized and neatly aligned. The table should have two columns, and as many rows as you will have questions. Using only two columns allows you to put the questions in one column and the answer fields in the other. The column on the left will have your questions, and the column on the right will have the fields for the respondent’s answers. You should change the table borders (in Table Properties) so that they are transparent, making it so that the respondent cannot see them. This way, the questions and answers remain aligned, but they will not appear to be in a table format to those viewing the form. Alternatively, you could choose to not use a table to create your form. In this case, the questions and answer fields would need to each be manually aligned.

Creating Different Document Types in Google Docs

Templates

All the documents covered in this section can be saved as your own template. If you want to publish a template so that everyone can use it (i.e., to all Google users worldwide), you may do so. When you are finished formatting your document, you can go to Google’s template gallery and select Submit a template at the top. Note that not all Google accounts can submit templates. This feature is available only with the paid Business and Education programs in Google.

Business Memos

We reviewed the business memo’s goals and overall form in Creating Different Document Types in Microsoft Word. These basic understandings remain true when you are creating a memo in Docs. The only difference between Docs and Word is how you access the template to create one.

Letterhead, Letters, and Envelopes

The process and requirements for making a letterhead are the same in Docs as they are in Word. You fill it out with the same components—name, address, other contact information—which are placed in the same location on your documents (at the top). You can use a letterhead for any kind of business or personal correspondence, but this example will use a cover letter. Although Docs does not have a specific template called Cover Letter in its default Template Gallery, it does have a few that are simply called Letter.

Business Cards

As with other document types discussed so far, Google does not have a default template for business cards. You have a few choices on how to move forward: upload a Microsoft template to your Drive, find a user-generated template, or install an add-on.

Brochures and Flyers

Docs has some default templates for brochures and flyers. But the brochures are not formatted in the traditional trifold way. In fact, the brochure templates are very similar to the flyer templates in Google.

Invoices

As with the other document types, there is no default template in the Template Gallery for invoices. Luckily, we can still search through the huge number of user-generated templates by searching for “invoice template site https://docs.google.com.” This internet search will return all public templates that people have added to their own Google Drives. After you find the invoice template of your choice, you can save it by going to the File menu, and selecting the Make a copy command, as [link] shows.

Creating Forms in Google Docs

Form Templates

Creating a Form is like creating any other Google file. Begin in your Google Drive, select the New drop-down menu, and find Google Forms, as seen in [link]. From here, you have the choice of creating a survey from a Blank form or From a template. For this walk-through, we will choose From a template, but we will review how to create one from scratch in Creating a New Form. The advantage to using a template is that you can choose a form that is already similar to the one you might have in mind. Using a template from the Template Gallery ([link]) will help save you time, as all you will need to do is modify the questions and answers, and then add some new questions as needed.

Creating a New Form

If you want to create a form from scratch, select Blank form from the drop-down menu. The form will start with a blank document that says “Untitled form.” As in Docs, rename this file by clicking on the title bar to type the new name of the form. All new forms also have a blank space for a description, just below the form’s title. The respondent will see the description, so it needs to be informative to them, as [link] shows. It is important to name the form; otherwise, you are not going to be able to find it easily in your Drive later.

Distributing the Form

The last command of the top toolbar is the Send button, which lets you start the actual surveying process. After you press Send, you’ll have four options of how to distribute the survey: you can type your clients’ email addresses and send it to them directly; get a public link, which you can paste into an email; embed the survey into a website; or post the survey to a social media account ([link]).

Advanced Collaboration in Google Docs

Advanced Sharing Settings

The chapter on Creating and Working in Documents discussed basic sharing capabilities of Google Docs. But understanding the more advanced settings in Docs can maximize your work in the app and help you get the most out of collaborating in it.

Advanced Editing Access Settings

The chapter on Creating and Working in Documents discussed the different levels of access you can grant your collaborators. Granting someone Editing access to your Doc means that they can make any changes they want to the document. They do not have to track changes, or work in Suggesting mode, if they do not want to. This is the most open of all sharing settings.

Advanced Settings for Viewing Comments and Suggested Edits

Once you are ready to view comments in a Doc, navigate to the top-right area of your document and click on the Comment history icon (shown in callout 1 in [link]). Then, click on the bell icon to view and customize notification settings (shown in callout 2). As shown in [link], if you choose Only yours, the email notifications of changes on the document will be sent to you only if you are being mentioned by an @ operator, or if someone edits some passage you wrote. If you choose None, you will not be notified by email, even if the changes and comments (and mentions) are related to your written passages.

Preparing Presentations

Chapter Scenario

Presentation and Design Essentials

Why and When Presentations Are Used in Business

WorldCorp is a large, expansive corporation with a vast community of stakeholders. Business presentations in numerous operational settings share information with internal stakeholders such as employees, managers, and executives. They also are used to communicate with external stakeholders, such as customers, vendors, shareholders, and the local community. The marketing team and public relations (PR) professionals are typically the ones responsible for communicating messages to external stakeholders. But whatever your title within an organization, you may be expected to know how to build and give presentations.

Understanding Your Audience and Purpose

When you are conducting a presentation, your purpose should not be what you want to do; instead, it is what you want your audience to do as a result of listening to what you expressed. Your audience will consist of twenty-five WorldCorp employees. Ask yourself: What am I trying to convey? What is the best way to convey it to my audience? How will my presentation affect them? These are the questions you need to ask when developing a sense of purpose in a presentation.

Essentials of Good Digital Presentation Design

By following the best practices and helpful tips outlined here, you will be better able to craft effective digital presentations. Two important concepts to keep in mind are consistency and coherence. Consistency refers to the presentation having a uniform look and feel. You can achieve this by having a unified color scheme or a defined layout for each slide in the presentation. Coherence—how all the elements work together to communicate the intended purpose of the presentation—includes the slides and the presenters themselves. The purpose or key message of the presentation should be the focal point when creating a presentation. Keeping the purpose at the forefront will help with both consistency and coherence. Consistency and coherence work hand in hand when creating an effective presentation. These two concepts will be explained in more detail in the following sections.

Create a Plan Before Getting Started

To create an effective presentation, you will need to become a storyteller. Start by thinking about how you want the presentation to unfold. As with dividing an essay into paragraphs, you will need to find an easy way to separate out the distinct topics in your presentation while also building a cohesive storyline that connects them. When you choose the ideas that you want to emphasize and the order in which you want to present them, you are building a plan. This plan will help much like developing an outline for a paper.

Designing a Presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint

Getting Started

Open PowerPoint and choose a blank presentation (the first option). You should see a screen that looks like [link], with an arrow highlighting the desired choice. If you want to open an existing presentation, select Open from the left sidebar and search for the file. Another option is to start with a PowerPoint template—a predesigned set of slides that you can use as a starting point for creating a new PowerPoint presentation. Templates include a defined layout and color scheme, and they often include sample text and images that you can replace with your own content. Using templates is a way to save time and ensure consistency in the design of your presentation. Like many organizations, WorldCorp has a preset template that is often used for external communications, such as presentations for clients. However, for the *My Life in a Snapshot* presentation, you are not restricted to using the template, as this is an internal presentation and is more informal.

Creating a Presentation with Themes and Templates

Many companies tend to already have a theme developed for use with company presentations. A presentation’s theme refers to the overall design and layout of the slides, including elements such as color scheme, font choices, and graphic elements. Themes are useful because they give you an easy way to create a consistent presentation by using preset fonts and color schemes. If you had chosen a theme instead of a blank presentation, the initial slide would show the same elements, but with the design features of the theme applied. A theme can also include predesigned slide layouts, which can be used to create a cohesive and consistent look throughout the presentation.

Home Tab

Themes are helpful, but to learn PowerPoint more deeply, you will also need to learn how to create a presentation from scratch. Start by getting to know the Home tab. The tools found on the Home tab are used to create the general structure of the slideshow, as seen in [link]. As an introduction to this group of tools, we will review five key commands, which are circled in the figure: New Slide, Layout tab, the tools in the Font command group, the tools in the Paragraph command group, and Design Ideas.

Design Tab

Instead of using the Design Ideas feature, you may want to design your PowerPoint yourself. The wide range of design options in PowerPoint allows you to change the overall look and feel of your presentation, quickly and easily. By using the built-in templates, color schemes, and slide layouts, you can transform the roughed-out text that you added earlier to polished, professional-looking presentation slides without spending much time and effort on design. (You will learn more about this process in the chapter on Giving Presentations). Rather than using the Design Ideas feature, which only formats a single slide at a time, the Design tab provides a collection of tools for altering color schemes and layout designs for all of the slides at once. For example, you could change your entire color palette with just a few clicks of the mouse, applying the design to all the slides according to their predefined layout. Additionally, the option to change the slide layout makes it easy to organize the information in a way that is easy for the audience to follow and understand.

View Tab

The next tab to review is the View tab. To have a basic understanding of PowerPoint, you will need to know the general purpose of several view options. Within the View ribbon, there are seven command groups. The first three are circled in [link], starting with Presentation Views.

Formatting Microsoft PowerPoint Slides: Layout and Design Principles

Formatting Layout

When you design your slide layouts, arranging text boxes and other objects becomes key in making sure they are positioned in an effective manner. In this section, we will review the Alignment Guides option within the View tab and discuss the numerous built-in layout designs that PowerPoint can offer.

Design Principles

In this section, you will learn about some basic design principles that are best practices for designing your own slides or choosing a theme for your presentation. You’ll find out how to use proximity, alignment, repetition, contrast, and white space to make your design elements stand out.

Adding Visuals and Features to Microsoft PowerPoint Slides

Adding Tables

A table in PowerPoint is a structure for organizing and presenting data in a grid format. It is similar to the Table feature in Microsoft Word. In [link], the Table option has been selected within the Insert tab. You will not need to include a table in your *My Life in a Snapshot* presentation, but tables are regularly included in professional presentations.

Adding Images

The Images command group, located to the right of the Insert Table option, gives you the following options: Pictures, Screenshot, and Photo Album. In general, an image is a visual representation of a scene, object, or information, often captured or created through digital means. In today’s technological world, your cell phone is also a professional camera with advanced formatting options, enabling you to share photos instantly on social media and in texts and emails. Adding photos and screenshots in PowerPoint can be just as effective. Those saved files can be at your fingertips to add to your presentation.

Adding Text

A great way to add a well-placed description of an image is to insert a text box. Let’s add a text box to your *My Life in a Snapshot* presentation, as shown in [link].

Adding Symbols

You can add symbols to a PowerPoint slide to enhance the visual appeal of your presentation and to make it more engaging. Symbols can include anything from emojis to arrows to creative shapes, like hearts. You can use symbols to represent different ideas or concepts, to emphasize certain points, or to create a visual hierarchy, arranging the elements of your design according to their level of importance. The purpose of visual hierarchy is to guide the viewer’s eye to the most important information or elements first, then to less important information. It’s a good idea to use symbols sparingly, and only when they add value to your presentation, so they don’t become distracting. This first presentation doesn’t require the addition of a symbol, but the steps for adding one to a slide are as follows:

Adding Equations

Another feature to consider inserting in PowerPoint slides are designed equations. An equation is a mathematical statement that shows the relationship between two or more quantities, using mathematical symbols and operators. Equations are used to describe a wide range of physical, biological, and economic phenomena, and are central to many areas of science and engineering. Simply click on the option on the Insert tab and select from a list of drop-down options. (Note that the Equation option will be grayed out unless your cursor is active on the slide canvas.) A new tab, Equations, will appear on the ribbon, revealing many options for inserting and editing equations.

Adding WordArt

In PowerPoint, WordArt can add visual interest to a slide by using different font styles, colors, and effects that are prebuilt and designed for maximum impact. This can make your presentation more engaging and memorable for your audience.

Adding Illustrations

Much like adding images, illustrations can have a lasting impact in a presentation. An illustration is an image that’s “handmade,” so to speak, using either tangible elements such as pens and pencils or digital elements such as media. In this case, please take note of understanding the copyrights of the original work before selecting illustrations. In this section, we will walk through how to add a star to your presentation along with exploring some of the various illustration options. There are several types of illustrations that can be inserted in PowerPoint, including:

Designing a Presentation in Google Slides

Similarities between Google Slides and Microsoft PowerPoint

PowerPoint and Slides are both software programs that allow you to create and edit slideshows for presentations. When you begin to create a presentation with Slides, you will be presented with several themes and templates suitable for various applications in business, school projects, and general use. These designed templates can be customized with color, text, and style. [link] shows Slides when first opening the program and selecting a new presentation; the default, a blank presentation, is circled. Next to the blank presentation option are the different themes and templates.

