Tips & tricks For Microsoft Excel, Power BI, SQL and more

In this article, we look at how compound annual growth rate (CAGR) as the “average speed” at which an investment or business metric grows over time, smoothing out year-to-year volatility. It walks through the manual CAGR formula— (Ending Value / Beginning Value)^(1/Years) − 1 —then demonstrates four Excel-based methods to automate the calculation: the direct formula, RRI, POWER, and RATE functions.

Build a simple Excel calculator to forecast investment growth with compound interest.

Microsoft Copilot, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and Google’s Gemini are leading AI assistants, each excelling in different environments. Copilot integrates deeply with Microsoft 365 to automate documents, data analysis, and email, while ChatGPT shines in open-ended conversation, creative writing, and flexible plugin-driven workflows. Gemini prioritises speed and factual accuracy within Google Workspace, offering powerful research and summarisation capabilities. Choosing the right tool depends on your ecosystem, need for customisation, and whether productivity, creativity, or precision is the top priority.

This quick guide helps teams choose the right IT course with confidence. It highlights the top 10 evaluation criteria - covering accreditation, instructor quality, curriculum freshness, hands-on labs, credentials, outcomes, flexibility, support, community, and level fit - and includes a printable side-by-side comparison checklist. Use it to align training with real-world tools and career ROI.

This blog explains how Excel’s LOOKUP functions—particularly XLOOKUP and VLOOKUP—can retrieve data based on multiple criteria. It walks through a step-by-step example of finding an employee’s sales in a specific region, showing both an XLOOKUP formula and a VLOOKUP alternative that uses a helper column.

In this guide, we explain variance as a measure of how widely data points deviate from the mean and shows why understanding this spread is useful for deeper insight and risk assessment. It walks readers through calculating variance in Excel, distinguishing between the VAR.S function for a sample and VAR.P for an entire population, then demonstrates each with a car-sales case study.

The article explains how businesses can quickly calculate value-added tax in Microsoft Excel using the formula =Net*(1+VAT), where the VAT rate is set with an absolute cell reference for accuracy. It walks through setting up columns for net sales, VAT rate, and gross sales; entering the formula; copying it down multiple rows; and double-checking results. Automating VAT this way streamlines invoicing, enhances financial reporting, and minimizes manual errors.

Secure your Excel files with password protection and learn the simple steps to hide individual columns while keeping your data organised. This quick guide offers practical tips to enhance file privacy and streamline your workflow. Perfect for safeguarding sensitive information without locking down the entire spreadsheet.

Learn how to calculate age from a date of birth in Excel using the DATEDIF function, plus alternatives like YEARFRAC and INT for greater precision. This step-by-step guide covers cell formatting, formula entry, and quick copying, and explains why age calculations matter for HR planning, customer insights, and resource allocation.