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These 10 Excel formulas made my life much easier
Published about 8 hours ago • 5 min read
Hi Reader,
Excel isn’t just a tool you use at work, but it is your most powerful ally. However, you must go beyond the basics to unlock its true potential. We all know about VLOOKUP and PivotTables, but what about the hidden gems that can truly transform your workflow?
In my 15 years of experience working in finance, I’ve stumbled upon formulas that might not get as much love but have saved me countless hours and transformed my Excel work.
These underrated formulas have been my secret weapons, adding precision, flexibility, and speed when I needed them most.
In this edition, I will explain to you the top 10 underrated Excel formulas you need to know and show you a way how you can learn to do everything in Excel.
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During one project, I needed a way to differentiate between similar product lines across multiple fiscal years. CONCATENATE made my work feel organized and clear. CONCATENATE helps build context into reports by combining relevant information. I often use it to create unique keys or descriptive labels.
Formula: =CONCATENATE(A2, ” – FY”, B2)
Why It’s Underrated: Combining text strings doesn’t get much attention, but it's so handy for reports and summaries.
Finance Example: Joining a cost center name with a fiscal year to make unique identifiers.
#9: COUNTIF
While analyzing overdue accounts, COUNTIF helped me identify just how many customers were falling behind—highlighting trends that needed immediate action. Knowing the frequency of specific events is critical—COUNTIF has given me insights into data trends that were otherwise easy to miss.
Formula: =COUNTIF(B2:B10, “>1000”)
Why It’s Underrated: COUNTIF is often overshadowed by SUMIF, but it’s incredibly useful for counting occurrences based on conditions.
Finance Example: Counting how many times a budget variance exceeded a certain threshold.
#8: SUBTOTAL
During a management review meeting, we once filtered out a department’s expenses to see what remained. SUBTOTAL saved the day - and saved me from having to redo calculations. Unlike SUM, SUBTOTAL changes dynamically as you filter - making it perfect for ad hoc reporting. It’s my preferred choice when I need clarity on filtered financial data.
Formula: =SUBTOTAL(109, B2:B10)
Why It’s Underrated: SUBTOTAL is more flexible than SUM, especially when dealing with filtered lists. One of the advantages is that if you have in-between other SUMs, such as in a big list with a lot of SUMs in between - SUBTOTAL allows you to avoid counting the subtotals. Additionally, you can do different types of subtotals, either totaling all of the visible lines or the invisible ones.
Finance Example: Calculating total expenses only for visible rows after filtering.
In my website article, you will find out the rest of the top 10 underrated Excel formulas you need to know.
Many professionals know this feeling. You open Excel and it feels like a spaceship. Everything looks the same, and you are feeling overwhelmed with all the possibilities.
Spending hours on tasks that should take minutes. Watching deadlines approach while fighting with formulas. Running into the same Excel problems day after day.
This isn't just about frustration. It's about the hours lost each week. The projects we avoid because they involve complex data analysis. The career opportunities that pass us by because we can't leverage Excel's full potential. In today's data-driven workplace, limited Excel skills aren't just an inconvenience - they're a career liability.
The problem runs deeper than most realize:
Simple tasks take hours because we don't know the efficient way
Reporting becomes a bottleneck because we can't automate repetitive work
Valuable business insights remain hidden in data we can't properly analyze
Projects that could set us apart get handed to "the Excel person" on the team
To top it all, this isn't about natural ability or even experience.
It's simply about learning Excel the right way.
Most of us learned it backwards - picking up random tips, searching for solutions when we're already under pressure, watching confusing tutorials that never quite fit our needs. We're building our Excel knowledge on shaky foundations, and it shows.
This is why I'm excited about what my friend Josh Aharonoff (Your CFO Guy) has created.
As the course suggests, inside, you learn what every single button inside Excel does.
Through 14 carefully structured chapters and 114 practical lessons, you will become an Excel pro. Josh draws from his experience as a fractional CFO to focus on the skills that drive business value.
This course starts from the basics and teaches you every single feature inside Excel.
The course includes hands-on exercises that build muscle memory and visual guides that make complex concepts click.
Are you already using some of my top Excel formulas?
Let me know!
Nicolas
P.S.: Remember, the biggest hurdle is often just getting started. You can keep fighting with Excel and hoping things will click someday, or you can take a shortcut. Josh's course is that shortcut - and right now, it’s $60 off until Friday. Don’t miss this opportunity to make Excel work for you, not against you.
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