What will I actually learn in this Excel course?

You'll learn how to use Excel to solve common business problems, not just how to navigate a spreadsheet. It starts with core skills like formulas and formatting, then builds into data lookup, data cleansing, logic, and reporting tools like pivot tables. You'll apply those skills through downloadable workbooks and projects, for example by cleaning a dataset or using VLOOKUP to pull the right values into your analysis.

Do I need any Excel experience before taking this course?

No, prior Excel expertise isn't required. The course begins with Excel basics and navigation, then moves into formulas and workbook-based practice fairly quickly, so you'll get more from it if you can follow along in Excel. The lessons were created using the Windows version of Excel 2013, so if you're using another version, some menus may look a little different.

Is this course beginner-friendly for learning Excel?

Yes, it's a good fit if you're new to Excel analysis and want a step-by-step introduction. The lessons build from simple tasks into more involved work, and the course gives you guided demonstrations, exercises, quizzes, and weekly projects along the way. If you already use lookup formulas and pivot tables comfortably, the opening sections may feel basic.

How long does it take to complete this course?

Plan on about 20 hours in total. At roughly 10 hours a week, that's about two weeks of study, though you can also follow the course's four-week flow if you want a lighter pace. The workload includes video lessons, workbook practice, quizzes, and weekly projects, plus a final project at the end.

Are there hands-on exercises or projects in this course?

Yes, the course includes plenty of hands-on work, but it's mostly guided rather than open-ended. You'll follow along in Excel with downloadable workbooks, doing tasks like cleaning text data or building a pivot table, and then complete weekly projects and a final project. That makes it a good fit if you want to practice each skill as you learn it.

What Excel skills are covered in this course?

The course covers the Excel skills that show up often in business analysis: formulas, workbook organization, data cleansing, and ways to summarize information. You'll work with lookup techniques and pivot tables, then move into advanced formulas for forecasting and financial analysis. By the end, the emphasis is on using Excel to investigate and answer business questions clearly.

What can I actually do after finishing this course?

After finishing, you should be able to clean spreadsheet data, write common analysis formulas, and build summaries that support a business question. For example, you could take a messy sales sheet, pull matching information into it, and use a pivot table to compare revenue or quantity across categories. You should also be better at checking formulas and structuring a workbook so someone else can follow your logic.

Is this course more focused on theory or hands-on learning?

It's more hands-on than theoretical, but the practice is guided. Most topics are taught through short explanations, demonstrations in Excel, workbook exercises, and project work rather than long conceptual lectures. It suits learners who prefer to follow examples and repeat the steps themselves.

Why would I choose this course over other Excel courses?

This course is a strong choice if you want Excel taught as a problem-solving tool for business, not just as a tour of features. The teaching style is very incremental, moving from basics into lookups, data cleansing, pivot tables, and advanced formulas with workbook practice and projects at each stage. If you want a beginner-friendly course that stays practical and builds toward real spreadsheet analysis, this one is likely a better fit than a faster, feature-heavy overview.

Problem Solving with Excel

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Problem Solving with Excel

This course is part of Data Analysis and Presentation Skills: the PwC Approach Specialization

Instructor: Alex Mannella

161,090 already enrolled

4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

5,464 reviews

Beginner level

No prior experience required

Flexible schedule

2 weeks at 10 hours a week

Learn at your own pace

93%

Most learners liked this course

4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

5,464 reviews

Beginner level

No prior experience required

Flexible schedule

2 weeks at 10 hours a week

Learn at your own pace

93%

Most learners liked this course

Skills you'll gain

Tools you'll learn

Microsoft Excel

Details to know

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Assessments

15 assignments

Taught in English

91%

of learners achieved a positive career outcome

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This course is part of the Data Analysis and Presentation Skills: the PwC Approach Specialization

When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.