Differences between Google Slides and Microsoft PowerPoint

Understanding some of the key differences between Slides and PowerPoint will help you decide which tool to use and when it can be most helpful while working at WorldCorp. To start, PowerPoint is a stand-alone software program that users can purchase or access through a provider such as a school, a company, or an organization to which they belong. Stand-alone software programs are typically installed on a computer’s hard drive and can be launched by double-clicking an icon on the desktop or by selecting the program from the list of installed programs in the operating system. Stand-alone software programs are self-contained and do not rely on external resources, such as a connection to the internet or services to function. They are referred to as “offline capable.” The application, or app, is just a click away for the user to begin their work, regardless of their internet connection. As the program has advanced and added new features, it has expanded to include online collaboration. PowerPoint now offers users online experiences through the combination of Microsoft OneDrive and Microsoft 365.

How Microsoft PowerPoint and Google Slides Function in a Workplace

Several features of Slides make it a unique and intriguing piece of software to have alongside PowerPoint. Both programs are commonly used in workplace settings, but may be used with different goals and audiences in mind. At WorldCorp, different teams use different tools in ways that work best for them; often, team members find that a project requires a combination of both programs.

Creating Google Slides: Layout and Text

How to Modify and Edit Text

As with any document, different fonts can convey different emotions and styles. Using a bold or italic font can help to emphasize certain words or phrases, while a different font can be used to create a specific style or theme for the presentation. If your presentation is for a business or organization, it may be important to use a specific font that aligns with the company’s branding guidelines. WorldCorp prefers the Oswald font for external documents. If text boxes are being used, be sure to modify each text box to the company standard. Although this choice may feel limiting, this approach drives the consistency of brand messaging for WorldCorp team members.

How to Modify Line Spacing

To modify the spacing of the font in a Slides presentation, select the slide where you want to modify the font spacing. In *My Life in a Snapshot,* there’s no need to modify spacing, but this option may come in handy when working with large font sizes and unique font styles.

How to Modify Borders and Lines

An additional tool that can come in handy is the ability to format borders and lines. In general, format refers to the way something is arranged or structured, usually in terms of its appearance, organization, or presentation. This term is used in a variety of contexts and can refer to various aspects of a document, file, or image, such as its layout, font, color scheme, page margins, and overall design. When formatting a border, you may want to consider the color, weight, type, dashes, and decorations.

How to Modify the Layout of a Slide

As in PowerPoint, each time text or images are added to a particular slide, the size and positioning of objects may need to be adjusted or changed. One option in Slides is to change the overall layout of the slide in the Slide menu. The Slide tab is a drop-down menu that allows users to create, edit, and organize slides within your presentation. [link] shows the list of options from the drop-down menu.

Adding Visuals and Features to Google Slides

Inserting an Image

Our presentation already includes an image of Amir, but if you want to update or change the picture, you can do so through Google Drive. Once your image is saved to Drive, we can easily insert the photo into the presentation. Slides’s streamlined approach makes it simple to add imagery to slides. To add your new picture to the first slide, start by making sure that you have the first slide selected in your Slides presentation. Click on the Insert menu at the top of the screen. Select Image from the drop-down menu. You can then choose to upload an image from your computer, or search for it in Drive, or select a photo from Google Photos. Select Drive and select the recent profile picture you took on your smartphone. You can then move and resize the image as needed.

Inserting a Shape

You can choose from a variety of shapes, such as rectangles, circles, arrows, and more to add to any slide in a slideshow. These design elements are useful and easy to adjust within Slides. Once you have selected a shape from the Insert tab (see the options in [link]), click and drag on the side to create the desired size ([link]). You can then move, resize, and customize the shape as desired.

Inserting a Table

Tables are an important tool for displaying information because they organize and present data in a clear and concise manner to an audience. They are useful for displaying large amounts of data in a compact format, making it easy for the viewer to compare and contrast different values, as well as show how different variables are related to one another. For a slideshow, it may be best to use tables to showcase summary statistics, such as means, medians, and standard deviations, which provide a quick overview of most datasets. You do not want to overwhelm your audience with an overly detailed table with too many numbers. In general, tables are an effective tool for displaying information because they provide the ability to display and understand complex data sets in a concise way. They are widely used in fields such as finance, statistics, business, and scientific research to communicate data and results.

Inserting a Chart

Data is important in decision making because it provides a basis for understanding the current state of a problem or situation, and can be used to identify patterns, trends, and relationships that can inform the decision-making process. Your audience may expect to see data in a slideshow, particularly if it concerns finance or business, as data plays a crucial role in decision making by providing the information needed to make informed and well-informed decisions. Charts can be a perfect vessel to display this information to audiences.

Inserting a Diagram

You may have noticed after attending numerous presentations how helpful diagrams can be for the audience. A diagram is a graphical representation of information or data. Diagrams can be used to visually communicate complex information, ideas, or concepts in a simple and intuitive way. A diagram can help all types of audiences understand a concept by visually representing complex information in a simple and easy-to-understand proven format. Diagrams can help to clarify relationships and connections between different components or elements of a concept and can make it easier to identify patterns/trends. Additionally, diagrams can be used to highlight important information and make it more prominent, making it easier for the audience to retain and recall the information later. This drives the purpose home in your presentations.

Inserting Special Characters

Much like PowerPoint, special characters have a useful effect when added. A special character in Slides is a character or symbol that is not typically found on a keyboard, but can be inserted into a presentation to add visual interest or convey specific meaning. Examples of special characters in Slides include arrows, currency symbols, mathematical symbols, emojis, and various types of punctuation marks.

Inserting a Link

For your *My Life in a Snapshot* presentation, you may not need to provide your audience members with any links, but you might want to include your email address. You can make this appear as a link so that when it is clicked on, it brings the user directly to their email client, like Outlook. This can be useful if a team member has a quick follow-up question after the presentation, or if they just want to send you a welcome message. Remember that the link will only work for them if the presentation has been distributed to them electronically. You can do this by emailing a link to the Slides presentation to your audience, or by sharing it as an email attachment.

Inserting a Video

With video sharing and recording platforms like Zoom and YouTube easily accessible, creating and playing videos has never been easier. Adding a short video clip to your presentation can pack a huge punch, and is easy to do. Sharing video content may be exactly what you need to emphasize a message in a presentation, perhaps preferable to showing an image or a chart. Be careful not to use a copyrighted video in professional presentations. Review the rules and laws on what constitutes a copyrighted video before adding one to your next presentation.

Advanced Presentation Skills

Chapter Scenario

Effective Presentation Skills

Ensuring the Final Presentation Meets Its Goals

In general, to create an effective presentation, you first need to understand the goal or intent of the presentation. Your supervisor may provide those goals, or you may determine them yourself. Regardless, setting your goals first will help you ensure that the look of your slides matches those goals. Presentations can fall into one of the following categories, as outlined in [link]: persuasive, instructional, informational, or inspirational. Knowing the goal of your presentation helps you set the stage for developing the slides and constructing your narrative.

Opening a Presentation

There are many ways to start a presentation to engage your audience. What you do not want to do is jump right into the content or start by simply introducing yourself. You want your audience to be interested and engaged right away and to want to know more about what you are presenting.

Key Presentation Skills

Specific skills can vary by the type of presentation. For example, if you are giving a persuasive presentation, you might use more humor than you would in an informational presentation. There is no single standard set of skills that all presenters should possess, and what defines a good presenter versus a bad presenter can be quite subjective. However, there are some skills that pertain in all situations. A good presenter is one who is prepared, professional, and able to communicate effectively with the audience.

Closing a Presentation

Just as you need a strong hook to start off a presentation, you also need a strong closing statement. It should be more than simply a summary of what you discussed in the presentation. Your closing statement should be a few words that leave a lasting, positive impression and that convey the essence of the slideshow. You want your audience to remember the presentation, especially your key points. This is your last chance to bring it all together for the audience.

Finalizing a Slide Collection

Color Schemes

Through the use of color and other design elements, you can visually highlight key points. Your color choices can also engage the audience by evoking emotions. If you are not careful, though, the color scheme can be distracting and take away from your message. You will also want to keep text to a minimum on each slide, focusing on key words or ideas, and using the notes section to capture your speaking notes and detail.

Modifying a Theme

PowerPoint offers a variety of built-in themes to choose from, each with its own unique combination of colors, fonts, and effects. Additionally, you can customize and create your own themes by modifying the visual elements according to your preferences. Themes keep the look and feel of slides consistent. The theme is applied to all slides you select and is designed with preset colors, fonts, and background styles.

Designer

The latest version of PowerPoint includes a feature called Designer. This feature helps you create professional-looking presentations and enables you to change the layout of slides automatically. You can use it to format a slide using various preset formats and to add additional design elements to the slides. It gives you a nice way to vary the layout and enhance the visual appeal of slides in a presentation. When a new slide design is applied, it affects only the current slide, not the entire presentation.

Advanced Tools for Image Enhancement

When creating a presentation, you are likely to include visual elements such as pictures, graphics, and tables. You are likely to want to make some adjustments, such as cropping, to the images to make the pictures clearer and more professional in your presentation. There are several techniques that can help when inserting visual elements into your presentation. These include removing the background of a picture, cropping the picture, and creating an overlay for the image.

Preparing a Microsoft PowerPoint Collection for Presentation

Transitions

The term transitions refers to the way one slide changes to the next slide. As you can see on the Transitions tab in [link], there are many ways to move between slides. The Transition to the Slide command group contains options such as Fade, Split, and Shape. You can use the Timing command group tools to determine the duration of the slide on the screen, or how quickly the slides move (transition) from one to the next. A sound can be used as the slide transitions, or you can simply move to the next slide using a mouse click.

Animations

Slides and presentations as a whole can also be enhanced with the addition of animations. An animation is a special effect added to objects and elements on a slide. They will apply only to that object, shape, or other element, not the entire slide. For example, you could choose to have a picture slowly fade away or come into view during the presentation when you are discussing a current slide. This could be impactful if you want to bring the audience’s attention to a particular element on a slide. As with other additions, keep in mind that these special effects should have a purpose and be used to enhance or draw attention to something in a presentation. They should not be overused to the extent of being distracting and taking away from the key message you are trying to convey on a slide.

Media Command Group

The Media command group is used to add audio or video media to the presentation. There might be instances where you would want to add a short clip of a video or audio to enhance the presentation of a topic. For example, in your role in the marketing department at WorldCorp, you might want to share a clip of a new radio ad campaign, or a short video showing some concepts for new ads to be placed on the website for a new line of products. You can do this by embedding various media types into a slideshow presentation. The Media command group is located all the way on the right side of the Insert ribbon tab. You have three options to choose from, as shown in [link]: video, audio, and screen recording. The screen recording option will allow you to record your computer screen and insert it into your presentation.

Finalizing Your Slideshow

Before you complete your presentation, you should give it a final review so you can see exactly how it will appear to your audience. It is also important to practice your presentation and consider the other, nondigital elements involved in a presentation, such as monitoring the length of your presentation and interacting with the audience.

Room Setup and Technology

You will likely be presenting with several types of technology, including the laptop on which you created the slideshow, monitors, audio equipment, and others. As part of your preparation process, make sure you understand the environment in which you will be presenting. If you can, visit the physical space in advance and see how the room will be set up. This may mean you will need to make time to come to the room on a day prior to your presentation or to show up early on the same day to familiarize yourself with the room and technology.

Types of Presentations

With the technology available today, it is likely that you will be a part of a meeting that has virtual participants. Many meetings will still be conducted fully in person with all participants in the same room, but it is becoming more common for meetings to be either fully virtual or hybrid, with some in-person participants and some online participants. Your preparation for such a meeting can vary based on the type of presentation you will be giving. Most of our discussion so far has been centered on fully in-person presentations with the speaker and the audience in the same physical space. If you will be part of a meeting where some or all will be participating virtually, there are other items to consider.

Preparing a Google Slides Collection for Presentation

Add Transitions

When presenting, strive to strike a balance between the information that the slideshow conveys and the way it conveys that information. Your goal is to hold the audience’s attention, while not adding so many special effects that you end up distracting them. Transitions are key to achieving this balance.

