Help and ideas for busy numbers people
Does GROUPBY replace pivot tables?
The new functions GROUPBY and PIVOTBY are now available in the current channel of Microsoft Excel, and I’ve been playing with them to try to answer this question.
My conclusion is that it isn’t a simple yes/no answer. What is more useful to think about is “when” or “how” GROUPBY should be used instead of a pivot table – and vice versa.
Continue reading “Does Groupby replace pivot tables?”“The key didn’t match any rows in the table” is one of the most common errors in Power Query.
The way it’s always explained is that it is caused when the original data changes format or name, or has been deleted.
However, there is a third, related option, which I’m writing about here because it stumped me for a while.
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I attended the 2025 Global Excel Summit last week – this time in person for the first time.
It’s become a bit of a tradition that I blog about what I learned, so here goes!
Continue reading “What I learned at the 2025 Global Excel Summit”
I’m pleased to announce that in 2025 I’m now offering a standalone Power Query course that individuals can sign up to.
Up to this point, I’ve mostly created and delivered bespoke Excel training courses for teams. And sometimes I cover a brief introduction to Power Query within these courses.
This is because I know from experience that Power Query is an enormous time saver in a range of roles. If you find yourself doing repetitive processes in Excel (copying, pasting, updating formulas etc), you will benefit from some Power Query training.
However, I know that lots of people who would benefit the most from Power Query might not work in a team. Perhaps you are a consultant, or you’re the only finance or data person in an organisation.
You might even have tried to learn Power Query yourself but got stuck. Or perhaps you just prefer in person training.
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REGEX formulas in Excel are now rolling out in the current channel of Excel, just in time for Christmas.
In this post I want to explain why most Excel users, not just hardcore geeks, should be interested in this.
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I posted on LinkedIn a couple of weeks ago about creating an Excel template to calculate budget impact of the changes to Employer’s National Insurance.
In this post I’ll share a few observations, both about the calculations and also the act of creating the template.
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How do you learn more Power Query? This is a post addressed to people who have already learned initial navigation and have played around with a few of the buttons. Perhaps you attended one of my Introduction to Power Query courses.
This is a quick post to explain why EOMONTH doesn’t work with # references (dynamic ranges) and what to do about it.
Continue reading “EOMONTH doesn’t work with # references – help?”I’m a late adopter of Cell Styles in Excel. Before I started doing financial modelling and consulting work for other people, I didn’t really appreciate how useful they were.
I wish I’d learned them a lot earlier as they would have been helpful in earlier roles, too.
Continue reading “Why you should use Cell Styles in Excel”
This blog post sets out how to prevent or fix #SPILL errors in Excel Tables. Contrary to what Microsoft Help says, they might sometimes be fixable.
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