Learn new concepts from industry experts
Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
Earn a shareable career certificate

There are 4 modules in this course

This course explores Excel as a tool for solving business problems. In this course you will learn the basic functions of excel through guided demonstration. Each week you will build on your excel skills and be provided an opportunity to practice what you’ve learned. Finally, you will have a chance to put your knowledge to work in a final project. Please note, the content in this course was developed using a Windows version of Excel 2013.

Module details

In this module, you will learn the basics of Excel navigation and Excel basic functionality. You will learn how to navigate the basic Excel screen including using formulas, subtotals and text formatting. We will provide you an opportunity to perform a problem solving exercise using basic Excel skills. Note: We recommend viewing videos in full-screen mode by clicking the double arrow in the lower right hand corner of your screen.

What's included

13 videos10 readings4 assignments1 discussion prompt

13 videosTotal 61 minutes

Welcome to Problem Solving with Excel4 minutes
Tao of Excel6 minutes
Week 1 Welcome2 minutes
Excel Basics and Navigation Part 16 minutes
Excel Basics and Navigation Part 27 minutes
A Message from our Chief People Officer at PwC1 minute
Paste Special - Part 17 minutes
Paste Special - Part 23 minutes
Cell Locking - Part 17 minutes
Cell Locking - Part 23 minutes
Named Ranges6 minutes
Subtotal - Part 18 minutes
Subtotal - Part 22 minutes

10 readingsTotal 170 minutes

Course Overview and Syllabus10 minutes
Meet the PwC Content Developers10 minutes
Guiding Principles for Using Excel30 minutes
Excel Basics Workbook10 minutes
Excel Basics and Navigation Handout10 minutes
Basic Functionality Workbook25 minutes
Basic Functionality Handout10 minutes
Subtotal Excel Workbook25 minutes
Subtotal Handout10 minutes
Week 1 Project30 minutes

4 assignmentsTotal 95 minutes

Excel Basics and Navigation Quiz30 minutes
Basic Functionality Quiz30 minutes
Subtotal Quiz30 minutes
Week 1 project quiz5 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

Meet Your Classmates10 minutes

In this module you will learn about VLookup, value cleansing and text functions. We will also introduce you to PwC's perspective on the value in cleansing data and using the appropriate functions. Finally, we will provide you an opportunity to perform a problem solving exercise using VLookup, value cleansing and text function. Note: We recommend viewing videos in full-screen mode by clicking the double arrow in the lower right hand corner of your screen.

What's included

16 videos8 readings4 assignments

16 videosTotal 51 minutes

Welcome to Week 22 minutes
VLookup6 minutes
Use VLOOKUP, data validation and multiple VLOOKUPs together2 minutes
HLOOKUP2 minutes
Nesting6 minutes
Data Cleansing: Values - CLEAN- 1a2 minutes
Data Cleansing: Values - CLEAN -1b2 minutes
Data Cleansing: Values - TRIM2 minutes
Data Cleansing: Values - SUBSTITUTE -3a3 minutes
Data Cleansing: Values - SUBSTITUTE - 3b2 minutes
Data Cleansing: Values - STORED AS TEXT3 minutes
Data Cleansing: Values - De-DUPLICATING2 minutes
Data Cleansing: Text Functions4 minutes
Text - LEN & FIND4 minutes
Text - CONCATENATE3 minutes
Text - Data Validation6 minutes

8 readingsTotal 160 minutes

VLookup Workbook30 minutes
VLookup Handout10 minutes
Data Cleansing: Values Workbook30 minutes
Data Cleansing: Values Handout10 minutes
Data Cleansing: Text Workbook30 minutes
Data Cleansing: Text Handout10 minutes
Hints for Week 2 Project5 minutes
Week 2 Project35 minutes

4 assignmentsTotal 95 minutes

VLookup30 minutes
Data Cleansing - Values Quiz30 minutes
Data Cleanse - Text Quiz30 minutes
Week 2 Quiz5 minutes

In this module, you will learn about logical functions and pivot tables. We will show you how to create and use pivot tables to solve business problems. We will give you an opportunity to practice creating and using a pivot table to solve a business problem. Finally, we will share some insight on PwC’s perspectives on the impact of Excel on your career and work. Note: We recommend viewing videos in full-screen mode by clicking the double arrow in the lower right hand corner of your screen.