Tools Menu

The Tools menu in Slides includes many features for fine-tuning your slides. Here you will find tools for proofing, accessibility, linking objects, and much more ([link]).

Insert Audio and Video

Adding sound to your Slides presentation is another way to engage your audience. You can insert any audio file, as long as they are in MP3 or WAV format. First, navigate to the Insert menu and click on Audio. Google lets you choose where to search for audio files: My Drive, Shared with me, or Recent. When you find the file you want, click on Select. An audio icon will come up with a play bar, which will show you the position in the track and its length ([link]). Remember, the icon has to be selected to view the play bar.

Collaboration Tools

As with any Google product, Slides makes it easy to collaborate with others. At any point when you wish to share your work with others, click on the Share button in the upper right corner. Alternatively, you can click on File and then choose Share, which is the first option in the File menu. Clicking Share first brings up a window asking you for a title. You can enter a title or click on Skip this step. Then you will see a window called Share with People and Groups, where you can add the names of people with whom you wish to share the presentation. This window should look familiar to you, as it is the same sharing window that appears in Docs. You have the usual options available to you: you can email your presentation to other individuals or groups (the first option in the window) or get a link to the presentation that you can also email to others or post online (the second option). You can also restrict or permit the actions of editors and change the options that you allow to viewers and commenters via the settings icon in the top right corner.

Content Management Systems and Social Media in Business

Chapter Scenario

What Are Content Management Systems?

What Is Content Management?

To understand content and its management, revisit WorldCorp’s volunteer work with Happy Tails. Since the adoption agency is newly formed, it needs help developing its brand, or organizational identity, as well as an online presence to publicize both the company and the pets available for adoption. This will require the development, distribution, and updating of a variety of multimedia content, including new branding (images, color schemes, logos, and slogans). There will be some design work involved, and we will cover some principles of design a bit later in the chapter. But for now, your teams will need to think broadly about all the aspects of creating and managing content for this small, startup organization.

Benefits of Using a Content Management System

There are several advantages to using a CMS in any organization. One advantage is the ability to update the public frequently on organizational news. For example, Happy Tails WC might want to be able to keep blog posts as new pets become available for adoption and to have the blog posts match the social media post for each pet. [link] shows an example of a site that uses blogs. (You will often see Latin text on template websites. It’s to show that you can put whatever text you want there.) You will see that what may seem like a simple task actually involves many steps that need to be documented and managed. This is where a CMS comes in.

Types of Content

Various types of content can be managed through a CMS, including web, mobile, enterprise, and social media, as [link] displays. Each plays a different role in creating the overall image of an organization and managing the content that is available online.

Primary Features of Content Management Systems

Here, we will identify the primary features of CMS and their uses. These features and uses correspond to different parts of the content management lifecycle discussed earlier in the chapter (see [link]). A major benefit of many content management systems is that they contain different features that allow their users to control every part of the content management lifecycle.

Common Content Management Systems

What Is Web 2.0?

The internet has changed over time with advances in technology. The first version of the internet, Web 1.0, included little interactive capability beyond searching, and was used more as a hub of information. Most websites were fairly static, with few graphics (see [link]). Web 1.0 only allowed users to read the information that was distributed by publishers and webmasters.

Types of Content Management Systems

There are three main types of CMS: open-source, proprietary, and enterprise ([link]). An open-source CMS, such as Drupal or WordPress, is maintained by a community of developers, as opposed to a corporation or company. The source code is available to the public and can be modified to meet the needs of the individual or group using the platform. Although the system is open and free to use, there may be fees associated with additional services needed to run the system, such as hosting, support, or added features. Open-source platforms are a good choice for businesses on a tight budget, including start-ups, nonprofits, and companies with only a few employees.

Creating Content with a Content Management System

What Is WordPress?

WordPress is an open-source CMS that allows hosting and building for websites. Whether you are looking to build a business, blog, portfolio, or online store, it is a website platform for getting started. Without any knowledge of coding, you can use its features and functions, such as plugins and templates, to customize any website. For example, you can download WordPress e-commerce plug-ins to build an online store on your website. With WordPress, you can create many different types of websites, such as websites for business, portfolios, forums, blogs, events, and more. Once you are set up with a WordPress account, you can manage your website from any location.

Business Site Considerations

About 40 percent of internet websites, including small businesses, are developed using the WordPress platform. WordPress offers features that can accommodate businesses of many different sizes and types, and we have included it here because it is free and easy to use. But regardless of the platform you use to develop a website—even if you hire a firm to do this for you—there are important considerations to examine. First and foremost, how will the website be used? Will the site be used for e-commerce? Is the site used primarily to share information? Is the company counting on the website to increase its market share through interactive elements to build a customer base? The site should be in line with the company image and brand, as well as reflect the company’s goals. Having a discussion about how the website will be integrated into the business is a key step in the design process. This process often starts with choosing a unique domain name, like “Happy Tails WC,” that expresses what your business is or does.

Search Engine Optimization

What Are Search Engines?

Search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, and Bing are web-based tools that use an algorithm, which is a program used by a search engine to arrange pages in order from the most relevant to the least. Algorithms generate search results based on user inquiries. In effect, a search engine acts as a personal researcher to help the user locate relevant web pages or results based on the word, phrase, or sentence typed into the search bar. Unlike a browser, whose sole purpose is to display a web page, a search engine is a locator tool. Search engines “crawl” or explore the billions of pages that are available on the internet. Using different search engines to search for the same topic or industry could yield different results because they might handle keywords differently or have different ranking algorithms. However, because Google has more than 90 percent of the market share, many websites tend to focus on SEO for Google, ignoring other search engines that are much less widely used.

What Is Search Engine Optimization?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a digital marketing strategy that business owners or individuals can apply to their websites and web pages to increase the value and volume of traffic from different search engines. Search engines sort results from different websites to show the public relevant information based on keywords. Pages are ranked using an algorithm to help improve search results. A web page with more relevant links will rank at the top of the list. PageRank is an algorithm used to help business owners promote online visibility by increasing the number of internet search results for a website. To optimize search results, business owners should update their information regularly and use relevant keywords within their web pages. Keywords will be based on company products and services they offer. There are companies that will analyze and provide SEO data for your website. [link] shows just one example of how the data be summarized.

Optimizing Your Site for Search Engines

Here are some steps you can take to optimize your website for search engines:

Social Media in Business

Why Is Social Media Important to a Business?

Using social media is an essential component of any business marketing strategy. By providing access to customers’ feedback and interactions, social media platforms help businesses stay in tune with customers, increase brand awareness, and boost their potential leads. Customers can use social media channels to ask questions about products and services. By listening to customer feedback and analyzing the data provided by social media, companies can improve their customer service and increase revenue.

Maintaining Audience Engagement

Creating original content for social media is called content creation. In the content management lifecycle covered earlier in this chapter, content creation is part of both the organization and creation stages. In the organization stage, you should determine which content will be on which platforms (e.g., website versus X (Twitter)). Then, in the creation stage, you will create the content specific to that platform, with the understanding that not all content is equally appropriate for all platforms. For example, the way adoptable pets are highlighted on the Happy Tails WC website can differ from how the pets are showcased on Instagram. To create engaging content, you will need to understand your topic and listen to your audience. If the content is valuable to your audience, they will be more likely to reshare it.

Social Media Analytics

Businesses should ensure that their marketing efforts are producing measurable results that align with the company’s goals and strategies. Businesses can use social media analytics to collect data from different social channels—including information on demographics, behaviors, favorites, and the like—and measure performance and drive business decisions.

Working with Spreadsheets

Chapter Scenario

Microsoft Excel Basics

Common Uses of Spreadsheets

Excel is a spreadsheet software application type that has rows and columns in a grid pattern. A cell is the intersection of a row and a column, and it looks like a rectangle. You can enter data into the cells to design tables and graphs and perform data analysis. A workbook is a file that contains at least one worksheet, which is a tab within a workbook where you can input data and design tables and graphs that use the data ([link]). The terms *worksheet* and *spreadsheet* are interchangeable, but Excel uses the *worksheet* terminology.

Basic Features

The most salient Excel feature is the arrangement of cells in columns and rows. The appearance of Excel is similar to graph paper. You can easily customize the width or height to fit words or numbers in the cells. To navigate through the cells in the spreadsheet, you can click on the cell and then use the Enter or Return key to move down to the next row, use the Tab key to move to the next column, or use the arrows on your keyboard to move around the worksheet.

The Ribbon

As you recall from Essentials of Software Applications for Business, Excel’s interface includes a ribbon of commands, grouped into categories that are similar across Microsoft Office programs. The Home tab for Excel ([link]a) has commands such as conditional formatting and inserting/deleting columns or cells. The Insert tab ([link]b) includes inserting a chart or equation, which is not included on the Insert tab of other programs such as Microsoft Word. The Formulas ([link]c) and Data ([link]d) tabs are specific to Excel. These tabs include commands for analyzing data in various ways.

Creating Worksheets and Navigating Existing Files

Now that you understand how to navigate a worksheet, let’s see how to apply this skill. Suppose you need to build sales figures of different retail store locations. Each location will have its own worksheet, and then you’ll add one more sheet to total the sales figures and make a comparison using a table. [link]a gives the data for location X. You will need to use the copy-and-paste method to use this table to make the table for location Y. In the copy-and-paste method, copy text or objects by typing Ctrl+C (or right-click to Copy or use the Clipboard command group on the Home tab), and then typing Ctrl+V to paste the text or object in the new area. To use this procedure in this workbook, follow these steps:

Printing Worksheets

Excel offers two options for printing: either printing each worksheet separately or printing the whole workbook. To do either, first go to the File tab, and then click on Print ([link]). The default is to print only the currently opened worksheet, so we’ll do that first. Choose the number of copies you want for this page, then choose the correct printer. There are other options for printing, include changing the size of the paper, changing vertical or horizontal orientation of the paper, adjusting the margins, and regulating the scaling (i.e., zooming in or not while printing). Once you have chosen your settings, click on the Print icon, and Sheet 1 will come out of the printer. Different printers might have different options for you to choose from.

Text and Numbers in Microsoft Excel

Data Fundamentals

For the purpose of spreadsheet programs, data can be textual (such as a product description) or numerical (such as a price per unit), and it represents what an organization has determined is valuable. If you decide to compare the prices of oranges at different grocery stores, then you are researching and creating data. You can write your data on paper, but a more efficient and common method today for capturing and storing data is with computers. Data is collected primarily to use later in data analysis, a scientific discipline that uses mathematical and statistical tools to measure trends. For example, a company could track the sales trends of three locations over the span of a few months. Watching the data could reveal slumps in sales, which could trigger the company to introduce a corrective action.

Entering and Formatting Numeric Data in a Worksheet Cell

The information made of numerals that Excel reads like a calculator to perform mathematical equations is called numeric data. There are many purposes of numerical values in spreadsheets. The numbers can represent quantities, currency, dates, time stamps, percentages, and more. [link] summarizes the numerical values Excel uses.

Using the Text and General Cell Formats

When your worksheet uses text data, which is information made up of words, letters, numerals, or a combination of those things, you can use the General or the Text cell format. For example, say you have salespersons’ names in Text format, and item descriptions in the General format. In a blank worksheet, you can enter your data using the default General format, and Excel will automatically format it according to the type of data you’re entering. For example, if you type a date in a cell formatted as General, Excel will identify it as a date and reformat it accordingly. If Excel detects a number or text, it will remain in the General format. General formatting is flexible and can accommodate numbers or text. Because Excel may automatically change the format of your cell contents if you leave the format as General, consider formatting all numbers as Number or Accounting, as appropriate.

Page Layout and Review Tabs

The Page Layout tab ([link]) lets the user control the page setup for printing, such as the paper size, the vertical or horizontal orientation, and the print margins. It also contains the settings for arranging graphical objects on a worksheet. One of the most useful commands here is the Breaks drop-down menu, where you can insert page breaks, just like in Microsoft Word, so that when you print your worksheet, the page breaks occur where you want them to.

Calculations and Basic Formulas in Microsoft Excel

Setting Up Basic Formulas

Now that you have learned how to set up a table or spreadsheet, you can perform calculations on the data. First, select the cell where you want the calculation to appear. Use the Formula Bar located below the ribbon to type in the formula or function, starting with the “=” sign ([link]).

