Excel: Calculate the difference between two dates

Here are some difference date calculations


A2 = "12/3/2012"
A3 = "2/26/2013"


Days between two dates
=A3-A2 = 85

Weekdays between two dates
=Networkdays(A2, A3) = 62

Months between two dates
You could just do Month(A3)-Month(A2) but if you the dates cross different years the result would be incorrect.  Here's the best formula for calculating the # of months between two dates:
= (Year(A3)-Year(A2))*12+Month(A3)-Month(A2) = 2

Years between two dates
=Year(A3)-Year(A2) = 1
This can give you a faulty result.  It hasn't really been 1 year between A3 and A2, but since they are in different years the calculation says 1.


For the same help from Microsoft go to:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/calculate-the-difference-between-two-dates-HP003056111.aspx

Dates are actually given a sequential number, so A3 = "2/26/2013" is really equal to 41331.  If you see your dates represented by with a number like 41331 you can either change the cell format to "Short Date"(Right click and select "Date" in the format).

Other Date Functions in Excel
DateValue(textvalue)
Let's say you're dealing with an excel file that has a bunch of text that should be a date.  You can use =Datevalue(A2) to convert the text field into a property date field.

Date(Year,Month,Day)
You can also use Date() to build a date field from multiple cells.
Date(Year, Month, Day) is the format.
So if you had A1=2012, B1= 1, and C1 = 1, Date(A1,B1,C1) = "1/1/2012"

Today()
Returns Today's date and will update any time the spreadsheet is opened.

Now()
Returns today's date and timestamp.

Timestamp that doesn't Change
IF you'd like to add the current date in a cell and have it remain fixed just click into a cell, hold the Ctrl key and press the semicolon (;) key.  To insert the crrent time (without a date), press Ctrl-Shift-Semicolon.
This is useful if you want to document your work.  You might want to keep track of when you added new data to your worksheet.

Visio - Creating process maps with swim lanes

Visio is a terrific tool for creating process maps.


I particularly like the cross-functional flowchart which allows you to organize tasks by who is performing them in a process map.

Open Visio and go to:File-> New and select Template "Cross-Functional Flowchart (US units)"

A pop-up will come up asking if you want horizontal swim lanes or vertical.  I prefer horizontal.

This produces a 2 or 3 lane chart:

One thing to be aware of is that there is a new section added to the top ribbon bar in Visio called "Cross-Functional Flowchart" that provides specific functionality for this chart type.

This gives you the ability to add additional swimlanes and to divide up your swimlanes with seperators.  

Seperators allow you to break up the swimlanes according to the phase of your flowchart, it makes it easier to group activities according to a timeframe.  As a result, the cross-functional flowchart now shows which organizations have responsibilities at which point on a project.   

If you're new to visio, take the time to learn what each shape represents.  Start/End, Process, Document, Decision, etc.. Use the first link below to learn the shapes.

Links

• A list of the symbols in the Basic Flow Chart in Visio
• Next, start using containers to make the information more presentable.  Swimlanes are one way, containers are another.  Here are some links to learn more containers:
• Information on how to group your shapes so that they make more sense to viewers
• Additional write-up on why you should use containers
• Microsoft's write-up on Containers, Callouts, and Lists
• Here's a link to the Visio blog http://blogs.office.com/b/visio/

Writing a Pitch Book

3 Important parts of a good pitch

1.  Argument for the asset class you're buying / need for your business
2.  Argument for timing (why now?  What's unique?)
3.  Why are you uniquely qualified?

Every slide in your pitch should address one of these questions.  If it doesn't, ask yourself why it's there at all.

You can look at it like a sports analogy:
1.  What is the game?
2.  What inning is it?
3.  Who is on my team?
4.  Who is the best team?
5.  What is the prize?