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Guide to Excel (2013)
for Farmers Market SNAP/EBT Programs
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How to Use This Resource
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This resource is designed to provide basic Excel advice and tools, specifically for farmers market managers running SNAP/EBT programs. It's built specifically for Excel 2013 but much of the instruction should apply to other versions too.

This first "Instructions" tab includes some general advice, and some very important tips and shortcuts.

The 2nd through 5th tabs contain two templates for recordkeeping, each with an "empty" version ready for your data, and a version with sample data.

The last tab includes an explanation and some instructions on how to make and use Pivot Tables, which are one of the most powerful tools a market manager can use in Excel!
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This tool is a work in progress! Please let us know how to improve it, or contact us with questions, at margaret@rafiusa.org
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General Excel Advice for Market Managers
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Keep your data on the fewest possible number of tabs. Don't keep a different tab for each market day, month, or year: you will just be making it harder to put all that data together to analyze later. Instead, when you have some different characteristic for your data (like date, day of the week, year, etc), keep track of it in an additional column.
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Make sure your data sets are not separated by any rows or columns of empty cells. Lots of the things Excel does automatically depend on it reading a cohesive "chunk" of data. This will also leave you already set up to use a Pivot Table (see the second tab of this workbook), a tool that can save you a LOT of time.
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When you are recording names (of vendors, for example), make sure to record them exactly the same way each time. This will mean that later on when you are looking for totals of things you won't have three lines for Farmer Jane's Vegetables: "Farmer Janes Vegetables", "Farmer Jane's Vegetables", and "Farmer Jane's Veggies".
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If you are losing track of column (or row) headers, you can "freeze" them: the "View" menu heading has options to freeze the top row or left-most column of your spreadsheet.
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Have one or at most two people who can access your main data-storing spreadsheets, to minimize the chance of someone accidentally deleting your data, messing up formulas, etc. If you need volunteers to do data entry, send them a simple template as a separate file that you can then easily copy and paste into your main file. And of course, back up your data!
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Keep a paper copy of your receipts (for EBT customers and for vendor reimbursements), so that you have them as a reference and can double check if you have a question about the data you have in Excel.
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This video is an excellent step-by-step introduction to Excel. The youtube page includes a link to a downloadable workbook that you can use to follow along with the instructor. It is WORTH YOUR TIME.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWiWma4oTmI&list=PLrRPvpgDmw0nh4BBxqjcsnbB4ME4JjzfJ
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Excel Loves You and is Just Trying To Make Things Easier
Super Handy Tips & Shortcuts that will help you love Excel back
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Editing cellsClick on a cell and start typing to replace anything that is already in it; Double click on a cell to edit what is already there. You can also edit by single-clicking a cell and then clicking the long box at the top (Image 1)
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Re-sizing cellsTo make a row bigger or smaller or a column wider or skinnier, hover your cursor on the line between the row or column names. It will turn into an arrow pointing both directions with a line between then. Click and drag to change the size of the row or column; double click to automatically re-size the row or column to its contents.
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Selecting entire rows or columnsClick on the row name on the left or the column name at the top of the screen to select an entire row or column.
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Inserting or deleting rows or columnsHover over the row or column names and right click to get a menu of options that includes inserting and deleting.
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Control (or Command on Macs) + zundo
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Control (or Command on Macs) + xcut
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Control (or Command on Macs) + ccopy
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Control (or Command on Macs) + vpaste
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Shift + direction arrowsThis selects multiple cells, starting with the one you originally selected
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Control (or Command on Macs) + direction arrowsThis makes your cursor jump to the end or beginning of the next bit of data. It's great for getting quickly to the top or bottom of lists.
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Control (or Command on Macs) + Shift + direction arrowsThis helps you select an entire data set at a time: if you start in the top left corner, you can press Control + Shift + right arrow + down arrow, and you should have the whole chunk selected.
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Automatic counting & addingWhen you select a range of cells, Excel will summarize them for you! Look along the bottom of the screen to see the sum, the average, and the count of the cells (containing data) that you've selected (Image 2).
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