The Excel Accountant
About Me
I don't want to brag, but I'm objectively good at Excel. The Financial Modeling World Cup has an Excel Esports tournament; in 2023, I placed 10th in the world in the qualifying round, and ended up in the Top 64 overall. If you don't believe me, here's a fact check. No fraudulent representations here!
A lot of people ask me how I got so good at it and what they can do to get better. I had a unique opportunity in that I was a teaching assistant for an Excel course for 6 semesters. Through over 150 students, I've seen just about every single way you can do a VLOOKUP wrong (and FYI, this was before XLOOKUP, which you should be using instead). I initially created this website to share my tips and tricks on a larger scale, which friends, coworkers, and family have been telling me to do for over a decade now.
In addition, I recently started a new career journey; after 11 years in public accounting, most of which was spent in fraud investigations, I went back to school and am a full-time Accounting PhD student at Michigan State University. I didn't think people would be all that interested in that story (after all, what exactly is there left to figure out with accounting and numbers anyways?). But an overwhelming number of people have asked to stay in the loop. Which means this website has expanded a bit beyond the weekly Excel tips and tricks I planned to do.
What You'll Find Here
Updated weekly - former coworkers used to think I sent funny emails to the entire office (which is probably why my former partners weren't too sad to see me go!) I'll try to bring that same humor as I document my PhD journey.
It's a 5-year program. I imagine some weeks will be busier than others, so I may skip weeks here and there. Other weeks, I may not have anything post-worthy to say. But this is a free blog after all, so until you start buying me coffee, I don't want to hear any grief from you.
As I build out my research portfolio, I'll post those papers here. If you have anything you think would be a good research topic idea (like how to fix public accounting and get more people interested in it), send me an email. Who knows, maybe it'll get published and you'll get a shout-out in the dedication!
Updated weekly - I have 5 years in the PhD program, and over 250 tips in my back pocket. If I stick with it (maybe a VBA macro to post on my behalf?!), you can do the math - you'll get a tip nearly every week while I'm in the program.
Applicable to you - most of my tricks are presented with examples on how to implement in the accounting world, but reach out if you have a generalized tip/trick idea. Or if you want to see something particular in your industry, and I'll find a way to generalize it.
Customized training - we all have 24 hours in the day. Most of mine are spent working on a PhD, but I'd love to work with you on customizing a training session for your team. From beginners to power-users, your employees won't leave a session feeling like it was a waste of time or money! Send me an email to learn more.
Updated periodically - if a story catches my eye, I'll post it here.
Practical takeaways - I'll use those news stories to share my outsider perspective, but professional expertise, on what might have been differently to prevent/deter the fraud. News flash - it's probably a lack of internal controls.
Customized case study - I've facilitated workshops at several colleges/universities, using a hands-on case study approach that I can bring to your organization. This will use publicized stories of fraud to teach methods to prevent or detect fraud. As a bonus, the final case study will strengthen your Excel skills! Send me an email to learn more.