Learn Excel for Work: A Small Sales Analysis Project

Learn spreadsheet analysis through a small question you can answer and verify: which region generated more revenue in a six-order sample? Use the downloadable workbook to calculate each order's revenue, summarize by region, and explain why the result is too small to establish a general business trend.

Download the practice workbook

Download the Excel practice workbook. It contains synthetic orders, live formulas and expected answers for the original data. No customer or business data is included. The worked sheet demonstrates the result; the Practice sheet leaves calculation cells empty so you can reconstruct it yourself. Inputs have a pale yellow fill, while formulas use the ordinary paper background.

The original six orders are North: 3 units at 20, South: 2 at 35, North: 4 at 15, West: 1 at 80, South: 5 at 12, and West: 2 at 25. Revenue means units multiplied by unit price. This exercise ignores discounts, taxes, shipping and refunds. Those exclusions define the calculation, rather than describing a complete accounting model.

Calculate before summarizing

On either sheet, the headers are in row 5. Units are in column C, unit price in D, and revenue in E. Enter =C6*D6 in E6 and fill it through E11. The six revenue values should be 60, 70, 60, 80, 60 and 50. Their sum is 380.

Region labels are in A15:A17. Enter =SUMIF($B$6:$B$11,A15,$E$6:$E$11) in B15 and fill down. Microsoft documents SUMIF's criterion range, criterion and optional sum range. Here the dollar signs keep the data ranges fixed when you copy the formula, while A15 changes to the next region label.

Check that the regional sum equals the order-level sum. A matching total is necessary but not sufficient: swapped region labels could still reconcile. Trace at least one region back to its actual orders before accepting the summary.

Make one controlled change

Change the first order from 3 units to 4. Its revenue should become 80, North should become 140, and the total should become 400. South and West should remain 130. This small perturbation checks whether the formulas depend on the intended cells. Restore the input before comparing against the workbook's original-data answer column.

If the total does not change, look for a typed number where a formula should be. If the wrong region changes, inspect the criterion reference. If a copied formula skips orders, check the anchored ranges. In a real growing dataset, use an expanding table or deliberately extend every source range; this exercise uses six fixed rows to keep the references visible.

Explain the result to a colleague

A defensible summary is: “In this six-order sample, South and West each generated 130, compared with North's 120. The sample is synthetic and does not establish which region performs best over time.” Avoid calling the total profit, since no costs were supplied.

Save the formulas, one reconciliation check and a short explanation as evidence of learning. Next, practice the decision memo or data storytelling exercise. You can use Excel locally and bring a non-sensitive description of your mistake to Paradigm Study; this page does not promise a live Excel integration.

Sources and further practice

Microsoft: SUMIF function supports the reference principle used here. The exercise, example data and review routine on this page are original Paradigm Study teaching examples.

For a broader workflow, see career upskillers. Bring your attempt and the step that confused you into Paradigm Study for a lesson or focused practice. Start a learning notebook.