If you create a lot of workbooks with the same layout and design, saving a workbook with the common elements (and no data) takes much less time.
You can use data in other worksheets or workbooks in your formulas. You make the link by clicking the cell, which creates a 3-D reference to that cell.
When you create a link to a cell in a table's Totals row, hiding the row doesn't make the link invalid.
If you always work on a group of workbooks at the same time, create a workspace so that you can open them all at once.