Adding Numbers

You have learned the two ways to add quantities in Excel: formulas and functions. We can use WorldCorp’s sales data to illustrate how to add numbers. [link]a contains a set of sales data, with a row at the bottom for the total of all the sales but with the total amount missing. To fill in this empty cell, first, type “=” to open the calculation procedure. Then, click on the first cell you want to add, type a “+” sign, then click on the next cell in the column. Continue this process until all the cells you want to add are included. [link]b shows the finished formula that includes all the cells in the columns. Notice that Excel adds colors to the cells to help you follow the formulas.

Subtracting Numbers

Understanding how to add numbers in Excel makes subtracting them rather intuitive. If you wanted to subtract many cells in a column, you could type out a long subtraction equation, starting with the equals sign and using cell references and the hyphen key, for example, “=F3-F4-F5-F6-F7-F8-F9-F10-F11.” Using a new set of data, you can see in [link] that the margin is the price minus the cost. You can carry this formula down the rows in the same column.

Multiplying Numbers

With multiplication, formulas and functions start getting more complicated. Sometimes, you may need to multiply the values of two or more cells, and other times, you may need to multiply a cell value by a constant value such as a percentage. One may be more efficient than the other, depending on the data. In [link], the price per unit is the same for every row, so you can use cell references to multiply the quantity cell by the price-per-unit cell. Because this table contains only one product, the unit price does not change, and it can be tedious to enter the same price for each sale. You can enter the price per unit in the first row and then click and drag the value to the bottom of your table. Another method would be to simplify your table by eliminating the price-per-unit column and including the value in the formula [link]. Condensing a table in this manner is helpful, especially if you have a large table of data. To construct a multiplication formula, start with an equals sign and use an asterisk (\*) as the mathematical operator.

Dividing Numbers

Division calculations use the operator “/” and follow a similar syntax as other basic mathematical formulas. [link]a shows an example of division for determining increases or decreases in prices of aluminum. As you can see, the gain on 1/10/2021 was 2.36 percent. Excel does have a QUOTIENT function, but it returns only whole numbers, leaving off the decimal portion of the quotient ([link]b). It may be useful for some situations, but formulas provide more exact answers.

Formatting and Templates in Microsoft Excel

Formatting Cells

We’ve discussed formatting cells according to their contents, such as number, percentage, or text, but formatting extends to the visual presentation of a worksheet. In this context, formatting involves applying colors, font types, and borders to cells for styling purposes. It can make a presentation more visually appealing or distinct from other presentations. Another important reason for formatting is to increase the readability and comprehension of data. Formatting can be applied to text and numbers, to cell backgrounds, or to cell borders. It is important to remember that sometimes additional formatting may not be necessary. The goal is to have a professional presentation of the information. Too much formatting such as bright colors or distracting fonts does not enhance the presentation of the information. It is advisable to stick to simple formatting that is not distracting and is in line with company standards for your corporation.

Working with Columns and Rows

The label added to tables at the top of a column or to the left of a row to make the data understandable is called a header. You’ve already learned to type words at the top of a column and format cells so that the headers look different from the rest of the table. Fonts can be bolded or centered, and background colors or shading applied. You can also freeze columns and rows so that the viewer of the document can see the header even if the document extends beyond the screen. Hiding rows and columns can also be useful for reducing the size of a worksheet.

Conditional Formatting

All of the formatting you have learned about so far has involved manually configuring individual cells or groups of cells. Excel has additional formatting features that can save you the time of manual formatting. One of these features, conditional formatting, analyzes the cell contents and applies certain preset designs or layouts based on the content. One example is to change the color of the font if the data is above or below a certain threshold ([link]). Conditional formatting is not turned on by default, so you will need to apply and customize it. Click on the drop-down menu next to Conditional Formatting on the Home tab and choose the formatting you want to use. You can set up the parameters using the dialog box shown in [link]a. [link]b shows another example of conditional formatting: highlighting the top ten FOB \$ values.

Working with Templates

As in the other Office applications, Excel has built-in and online templates. Microsoft has their own online templates for Office, but many other websites offer free Excel templates. Templates are blank, formatted workbooks that you populate with your own data. Microsoft provides some built-in templates. [link] shows the selection of a sales report, which has five sheets. This sales report has an order ledger, called “Sales Data,” with the product name, customer code, and quarterly sales figures. The template comes with a few lines of generic data. The other sheets use the data you enter on the first sheet. The second sheet uses the sales data but organizes it by product. The third sheet organizes the same data by customer. The fourth sheet filters the data to show the top 10 products, and the fifth sheet filters the data to show the top 10 customers. You should be able to find a similar template in your version of Excel, but there are many other sales reports templates available. The template library is frequently updated by Microsoft, so the versions you see might look a bit different than what we have shown here. The functionality will be similar, but the colors and the layout could vary.

Google Sheets Basics

Common Uses and Basic Features

Sheets serves the same basic purposes as Excel and can be used for most of the same purposes that any spreadsheet could serve. Google Workspace is a web-based service and does not have desktop versions like Microsoft Office. Because of this, there are some limitations to the functionality of Sheets compared with Excel. To access Sheets, you need to have internet access and a Gmail account.

The Toolbar Overview

Sheets does not have any ribbon tabs like Excel. Instead, the toolbar is composed of menus and commands. The menu options are similar to those you see in Excel in the ribbon tabs. The menus are as follows: File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Data, Tools, and Extensions. To view the contents in the menu, simply hover over the menu title with your cursor. The File and Edit menus are similar to those for Google Docs, as covered in Essentials of Google Workspace. The View menu gives the user the ability to freeze and group cells together. Inserting and deleting cells can be accessed in the Insert menu. The data and text can be formatted using the commands contained in the Format menu. The Data menu includes commands similar to the Data tab in Excel that are useful for analyzing data in a spreadsheet. The Tools menu is like the Review tab in Excel with spelling and grammar checking commands. Advanced features are in the Extensions menu.

Creating Sheets

[link] shows a finished sales report, much like an Excel worksheet. As in Excel, when you open Sheets, there is only one worksheet, called “Sheet1.” To add another sheet, you can click on the plus sign at the bottom left. This will add another sheet called “Sheet2.” Let’s walk through the steps to create this table in Sheets. Let’s assume that you have handwritten invoices of a set of orders, and you want to enter these invoices in Excel or Sheets. The receipt-block pads are customized with a unique receipt number, your company logo, contact data, and other business information. These were popular before small and medium businesses started to use computerized receipts, yet you may still see these handwritten receipts sometimes. In such a case, after the sale has occurred, you need to input the data into Excel or Sheets.

Navigating Existing Sheets

To open existing sheets, you start from Google Drive. Sign into your Drive account, then browse through your files to look for the existing workbooks. Double-click on an existing Sheets file, and it will open in a new browser tab. [link] shows several files in Google Drive. You will need to recognize the icon for Sheets to know which are workbooks. The icon for Sheets is green. Sheets can also open Excel files. To browse for the saved Excel files not found in your Google Drive, choose Upload.

Printing Sheets

The process for printing worksheets in Sheets is the same as it is in Excel. Choose Print from the File menu ([link]a). The dialog box that opens ([link]b) lets you choose the print settings, such as page setup, range of pages to print, and zoom level, just like in Excel. The Print dialog box allows you to adjust the margins and add page breaks to make sure the spreadsheet prints as you would like. To adjust the margins, choose the Margins menu from the right side of the display. To add page breaks, choose Set Custom Page Breaks and move the lines to the desired location for the page breaks. Then, choose Confirm Breaks in the upper-right corner. You can also choose to print the active worksheet or the whole workbook. The whole workbook choice is shown in [link]b. When you click Next, Sheets will generate a preview of the file you are printing. Typically, your printer is listed as the default destination for printing. Choose the down arrow to choose your printer if it is not automatically listed. You can also generate a .pdf file, which you can save and then download from the browser into your computer. You can then open the .pdf file in Adobe Acrobat or any other .pdf viewer, such as Microsoft Edge, and print it there.

Text and Numbers in Google Sheets

Using the Copy-and-Paste and Insert Functions

Before learning to design and build a table from a blank worksheet, you need to understand how to use formatting from an existing table, as with Excel. Say a table to be copied to a new blank worksheet. Follow the same basic procedure as with Excel. First, select the table ([link]), then choose Copy from the Edit menu or press Ctrl+C on the keyboard. Next, go to the new worksheet and choose Paste from the Edit menu or press Ctrl+V. There will be are a few minor differences between your new table and the original. For example, the column widths of the original were adjusted to their contents, whereas in the pasted table, all columns have the same width. To adjust the widths, you can double-click on the edges of the header row between two columns you want to adjust.

Working with Numeric and Text Data in a Sheets Cell

Copying the formatting from an existing table is helpful, but it is not always an option. In some cases, you will need to create a table from scratch. The first step is to establish the headers in the first row ([link]a). Based on the headers, you can then choose the most appropriate format for the data ([link]b).

Using Numeric and Text Data to Create Basic Graphs

To create a chart or graph in Sheets, the process is slightly different from Excel. First, select the data as you would do when creating a graph or chart in Excel. Then, go to the Insert menu and choose Chart. The chart will appear on the screen in the spreadsheet you have created. Google will analyze the type of data and choose the chart that seems appropriate for the data you have selected. The Chart Editor window will appear to the right. Here, you can adjust the type of chart you want to use and customize the chart with titles and other formatting options. Use the sales report created in [link]b to make a graph that compares the FOB \$ to the Date. In other words, it will show the amount of money traded on each day. Sheets analyzes the data before creating the graph and will manipulate the data to be chronological, if necessary. It will also use its built-in artificial intelligence to choose the type of graph most appropriate for the data. You can override the graph type Sheets selects if there is one you feel is more appropriate. PivotTables/Charts goes into more detail about creating graphs and charts.

Page Layout and Review Menus

Sheets does not have menus that directly compare to the Page Layout and Review tabs in Excel, but it does have many of the same features. One feature Sheets does not have is Page Setup. The items in the Page Setup command group such as margins and page orientation are managed in the Print Setting in Google. Similar to the Themes command group in Excel, Sheets has a Theme option found in the Format menu ([link]). Excel’s Page Layout tab also has the Background command that allows you to choose an image for the background of your worksheet. This feature is partly available in Sheets in the Insert menu, which allows you to insert an “Image in cell” or “Image over cells” ([link]a). The result of placing an image in a cell is shown in [link]b. The inserted image (either in a cell or over cells) sits on top of the information in the cells, unlike in Excel, where the image is in the background. The other functions, like moving an object forward or backward, adding gridlines, or scaling settings, are partly available in Sheets. You can insert objects such as Google Draw files, Google Forms, charts, and images into the worksheets, but moving them around may be more cumbersome and less robust compared with Excel.

Calculations and Basic Formulas in Google Sheets

Adding Numbers

Adding numbers in Sheets uses the same commands and formulas as Excel does. Here, you will compare orders from two clients, Client A and Client B, who ordered the same product—headphones—but at different times and in different quantities. [link] is a snapshot of these orders, showing the two clients’ order history in two different tables.

Subtracting Numbers

One way to use subtraction in data analysis is to determine how far an order is above or below the average order. This information can tell us which clients might need more attention to increase their orders or to analyze ordering patterns due to seasonality. To perform this calculation, we will measure the distance from the average. First, find the average, which is the total sales divided by the number of orders. Using the data in [link], insert two columns after Quantity for the average quantity and distance from average and insert two more columns after FOB \$ for the average FOB \$ and distance from average. Then, find the average for each of these and repeat the value in all cells in that column. Then, to find the distance from average, subtract the average from the individual order, for both Quantity and FOB \$. [link] shows the average columns and the formula for finding the distance from average. Then, apply the formula to all rows ([link]). Repeat the process for the distance from average for FOB \$ ([link]). In these statistical analyses, you can see that there are some large orders that make the average high, which in turn makes many smaller orders have a negative distance from average and makes them seem even smaller by comparison.

Multiplying Numbers

As in Excel, when using the multiplication formula in Sheets, you can multiply a cell reference by a constant or a cell reference by a cell reference. Using the same dataset, you can find the FOB \$ by multiplying the quantity by the price per unit. [link]a shows multiplication of the cell reference from the Quantity column by the constant price per unit without adding a column for the value. A Price per Unit column is added and the constant in the formula is replaced with the cell reference ([link]b). You can repeat the calculation for all rows, as previously illustrated.

