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An Electronic Checkbook

In this exercise you will create a basic checkbook balancing spreadsheet.

Start Excel

1.       Start the Excel program.

2.       You may need to create a new blank workbook by clicking on the New button at the far left of the toolbar.

Enter Column Titles

To enter text or numbers, first select a cell using the keyboard arrows or the mouse, then type the letters or numbers. To move to the next cell, the Enter key will move down one cell, the Tab key will move one cell to the right. You can also use the arrow keys to move in any desired direction

1.       In cell A1 type Check #, and press the right arrow key or Tab key to move to cell B1.

2.       In cell B1 type Date.

3.       In cell C1 type Description of Transaction.

4.       In cell D1 type Payment/Debit.

5.       In cell E1 type Deposit/Credit.

6.       In cell F1 type Balance.

Format Column Titles

1.       Select the block of cells that have column titles. (Move your mouse pointer to cell A1. Click and hold down the left mouse button. Drag the mouse pointer to cell F1 and let go.)

2.       Select Bold by clicking the B button on the toolbar.

3.       With the block of cells still selected, click on the Format menu on the Menu bar near the top of your screen.

4.       From the drop-down menu, click the word Cells.

5.       Choose the Patterns tab and select any light color to fill in the cell backgrounds.

6.       Click OK.

Format Data

This is a step you can do before or after entering data. Since we would like to be able to read the column titles clearly, let's do this step first.

1.       To make your spreadsheet look more professional, you need to format it.

2.       Check to see if the colmn titles are still selected. If not, reselect them or select the entire columns by clicking and dragging from the Letter A at the top of the first comun to the letter F and let go.

3.       To resize these columns click on the Format menu. Move down to Column (which has an arrow on its right side, showing you it has options you can choose from) and choose AutoFit Selection from the sub-menu.

Enter Data

1.       Select cell A2.

2.       Enter the following data:

	A	B	C	D	E	F
1	Check #	Date	Description of Transaction	Payment/Debit	Deposit/ Credit	Balance
2		5/1	Initial Deposit		200
3	1001	5/2	Phone bill	45.52
4	1002	5/5	Groceries	36.6
5		5/10	Deposit		450
6	1003	5/15	Rent	400

NOTE: As you enter the dates, the format will change, and data may not fit the column, turning into something like ####. If this happens, move your mouse between the column identifiers for B and C. When the mouse pointer changes to a black cross with arrows, double-click. This will make the column automatically resize itself to fit all current entries.

Enter Formulas

1.       In your checkbook, you want to add your deposit or subtract your debit from your previous balance.

2.       To let Excel know that you are typing a formula, start your formula with an equal (=) sign. In cell F2, type =E2-D2.

3.       In cell F3, type =F2-D3+E3. This formula takes the previous balance from the cell above and then subtracts any debits or adds any deposits.

Copy the formula

1.       You can now copy this formula to the remaining balance cells. Excel is smart enough to update the cell references when you move the formula.

2.       Click cell F3 once to make it the active cell. Choose the Copy button to copy this formula to the clipboard.

3.       Select the block of cells F4 to F6.

4.       Paste the formula into these cells. To do this, choose the Paste button from your toolbar while your block of cells is selected.

5.       After you have done this you can click any of the balance cells and look at the formula in the formula bar (just on top of your spreadsheet). Notice that the formula in each cell is slightly different.

6.       Try changing the amount of a credit or debit. Notice the balance is automatically updated.

Save the workbook

1.       To save the document, insert a floppy disk into the disk drive.

2.       Click on the File menu.

3.       Click on Save As in the drop-down menu.

4.       Click the downward-pointing arrow to the right of the Save in Box. Select 3 1/2†Floppy [A:] from the list.

5.       In the File Name: box type the words Check Book (Excel will automatically add the .xls extension).

6.       Click the Save button.

7.       Your work is now saved.