What You Should Know Before Reading this Book

To follow the examples in this book you do not need to be an Excel guru. Basically, the two key actions you should know how to do are the following:

• Enter a formula. You should know that formulas must begin with an equal sign (=). You should also know the basic mathematical operators. For example, you should know that an asterisk (*) is used for multiplication, a forward slash (/) is used for division and the caret key (^) is used to raise a quantity to a power.

• Work with cell references. You should know that when you copy a formula that contains a cell reference such as $A$4 (an absolute cell reference, which is created by including the dollar signs), the formula will still refer to cell $A$4 in the cells you copy it to. When you copy a formula that contains a cell reference such as $A4 (a mixed cell address) the row will remain fixed, but the column will change. Finally, when you copy a formula that contains a cell reference such as A4 (a relative cell reference), both the row and the column of the cells referenced in the formula will change.