Épisodes

  • Smarter, faster, easier: Here's what's new in Excel

    Smarter, faster, easier: Here's what's new in Excel
    Jan 1 2026
    Excel Tips Summer Season Encore presentation from October 2025 In this episode of Excel Tips, we explore the latest Excel updates that can help to boost productivity and simplify workflows for finance and accounting professionals. Listeners will learn: How to use TRIMRANGE for flexible range selection What's new with pivot table formatting and an exciting update on auto-refresh How the TRANSLATE function works for multilingual data The simplified syntax for BYROW and BYCOL functions How three new Regex (regular expressions) functions can use patterns to identify data. Packed with practical insights, this episode helps you explore Excel's latest upgrades to save time, improve analysis and elevate decision-making. Tune in now. Host: Neale Blackwood CPA. He has more than 20 years of experience as a Microsoft Excel educator and is the author of more than 200 INTHEBLACK articles as well as a book, Advanced Excel Reporting for Management Accountants. The companion video and Excel file will go into more detail to demonstrate these techniques. Read more of Neale's Excel articles on INTHEBLACK. You can find a CPA at our custom portal on the CPA Australia website. Would you like to listen to more Excel Tips episodes? Head to CPA Australia's YouTube channel. CPA Australia publishes four podcasts, providing commentary and thought leadership across business, finance, and accounting: With Interest INTHEBLACK Excel Tips INTHEBLACK Out Loud Search for them in your podcast platform. You can email the podcast team at podcasts@cpaaustralia.com.au
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    14 min
  • Unlock 7 underused Excel features you still need today

    Unlock 7 underused Excel features you still need today
    Dec 1 2025
    Handy new Excel features are added regularly – but some "older" functions are still particularly useful to your workflows. Smart power users know these older functions and their value – which is why this episode highlights some of the overlooked Excel features that are still valuable to your spreadsheet work today. Tips include: How multiple windows make it easier to copy and compare How the grouping feature works well with rows and columns How auto outline and subtotals automate structure and hierarchy in datasets Techniques for selecting visible cells to avoid errors during copying How custom lists save time and support non-alphabetic sorting This is a practical guide for anyone looking to sharpen their Excel capability, streamline reporting and improve their workflow efficiency. Listen now. Host: Neale Blackwood CPA. He has more than 20 years of experience as a Microsoft Excel educator and is the author of more than 200 INTHEBLACK articles as well as a book, Advanced Excel Reporting for Management Accountants. For more, check out the accompanying YouTube video of this episode. Read more of Neale's Excel articles on INTHEBLACK. Loving this content? Would you like to listen to more Excel Tips and other CPA Australia podcasts like INTHEBLACK and With Interest? Head to CPA Australia's YouTube channel. And don't forget to subscribe to the channel. You can find a CPA at our custom portal on the CPA Australia website. CPA Australia publishes four podcasts, providing commentary and thought leadership across business, finance, and accounting: With Interest INTHEBLACK Excel Tips INTHEBLACK Out Loud Search for them in your podcast platform. You can email the podcast team at podcasts@cpaaustralia.com.au
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    16 min
  • How to simplify complex calculations with custom functions

    How to simplify complex calculations with custom functions
    Nov 3 2025
    Did you know that you can transform the way you can build models, reports and schedules with custom functions? This episode guides you on how they make complex calculations cleaner and easier to maintain. You'll also learn practical ways to document, test and reuse these functions for consistent results. In this episode, an Excel expert will: Explain how to create custom functions using the LAMBDA function Outline how the LET function works Demonstrate creating a loan schedule "mega formula" Cover useful functions like HSTACK and VSTACK Perfect for accountants, analysts and finance professionals ready to take Excel mastery to the next level. Tune in now. Host: Neale Blackwood CPA. He has more than 20 years of experience as a Microsoft Excel educator and is the author of more than 200 INTHEBLACK articles as well as a book, Advanced Excel Reporting for Management Accountants. There is a useful companion video to go with this episode of Excel Tips. And you can read more of Neale's Excel articles on INTHEBLACK. You can find a CPA at our custom portal on the CPA Australia website. Loving this content? Would you like to listen to more Excel Tips and other CPA Australia podcasts like INTHEBLACK and With Interest? Head to CPA Australia's YouTube channel. CPA Australia publishes four podcasts, providing commentary and thought leadership across business, finance, and accounting: With Interest INTHEBLACK Excel Tips INTHEBLACK Out Loud Search for them in your podcast platform. You can email the podcast team at podcasts@cpaaustralia.com.au
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    8 min
  • Smarter, faster, easier: Here's what's new in Excel

