╘HE MOST POPULAR USE FOR PERSONAL COMPUTERS IS IN WORD PROCESSING; THE SECOND MOST POPULAR IS SPREADSHEETS. ╔F YOU HAVE EVER NEEDED TO WRITE A RESUME OR ANY DOCUMENT OF IMPORTANCE, THEN YOU KNOW WHAT WORD PROCESSING IS ALL ABOUT. ╚OWEVER, MANY COMPUTER USERS SEEM UNAWARE OF WHAT A SPREADSHEET IS AND HOW IT CAN BE USEFUL. ╘HAT'S WHAT THIS ARTICLE AIMS TO EXPLAIN.
╘HINK OF A BLANK SHEET OF PAPER ON A DESK. ─IVIDE IT INTO ROWS AND COLUMNS, LIKE A GRID OF CITY STREETS ON A MAP. ╔F YOU HAVE EVER DEALT WITH ACCOUNTANTS, THEN YOU MIGHT ALREADY BE IMAGINING AN ACCOUNTANT'S DESKTOP LEDGER PAD. ╧R, IF YOU HAVE EVER PAID INCOME TAXES, YOU MIGHT VISUALIZE THE FORMS WHICH ARE DIVIDED INTO ROWS AND COLUMNS OF BOXES FOR INFORMATION. ┴ SPREADSHEET HAS LONG BEEN A GENERIC TERM FOR DIVIDING ANY MATH PROBLEM INTO PARTS ON A PAGE OF ROWS AND COLUMNS.
╙PREADSHEETS OFFER CONVENIENCE AND VERSATILITY. ├ONVENIENCE IN THAT THE VERY FORM OF ROWS AND COLUMNS INVITES US TO WRITE DOWN BIG PROBLEMS IN SMALL PARTS. ╔N AN ACCOUNTANT'S OFFICE, THE BIG PROBLEM MIGHT BE TO FINANCE A CORPORATE TAKEOVER, OR TRACK INVESTMENT PROPERTY INCOME AND EXPENSES. ╨ROBABLY THE LARGEST PROBLEM IN MATH YOU FACE PERSONALLY EVERY YEAR IS YOUR TAX RETURNS. ┼ITHER WAY, BREAKING THE PROBLEM DOWN INTO PARTS MAKES THE SOLUTION EASIER TO FIND. ╘HAT'S CONVENIENCE.
╓ERSATILITY? ╘HE SPREADSHEET IS BLANK UNTIL YOU WRITE ON IT. ┘OU CHOOSE HOW TO BREAK DOWN THE PROBLEM, WHERE TO PUT EACH PART.
╚ERE'S AN EXAMPLE: SUPPOSE YOU GO TO A RESTAURANT AND ORDER PIZZA. ╨ERHAPS YOU HAVE TROUBLE FIGURING OUT THE SALES TAX, TIP AND TOTAL. ┴ SPREADSHEET FOR THAT PURPOSE MIGHT BE TYPED IN LIKE THIS:
╠INE COLUMN COLUMN
#: ┴ ┬
1: 10.00 PIZZA PRICE
2: .05 TAX RATE
3: .05*10 TAX AMT
4: .15 TIP RATE
5: .15*10 TIP AMT
6: 10+.05*10+.15*10 TOTAL
┼ACH SPREADSHEET ROW AND COLUMN HAS A NUMBER OR LETTER-NAME. ┼ACH INTERSECTION IS NAMED AFTER ITS ROW AND COLUMN, JUST LIKE THE CORNER OF 20TH AND ═ ON A MAP. ╫ITH MAYBE 100 ROWS AND 100 COLUMNS, I.E. 10,000 INTERSECTIONS, AT YOUR DISPOSAL, IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND AND USE THE INTERSECTION NAMES LIKE MAP COORDINATES SO YOU WON'T GET LOST.
┘OU CAN PUT EITHER WORDS OR CALCULATIONS IN THE INTERSECTIONS OF YOUR SPREADSHEET. ╫ORDS ARE USEFUL TO DESCRIBE THE NUMBERS AND WHAT THEY REPRESENT. ├ALCULATIONS CAN INCLUDE RESULTS FROM ANOTHER CALCULATION IN ANOTHER INTERSECTION SIMPLY BY USING THE ROW/COLUMN NAME OF THAT OTHER INTERSECTION. ╘HIS IS WHAT LETS YOU BREAK DOWN PROBLEMS INTO DIGESTABLE SMALL PARTS. ╔T ALSO SAVE SOME TYPING TIME. ╘HIS SECOND VERSION OF OUR EXAMPLE IS MUCH EASIER TO TYPE.