Dividing Numbers

Dividing numbers using formulas in Sheets is also the same as in Excel. You can use the same sales data to find the proportion of sales of each client compared with the total. Start with the data from [link], organized by month. Add a column for the total sales for each month and one for the proportion, and then add a formula to calculate the total sales for clients A and B for each month ([link]).

Formatting and Templates in Google Sheets

Formatting Cells

Sheets has the same functionality for formatting cells as Excel does. For example, you can use contrasting color combinations to make text easier to read. The main difference in formatting cells between Sheets and Excel is the location of the tools.

Designing Column and Row Headers

You have learned how to change the font, font color, background color, and width for header styling. Header text can be bolded and centered to make them easier to read, and background colors can be applied and changed. [link] shows the formatting applied to cell B2 in the header. The font is bold and the text is centered.

Conditional Formatting

Conditional formatting allows us to apply preset formatting to data that meets certain criteria. You can find the conditional formatting feature in Sheets on the Format menu ([link]). First, select the cells to format, and then choose the conditional formatting feature. A sidebar opens where you can set up the conditional formatting. In this example, the conditions are set so that Sheets will highlight in the default color any cells in the range G2:G11 that have values greater than 999. The table updates instantly ([link]).

Working with Templates

Sheets offers many templates on the Welcome screen ([link]). If you do not find what you are looking for in this screen, you can search for other online templates, but you have to use certain criteria. You need to use the Google search engine, and type “X template site:https://docs.google.com.” For example, if you are looking for business budget reports, you would type “business budget report template site:https://docs.google.com.” Searching in this manner will give you results from other Google Docs users’ Google Drive accounts, meaning that they are sharing their templates with other users and they are available for use and not protected or restricted. This also means that the templates have been formatted for Sheets and not for Excel. In some cases, importing Excel files into Sheets can alter the formatting.

Advanced Excel Formulas, Functions, and Techniques

Chapter Scenario

Data Tables and Ranges

Differentiating Between a Spreadsheet and a Data Table

Spreadsheets have a wide variety of applications and can be used for accounting, budgeting, data collection and analysis, and operations efficiency. Spreadsheets are used in all departments of corporations, such as marketing or operations. These departments can use spreadsheets in a variety of ways, such as compiling information from market studies, or performing statistical analysis on operations from the manufacturing plant.

The Advantages of a Data Table

The advantages of Data Tables are many. One of their most important advantages is their ability to automate scenario-building. Another advantage is increased accuracy due to less manual entry of data. If you were to create a scenario from a blank workbook, you would need to build out the formulas initially and then copy them through the desired levels of the inputs. This increases the possibility of user error caused by inputting values or formulas incorrectly. By using the Data Table feature, all that work is done automatically—and quickly. Data Tables allow users to view all the levels of inputs in a single table without inputting multiple formulas.

Creating a Data Table from Data in a Spreadsheet

To facilitate the process of comparing various interest rates on the annual payment, you can create a Data Table. To do so, the information must be arranged on the spreadsheet in a specific way. First, make a list in a column of the interest rates being examined. The order doesn’t matter to Excel, but it makes the data easier to analyze if you put them in numerical order, either lowest rate to highest or vice versa. In the next column to the right and one row above, use the PMT function to calculate the payment at the current rate (recall, you used 6.5 percent), as shown in [link].

Defining, Selecting, and Naming a Cell Range

A cell range is a selection of rows or columns of cells that is given a name to make it easier for the worksheet designer to find that specific group of cells later. It can include a group of cells that are next to each other or separated across the worksheet or workbook. Defining a cell range is especially useful when designing a large Excel worksheet with a substantial amount of data, or when interconnecting datasets or different spreadsheets. Naming a range of cells is referred to in Excel as defining a range. You can define a range in three different ways.

Differentiating Between a Cell Range and an Array

An array is similar to a cell range in that it is a collection of data in ranges of cells, but arrays do not have to be contiguous (right next to each other). Arrays can contain text or numbers and can span multiple rows and columns if needed. The array can be a collection of cells that consists of unrelated elements, whereas cell ranges have a start and finish and are made of elements related to each other. Arrays also are different from data ranges in that they can work creatively to simultaneously calculate different computations at the same time. An array can replace many standard formulas and make simple computations more efficient. The array formula performs multiple calculations on several values, so using arrays and array formulas can save users time.

More About Formulas

Complex Formulas

As calculations grow in complexity, they require the use of several operators, such as +, –, /, \*, and ^, in the same formula. This is the basic definition of a complex formula, a formula that uses several operators to calculate an output. One important aspect of complex formulas is that Excel will automatically calculate them in a specific order. When first working with complex formulas, it can be helpful to write out the formula on paper first. To input formulas into Excel, use parentheses to separate the different mathematical functions. Multiple parentheses might be needed when working with complex and long formulas. For example, to add cells A1 and B1 and then divide by cell C1, it would look like $\frac{A1+B1}{C1}$
 if you wrote out the formula. In Excel, the formula is one single line: =(A1+B1)/C1. Another strategy when dealing with complex formulas is to break down the formula into parts. To break down the previous example, you would do the addition part of the equation in one cell, and then in the next cell, do the division. Excel employs a color-coding system in complex formulas to help you follow the math, as shown in [link].

Insert Function Tool

Recall, the Formula Bar is located right above the lettered columns, right beneath the ribbon. The Formula Bar can be used for double-checking that what you typed in the cell was what you intended, or for editing the relative cell references of a copied cell. However, there is another feature in the Formula Bar using the Insert Function tool, which is essentially an assistant to help users build formulas. It contains the whole roster of Excel functions, categorized by discipline (e.g., engineering, financial, math and trigonometry, statistical), so users can explore and search for functions. Insert Function is activated by clicking on the “ƒ*x*” icon that you see in the Formula Bar, or by going to the Formulas tab, and selecting Insert Function. The Function Library command group on the Formulas tab also shows formulas grouped by category.

Cell References in Formulas

In Defining, Selecting, and Naming a Cell Range, you learned about cell references and how to define a range of cells. Now, we will expand this into Excel’s cell reference notation and learn how to use relative, absolute, and mixed cell references.

Comparison Operators

The Excel comparison operators are the same as the inequality symbols used in math. These are: < (less than), > (greater than), $\ge$ or >= (greater than or equal to), $\le$ or <= (less than or equal to), = (equal to), and <> (not equal to). Comparison operators can be used for comparing numbers. Comparison operators are valuable because of their use in the IF functions. With the IF function (or similar functions like SUMIF, COUNTIF, etc.), comparison operators can automatically search for important information. More will be covered about these functions in Logical Functions.

Arrays in Formulas

Array formulas can save time when used for basic or intermediate calculations (recall saving the time of adding an extra column in [link]). But more importantly, array formulas are used for higher-level calculations that may involve statistical and financial analysis, such as figuring out maximums and minimums of a certain product (similar to MINIF and MAXIF functions) or summing certain X or Y rows/columns (similar to SUMIF). In short, most array applications can be done in other ways in Excel, but using arrays allows you to do multiple calculations at the same time.

Using Arithmetic, Statistical, and Logical Functions

Arithmetic and Statistical Functions

Functions used in basic math, or arithmetic functions, help users to add, multiply, find averages, and perform other types of mathematical operations. You have already learned how to use basic math functions, but there are others that will be very useful in basic data analysis, such as financial functions and statistical functions.

Logical Functions

Typically, logical functions are long formulas with embedded logical tests and often use comparison operators to search for delimited data. They compare two values in your worksheet and return one result if the comparison is true and a different result if the comparison is false. These logical functions are powerful tools for allocating and sourcing large amounts of data.

PivotTables

Definition and Uses

Excel has various ways to store data and various tools that aid in data intelligence queries. You’ve learned the purpose of using What-If Data Tables, naming ranges, using comparison operators and writing statistical and logical functions—all of which can be combined with arrays (or other tools) to make interactive and automated tables. Excel has an even quicker way to make relational tables and automated business intelligence: PivotTables.

Organizing and Cleaning Your Data

Let’s return to the example of shipped products from WorldCorp’s Portland, Maine, location. PivotTables can be used to aggregate values and create an actionable market analysis and business intelligence for the company.

Inserting a PivotTable and Rearranging Variables

To create a PivotTable, go to the Insert tab, choose the PivotTable icon located on the far left, select the entire dataset, and output to New Worksheet. (Alternatively, you may name your data ranges, as instructed in Defining, Selecting, and Naming a Cell Range, and simply select the named ranges for your data.) The Field List will activate and ask which columns to display, as shown in [link]. Select the headers (variables) in the order that you want the PivotTable to display them. In the WorldCorp example, to see the quantity each client is buying, select Destination, then Quantity, and then FOB \$. As shown in [link], the PivotTable neatly displays the data, with interactive features allowing the user to select different pieces of information as variables.

Using the Recommended PivotTable Tool

If you are unsure how to organize a PivotTable for your data, Excel can recommend one depending on how the data is organized. Let’s see what using a recommended PivotTable might look like.

Adding a PivotChart to Visually Present Data

Excel has a feature that allows you to create a PivotChart to visually present the data in your PivotTable. The first step is to select the entire PivotTable, which causes the ribbon tab “PivotTable Analyze” to appear. Next, select the PivotChart icon. You will use a small dataset from [link] to create a chart of the information. More in-depth coverage of PivotTables is in PivotTables/Charts. [link] shows the original data and [link] shows the data summarized in a PivotTable by sales agent. To create a chart of the data summarized in the PivotTable, choose PivotChart from the PivotTable Analyze tab.

Auditing Formulas and Fixing Errors

Reasons to Audit Formulas

As a business grows, its activities grow in complexity, requiring higher-level and concurrent data analyses. As a result, managers build large Excel workbooks to handle these business operations, designing spreadsheets with a wide selection of formulas, functions, PivotTables, arrays, data ranges, What-If Data Tables, and other Excel data exploration tools. Each of these tools requires user input, which makes them inevitably subject to user error. The process of using Excel tools to monitor and fix errors in worksheets is called auditing formulas.

Identifying Errors in Worksheets and Tables

There are many ways to check for errors in your workbook. These include tracing precedent functions, tracing dependent functions, showing the formula, and automated checking of errors. When tracing precedent or dependent functions, you are finding the relationships between cells.

Identifying the Cells Involved in a Formula

Excel makes it easy to find cells that meet certain criteria. For example, Excel can highlight all cells in a worksheet that contain formulas. To do this, select a cell ([link]) and go to the Find and Select icon on the Home tab, then choose Go To Special ([link]a). Next, select Formulas, then click OK ([link]b). All the cells that contain formulas will be selected (highlighted) in that worksheet.

Choosing and Implementing Formula Auditing Options

Let’s look at an example to practice identifying errors and choosing and implementing the correct ways to fix those errors. Using the WorldCorp loan installment example, suppose that the loan the company settled on has a 5.5 percent interest rate, resulting in a payment of \$99,500.83 per year in interest and principal. Therefore, the total cost of the increase in capacity for the manufacturing plant will be \$995,008.27. Cell F4 now has precedents and dependents, as shown in the arrows in [link].

Advanced Formatting Techniques

Custom Formats for Appearance

The tables and datasets you’ve been working with were finished versions, with color, font, table size, and background set. Here, you’ll create these tables step-by-step with themes and other style elements.

Custom Formats for Content

Custom formats for content allow users to design a format for data contained in cells. For example, you can use custom formatting to set a format type for how your purchase order numbers are input into your company’s system, or to change how dates are displayed. This feature is different from merely changing a cell’s format such as the decimal points displayed or how months are abbreviated. Instead, the custom format can be saved as a format that is then widely applied to worksheets. You can create a format from scratch, but it is easier to use one of the built-in formats and adjust if necessary. You can customize most aspects of the formatting—from spacing, to displayed decimals, to font color.

Copy Formatting

Copying the format of a given cell is one of the most used commands in Microsoft Office because it is available not only in Excel, but in all other Office applications. The Format Painter command lets a user copy a certain range’s formatting and apply it to a new range by selecting the cell with the desired format to be copied, and then selecting the Format Painter icon on the Home tab. Format Painter can be used to transfer the formatting from one cell or a whole table to another cell or table. The Format Painter tool is the paintbrush icon on the Home tab in the Clipboard command group. To use the tool, first select the cell or cells that have the formatting you want to apply to other cells. [link] shows the selected cells E1 to G7. Then, click on the paintbrush icon on the Home tab. As you do, your cursor will change to a paintbrush. With that paintbrush, select the range of cells to which you want to apply the formatting. In this example, those cells are A1 to C7. The unformatted table will then be formatted in the same manner as the formatted table. The result is apparent in [link]. The only step left is adjusting the columns by clicking on the border of each column on top.

