Advanced Excel Course: Go from Beginner to Expert

You know the basics of Excel. You build budgets, sum columns and create simple charts. But every month you spend 4 hours looking up data manually between files. Every report takes 2 hours of copying and formatting. You know there are better ways – you just don’t know which.

An advanced Excel course teaches you the power tools that separate users from experts. In 3 days you learn techniques that turn 2-hour tasks into 10-minute tasks. This guide shows what an advanced course teaches, who it suits and what effect you can expect.

Who is an advanced Excel course for?

An advanced course is not aimed at beginners. It assumes that you already use Excel daily and want to get much better.

You are ready for an advanced course if you

Master the basics: – Can build formulas with SUM, AVERAGE, IF – Understand cell references (A1, $A$1) – Have created simple pivot tables – Work in Excel every day

Face these challenges: – Look up data manually between different files – Copy and format the same report every month – Have large data sets that are hard to analyse – Spend hours on things that should take minutes – Know there are smarter ways but not which

Want to achieve this: – Automate repetitive processes – Handle data from several sources efficiently – Create professional dashboards – Become the “Excel expert” in the team – Save 5-10 hours per week

Typical participant profiles

Controllers and finance professionals Handle monthly reports, budget follow-up and financial analysis where data comes from several systems.

Analysts Work with sales data, customer analysis or business intelligence and need powerful analysis tools.

Project managers Follow up projects with complex timelines, budgets and resource management.

Sales managers Analyse sales, pipeline and performance across teams and periods.

HR specialists Handle employee data, absence reports and payroll data with extensive analysis needs.

What do you learn in an advanced Excel course?

An advanced course focuses on tools that multiply your productivity.

Advanced lookup functions

VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP: – Look up data between files automatically – Handle large reference tables – Understand why VLOOKUP is often the wrong tool

INDEX and MATCH: – More powerful and flexible than VLOOKUP – Look up both horizontally and vertically – Build dynamic lookups

XLOOKUP (Excel 365): – Modern lookups – Return several values at once – Replace complex INDEX/MATCH constructions

This is probably the most immediate time saving. What took 30 minutes of manual copying takes 30 seconds with the right formula.

Controller, IT company, Stockholm: “We imported data from three different systems and matched it manually every month. It took 6 hours. After the course I built a lookup with INDEX/MATCH that does the same thing in 5 minutes.”

Conditional calculation

SUMIF and SUMIFS: – Sum based on conditions – Handle several conditions at once – Dynamic sums that update automatically

COUNTIFS and AVERAGEIFS: – Count and calculate averages with conditions – Build reports that update when data changes

Array formulas: – Advanced calculations across large ranges – Understand when an array formula is the right tool – Dynamic ranges (Excel 365)

Power Query

This is often the most transformative tool in the course.

Import and connection: – Import data from files, databases and the web – Connect several data sources – Automate data imports that used to be done manually

Data processing: – Clean and reshape data – Remove duplicates and errors – Combine data from several sources – Create calculated columns

Automation: – Refresh reports with one click – Save steps that can be reused – Handle changes in source data automatically

Sales manager, B2B company, Gothenburg: “Our monthly sales report required me to copy data from the CRM, Excel files and the accounting system. Then I formatted and calculated for 3 hours. With Power Query I created a template that updates in 2 minutes.”

Advanced pivot tables

Data models: – Create relationships between tables – Build complex analyses without VLOOKUP – Handle millions of rows of data

Calculated fields: – Create your own calculations in the pivot table – Percentages, deviations, trends – Dynamic KPIs

Visual presentation: – Conditional formatting in pivot tables – Pivot charts for quick visualisation – Slicers for interactive reports

Timelines and hierarchies: – Analyse data over time – Drill down from year to month to day – Create your own hierarchies

Data visualisation

Advanced charts: – Combination charts (column + line) – Waterfall and funnel charts – Sparklines for compact trends

Dashboards: – Build interactive dashboards – Connect charts to data via slicers – Professional layout and design

Conditional formatting: – Advanced rules for colour coding – Data bars and icons for a quick overview – Dynamic colour scales based on data

Format and duration

An advanced Excel course takes longer than a basic course because the content is more complex.

