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Volume 8, Number 10  

October, 2013

We are now into Fall and the leaves are turning in the orchard at the back of our house.

 

We have just started our 2013 Accounting Technology seminar series. This is the 21st year that we have gone coast to coast to visit 13 cities, providing accounting and bookkeeping firms with an update on the technology that they and their clients use. Hard to believe that we will have 258 attendees on the first Saturday in November in Vancouver.

 

Once I get the tour behind me I will resume my highly successful webinars. Look for more details in the November issue of this newsletter.

 

As usual I would welcome your comments at [email protected].

 

Sincerely, 

 

Alan Salmon

Excel Tips

Excel1Quickly Selecting a Data Range 

Summary: Many times in Excel you want to quickly select a range of data. Here is a keyboard shortcut that will save you a of time.   

 

To quickly select a data range use Ctrl+Shift+8.  Using the currently selected cell as the starting point, Excel will select the contiguous cells that contain data. The selection will stop when a blank row or a blank column is reached. The active cell becomes the upper-left cell of the range.

  


Excel2How to Print an Excel Workbook Without Opening It     

Summary: There are times when you need to print an Excel workbook without opening it. Here is an easy way to do this.

  

If you just want to print a copy of a worksheet you do not need to open the file. To do this follow these steps:
  1. Use Explorer to select the workbook that you want to print.
  2. Right-click on the file.
  3. Windows will display a Context menu.
  4. Select the Print option from the Context menu.
  5. Excel will then open and load the workbook,
  6. The workbook will then be closed.

  

 

Excel3Remembering Commonly Used Workbooks
Summary: When you work with the same workbook over and over again, you need a quick way to open these workbooks. Here is how to do this:
  1. Select the File tab of the ribbon.
  2. Click on Recent at the left hand side of the dialog box.
  3. Excel shows you a list of the most recent workbooks you've used.
  4. Scroll through the list of workbooks until you see the one you want to use regularly.
  5. Click the push-pin icon that appears to the right of the workbook in the list.
  6. Excel moves the workbook to the top of the file list.
  7. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for any other workbooks you want to pin to the list.

Now you can quickly access the workbooks that you use all the time by displaying the recent workbook list where they will always be shown at the top of the list.

 

 


 

Word Tip

 

WordSorting a Text Selection             

Summary: Many times in Word you need to rearrange a list of items. There is a sorting tool in Word that makes doing this easy. Here is how to do this:    


Highlight the text that contains the list to be sorted.

  1. Select the Home tab of the Ribbon.
  2. In the Paragraph group, click on the Sort tool
  3.  Word will display the Sort Text dialog box.
  4. In the Sort Type drop-down list, select the type of sorting you want Word to carry out. (For example, if you want to sort by date, you would select Date as the Sort Type).
  5. Using the radio buttons, indicate whether the sort should be Ascending or Descending.
  6. Click on OK.

Your list will now be sorted in date order.

 

 

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 PowerPoint Tips

 

Summary: Here are five tips that you should follow when you are creating your presentation. 

PowerPoint offers all sorts of ways to add visual "flash" to your slides: fades, swipes, flashing text, and other annoyances are all too easy to insert with a few mouse clicks. Avoid the temptation to dress up your pages with cheesy effects and focus instead on simple design basics:

  1. Use a sans serif font for body text. Sans serifs like Arial, Helvetica, or Calibri tend to be the easiest to read on screens.
  2. Use decorative fonts only for slide headers, and then 
    only if they're easy to read. Decorative fonts -calligraphy, German blackface, futuristic, psychotic handwriting, flowers, art nouveau, etc. - are hard to read and should be reserved only for large headlines at the top of the page. Better yet, stick to a classy serif font like Georgia or Baskerville.
  3. Put dark text on a light background. Again, this is easiest to read. If you must use a dark background - for instance, if your company uses a standard template with a dark background - make sure your text is quite light (white, cream, light grey, or pastels) and maybe bump the font size up two or three notches.
  4. Align text left or right. Centered text is harder to read and looks amateurish. Line up all your text to a right-hand or left-hand baseline - it will look better and be easier to follow.
  5. Avoid clutter. A headline, a few bullet points, maybe an image - anything more than that and you risk losing your audience as they sort it all out.

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K2E Canada Inc. is a leading provider of professional development seminars for the Canadian accounting world. Each month we publish this free Office Tips e-mail newsletter. These tips will save you time and enhance the appearance of your Office files.

 

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Alan Salmon
Managing Director
K2E Canada Inc.
647-722-4741