Unit 42 assignment 1

Ellis Walmsley

Blackburn college

Table of ContentsP2..........................................................................................................................................................2

Multiple worksheets..........................................................................................................................2

Complex formulae.............................................................................................................................5

Large data sets...................................................................................................................................5

Cell linkage........................................................................................................................................6

List boxes/Drop-down boxes.............................................................................................................7

Data validation/Error trapping..........................................................................................................7

Cell protection...................................................................................................................................8

P3..........................................................................................................................................................9

What if analysis.................................................................................................................................9

Relative references..........................................................................................................................12

Absolute references.........................................................................................................................12

Logical functions..............................................................................................................................14

Correct operators............................................................................................................................14

Named ranges.................................................................................................................................15

User interface..................................................................................................................................16

Built-in functions.............................................................................................................................16

M1.......................................................................................................................................................17

How I improved the spreadsheet’s efficiency..................................................................................17

How I have made my spreadsheet presentable and user friendly...................................................19

Layout of sheet when printed..........................................................................................................20

How I have improved my spreadsheet through the use of conditional formatting.........................22

P2P2: Develop a complex spreadsheet model to meet particular needs

I have created a complex spreadsheet that will allow Black cherry comics to analyse the data that has been collected. The following screenshots will provide evidence that I have created this spreadsheet and will show what I have included within the spreadsheet.

Multiple worksheetsMy spreadsheet includes multiple different sheets to manage different parts of the data. I have a sheet that holds all data about the sales of the comics, another for the amount of income the sales of the comics has generated and lastly another for the expenses that had to be paid to create the comics as well as the profit of the comics.

I have included a few screenshots below of the multiple sheets that are included in my spreadsheet.

The screenshot above shows the sales sheet in my spreadsheet.

This is my expenses sheet.

This is my income sheet.

I have also linked multiple work sheets together within my spreadsheets through the use of formulas. I have shown this in the screenshot below.

This is a screenshot of the expenses page which links to the income page in order to work out the expenses per month.

Another example of where I have linked multiple work sheets together within my spreadsheet through the use of formula

Complex formulaeI have also included complex formulae to calculate the expenses of each of the comics while also linking two tables. This provides evidence of linking two spreadsheets together as well as showing that I have included complex formulae in my spreadsheet.

Large data setsI have used large data sets within my spreadsheet in all three of my sheets. The three screenshots below shows evidence that I have done this.

This is a screenshot of my expenses data, which shows the amount of costs have to go out of the publisher’s profit and into various different areas in order to keep up the production and distribution of the comics.

This is a screenshot of the sales data of my spreadsheet. This shows the amount of comics that were sold by each month.

The final screenshot is a screenshot of the income table. As you can see, this table holds all of the data regarding the amount of money the comics made each month when they were sold.

Cell linkageA great example of cell linkage in my spreadsheet is present in the Income sheet. This is with the Cover price drop down menu as the entire sheet is linked with that one cell so if you change the cover price, all of the data on the spreadsheet will change accordingly. I have shown some screenshots of this below.

The cell that I am going to change has been marked in red.

This is the table of data before I change the cover price.

This screenshot shows me changing the cover price from £2.50 to £2.25.

The next screenshots shows the table after I have changed the cover price. As you can see, the entire set of data has changed as it is linked to that specific cell.

List boxes/Drop-down boxesI have used drop-down boxes in my spreadsheet to select the Author of the comic. I have shown evidence of this below. As you can see from the screenshot, the Author of the comics is able to be selected from a drop down box clearly marked and also validated with error trapping.

Data validation/Error trappingI have used data validation in the Author column of my Income sheet within my spreadsheet as well as Error trapping. I have provided evidence of this below.

As you can see from the screenshot above, if I try enter my own name into the Author column of the table, it will reject the data and give me an alert telling me to select an author from the drop-down list that I have created for the column. This is great as it will prevent any mistyped data from being entered into the system, or an author’s name that in fact, did not write the comic.

Cell protectionI have included cell protection in my spreadsheet to protect the cells from getting accidently edited etc. I did this by locking the cells after I had entered my data into them. I have shown evidence of this below.

This prevents any data from being edited by any user and therefore increases the security of the spreadsheet by a great amount as nobody can change, for example, the sales figures for each month. As these will never change as the time has already passed, they are suitable to be locked as we will never need to edit the contents of that cell again.

P3P3: Use formulae, features and functions to process information.

What if analysis The first what-if analysis I am going to undertake is “What if the retailer was cut to 25%”. To begin this analysis, here is a screenshot of the table before any changes are made.

Now here is a screenshot after I had changed the retailer percentage to 25% instead of 30% and therefore increased the publisher (profit) percentage to 30%.

