Have you seen the articles that blame Excel for all kinds of business errors?

In some cases, problems occur because rows were hidden, and that distorted the data analysis.

To help avoid those problems, I created a sample file that shows an Excel hidden data warning, if rows or columns are hidden.

Remember, as the old saying goes, it's better to be safe, than to read about your catastrophic errors on the internet.

This article provides example scenarios and explains various approaches for calculating the time value of money using Microsoft Excel.

The functions discussed include FV, FVSCHEDULE, PV, NPV, PMT, RATE, and NPER.

For more information, also see Pitfalls of Excel's NPV function.

Data Validation is a very useful Excel tool. It controls what can be input into a cell, to ensure its accuracy and consistency.

In this blog post we will explore 11 useful examples of what Data Validation can do:

• Allow uppercase entries only.
• Prevent future dates.
• Creating drop down lists.
• Dependent drop down lists.
• Prevent duplicate values.
• Allow only numeric or text entries.
• Validate an entry based on another cell.
• Allow the entry of weekdays only.
• Restrict the text length.
• Entries contain specific text.
• Create meaningful error messages.

Data Validation is a useful way to provide help for users when they're filling in a data entry form.

But the Data Validation popup message covers the remaining input cells and is very distracting, especially if the form contains many cells to fill. And it cannot be dismissed.

This article describes a technique for adding help using an information icon 🛈 with hyperlink and Data Validation message.

A common problem around web forums and blogs is how to plot blank cells in Excel charts.

There is a lot of confusion about plotting of hidden and empty cells, about what constitutes a blank cell, and about various workarounds that purport to produce blank cells that will or will not be displayed in a chart.

A new feature in Excel 2016, Show #N/A as an empty cell, solves the pain and frustration experienced by generations of Excel users trying to avoid plotting what look like apparently blank cells.

Do you want to know how to make a header in Excel? Or are you wondering how to add the footer "page 1" to the current worksheet?

This tutorial will teach you how to quickly insert one of the predefined headers and footers and how to create a custom one with your own text and graphics.

Topics include:

• How to insert header in Excel.
• How to add footer in Excel.
• Insert a preset header or footer.
• Create a custom header or footer.
• How to change header and footer in Excel.
• How to close header and footer.
• How to remove header and footer in Excel.
• Excel header & footer tips and tricks.

Excel can be used to conduct a forensic audit, gathering evidence of possible fraud.

We cannot eliminate mistakes or "fudging" in financial data, however we can positively try to minimize it.

Here are five techniques that can be applied using Excel for tracing such issues:

• Identifying duplicate transactions using highlight values.
• Analyzing round numbered transactions.
• Above average payments to vendors or checking the ratio between a maximum and minimum.
• Gap detection.
• Checking ratio of the highest to the second highest number.

Excel projects of any significance are very often complicated. Documenting such projects is crucial for auditing and maintainability.

Fortunately, Microsoft provides several options for documenting Excel projects:

• Workbook name and path.
• Workbook Properties.
• Model structure.
• Titles.
• Value labels.
• Names and Structured References.
• Cell Comments.
• Text boxes.
• Data Validation.
• Hyperlinks.
• Documentation worksheets.
• External documentation.

[Note: The article also suggests using the N() function to include documentation in a formula. This is a risky practice that may result in errors. iⁿ advises not to use the N() function for documentation.]