[*Hint: See PDF tutorial attached to email sent to you announcing this blog post]

To get started using Excel Visual Basic you have to access the Visual Basic Editor (VBE) interface in your copy of Microsoft Excel.

The VBE and related tools are not visible by default – you need to know how to get them to display.

The steps described in the attached “ExcelVB Tutorial 01 for Accountants” PDF will guide you to do it for any version of MS Excel you have to work with, from 2003 up till the latest version.

Note that the steps for enabling macros in Excel 2003 apply to earlier versions.

Next week, in Tutorial 02, I will describe the steps involved in Creating a Macro to do a simple task like formating a cell or current selection using the Currency style and Accounting Format to improve the appearance of Excel reports you prepare.

Below: Two Real Life Examples That Confirm Excel-VB Coding Skill Will Make ANY Accountant Highly Valued In Paid or Self-Employment, Worldwide!

For those still not sure how useful Excel-VB coding skills can be to them on the jiob, and in boosting their careers to the next level, below are links to 2 different websites that offer concrete evidence of the value placed on possession of Excel-VB coding competence by an accountant.
1. First is this introductory course priced at approximately £1,000.0 GBP.

Title: AUTOMATING YOUR REPORTING WITH EXCEL VBA MACROS (AN INTRODUCTION) OVERVIEW

Preview: You could make Excel work harder, particularly repetitive reporting tasks. This course introduces Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) – the language used to write macros.  

Through the use of hands-on examples the course will illustrate the process of creating bespoke reports from large quantities of data (no previous programming experience required).
http://www.accaglobal.com/uk/en/discover/events/england/professional-courses/vba-reporting-macros-jul.html

2. Secondly, this article offers information about learning institutions that teach coding to accountants, as well as high profile international organizations like KPMG, that regularly scout for competent accountants with real world relevant coding skills.

Title: Sure, Accounting Students Should Learn How to Code (And a Lot of Other Things, Too)

Preview: While very few accounting programs require students to learn to code, some strongly encourage students to consider it. Brigham Young University’s School of Accountancy is creating several master’s-level classes on dealing with data in accounting.

These classes will focus not only on manipulating, analyzing, and reporting data, but on coding as well.
David Wood, Ph.D., an assistant professor who is one of the faculty members designing this coursework, said the classes will include learning some SQL and Visual Basic for Excel, and other programming concepts.

“Writing code is a tool, and if you have that tool, it provides you an opportunity to do things that others can’t,” he said. “Would coding benefit an accountant? There’s no question it can help.
http://goingconcern.com/post/sure-accounting-students-should-learn-how-code-and-lot-other-things-too

Preview: It was certainly a wake-up call for corporate India. However, it was even  more disastrous for runners amongst us. Since Ranjan was an avid marathoner (in Feb 09, he ran Chennai Marathon at the same time some of  us were running Pondicherry Marathon 180 km away ), the question came as  to why an exceptionally active, athletic person succumb to heart attack at 42 years of age. “

The above is an excerpt from a 2009 article – linked below – about the unexpected death – due to massive heart attack – of Rajan Das, then SAP India CEO, after a Gym Workout.

The article titled “What killed SAP CEO Ranjan Das and lessons for corporate India” analyzes the late CEO’s lifestyle and warns of the need to give our bodies enough rest, as we push ourselves to do more, to achieve our goals.

I’ve shared the link to it below, to alert those who may not know, to the dangers of not sleeping long enough.

Let me note, however, that contrary to what this article reports as research based medical recommendations, I’ve personally thrived quite well with 4 to 5 hours of sleep since my teens.

I’ve tried sleeping longer, but often with little success. My body clock just won’t let me sleep up to 7 hours (at least not at a stretch) even if I’d worked 24 hours.

It would appear that we all have different biological systems. So I may struggle to do that 7 hour sleep that seems to be the standard medical recommendation.

Having said that, the tips in this article reinforce what I’ve known about how to let my body recover when I push it hard like I do.

I hope you find it useful reading.

Read full article:

What killed SAP CEO Ranjan Das and lessons for corporate India.