As you can see from the data in the table, there is a significantly larger amount of profit for the publisher when the expenses of the retailer are reduced. This is shown in Apr13 where the publisher profit has increased from £61,250 to £73,500. This would mean that the publisher would be making more money from the comics due to them not having to pay out as much to the retailer.

The next what-if analysis I am going to undertake is “What if the cover price decreased to £2.00”. To begin the analysis, I am going to show a screenshot of the data prior to any changes.

Here is a screenshot after I have changed the cover price to £2.00.

As you can see from the data, after I had changed the cover price I lost a lot of my income, meaning that the publisher would be making far less profit. This would be bad as the publisher is barely staying afloat on that sort of income and therefore would not be making a reasonable profit to justify continuing with the comics.

The last What if analysis that I am going to undertake is “What if the petrol costs increased by 5%?”. I am going to change the distribution costs for the comics as this is what the petrol price would affect. Here is a screenshot prior to me making any changes.

Now here is a screenshot after I have increased the distribution costs due to an increased petrol price and taken this out of the profit.

As you can see, the publishers profit has taken a huge hit and is no longer generating as much as before. In addition, the distribution costs have also increased dramatically, cutting into the profit of the publisher. The publisher is still making a great amount of profit, however not as much as before the petrol price was risen.

Relative referencesWithin my spreadsheet, I have included a variety of different formulas. I did not use the “$” in some of them, making them relative references as they change as you drag the cells across. I have shown a screenshot of one of these within my expenses spreadsheet below.

As you can see, the formula will take the value of the publishers profit and minus the license fee from the value so that we are able to get the overall profit per month after all expenses. If I was to drag the value across to the right, which I have done, it would repeat the same formula however it would change in relation to where you dragged it. For example, if I was to drag it to the right, instead of “C7-C10”, the formula would be “D7-D10” and would therefore produce a different outcome.

Absolute referencesAdditionally, within my spreadsheet I have also included a variety of different formulas that DO include the “$” function. This makes them absolute references as they are used to lock the cells so that when you drag it across, that part of the formula does not change. An example of which is shown below.

As you can see from the formula, B19 is locked in place. This is the license fee as we are calculating the license fee per month with this particular formula. The formula takes the collective costs of all licenses per month and divides it by 12, which is the amount of months in a year, to give us the license fees per month. I have included the “$” next to the B19 so that when I drag the cell across, the license cost will not change as it is something that I want to always stay the same. If I did not have the “$” then when I dragged it across the number would not be able to be calculated as there is nothing in those cells. When you put a “$” sign on a page, you are “Locking the cell”.

Logical functionsI have included logical function within my spreadsheet, specifically in the sales sheet. I implemented an IF statement within my sales sheet to show if the sales were on track to meet their targets. I have included a screenshot of this below.

The IF statement says, that if the average sales of the comic are below the target that I have set, say “Below target”. However, if the average sales of the comic are higher than the target that I have set, say “On target”. I have also applied conditional formatting to turn the cell red if the sales are below target and green if they are on target. This could be used by the users of the spreadsheet as a quick indication as to whether or not the comics are on target sales wise. This is also great for the publishers to look at as at a glance they are able to see if the comics that they are publishing are making a decent profit from the target being met or not.

Correct operatorsI have included many correct operators within my spreadsheet. One example of which is within my expenses worksheet where I have used the “-“operator in order to calculate the profit per month of the publisher. Here is a screenshot.

This formula takes the total publisher profit for the month after expenses and subtracts the license cost from that number to give you your final publisher profit.

Named rangesI have included Named ranges within all sheets in my spreadsheet. An example of where I have done this would be in the sales sheet, where I have defined all of the sales data as “FullSalesData”. I have shown a screenshot of this below, with the named range highlighted in a black box.

I have done this within my spreadsheet so that I am able to know what the data is by simply highlighting it. This is extremely useful within the spreadsheet as you are able to see exactly what you have selected in case you have forgotten by just selecting all of the data that you want and looking at the defined name.

User interfaceI have included a user interface within my spreadsheet so that the users can navigate throughout my spreadsheet easily and efficiently. I have included a screenshot below of the interface in question.

This interface allows the user’s to navigate around the spreadsheet easily and efficiently, as discussed previously. In addition to this, it gives the user a sort of “Home base” as they know that they are able to access all areas of the spreadsheet from this point and therefore will return here when they want to access another part of the spreadsheet.

Built-in functionsI have included built-in functions within my spreadsheet, particularly in the sales sheet. I have used them to represent whether or not the amount of sales being produced by the comics are reaching the targets set by the publisher by shading the cell in ether red (if the target is not being met) or green (if the target is being met). I included a “>=” (greater than or equal to) function in order to calculate if the sales number was above or below the target and therefore shade it in the correct colour. I have shown a screenshot of where I have used this within my sales sheet below.

