If you can open Excel but freeze when someone asks for a SUM, this is the day that fixes it.
Who delivers this: I’ve delivered classroom, virtual, and onsite training across North America since 2004, twenty-two years. MA Candidate, Learning and Technology, Royal Roads.
Excel 101 is the practical day for staff who use Excel because they have to, not because they like it. By the end of it you’ll write formulas without guessing, format a sheet that prints cleanly, and stop being the person who copies values when the formula stops working.
Who this is for
- Fit. Anyone who opens Excel a few times a week (admin, ops coordinators, finance assistants, project staff) and wants the basics to stop feeling like guesswork.
- Fit. Returning users who learned Excel a decade ago and have lost the thread.
- Not fit. Staff who already write SUMIFS, build charts, and use named ranges. That’s 201 territory, and you’ll be bored.
Prerequisites: you can open a file and save it. You’ve used a spreadsheet at least once. That’s the bar.
What you’ll be able to do after
- Enter and edit data without breaking the workbook.
- Write SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, and a basic IF, and know when each one applies.
- Lock formulas with absolute references so they survive a copy-paste.
- Format a worksheet so a manager can read it without squinting.
- Set up a workbook for clean printing: page setup, scaling, headers.
The day, block by block
- Move around a workbook without reaching for the mouse. The ribbon, keyboard navigation, and what cells, ranges, and worksheets actually are. This sounds basic until you watch someone fight it.
- Type data in once and not lose an hour fixing it later. Data types, autofill, and the small traps: leading zeros that vanish, dates that turn into numbers, copy-paste that drags formatting you didn’t ask for.
- Write your first formulas and lock the ones that need locking. SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, IF, the Insert Function dialog when memory fails, and absolute references, the single idea that separates “Excel works” from “Excel keeps breaking.” This is the one idea I slow right down for. I have watched capable people copy a working formula one row down, see it return the wrong number, and quietly retype every value by hand rather than ask why. The dollar signs in an absolute reference are the difference, and once it clicks, it never un-clicks.
- Print a worksheet that looks the way you meant it to. Making a sheet readable, setting the print area, and previewing before you send fifty pages to the tray.
Real examples we’ll work through
- A monthly expense tracker with running totals.
- A simple invoice that calculates tax and totals automatically.
- A contact list that sorts properly, including the date columns that usually don’t.
The habit I most want you to leave with is small and unglamorous: before you copy a formula, look at what should move and what should stay put. Get that one decision right and most of the day’s “Excel is broken” moments never happen.
Format, duration, and pricing
Most teams take 101 as a single full-day class: six hours, virtual or onsite. Pricing is by format and travel zone, not by group size, and is the same across the 101 through 302 levels. (401 is a separately scoped track and priced on its own page.)
| Format | From price (CAD) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Full-day class (6 hr) | from $1,495 | Up to 3 participants; $175 each additional (maximum 10) |
| Two-day onsite workshop | from $2,990 | Up to 3 participants; $175 each additional (maximum 10) |
CAD. Travel within 50 km of Fort Erie included; beyond 50 km, travel and accommodation are billed at cost. Final scope and quote confirmed on the discovery call.
Where this fits in the Microsoft Excel ladder
Shaped for: Anyone new to Excel or returning after long enough that the muscle memory is gone.
From here, the most common next steps:
- Microsoft Excel Training 201, the natural next step once the basics are comfortable.
The full training catalogue shows how the Microsoft Office courses sit alongside the WordPress training track.
Product names referenced on this page, including Excel, Microsoft, and WordPress, are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Training offered here is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any of these companies.
