Whether administering the accounts of a large organisation, minding the pennies for a small business, or simply keeping an eye on your household finances, Microsoft Excel offers a tremendous array of tools for managing your accounts and gleaning all the information you need from them. It's long been the market leading spreadsheet for both PCs and Macs, always providing the power to organise and analyse a wide range of vital information, and the flexibility to update your data at the touch of a button.

The latest incarnation, Excel 2007, has seen a complete overhaul of the program's front end - both of the way the software appears, and of the results. Tools are now laid out neatly in a ribbon at the top of the page - much easier both to access and to understand - whilst the huge range of formatting options are now simpler to apply than ever. What's more, 2007 has seen a wholesale revamp of the analysis available, from charts for every occasion to visualising trends so you can identify them as soon as they appear.

But all the ease-of-use that Microsoft have polished their application with can only go so far. Using Excel 2007 at the most basic level is significantly less painless than was once the case; but then, Excel is a powerful, professional application, capable of bringing great benefits to any organisation or individual who can get to grips with its terrific capacity for management and analysis.

This is where a training provider can come in, as these points illustrate:

Need to find a range of information from your data? A training provider can help you to view your data as you want it, and for whatever answer you need, with Excel's PivotTable tool.

Need to make complex calculations? The latest Excel not only allows an ever-larger variety of calculations with a near-limitless range of data, but has made the application of these equations much more efficient and accurate. Your spreadsheets can benefit immensely from this, and a training provider can get you there.

Need to pick up on trends? Excel's conditional formatting allows you to instantly and automatically detect patterns in your data, displaying them through a great variety of visual choices - such as heat maps, colour gradients, and data bars. With training, you can get the most out of conditional formatting, and get the best for your finances.

Need to keep data constantly updated? Training can teach you to transfer data automatically into your spreadsheet, using SQL technology, where Excel can analyse and manage it to your requirements - saving you a lot of time, and guaranteeing accuracy in your important files.

Need to display data in an easy-to-understand form? A day's training course can help you or your staff transform long strings of numbers into clear, comprehensible charts. Excel 2007 has a wider selection than ever of options to visualise your data - exploiting this to the full can make a huge difference to your understanding of key financial matters, as well as making it far easier to inform others.

Need to tell everyone? Instead of attaching your workbook to a hundred emails, Excel 2007 allows the use of Excel Services on Microsoft SharePoint Server, allowing you to place your spreadsheet online for access to anyone who you need to share it with - and no-one else. A training provider can help you take control of how your data is shared, making it both safer and more efficient.

What if you're completely new to Excel? Training courses are not just for experienced users of Excel, nor even just for those with IT expertise. Every level of skill is covered by a range of courses, from an introductory course in using Windows, to an advanced course with development and debugging - and every point in between. Whatever you need to get more from Excel 2007, to get more from your business, or your domestic finances, a training provider can take you there.

There is really no reason to miss out on the many advantages that the latest version of the leading spreadsheet can bring you, whatever you may be using it for. With so much training available, anyone can find what they need to make the most of Excel.