╠INE COLUMN COLUMN
#: ┴ ┬
1: 10.00 PIZZA PRICE
2: .05 TAX RATE
3: ┴2*┴1 TAX AMT
4: .15 TIP RATE
5: ┴4*┴1 TIP AMT
6: ┴1+┴3+┴5 TOTAL
╚ERE IS HOW THE SPREADSHEET LOOKS WHEN ITS DOES THE MATH CALCULATIONS FOR YOU:
LINE COLUMN COLUMN
#: ┴ ┬
1: 10.00 PIZZA PRICE
2: .05 TAX RATE
3: .50 TAX AMT
4: .15 TIP RATE
5: 1.50 TIP AMT
6: 12.00 TOTAL
╬OW IMAGINE THAT YOU ARE WORKING ON A SPREADSHEET FOR BUYING A HOME. ┘OU HAVE CONCENTRATED ON EVERY DETAIL: HOW MUCH TO SPEND FROM SAVINGS, HOW MUCH TO BORROW, HOW THE MONTHLY MORTGAGE PAYMENT WILL AFFECT YOUR CASHFLOW. ┘OUR SPREADSHEET INCLUDES THE INTEREST RATE, PROPERTY TAXES, INSURANCE, UTILITIES AND MANY OTHER DETAILS. ╘HEN YOUR REAL ESTATE AGENT CALLS TO SAY THAT THE MORTGAGE INTEREST RATE HAS RISEN BY ONE-HALF OF A PERCENT. ┘OU HAVE TO FIND AND CORRECT EVERY PLACE ON THE SPREADSHEET WHERE THE INTEREST RATE IS USED TO MAKE A CALCULATION.
╧NLY ACCOUNTANTS WOULD BE THAT FANATICAL, RIGHT? ╞OR MANY YEARS ACCOUNTANTS MUSTERED THE CONCENTRATION TO MAKE CHANGES IN SPREADSHEETS ENTIRELY BY HAND, AND THE REST OF US WOULD NEVER THINK OF ANALYZING A HOME PURCHASE IN SUCH DETAIL. ┬UT THAT'S WHERE PERSONAL COMPUTERS GET INTO THE PICTURE.
╔N A COMPUTERIZED SPREADSHEET, YOU CAN PUT THE INTEREST RATE INTO ANY INTERSECTION, SAY, THE INTERSECTION OF COLUMN ┬ AND ROW 20. ╘HEREAFTER, YOU CAN USE THE RATE IN OTHER CALCULATIONS, WHATEVER ITS AMOUNT MAY BE, BY TYPING THE NAME ┬20. ╬OW, WHEN THE BANK CHANGES THE RATE, ALL YOU MUST DO IS CHANGE THE NUMBER STORED AT INTERSECTION ┬20. ╘HEN THE COMPUTER WILL FIND AND CORRECT EVERY OTHER CALCULATION IN WHICH THE NAME ┬20 APPEARS, AND THAT HAPPENS ╞┴╙╘.
╘HERE IS ONE DISADVANTAGE WHEN USING COMPUTERIZED SPREADSHEETS: YOUR COMPUTER CAN DRAW ONLY A PART OF A SPREADSHEET ON THE SCREEN. ┘OU CAN'T FIT A WHOLE DESKTOP LEDGER ON ONE SCREEN, BUT YOU CAN MOVE THE SCREEN AROUND TO LOOK AT DIFFERENT AREAS OF A SPREADSHEET. ╔NDEED, A ├64 CAN REMEMBER A FAR LARGER SPREADSHEET THAN THE TYPICAL DESKTOP LEDGER SHEET.
╙PREADSHEETS CAN FIND THE SUM OR AVERAGE OF ANY GROUP OF NUMBERS, WHETHER PLACED IN A VERTICAL COLUMN OR A HORIZONTAL LINE. ╠IKE WORD PROCESSORS, SPREADSHEETS CAN SAVE AND RETRIEVE WORK IN PROGRESS ON DISK, PRINT ON PRINTERS, AND MAKE EDITING CHORES (CUT & PASTE, ERASE, COPY) A SNAP.
╘HE MOST TYPICAL HOME USE IS PREPARATION OF INCOME TAX RETURNS. ╘HE FIRST YEAR IS DIFFICULT: YOU HAVE TO TYPE IN THE FORMS, AND TELL THE SPREADSHEET WHICH INTERSECTIONS TO ADD TOGETHER, OR SUBTRACT, OR WHATEVER. ┴FTER THAT, THE FORMS CHANGE VERY LITTLE FROM YEAR TO YEAR, AND YOUR TIME SPENT ON THE MATTER IS REDUCED TREMENDOUSLY. ┴ND THE VERSATILITY MAKES IT EASY TO CUSTOMIZE THE FORMS TO YOUR OWN FINANCIAL NEEDS AND PREFERENCES.
╘HE TERM INTERSECTION IS NOT USED BY MOST SPREADSHEET MANUALS. ╔NSTEAD, THE TERM ├┼╠╠ IS USED TO DESCRIBE THE PLACES WHERE A ROW AND A COLUMN MEET. ╚IGHLIGHTING, WHICH YOU CAN MOVE AMONG CELLS TO SELECT WHERE YOU WANT TO TYPE, IS CALLED THE CURRENT CELL, THE ACTIVE CELL, OR THE CURSOR. ╔N SOME SPREADSHEET PROGRAMS YOU CAN GIVE CELLS NAMES OF YOUR OWN CHOICE. ┘OU CAN USE THE NAMES WHICH YOU ASSIGN AS IF THEY WERE ROW/COLUMN NAMES, AND YOU'LL PROBABLY FIND ╔╬╘┼╥┼╙╘╥┴╘┼ EASIER TO REMEMBER THAN ┬20.
╘HERE'S A LOT MORE TO LEARN ABOUT SPREADSHEETS IF YOU ENJOY THE SUBJECT, BUT NOW YOU CAN GET USEFUL WORK DONE BECAUSE YOU KNOW THE FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS.
