First, you need to understand the types of data you are working with. Excel allows you to input and organize your data in a structured manner, making it easier to apply various statistical functions.

Kinds of Functions Used in Excel. Microsoft's Excel program, widely used in business, comes with many built-in functions that perform mathematical and logical operations on spreadsheet data.

Excel groups functions into 12 categories: Compatibility, Cube, Database, Date and Time, Engineering, Financial, Information, Logical, Lookup & Reference, Math & Trigonometry, Statistical and Text.

Both approaches have their value; the non-persistent option is ideal for working with analytical applications, functions, or Excel’s charting tools.

Often known as the universal data munging tool, Excel is trying out new options for processing messy text as well as entering it more quickly and accurately in the first place.