    Smarter, faster, easier: Here's what's new in Excel
    Oct 1 2025
    In this episode of Excel Tips, we explore the latest Excel updates that can help to boost productivity and simplify workflows for finance and accounting professionals. Listeners will learn: How to use TRIMRANGE for flexible range selection What's new with pivot table formatting and an exciting update on auto-refresh How the TRANSLATE function works for multilingual data The simplified syntax for BYROW and BYCOL functions How three new Regex (regular expressions) functions can use patterns to identify data. Packed with practical insights, this episode helps you explore Excel's latest upgrades to save time, improve analysis and elevate decision-making. Tune in now. Host: Neale Blackwood CPA. He has more than 20 years of experience as a Microsoft Excel educator and is the author of more than 200 INTHEBLACK articles as well as a book, Advanced Excel Reporting for Management Accountants. The companion video and Excel file will go into more detail to demonstrate these techniques. Read more of Neale's Excel articles on INTHEBLACK. You can find a CPA at our custom portal on the CPA Australia website. Would you like to listen to more Excel Tips episodes? Head to CPA Australia's YouTube channel. CPA Australia publishes four podcasts, providing commentary and thought leadership across business, finance, and accounting: With Interest INTHEBLACK Excel Tips INTHEBLACK Out Loud Search for them in your podcast platform. You can email the podcast team at podcasts@cpaaustralia.com.au
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    14 min
  • Unleash the power of Python in Excel

    Unleash the power of Python in Excel
    Sep 1 2025
    In this third and final episode of a three-part series, we explore how the integration of Python unlocks advanced tools for analysis, automation and visualisation. Listeners will learn: How Python connects with Power Query to extract and transform data Ways to preview and filter information using Pandas functions Techniques for reshaping horizontal data into usable formats with melt() Python in Excel can really help your data workflows. It allows you to work with connection-only Power Queries, cleanse and reshape messy datasets and generate dynamic charts in just a few lines of code. And with built-in libraries like Pandas and Matplotlib, you or your finance team can preview, filter and transform data in ways that are faster and more flexible than traditional Excel functions. Who doesn't love that? Packed with practical insights, this episode helps you harness Python in Excel to save time, improve analysis and elevate decision-making. Tune in now. Host: Neale Blackwood CPA. He has more than 20 years of experience as a Microsoft Excel educator and is the author of more than 200 INTHEBLACK articles as well as a book, Advanced Excel Reporting for Management Accountants. LINKS Listen to part one of this three-part series which covers the basics. Episode two discusses practical applications of Python in Excel. And you can read more of Neale's Excel articles on INTHEBLACK. You can find a CPA at our custom portal on the CPA Australia website. Would you like to listen to more Excel Tips episodes? Head to CPA Australia's YouTube channel. CPA Australia publishes four podcasts, providing commentary and thought leadership across business, finance, and accounting: With Interest INTHEBLACK Excel Tips INTHEBLACK Out Loud Search for them in your podcast platform. You can email the podcast team at podcasts@cpaaustralia.com.au
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    9 min
  • Python in Excel: Practical applications

    Python in Excel: Practical applications
    Aug 1 2025
    In this second episode of a three-part series, you will build on the basics from part one to gain a clear understanding of how to use Python directly within Excel cells. This includes using the Pandas library, for example, to merge datasets and create data-rich outputs with minimal code. You'll gain the skills to: Learn key differences between Excel formulas and Python syntax Discover practical coding shortcuts and structure for writing Python in Excel Deploy a step-by-step process to create a merged table with sales and GST calculations Use the Pandas library to work with Excel tables (called 'data frames' in Pandas) Understand how Excel loads other common libraries like NumPy and Matplotlib Whether you're an accountant, analyst or finance leader, this episode will help you unlock more value from your Excel spreadsheets by integrating efficient Python-powered workflows. Tune in now. Host: Neale Blackwood CPA. He has more than 20 years of experience as a Microsoft Excel educator and is the author of more than 200 INTHEBLACK articles as well as a book, Advanced Excel Reporting for Management Accountants. You can listen to part one of this three-part series on Python in Excel as well as read the accompanying article for part one. The article for this episode is also available online at INTHEBLACK. And you can read more of Neale's Excel articles for INTHEBLACK. You can find a CPA at our custom portal on the CPA Australia website. Would you like to listen to more Excel Tips episodes? Head to CPA Australia's YouTube channel. CPA Australia publishes four podcasts, providing commentary and thought leadership across business, finance, and accounting: With Interest INTHEBLACK Excel Tips INTHEBLACK Out Loud Search for them in your podcast platform. You can email the podcast team at podcasts@cpaaustralia.com.au
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    11 min
  • Getting started with Python in Excel