Advanced Excel Spreadsheets: Statistical and Data Analysis

Chapter Scenario

Understanding Data, Data Validation, and Data Tables

What Is Data?

To analyze data, let’s examine the various forms that data can take and how to collect and organize it. In essence, data consists of facts or information that can be used for reference, performance monitoring, and/or analysis. For example, data can be collected about online purchasing habits to monitor the market share performance of select brands. A business can then analyze the data to reveal trends such as the purchasing habits of certain demographic groups.

What Is Data Validation?

Data validation is another technique that can be used to verify data. In essence, data validation is the process of ensuring that the data values fall within a predetermined range. For example, if you know that there are only fifteen sales agents at WorldCorp, you can use data validation to make sure that the values assigned to various sales transactions in the monthly sales data spreadsheet are only whole numbers from 1 through 15. Data validation can also be used to ensure that product codes for the HDTVs sold by WorldCorp are accurately entered into the spreadsheet.

The Process and Techniques of Data Validation

Data validation techniques can be used to ensure that quality information is being used in decision making. Errors can occur when inputting data into the spreadsheet. Data can be entered in the cell incorrectly, data can be accidently duplicated, or numbers can be transposed. Through data validation, many of these common errors can be identified and then the user can correct those errors as appropriate. Data validation can also be used as a part of ongoing process improvement efforts in conjunction with benchmarks from key competitors or industry values. The tools available in Excel for data validation help ensure that your data has as few errors as possible and check business performance against internal standards or competitors.

Organizing and Presenting Data

A benefit of using Excel to organize data is the wide variety of formatting choices available for presenting the information in a professional manner. Remember the basic formatting concepts you learned in Working with Spreadsheets. Organizing the data in a table format with headers, colors, and other formatting options makes the information visually appealing and often makes it easier to understand. This is especially important when dealing with a large spreadsheet of information. When formatting data in your spreadsheet, there are a few settings that will allow you to present the data in a more professional way:

Statistical Functions

Basic Statistical Functions

There are several commonly used statistical functions that can give you a basic summary and understanding of the information in your spreadsheet. You can access the functions through the Formulas tab. From this tab, you can either choose Insert Function on the far left of the tab or use the grouped functions in the Function Library ([link]). The Function Library is helpful if you are not quite sure of the appropriate function for your needs. The functions are organized by application (e.g., financial) and include the ones that are most commonly used.

Other Useful Functions

There are several other functions available that are not specifically statistical functions, but they can be quite useful when dealing with large datasets or with text. Some of these were covered in Advanced Excel Formulas, Functions, and Techniques. These functions can help you manage and sort datasets of any size. [link] summarizes some useful functions for data analysis.

Data Analysis Tools Add-in

Excel has many advanced data analysis tools available. These include a wide variety of simple and more complex statistical functions that are available as individual functions in Excel, but it is easier to access the tools through the add-in called Data Analysis. This add-in puts all the statistical tools together in one place. As this section discusses these tools, it will keep the focus on using the tools within Excel and not on statistical techniques, their assumptions, and usage for data analysis. (You can learn more about those topics in a statistics course or resource.) Some of the most commonly used built-in tools include Correlation, Descriptive Statistics, Histogram, and Regression. Additional advanced tools include Analysis of variance (ANOVA), and several tools for testing hypothesis, including the F-Test, t-Test, and z-Test.

The Solver Add-in

The Solver add-in offers additional ways to analyze a dataset. This section will just cover the basics, but you can research the tool further if you want to know more about Solver and its uses for data analysis. Solver appears with Data Analysis on the Data tab ([link]).

What-If Analysis

Using Scenario Manager

The Scenario Manager tool in Excel provides a way to look quantitatively at contingency planning. It allows the user to change attributes without altering live data to examine the resulting impact on key variables. You can change up to 32 cells and view the results of those changes all at the same time. This feature can be quite helpful for contingency planning. For example, you might already have metrics that identify the best- and worst-case scenarios for sales. Using this range and the Scenario Manager tool, you can look at the impact to the overall profit picture for the business. You could also use the tool for planning your personal finances. You could investigate the impact of increasing your monthly mortgage payment on the time it will take you to pay off the loan. The tool can be instrumental in helping a business navigate multiple courses of action to determine the best approach moving forward. You can also merge the scenarios from a single or multiple worksheets together for more in-depth analysis.

Using Goal Seek

Goal Seek is another tool in the What-If Analysis group. It is like Solver but restricted to a single input variable. The Goal Seek tool allows you to select a target cell and value for that cell by changing another cell that contains a formula. For example, Goal Seek could determine how much money you need to set aside to reach your retirement fund goal. It could also determine the mortgage interest rate needed to keep a monthly payment within your budget. In a small business, this tool can help when considering a purchase of equipment or property for the business. In this case, the duration and the total amount of the loan are typically known. Goal Seek can investigate financing options to get the monthly installment payment within budget. Conversely, Goal Seek can determine how much in total a person or business can afford for a loan based on a set interest rate and length of the loan.

PivotTables/Charts

Insert Timeline

The Insert Timeline feature for a PivotTable allows you to quickly filter information based on a date field. You must have a field formatted as a date to use the Insert Timeline tool. Using the first four tabs in the Chapter 11 data file workbook ("timeline1," "timeline2," "timeline3," and "timeline4"), you can create a PivotTable using the skills learned in Advanced Excel Formulas, Functions, and Techniques. The PivotTable summarizes the enrollment English Index Score (EN Index Score) for various majors at a university over several years ([link]). You can use this data to see if there have been changes in the score over time. The Insert Timeline feature on the PivotTable Analyze tab allows you to add a date filter to the table.

Insert Slicer

A slicer is a visual, interactive way to filter data in a PivotTable. When a PivotTable has slicers available, you can filter the data by clicking on buttons in the slicer as opposed to using the filter options in the column headings of a PivotTable. They are particularly useful when there are multiple users of a PivotTable who need to view the information that is relevant to their needs. You can add slicers through the PivotTable Analyze tab in the Filter command group.

Calculated Field

The Calculated Field tool allows you to add columns of calculations to your PivotTable. The Calculated Field tool is accessed through the Fields, Items, & Sets menu on the PivotTable Analyze tab ([link]).

List Formulas

If there are multiple users of a data file, it can be important to ensure everyone is aware of the calculations behind the columns. This will assist the users in understanding the dataset and the information contained within. The List Formulas option in the Fields, Items, & Sets menu creates a separate tab that lists all the formulas (calculated fields) used in a PivotTable ([link]). This option is accessed when you are in the PivotTable in the PivotTable Analyze tab. Then, go to Field, Items, & Sets to get to List Formulas. It is good practice to include this with all data files that have multiple calculated fields. The list is not dynamic. If you create additional fields after the list is created, you will need to delete the original list and create a new one.

Data Analysis Charts

Clustered Column Chart

A clustered column chart is simply a column chart that includes multiple variables to show the comparison between the groups. A column chart compares one variable against another variable. For example, you might put the sales region on the horizontal axis and the total sales on the vertical axis. A clustered column would have that, but it would include the same data for multiple years of data. The clustered column chart is great for showing comparisons ([link]). Using the WorldCorp data, you can create a clustered column chart to see the comparisons between the quantity sold for each product type over time. A drawback of the clustered column chart is that it is not appropriate for large amounts of data. If you have more than five sets of data, the chart can look too busy and overwhelm your audience. The clustered column chart also works better with a 2D display rather than a 3D display. The 3D display can look too busy and can make it difficult to interpret the information easily.

Combination Chart

A combination chart combines two different chart types in one visual, allowing you to display data at different levels on the same chart. You can use combination charts to understand and examine comparisons between groups and the relationship between different variables. With this example, a combination chart can be created to show the FOB \$ for each month based on the quantity sold for each of the two product types. With the combination chart, you determine which chart is appropriate for each data series you are including. [link] uses a column chart for quantity sold and a line graph for FOB \$. Combination charts are often easier to interpret as 2D than as 3D. Consider using contrasting colors to make the plotted series more visible.

Stacked Column Chart

The stacked column chart compares data like the clustered column chart but displays it in a different format. It shows the relationship between groups using the same scales. Instead of the columns being next to each other, the data is stacked, one series on top of the other, in a single column. A stacked column chart can be used to show part-to-whole relationships. Using contrasting colors will help make the distinction between the groups more visible. Using one of the 3D options for displaying a stacked column chart can give it a professional appearance that is easy to interpret ([link]). This stacked column chart shows WorldCorp’s sales agents’ FOB \$ during a three-week period.

Bar Chart

A bar chart is a horizontal column chart. It is sometimes used to communicate complex datasets and can be easier to interpret in certain situations. Bar charts are effective for displaying negative and positive numbers together. They also work well for charts with long text labels along the *y*-axis because the labels are more readable when placed horizontally ([link]). You can create clustered and stacked bar charts to display multiple series in a single chart. Use a simple layout and contrasting colors for the most professional look. Like a clustered column chart, bar charts work best with smaller datasets. Too many bars on the chart can make it unreadable. Use a bar chart when you have ten or fewer categories to display. You can use WorldCorp data to construct a bar chart of the volume sold for four different sizes of televisions.

Line Chart

A line chart is used to show changes over time. It is appropriate for trend analysis and graphing continuous datasets. Line charts are not appropriate for categorical data. Be careful of the scaling of the axis so as to not overemphasize or deemphasize the trend in either the vertical or horizontal directions. Keep the chart to four lines or fewer for the most effective presentation of the material, and use thicker, solid lines rather than thin lines or dotted/dashed lines. Be sure to include a legend if you are plotting more than one series of data ([link]). Also consider including data markers on the lines to make interpretation clearer. The 3D line chart is difficult to interpret even with a single line; the 2D line chart presents data more clearly. You can examine the changes in sales for Home Stereo Systems at WorldCorp for the month of March with a line chart. Adding gridlines or data labels can help your audience quickly see values at certain points in time.

Scatter Chart

A scatter chart or scatter plot shows the relationship between two variables. It is often used as part of a regression analysis, and it easily shows the direction of the slope of the line ([link]). A positive slope indicates a positive correlation between the variables, and a negative slope indicates a negative correlation. A positive slope is when the two variables move in the same direction. The chart of data will have a line that moves from the lower-left to the upper-right corner. A negative slope means the variables move in opposite directions. The chart of a negative slope will start in the upper-left corner and move down toward the lower-right corner of the chart. If the chart is relatively flat, meaning a near 0 slope, then there is little relationship between the two variables. The scatter plot for FOB \$ versus Quantity Sold show a slight positive (upward) trend in the data.

Histogram

A histogram represents a single variable at various levels/ranges for that variable. With a histogram, a dataset is condensed into categories for a quick analysis of the distribution of the data ([link]). It is the visual representation of a histogram table. Histograms can represent discrete or continuous data, such as the distribution of customers. They are used frequently for a quick assessment of a dataset and to visually convey large datasets in an easy-to-understand format. They readily show outliers or gaps in information. The process of creating histograms was covered in more detail in Histograms.

Stock Chart

Stock charts are used to represent market data to show the highs and lows for stocks. They can also be used in quality control to show the range of data on a certain day or shift for a production process. To create a stock chart, you will need a date or time reference and the high values and low values for that date or time. The horizontal axis will be the span of time and the vertical axis will be dollars, in the case of a stock market chart. It could be another measure if you are using the stock chart for quality control purposes ([link]).

Chart Template

If you are creating the same type of chart on a regular basis, creating a chart template will save time. You can save features, themes, colors, and formats as a template that you can use with other data files. To begin, create the chart as you would normally create it. Add the desired customization to the chart. This could include formatting the chart with company colors or including the company logo as a watermark in the chart. When you are finished, right-click on the chart you just created and formatted ([link]). Choose Save As Template. You will then be prompted to enter a name for the chart template you just created ([link]). Consider a name for the template that will help identify the template’s use. Make sure the type is listed as Chart Template Files. Input a name and click Save.

Quick Analysis Tool

The Quick Analysis tool provides a shortcut to analyzing a dataset with a group of options located in one place for ease of use. You can use these options to add formatting, to automatically insert totals and subtotals, or to add sparklines to your Data Table. There are three ways to access the Quick Analysis tool. If you highlight the Data Table you are interested in analyzing, the Quick Analysis tool icon will appear in the lower right of the selection ([link]). You can also use Ctrl+Q or right-click on a cell inside the dataset and select Quick Analysis from the menu that appears.

