Personal Computer Fundamentals

Personal Computer Fundamentals

Unit V Essay

Columbia Southern University

ITC 3001 Personal Computer Fundamentals

Microsoft Excel is a powerful and complex program utilized in performing complicated calculations, data analysis and presenting data sets in a visual and informative manner. The Excel program is extremely functionable and can be utilized in many ways to keep track of various data sets. Excel is used by students, businesses, institutes of learning, homeowners, etc. The Excel program consists of multiple chart styles, formulas and organizational tools that when used correctly can benefit a multitude of users. Excel is a powerful program that can benefit users at work, home and at school.

When used in business, Excel proves both powerful beneficial for tracking various assets. Businesses use Excel for such things as financial planning, production planning, employee scheduling, planning for future company growth and setting future goals for the company. There is no end to the uses that businesses have for incorporating Excel into their daily activities. Excel helps businesses stay organized and is a fast and accurate tool for business planning. An example for the use of Excel would be, a company tracking data related to employee injuries including cell formulas related to incident rate, lost time rate, and severity rate. This data could be linked to various types of charts and line graphs which would allow the leadership of the business to understand where they stand on these OHSA rates. The use of charts linked to this data would help clarify the spreadsheet numbers when discussing these items in safety meetings. Businesses could set up line charts showing the relationship of income vs. expenses. Other uses could include tracking material shipments, creating employee schedules, creating quarterly reports, etc. These types of reports allow companies to track trends, make corrections easily and predict future business-related incomes. As you can see, Excel has changed the way that companies do business and is an extremely powerful tool in any business arsenal. I am nearing the age of retirement and have been toying with the idea or starting up my own business. At the present time, I enjoy woodcarving as a hobby and consider myself a realistic wood carver. I mainly carve birds and wildlife and have the goal of turning this hobby into a small business when I retire. I plan on using Excel in this business and see so many benefits of the program. I will be able to track my hours spent on a carving so that I have a baseline for pricing my work. I can create spreadsheets related to material costs, wood inventory, carving tools inventory, etc. By utilizing the power of the Excel program, I will be able to factor the total cost of each carving and be better prepared when pricing my work at shows and competitions. My wife and I plan on traveling around the country for these opportunities to sell my carvings and will need to keep track of these travel expenses as well for income tax purposes. Lodging, gas, vehicle mileage, meals on the road, etc. Excel will make keeping track of these types of items a breeze.

When utilized in the home, Excel can keep family activities and budgets organized. Excel can be used to track finances, household projects, family schedules, hobbies, etc. Household debt can be an overwhelming task when not properly managed. Families that utilize Excel can set up a working budget spreadsheet to keep track of bills as they arrive by mail. By setting up an Excel file related to household expenses, a family can track the due date of bills, the amount(s) paid for each bill and the payoff date associated with each billing statement. Any and all household expenses can be input into the Excel spreadsheet as well as the monthly income for the household. Gas, groceries, parking, medications, etc. can be tracked and easily changed when necessary, helping families visualize exactly where they are on their payment expectations. An organized and easy to use budget will help families reach their financial goals. Excel can also be used by household members to track personal and family goals. Excel could be used to for tracking health goals and keeping everyone accountable for visiting the gym or meeting goals related to weight loss or eating habits. By creating a spreadsheet related to health goals, entering total days per week in gym or days in which we actually lost weight can be very motivational in sticking to our health plans and goals. Excel spreadsheets could be created for tracking children’s chores and responsibilities and would be a good visual reminder and aid for younger children. Many individuals struggle with more severe health problems such as diabetes and blood pressure issues. An Excel spreadsheet can be used to track blood sugar levels or blood pressure numbers to help these individuals manage these types of diseases. Charts and graphs can be created related to this data and used to help the individual better understand where they stand. These charts, graphs and the spreadsheets can be printed and taken to doctor’s appointments for discussion and review in planning future treatment options and methods.

Excel can also be a powerful tool for students who need to keep their class schedules, accumulated grades and future assignments organized. An Excel spreadsheet could be created to track homework assignments and their due dates so that, these assignments are completed and submitted on time. I personally use Excel in this way in order to stay aware of what is coming due and ensure I budget enough time to finish and submit assignments on time. I utilize another Excel spreadsheet listing my past, present and future classes so that, I can better track the completion of my degree. This spreadsheet lists the classes, their beginning and ending dates, the grade obtained as well as a cell that calculated my running G.P.A. I find this file both helpful and motivating as I mark off completed classes and grades obtained. On this same Excel spreadsheet, I track my company’s tuition reimbursement so that, I pay the least amount possible out of pocket and ensure that I am receiving my total tuition benefit from the company.

Excel is a powerful program and is useful and functional for so many organizational projects. Excel is one of my favorite and most used programs included in the Microsoft suite of office products. Once an individual begins to understand and learn the absolute power of this program, they will love the organizational value and time saving features included with Excel. It does not matter if an individual is using Excel at work, at home or at school, the multiple benefits of the program will simplify their live in a much more organized way. Personally, Excel has helped me be more efficient and effective in my position at work, with my budget at home as well as my life as a student. Excel will benefit the user by saving them valuable time and money.