How to Build a Document in Excel

Microsoft Excel 2010 enables you to create complex spreadsheets for your clients and investors, perform operations using the data in the spreadsheets and insert a variety of objects into the documents. Excel 2010 is a powerful tool, but it takes time to master it. Building a basic document in Excel is not as difficult as it sounds, although you need to have at least some experience to use the more advanced features.

Create and Save Excel Workbooks

Launch Excel 2010, click "File" and select "New" from the menu to create a new workbook.

Select one of the templates from the Available Templates section and click the "Create" button to create the workbook.

Click "File" and select "Save As" from the menu to open the "Save As" window.

Type a name for your new document in the File Name field, select the destination folder and click the "Save" button to save the document.

Insert Data Into the Document

Right-click the cell where you want to insert data and select "Format Cells" from the context menu.

Select a category -- "Number" for example -- for the cell from the Category list and click "OK" to apply the new settings.

Click the cells where you want to insert data and type or paste the content.

Click the "Insert" tab at the top of the Excel window and then click one of the buttons -- "Picture," for example -- in the groups -- "Illustrations," for example -- at the top to insert something.

Browse through the files on your computer, select the file that you want to insert into your document and click "Insert" to place it into your spreadsheet.

Press "Ctrl-S" to save the latest version of the document.

Perform Operations in Excel

Select the cell in which you want to insert the formula.

Type the formula into the Formula bar at the top of the spreadsheet. For example, if you want to sum the contents of cell "A1" with the contents of cell "A2" and display the result in cell "A3," you need to insert the "=A1+A2" formula in cell "A3."

Hover the cursor over the bottom right corner of the cell that contains the formula and click and drag to apply the formula to other cells in the spreadsheet.

Press "Ctrl-S" to save the latest version of the document.