Using Excel in Accounting and Financial Reporting

Chapter Scenario

Basic Accounting

What Is Accounting?

The process of organizing, analyzing, and communicating financial information that is used for decision making is accounting. Financial information is typically prepared by accountants—those trained in the specific techniques and practices of the profession. However, a solid understanding of how financial information is prepared and used can serve as a useful resource for many people in their workplace.

Financial and Managerial Accounting

Accounting is divided into two main areas: financial and managerial. In essence, financial accounting measures the financial performance of an organization using standard conventions to prepare and distribute financial reports. Financial accounting is used to generate information for stakeholders *outside* of an organization, such as investors, loan officers, and governmental entities, such as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

How Accounting Information Is Created and Used

Organizations measure financial performance in monetary terms. In the United States, the dollar is used as the standard measurement basis. Measuring financial performance in monetary terms allows managers to compare the organization’s performance to previous periods, to expectations, and to other organizations or industry standards. Accounting information is created by an accounting system and can be downloaded into Excel for further analysis.

Financial Functions in Microsoft Excel

Applications of Financial Functions

Financial functions are used for calculating a diverse set of common key performance indicators in a business, or for predicting the value of money through time. The time value of money theory states that money loses value as time passes. It is a simple concept that is ingrained in every business decision because it is important for a business to use financial instruments and investments to increase the value of their savings or idle cash. One way you can see this theory in practice is in the steady increase in the sales prices of goods over time.

Common Financial Functions in Practice

You were introduced to the Excel function PMT in The Advantages of a Data Table for determining the monthly (or yearly, daily, or quarterly) payment of an investment or loan. There are other important variables involved in the financial functions related to the time value of money theory, which can help a business determine profitability. This section will focus on an annual payment rather than a monthly payment. But keep in mind, many loans require monthly payments and the variables in the function will need to be adjusted accordingly.

Integrating Microsoft Excel and Accounting Programs

Pros and Cons of Using Excel for Accounting

Accounting principles are not programmed into Excel, so it does not perform automatic calculations or create documents in the same way accounting suites do. Accounting suites are designed specifically for accounting and bookkeeping, whereas Excel is a spreadsheet program that has broader uses than accounting, such as calculating mathematical equations using functions and formulas, building tables, and performing data analysis. You can use Excel as a tool for deeper analysis and comparison of decision alternatives by importing the information from the accounting-specific software programs. It can be used for analyzing any data in numerous disciplines, such as science, humanities, social sciences, and sports. It can create charts and graphs, which makes it easy to share information and collaborate using OneDrive or SharePoint, and thus it is very useful for managerial accounting.

Integrating Excel and QuickBooks

You have learned different situations in which a company may want to analyze accounting data in Excel, but you have also learned that Excel should not be used alone for a company’s bookkeeping. Accounting suites allow for easy data export for analysis in Excel. For accounting in small- to medium-sized businesses, over two-thirds of the market has been held by Intuit’s QuickBooks for many decades. QuickBooks is easy to use for most people comfortable with technology and data, and to use it, you don’t have to be an accountant. You create a chart of accounts when you first install the software or sign up online and feed it with daily invoices and expenses. Once it’s set up, it automatically forms your financial statements in real time. The application can generate tax-related reports such as the annual business tax filings or sales tax for submitting to government agencies.

Understanding and Using Databases

Chapter Scenario

What Is a Database?

The Role of Databases in an Organization

Databases drive nearly all business functions in organizations throughout the world. Any business that uses the internet has a digital platform or foundational technology that is built on databases. A digital platform is a place where users can interact with and explore the products and services offered by a company. Digital platforms often come in the form of an app, website, or social media. The term *database* is ubiquitous in organizations, where you can assume that every function and every employee or customer are interacting with many databases.

Relational Database Management Systems

The power in a digital database comes from the ability to connect data from one area to another. A relational database management system (RDBMS) is software that houses, manages, accesses, and retrieves data in its database. The term *relational* refers to the way that data links together by creating relationships between the tables that hold the data itself. In this way, relational databases can hold much more information that is complex and yet easily accessible.

Objects and Relationships

Objects and relationships are key concepts in a database. Objects are the items that make up a database, including tables, queries, forms, and reports. Relationships link objects together in the database, as [link] illustrates, which in turn improves the performance of the database itself.

Applications of RDBMS

Databases offer unique functionality that goes beyond the calculations and statistics provided by other programs such as Excel. This is because of the RDBMS functionality. A relational database provides structure for data, includes relationships that connect pieces of data in meaningful ways, and allows controlled access through queries, forms, and reports. Because of this advanced functionality, RDBMSs are used in a variety of use cases across multiple industries.

Microsoft Access: Main Features and Navigation

What Is Access?

Access is a RDBMS that can import and manipulate data from other systems on your desktop computer. While data science professionals work directly with the data warehouse and can create queries using programming languages such as R and Python, individuals who need to analyze data as part of their jobs within a department often find Access to be a user-friendly software package that has the power to access, retrieve, and report data using a Microsoft interface. Access also integrates well with Microsoft Excel, providing even more analytical and reporting power that can inform decision-making.

Features of Access

Access is a cost-effective database solution. It runs on a desktop computer and provides an easy-to-use interface that is familiar to users of other Microsoft software. Access interacts well with Excel for deeper analysis, with Word for reporting, and with PowerPoint for presentations. It can work with data from external sources, such as a data warehouse, or with exported files from the web and other systems.

Closing Databases

In Access, only one database can be open at a time. As you work, all on-screen commands will focus on this open database, and you will need to close the database itself to end your working session. When you are ready to close the database, Access will either save objects automatically or prompt you to save objects before closing. In general, Access will automatically save records when you are done with them (i.e., when you leave the row) but will prompt you to save changes to objects, such as tables and queries, so you can decide whether you want to save them.

Querying a Database

Understanding Queries

Queries allow you to ask questions of a database or take an action within a database. To write a query, you need to know the question you want to answer. For example, you might need a listing of all products sold over the past quarter, a list of equipment that needs to be inspected, or a list of products in the company’s inventory. Once you establish what you want to know, you can then write a query that will ask the database to share the correct information.

Building and Creating Queries

WorldCorp needs to quickly gather data related to sales records of their new health-care product in the market of Southeast Asia. Although you could design a query to gather relevant information from scratch, Access has a convenient wizard that can help you design a suitable query. Wizards are small programs that run within Access to help you set up the objects in your database. A wizard will prompt you to add the information you need. For example, the Query Wizard will ask questions that will help you decide what table (or tables) you want to work with, the fields you will use, and how you will display the output. Once you have created a query with the wizard, you can modify it however you like.

Using Tables in Queries

The query grid will open with a blank gray area, a blank table across the bottom of your screen, and a window in which you can add tables. To add a table to the screen to work with it, double-click the table name or click and drag it into the gray area ([link]).

Maintaining Records in a Database

Reviewing Records in a Database

It is possible to view records in database tables but be sure to not change the records.

Constructing New Records

Databases are historical in that they record past details about an organization, but they also need to be updated as time goes on. There are a variety of ways to update a database, including both manual and automated updates. Most of the time, when you use Access, you will import a dataset or file from another system, such as the organization’s data warehouse.

Editing or Deleting an Existing Record

Once you locate the record you want to update, you can edit it. To edit a record:

Creating Reports in Microsoft Access

Using Reports in a Database

Reports are a cornerstone for business decisions. We can generate reports within a database for a specific request, and we can also set up reports to provide summaries and information that we will need on an ongoing basis. Access enables us to set up reports (e.g., a financial, sales, or summary report) that we can then access as necessary for decision-making. Companies routinely run reports on key performance indicators (KPIs) that show an organization’s effectiveness, efficiency, quality, economics, project performance, resource use, and personnel and workforce performance. Companies also routinely look at revenue, profit, and customer and employee satisfaction. Because tables filled with data do not adequately describe KPIs, businesses rely on reports as part of their evidence-based decision-making.

Creating and Editing Reports with the Report Wizard

WorldCorp is interested in creating a summary of their recent sales data for their latest product line. The report should include useful information such as which products have the highest total sales, which products have the highest net profit, and which customers are purchasing the most products. WorldCorp could create this report from a blank canvas, but it would be much easier to generate a report using the Report Wizard. This is a small program that will walk you through the steps of setting up a report, which you can then modify to meet your needs.

Customizing Reports

Although Access does a nice job of starting a report, you will likely want to modify reports before using them. Following are some of the changes you may want to make:

Creating Forms in Microsoft Access

Using Forms in a Database

Forms are objects that are positioned between the data and the individual user. When individuals work with a database using forms, they do not see the table structure with thousands or hundreds of thousands of records. Instead, they see only a specific view designed to make the data accessible and useful for them. Forms are typically bound to the database, which means that the fields within the forms are the same fields as in the database, and any changes in either the form or the table are reflected in the other.

Creating and Editing Forms with the Form Wizard

You have several options for creating forms in Access. You can use the Form Wizard, which walks you through the steps to set up a simple form. Alternatively, you can use a preset form, or you can work entirely in Design View, where you have complete control over your layout and contents. Each method has its benefits, and many people use a variety of techniques (e.g., starting with the Wizard or another type of form, then customizing your form in Layout or Design View).

Customizing Forms

In both the Layout View and the Design View, you can customize elements of the forms to meet your needed. This goes beyond simply adding, reordering, or removing fields from your form. You can change the size of the field and the caption that the users see for that field. In the Design View, you can change the size of the fields by simply clicking on the field box and resizing the box. To change the caption for the field, double-click on the text in the field, and the Property Sheet screen will appear on the right side of the screen. Conversely, you can simply click on the Property Sheet tool in the Tools command group on the Form Design tab to change the captions. Through the Property Sheet tool, you can also adjust items such as the font, color, background color, and border of the fields in the form. You can adjust these settings for each field independently. This means that one field could have different settings than another field. More is covered about the Property Sheet options in the following section.

Advanced Database Use

Chapter Scenario

Advanced Queries in Microsoft Access

Queries with Multiple Criteria

A query criterion is a kind of formula used in Access to filter the records based on values in fields of interest to determine whether to include the record in your query results. Criteria may take the form of a number, full or partial text, or any combination of data points within a table, such as “Red” or “=>5”. You can include criteria for each field, as shown in [link]. Only items that match all the criteria you enter will appear in the query results.

Using Operators and Expressions

As you develop an inventory system for WorldCorp’s future retail locations, inventory becomes tied with POS (point of sale) systems. The actual sales amount for each inventory item has not been calculated yet. Taxes, discounts, and price corrections all have to be considered for a total. Expressions become an important element to know and understand.

Designing Queries to Run Actions

Now that you know how to build a query, let’s look at the different types of queries in Access. There are five types of queries, each with a unique function and use: (1) select queries, (2) action queries, (3) parameter queries, (4) crosstab queries, and (5) SQL (structured query language) queries.

Multiple Table Forms

Adding Data from Two Tables in a Single Form

If you want to add data across multiple tables in one form, this could help with efficiency when managing a fleet of vehicles at WorldCorp. Primarily, it can speed data entry while maintaining the organization of tables, fields, and records.

Using Subforms

A subform is a form that is inserted in another form (known as the main form). A form/subform combination may be referred to as a hierarchical form, a master/detail form, or a parent/child form. Subforms are generally used whenever you want to display data from multiple tables where there is a one-to-many relationship.

Customizing Forms

Building a Custom Form

In general, using the Form Wizard will be the quickest and most efficient way to create a custom form. We covered how to do that in Understanding and Using Databases. Here, however, we will walk through the steps of building a form from scratch, in Design View, to demonstrate all of the possibilities. Start by selecting the Query Design option under the Create tab in Access, and you will create a blank form in which you can start working. [link] shows the Detail section that appears when you create a blank form.

Adding Controls to a Form

A form control is the part of a form that is used to enter, edit, or display data. Remember that controls can be bound, unbound, or calculated. In Understanding and Using Databases, we covered how to use the Control Wizard to walk you through adding controls to your form. Here, we will go into more detail about the different types of controls you can add, and how to add them without the wizard.

Changing the Appearance of a Form

This section discusses changes that make a form easier to use and more appealing overall, and that will allow for personalization of the project, including company branding.