As I said previously, this could be used by the users of the spreadsheet as a quick indication as to whether or not the comics are on target sales wise. This is also great for the publishers to look at as at a glance they are able to see if the comics that they are publishing are making a decent profit from the target being met or not.

M1M1: Refine a complex spreadsheet model by changing rules and values

How I improved the spreadsheet’s efficiencyI have improved the spreadsheet’s efficiency in a variety of different ways. One main way I have done this is through the extensive use of Macro buttons. These are mainly present within my main menu. I have included a screenshot of my main menu below.

As you can see from the screenshot, I have included three macro buttons on my menu. These buttons allow me to navigate to the different parts of the spreadsheet. In addition to this, there are macro buttons on the sheets of which the buttons link to, which allow the user to navigate back to the menu if they want to view a different sheet after they have viewed the one they wanted to previously. Continually, I have included a variety of different macro buttons on the different sheets also which do a variety of different functions. I have included a screenshot of these below.

The first two buttons that you are able to see on the spreadsheet are the “Regular view” and “Formula view” buttons. These buttons allow you to change between viewing the spreadsheet in regular view, where you are able to see the data and also the formula view, where you are able to see what is going on behind the scenes within the spreadsheet. The next button opens the menu again so that you are able to navigate around the spreadsheet. The final button prints the expenses data that is held on the sheet of which the buttons are located.

I have included buttons like these on all three of my sheets so that my spreadsheet is far more efficient and easier to navigate by the user.

How I have made my spreadsheet presentable and user friendlyI have made my spreadsheet presentable and user friendly in a variety of different ways. The first way I have done this is by applying a professional, appealing colour scheme to my spreadsheet to make my spreadsheet more presentable. I have implemented a gradient of colours to highlight the main points of the spreadsheet so the user is able to clearly see where the titles of the sheet are and also where the less important data is. I have included a screenshot to show this below.

In addition to this, I have also changed the font of the data within the sheet as well as the headings. This has made the sheet more presentable and user friendly as the font is both more attractive and easier to read than the default font. You can see this from the screenshot above. Continually, I have made the main titles at the top of the sheet bold, so that they stand out compared to the rest of the sheet. Lastly, I have created full borders on every side of the cells which have data inside so that you are able to see that the data is contained within that cell. This makes the data easier to read on the sheet.

Layout of sheet when printedI have made some adjustments to the spreadsheet when thinking about how it will be printed. One of these is that I increased the font size of the sheet from 11 to 12 so that the data is clearer to view on the spreadsheet. In addition to this, I have made it so that when the sheet is printed, it will be printed in landscape instead of portrait mode. I have done this so that when the data is printed, you are able to fit more data onto the sheet itself and therefore save paper/money. Continually, I have also made sure that the dates along the top of my sheet are not long dates such as “11 th January 2015” as this would take up too much space when the dates are being printed, instead they are being printed as “Jan15”, for example. I have also set up a header for the sheets to give them a title, as well as a footer of the sheets to show what page number you are looking at. I have shown a screenshot of this below.

Lastly, I have changed the size of the margins and the size of the page of which I am printing it onto so that the data is able to fit onto one page. This allows me to save paper and money as I do not have to use as much paper. Additionally, the data is also far easier to read if it is only on one page.I have included a screenshot of the overall print options of the sheets when I attempt to print them. From this, you are able to see the settings that I have modified in order to give my sheet the best print layout.

How I have improved my spreadsheet through the use of conditional formattingI have improved my spreadsheet through the use of conditional formatting as when we look at big sheets of data, our brain is drawn to bright colours. Due to this, I have decided to highlight specific, relevant information in bright colours so that the important data stands out from the less important data. An example of where I have done this would be with the targets in the sales page. I have included an IF statement that makes it so that if the sales figure is below a certain amount then it will appear red, similarly it will appear green if the sales figure is above a certain amount. I have shown a screenshot of this below.

I have decided to highlight this data using conditional formatting at it is important for the company to know if they are meeting their targets in terms of the sales of the comics. As you can see from the screenshots, if the value of the cell is “On target” after the IF statement has decided on the value then the cell will be filled in green, similarly if the value is “Below target” then the cell will be filled in red.

Another example of where I have used conditional formatting to present information within a different sheet is present in my expenses sheet. I have highlighted the publisher’s profit/loss cell to be highlighted green if the publisher is making profit and be highlighted red if the publisher is losing money after expenses. I have shown the rule and a screenshot of the cell below.

As you can see from the screenshot of the rule, if the number is above zero, it will appear green, meaning the publisher is making profit. If the number is below zero then the cell will appear red, showing that the publisher is not making profit.