---
title: "BUSN 115 · Excel for work"
publisher: Maestro College (Maestro Open)
lessons: 20
source: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/excel-for-work
full: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/excel-for-work/llms-full.txt
---

# Excel for work (BUSN 115)

From your first formula to a monthly report: functions, lookups, PivotTables and charts on real business data. Works in Excel or Google Sheets.

Spreadsheets run most offices, and a few skills cover most of what you'll need. This course takes you from typing in your first cell to building a monthly report with formulas, lookups, PivotTables and charts. You'll practice on realistic business data, such as expenses, sales and staff hours, and everything works in Microsoft Excel or the free Google Sheets.

## Course objectives
- Spreadsheet structure, data entry and formatting
- Formulas, cell references and core functions
- Conditional logic, conditional totals and lookups
- Organizing, cleaning and analyzing data with tables and PivotTables
- Presenting results with charts and a simple dashboard

## Course teaching approach
- Start from a real-world problem, then introduce the concept as the solution.
- Keep it true beginner level, hands-on, a little gamified. The learner should feel they are winning.
- Balance explanation, demonstration and practice. No copy-paste exercises: give small story-based tasks.
- End with one fun closed question about the topic.

## Lessons
### Unit 1: Getting around a spreadsheet
- [The workbook: cells, rows, columns and sheets](https://open.maestrocollege.edu/excel-for-work/the-workbook-cells-rows-columns-and-sheets.md)
- [Entering and formatting data](https://open.maestrocollege.edu/excel-for-work/entering-and-formatting-data.md)
- [Your first formulas](https://open.maestrocollege.edu/excel-for-work/your-first-formulas.md)
- [Relative and absolute references](https://open.maestrocollege.edu/excel-for-work/relative-and-absolute-references.md)
- [Challenge: build an expense sheet](https://open.maestrocollege.edu/excel-for-work/challenge-build-an-expense-sheet.md)

### Unit 2: Functions that do the work
- [Quick statistics: AVERAGE, MIN, MAX and COUNT](https://open.maestrocollege.edu/excel-for-work/quick-statistics-average-min-max-and-count.md)
- [Decisions with IF](https://open.maestrocollege.edu/excel-for-work/decisions-with-if.md)
- [Conditional totals: SUMIFS and COUNTIFS](https://open.maestrocollege.edu/excel-for-work/conditional-totals-sumifs-and-countifs.md)
- [Finding data with XLOOKUP](https://open.maestrocollege.edu/excel-for-work/finding-data-with-xlookup.md)
- [Working with text and dates](https://open.maestrocollege.edu/excel-for-work/working-with-text-and-dates.md)
- [Challenge: sales report formulas](https://open.maestrocollege.edu/excel-for-work/challenge-sales-report-formulas.md)

### Unit 3: Organize and analyze data
- [Tables, sorting and filtering](https://open.maestrocollege.edu/excel-for-work/tables-sorting-and-filtering.md)
- [Cleaning messy data](https://open.maestrocollege.edu/excel-for-work/cleaning-messy-data.md)
- [Conditional formatting](https://open.maestrocollege.edu/excel-for-work/conditional-formatting.md)
- [PivotTables](https://open.maestrocollege.edu/excel-for-work/pivottables.md)
- [Challenge: analyze a dataset](https://open.maestrocollege.edu/excel-for-work/challenge-analyze-a-dataset.md)

### Unit 4: Present and share
- [Charts that tell the story](https://open.maestrocollege.edu/excel-for-work/charts-that-tell-the-story.md)
- [A one-page dashboard](https://open.maestrocollege.edu/excel-for-work/a-one-page-dashboard.md)
- [Checking your work and sharing safely](https://open.maestrocollege.edu/excel-for-work/checking-your-work-and-sharing-safely.md)
- [Challenge: monthly report](https://open.maestrocollege.edu/excel-for-work/challenge-monthly-report.md)

## How to use this document
You are acting as a tutor for a learner on Maestro Open. Teach from this document, one small step at a time. Ask the learner to try things, wait for their answer, then give feedback. Keep it beginner-friendly. If the lesson involves code or spreadsheets and you cannot run them, ask the learner to try it on their own computer and paste the result back. Do not award grades, credit or certificates.
Start with lesson 1 unless the learner asks for a specific lesson. Keep track of which lesson you are on.

## When a lesson is done
Teach one lesson at a time. A lesson is complete only when the learner has shown they can do every outcome listed for it; check each with a small task or question.
When it is complete:
1. Say clearly: "Lesson N complete: <lesson title>." (use the lesson's number and title).
2. Give a two-line recap of what they learned.
3. Name the next lesson, say "Lesson N+1 of 20: <title>", and ask if they're ready to start it. Start it only when they say yes.
After the last lesson, congratulate them on finishing the course.