Customizing Reports

Building a Custom Report

The Report Wizard does provide a quick and efficient way to create reports. At times, however, you will need to make a report from scratch. Understanding the section types enables you to use them to their fullest potential.

Modifying a Report

There are several tools and views that you can use to create, format, and customize reports. The different views allow you to see and preview your report in different ways, each of which may be useful to you at times. We reviewed these different views and some of these tools in Understanding and Using Databases, but here, we will go into more depth.

Changing the Appearance of a Report

In Understanding and Using Databases, we briefly covered how to add images and custom text to your report. Here, we will go into detail about further customizing the appearance of your report.

Using Macros

Creating and Recording Macros

Macros can make tasks that you routinely perform in Access quicker through automation. Macros are built using computer coding language to perform specific tasks such as running reports, printing forms, or copying data from one table into another table.

Recording a Macro to Automate Common Tasks

Recording a macro to automate tasks in Access is a common way to save time and increase productivity. When you record a macro in Access, you essentially create a set of instructions that Access can use to automatically perform a sequence of tasks.

Recording a Macro to Enhance Database Functions

By customizing your database with macros, you can create a system for accomplishing many similar operations easily and efficiently. Two common applications for macros are displaying message boxes and validating data:

Understanding Macro Code

[link]a shows how to add code to an event procedure. Although there is a steep learning curve for understanding the syntax, its applications are unlimited. In this example, we want to create a message box that will appear when a user opens the form. The code is written out just below the comments (shown in green in [link]b) that were added. Whenever you add new code, either directly or by using a macro, be sure to include a comment. If there is a problem or a future need for a change, comments can help clarify what the code was designed to accomplish.

Data Analysis and Integration

Integrating Data from Outside Sources

Data stored outside the current database is called external data. External data may be data that you store in another Access database, or it may be data that you store in a multitude of other file formats. The first step in bringing outside data from Excel or other applications is to prepare the external data. An administrator may need to create an account and provide permissions to ensure that the right people have access to the data and that the data does not end up in the wrong hands. (For example, employees’ confidential information must be kept absolutely confidential.) In an external database, the administrator may also want to create specific tables, views, queries, and so on to limit the results to only what is needed.

Exporting Data

To export data from Access, first select the table or other database object to export in the Navigation Pane. Click the External Data tab in the ribbon, and then click the button in the Export button group for the file format to which you want to export the object. This will open the Export Wizard for the type of export you want to perform.

Building a Dashboard with Navigation Forms

Dashboards provide a visual interface for users to interact with when using forms. The Dashboard provides a listing of buttons that direct the user to specific forms or reports. The first thing you see on opening many Access databases is a dashboard, a form populated with navigation forms that will be accessed through clicking on the specific command button. Using these provides the means for the user to navigate the database, opening forms, reports, and so on. The key for the user is a way to navigate. Traditionally, a dashboard is a graphical interface that allows a quick view of visualized data, as shown in [link]. In Access, however, we can build a dashboard from a form that will let us easily run queries and pull up reports. This section will demonstrate how to upgrade a Main Menu form that has only buttons and labels into a full dashboard of information for your company to use.

Integrating Applications

Chapter Scenario

Microsoft 365: Collaboration and Integration

Collaboration in Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 (more commonly known by its former longtime name, Microsoft Office) gives users the ability to collaborate on almost any platform. You can access and often edit files on a wide variety of devices through the downloaded apps. Organizations rely on collaborating to achieve their goals. This, of course, will vary by industry and type of organization, but most would agree that working with others both within and outside of the business occurs on a regular, if not daily, basis.

Integration in Microsoft 365

When applications that serve different purposes work together in a seamless, functional way, this is called integration. One key feature of Office that fosters integration across applications is the common user interface. Each application has a similar format and structure. When you open Microsoft Word, for example, you will notice many of the same functions and tabs that you will see in Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Outlook. Additionally, the keyboard shortcuts are common among the Microsoft applications. As an example, Ctrl+C (Command+C for Mac) is the keyboard shortcut for “copy,” and this shortcut works in all Office (and Google) applications. This commonality between functions, tools, and tabs allows users to easily switch between applications.

Linking and Embedding Objects

Information from any of the Microsoft programs can be integrated into another program in a few ways. With integration, you are putting information from one file type into another file type. In previous Excel chapters, you learned how to copy a table and paste that into Word or PowerPoint. Copying and pasting information allows you to include the information in your Word or PowerPoint file, but as a static version of the object. This means that if you changed the information in Excel, it would not be changed in the Word or PowerPoint file. To update the table in your other file, you would need to copy and paste the table again. This simple process may be acceptable in some cases, but it can be time consuming and repetitive. Other options for integrating content from another source include linking and embedding objects.

Importing a PDF File

There are a few different ways to handle importing content from a PDF file into a Word document. You can copy and paste the text from within the PDF, try to convert the PDF by opening it with Word, or insert the PDF into your document as an object.

Microsoft Word: Integration with Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Access

Integrating Microsoft Word Documents into Microsoft Excel Worksheets

The previous section provided a general overview of linking and embedding in Microsoft. Now we look specifically at the process for linking and embedding Word files into Excel worksheets. Keep in mind that Excel is a spreadsheet program. It is not designed to handle large amounts of text. It is a good idea to spend a little time thinking through the best approach before you try to integrate a lengthy Word document into an Excel workbook.

Integrating Microsoft Excel Worksheets into Microsoft Word Documents

Now we look at integrating an Excel file into Word. This is quite common in organizations when preparing summary reports that include data. Excel is used to summarize, analyze, and prepare visuals such as charts of the data. Word is then used to provide some textual context and additional information. We follow steps similar to those that have previously been discussed for integrating Excel worksheets into Word documents.

Inserting Microsoft Excel Charts into Microsoft Word Documents

To integrate charts into Word documents, you simply follow the same procedure as outlined previously for inserting objects. Here, we are looking at ways to directly integrate the two file types rather than simply copying and pasting the information from one to the other. The concepts in this chapter are particularly useful when collaborating with others on workbooks or documents. Multiple users can make changes to either file, or those with access to files will see those changes in real time.

Embed Microsoft Access Data into Microsoft Word Documents

The process for importing data from Access is similar to what we just did with Excel. You can use the classic copy and paste, or you can choose Paste Special options. You can also add exported data from Access to Word. Because Access files can be very lengthy databases, it may not always make sense to integrate them with Word files. In some cases, however, you may want to integrate these files. For example, you may want to integrate an Access database into a Word document to make it easier to print customer lists or product sales in a full document. You also may want to use portions of a database to create mailing labels or product summary cards for sales personnel.

Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint Integration

Add Microsoft Word Documents to Microsoft PowerPoint Slides

Many of the techniques you have learned in this and previous chapters on Word and PowerPoint can be applied when integrating Word and PowerPoint. When integrating the two applications, just as with other integrations, consider first whether linking or embedding is the best option. Use embedding if you can be assured the source document will not change and that you will not need access to the source files. Choose linking if you expect updates and want to be able to access the source document if needed.

Integrate Microsoft PowerPoint Slides into Microsoft Word Documents

Suppose you decide that you would like to provide access to the PowerPoint slides for those who cannot attend the in-person monthly sales meeting. However, you do not want to send multiple files. Instead, you want to integrate the presentation into the Monthly Report you already prepared.

Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint Integration

Add Microsoft PowerPoint Slides to Microsoft Excel Worksheets

The accounting department at WorldCorp has prepared a summary of recent transactions and saved that information in an Excel file. They also created a short PowerPoint presentation to explain the data and analysis. A formal meeting will not be held, but the department felt that including the presentation as part of the spreadsheet would be helpful when distributing the information to other departments. The presentation and Excel files have been created, but now we need to integrate the presentation into the Excel file so that it can be distributed to others.

Incorporate Microsoft Excel Worksheets into Microsoft PowerPoint Slides

Recall that you can use copy and paste to insert individual tables or charts into slides. Here we discuss going a bit further than simply copying and pasting. We are integrating the entire Excel file or specific parts of the Excel file into another application. We do this by either linking or embedding.

Integrate Microsoft Excel Charts into Microsoft PowerPoint Slides

Integrating Excel charts into PowerPoint slides is similar to the process of selecting and integrating parts of a table. You will use the Copy, then Paste Special approach to either link or embed charts into the PowerPoint slideshow. Returning to our example slideshow, let’s embed the Marginal Profit donut chart in the PowerPoint file. First go to the Excel file and select the chart you wish to integrate. Then copy the chart using one of the two approaches for copying information: right-click, then copy; or select Copy from the Home tab. Determine the placement of the chart in the PowerPoint slide. Then, from the Home tab, select Paste, then Paste Special.

Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Access Integration

Creating Microsoft Access Tables from Microsoft Excel Worksheets

You may find that Access tables are created from existing information. The existing information can be from other software programs, a customer database, or information from an accounting software program. When you want to create an Access table from an Excel file, you need to import that Excel information into Access.

Create Microsoft Excel Worksheets from Microsoft Access Tables

You can also export information from an Access table into an Excel worksheet. This can be useful when you would like to do further data analysis with the information stored in your database, or if you would like to share some database information with an external stakeholder.

Integrating Data from Other Programs into Google Workspace

Integrating Data from Google Sheets into a Google Doc

There are two ways to import Google Sheets tables into Google Docs. The first option is copy and paste, similar to the process we used in Excel and Word. To do this, go to the table you want to copy in Sheets and select the cells that are contained in it, as seen in [link]. Press Ctrl+C (Command+C on Mac) on the keyboard to copy it or use another copy method. Then go to the Docs file, place the cursor where you want the table to be pasted, and paste using Ctrl+V or another paste method. Immediately after pressing these keys, a Paste Table dialog box will appear, as seen in [link], asking you if you want to link the table or paste a static table.

Integrating Data from Microsoft Programs into a Google Program

To add data from Microsoft 365 (Office) apps to your Google Workspace programs, simply upload the files to Google Drive. Then you have the choice of keeping them as .docx (Word) or .xlsx (Excel) files or converting them to .gdocx (Google Doc) or .gxlsx (Google Sheets), respectively. To convert Microsoft files to Google files, you must open the document and manually choose to save it as a Google Doc or Sheet. When choosing this option, you may have to adjust some of the formatting of your Doc or Sheets, but generally, this is a straightforward approach to bringing files from Microsoft programs into Google.

New Developments: The Role of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence in Applications

A number of programs have AI embedded in their applications, a feature that is expected to increase as AI technology advances. AI has also been integrated into search engines such as Bing and Microsoft Edge. Both Microsoft and Google have introduced AI into their applications. Microsoft is incorporating AI into all of its Microsoft 365 applications, including Outlook. This product, called Copilot, will provide enhanced abilities to summarize documents, add animations to slides in PowerPoint, and create stories in Word. As of this writing, Copilot is still in the developmental stage with a small group of test users. It is being marketed as a tool to improve employee efficiency by automating time-consuming tasks such as composing or reading long emails or summarizing datasets in Excel.

Generative AI

Generative AI is a type of computer programming and machine learning technology that builds and generates content itself. The computer is “trained” using complex programming that searches the internet for relevant information. Then, based on the information found, the program can generate new content such as text or audio.

Mastering Workplace Software Skills: A Project

The Company

The company you are working with is called Lewis Enterprises (LE). LE is a U.S. regional company that was established fifteen years ago and has recently been bought by WorldCorp. LE specializes in computer software and hardware for small independent pharmacies. The company serves the Midwest region and has a strong customer base of independent pharmacies. They have had steady growth over the past several years. Each year, management in the company provides a summary of the company’s performance over the last three years and distributes it to all employees. This summary includes a document with accompanying discussion of the results as well as a presentation. The presentation is generally given during the company’s annual meeting that most employees attend. However, not all employees are able to attend the in-person meeting. The report and presentation must be done in a way that is accessible for employees who receive the information in other ways, including by video, electronically, and even as paper copies of the information.

The Assignment

What you are being asked to prepare is an internal annual report prepared for employees of the company, rather than for distribution to the public. Generally, internal annual reports tend to be less formal than annual reports prepared for stockholders and the public. The general purpose of an internal annual report is to help managers and employees understand how well the organization performed over the previous year or set of years, including successes, failures, and areas that need improvement. Internal annual reports are also critical tools for providing information needed for decision-making and forecasting. Keep this purpose in mind, and ensure that the report is prepared in a way that meets this purpose.