Classroom course (3 days)

Structure: – Day 1: Advanced formulas and lookups – Day 2: Power Query and data models – Day 3: Advanced pivot tables and visualisation – A total of 18 hours of effective teaching

Benefits: – Intensive learning – Immediate feedback on complex topics – Network with other advanced users – Fast results

Suits you if you: – Can take three days away from work – Want to become an expert quickly – Learn best in a classroom setting

Online course (6×2 hours)

Structure: – 6 sessions of 2 hours each – Spread over 3-4 weeks – Live with an instructor (not recorded) – Time to practise between sessions

Benefits: – Combine with your regular work – Time to digest complex material – No travel time – Often 20-30% cheaper

Suits you if you: – Find it hard to take three days off – Want to spread the learning over time – Work remotely

Price and ROI

Costs

Open course: – Classroom: SEK 4,500-6,000 per person – Online: SEK 3,500-4,500 per person

Company course (8-12 people): – Classroom: SEK 20,000-35,000 in total – Online: SEK 15,000-25,000 in total

ROI calculation

A typical participant saves 5-10 hours per week after an advanced course.

Conservative calculation: – Time saved: 5 hours/week × 48 weeks = 240 hours/year – At an hourly cost of SEK 400 = SEK 96,000 in value – Course cost: SEK 5,000 – ROI: 1,820% in the first year

That doesn’t even include: – Fewer errors (Power Query eliminates manual copying) – Faster decision-making (better analyses) – Higher employee satisfaction (less frustrating work)

Included in the price

Complete course material
Practical exercises based on real cases
Certificate
30 days of email support
Access to practice files and templates
Coffee and lunch (classroom course)

Prerequisites – Are you ready?

An advanced course requires that you already master Excel at a basic level.

Prerequisites checklist

You should be able to: – [ ] Build formulas with SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT – [ ] Use IF functions – [ ] Understand the difference between relative and absolute references ($) – [ ] Create simple pivot tables – [ ] Filter and sort data – [ ] Create basic charts

If you answered no to 3 or more: Start with a basic course first. An advanced course builds on these skills and you will not get the value out of it without a solid foundation.

Unsure of your level? Call us on +46-10-264-20-20 for a free assessment. It takes 10 minutes and gives you a clear recommendation.

After the course you can

Most participants can, straight after an advanced course:

Practical skills: – Automate data processing from several sources – Build professional dashboards with interactive elements – Handle complex analyses with data models – Create reports that update automatically – Solve problems that previously required consultant help

Time savings: – 5-10 hours per week through automation – Tasks that took 4 hours take 15 minutes – Monthly reports from 1 day to 1 hour

Career effects: – Become the “go-to person” for Excel in the organisation – Take on more analytical responsibility – Qualify for more advanced roles

Next step: VBA or Power BI?

Once you master advanced Excel there are two main paths:

VBA course – For automation

If you do the same thing every day/week/month, VBA can automate it completely.

Suits you if: – You run the same Power Query steps every time – You build the same report with different data – You want to create tools for colleagues

Power BI – For advanced BI

If you handle very large data sets or need to share dashboards, Power BI may be the next step.

Suits you if: – Excel is getting slow with your data sets – You need to share interactive reports with many people – Your organisation is moving towards BI platforms

Book your advanced Excel course

Next course starts: – Stockholm classroom: 22 February, 15 March, 12 April – Gothenburg classroom: 8 March, 29 March – Online: 8 March, 22 March, 5 April

Contact: Phone: +46-10-264-20-20 Email: info@exceldepartment.com

We keep groups small (max 12 people) to make sure everyone gets help with complex topics. Book at least 4 weeks in advance.

Need help with this? Our Excel courses can help you – the first consultation is free of charge.

Book a free call or call 010-264 20 20.