    Getting started with Python in Excel
    Jul 1 2025
    Unlock the potential of Python in Excel with this essential first episode in a three-part series. Designed for accountants, finance professionals and Excel power users, this episode introduces the basics of integrating Python code directly into Excel cells. Learn how Python enhances Excel's capabilities for data handling and visualisation without replacing core Excel functions. You'll discover how Python in Excel works and how code is processed using Microsoft's Azure platform. Understand the key steps to get started, including how to enter code using the =PY function and the role of the new Python editor in the Formulas tab. Also explained is how Python variables behave across sheets, the concept of data frames and how Python's popular Pandas library comes into play when working with datasets. You'll also learn how to manage calculation options and understand the new dependency logic within Python-enabled workbooks. Whether you're completely new to Python or already familiar with this programming language, this episode gives you the foundational knowledge needed to begin using Python confidently inside Excel. And don't miss the fun trivia at the end to learn the surprising origin of Python's name. Tune in now. Host: Neale Blackwood CPA. He has more than 20 years of experience as a Microsoft Excel educator and is the author of more than 200 INTHEBLACK articles as well as a book, Advanced Excel Reporting for Management Accountants. You can find a CPA at our custom portal on the CPA Australia website. Would you like to listen to more Excel Tips episodes? Head to CPA Australia's YouTube channel. CPA Australia publishes four podcasts, providing commentary and thought leadership across business, finance, and accounting: With Interest INTHEBLACK INTHEBLACK Out Loud Excel Tips Search for them in your podcast platform. Email the podcast team at podcasts@cpaaustralia.com.au
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    9 min
  • Excel's GROUPBY and PIVOTBY explained

    Excel's GROUPBY and PIVOTBY explained
    Jun 2 2025
    Excel's new functions, GROUPBY and PIVOTBY, offer a smarter way to build reports. Instead of relying on traditional pivot tables, these new tools allow you to summarise datasets using dynamic, formula-based solutions that update automatically when the underlying data changes. In this episode: Understand the key differences between GROUPBY and PIVOTBY See how these tools can save time and reduce manual errors Explore practical applications for accountants and analysts Discover how to modernise reporting with flexible, auto-updating formulas For fast reference use the episode timestamps.  00:17 - Two new functions that can change report creation 00:35 - PivotTables can create summary report based on a data set 00:52 - The limitation of PivotTables – Refreshing the data 01:06 - New functions GROUPBY and PIVOTBY 01:12 - Use a function to create a PivotTable report – no Refresh needed 01:36 - GROUPBY reports – row-based reports 01:41 - PIVOTBY reports - row and column-based reports 01:59 - Best practice data source – a formatted table 02:14 - GROUPBY arguments listed and explained 02:46 - Multiple columns and subtotals are possible but require other functions 03:09 - Two functions that combine columns – HSTACK and CHOOSECOLS 04:03 - Structured references include table names and column names 04:18 - Formatted tables automatically expand when new data is added 04:35 - Formatting subtotal rows differently using conditional formats 05:05 - Filtering and sorting is possible in the GROUPBY report 05:25 - Companion video has an example of a Slicer as filter 05:43 - Controlling sorting 06:18 - New function to add percentages to reports called PERCENT OF 06:42 - Companion video has a hack to easily combine SUM and PERCENT OF 07:02 - Multiple calculations add headings to the report – they can be removed 07:09 - Remove heading with the DROP function 07:25 - PIVOTBY function description and explanation 08:09 - Dates can be problematic as you want to group them by month 08:31 - Companion video shows the TEXT function solving the problem 08:53 - Allowing the user to modify the report 09:15 - INDIRECT function solution 10:05 - Explanation of the INDIRECT function 10:38 - Adding extra calculations to the report 11:07 - The LET function allows you to capture and modify the report Whether optimising month-end processes or improving team workflows, GROUPBY and PIVOTBY help turn complex datasets into clear, actionable reports. Listen now to stay up to date with these Excel capabilities. Host: Neale Blackwood CPA. He has more than 20 years of experience as a Microsoft Excel educator and is the author of more than 200 INTHEBLACK articles as well as a book, Advanced Excel Reporting for Management Accountants. You can find a CPA at our custom portal on the CPA Australia website. Would you like to listen to more Excel Tips episodes? Head to CPA Australia's YouTube channel. CPA Australia publishes four podcasts, providing commentary and thought leadership across business, finance, and accounting: With Interest INTHEBLACK INTHEBLACK Out Loud Excel Tips Search for them in your podcast platform. Email the podcast team at podcasts@cpaaustralia.com.au
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    13 min