What's included

17 videos5 readings3 assignments1 discussion prompt

17 videosTotal 68 minutes

Welcome to Week 32 minutes
Logical Functions: Introduction5 minutes
Logical Functions - COUNTIFS7 minutes
Logical Functions - COUNTIFS Part 23 minutes
Logical Functions - SUMIFS3 minutes
Logical Functions - SUMIFS Part 25 minutes
Logical Functions - IF + THEN2 minutes
Logical Functions - IF + AND3 minutes
Logical Functions - IF + OR2 minutes
Logical Functions - Nesting4 minutes
Bringing Value with Excel5 minutes
Pivot Tables5 minutes
Navigate a Pivot Table8 minutes
Sort a Pivot Table4 minutes
Advanced Filtering6 minutes
Calculated Fields3 minutes
Slicers2 minutes

5 readingsTotal 80 minutes

Logical Functions Workbook10 minutes
Logical Functions Handout10 minutes
Pivot Tables Workbook40 minutes
Pivot Tables Handout10 minutes
Week 3 Project10 minutes

3 assignmentsTotal 90 minutes

Logical Functions Quiz30 minutes
Pivot Tables Quiz30 minutes
Week 3 Project Quiz30 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

How will you bring value by using Excel?10 minutes

In this module you will learn more advanced Excel formulas. We will show you how to create statistical formulas, perform an index match, and lastly, build financial formulas. We will provide you with an opportunity to problem solve using statistical formulas. Finally, we will give you an opportunity to practice what you have learned through a final project. Note: We recommend viewing videos in full-screen mode by clicking the double arrow in the lower right hand corner of your screen.

What's included

12 videos8 readings4 assignments

12 videosTotal 64 minutes

Welcome to Week 42 minutes
Intro to Statistical Forecasting9 minutes
Statistical Forecasting - Part 117 minutes
Statistical Forecasting - Part 28 minutes
Index Match3 minutes
Index Match: MATCH Formula2 minutes
x and y Variables4 minutes
2 Variable Lookup6 minutes
Financial Function - NPV and IRR6 minutes
Financial Function - Calculating Payment Schedule3 minutes
Financial Function - Calculating Payment Period2 minutes
Course Wrap-up2 minutes

8 readingsTotal 170 minutes

Statistical Forecasting Workbook30 minutes
Statistical Forecasting Handout10 minutes
Index Match Workbook30 minutes
Index Match Handout10 minutes
Financial Function Workbook30 minutes
Financial Function Handout10 minutes
Week 4 Project40 minutes
Learn more about PwC and our career opportunities10 minutes

4 assignmentsTotal 100 minutes

Statistical Forecasting Quiz30 minutes
Index Match Quiz30 minutes
Financial Functions30 minutes
Week 4 Project Quiz10 minutes

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Instructor

Instructor ratings

(488 ratings)

Alex Mannella

PwC

5 Courses398,714 learners

Offered by

PwC

Learner reviews

5 stars
77.41%
4 stars
18.39%
3 stars
3.05%
2 stars
0.65%
1 star
0.47%

Showing 3 of 5464

Reviewed on Nov 23, 2018

The course is awesome but do not provide more detailed level usage and exercise as well as it is bit difficult to match with the requires knowledge and expectation within a single video.

Reviewed on Sep 4, 2017

Great course so far, learned a lot about how to use Excel functions to solve problems. However, the course may need an update on the missing videos and minor calculation errors in the workbooks.

Reviewed on Jan 1, 2019

An amazing course with very interactive video lessons and exercises that made sure that candidates were equipped with good knowledge by the end of the course. Thank You for the opportunity

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