Spreadsheets created through Microsoft (MS) Excel have the advantage that they are organic, rather than static, constructs that are able to expand to fit the required information.

Users of this application are free to utilise its most basic functions if they wish, but there is much more to the programme that can be investigated through training sessions for those looking to take advantage of the programme's more complex aspects. At its heart, MS Excel is spreadsheet building software that has proved its worth in offices and homes across the globe. For example, you may simply be using it to input details of your household expenses so you can keep on top of your finances.

Managers of small and medium enterprises could refer to pages in workbooks bearing their income tax contributions, while sports clubs may use the application to record scores of recent games. Moving on from these examples that involve the input of numbers, MS Excel documents also prove to be great way of forming charts and diagrams linked to the information held in the files. This latter function is commonly used in offices in order to draw together the figures within spreadsheets and present it in a different way.

For instance, a sales department might want to highlight the best selling products of the past few months, which could be achieved by applying different colours to cells. In addition, diagrams revealing this data can be created and are a great way to get across the impact and significance of the figures concerned. Another way of compiling data for improved readability is to include PivotTables in worksheets.

These are useful for those who have put together the workbooks and want to stay refreshed on all the figures entered. You can achieve this via the tables, as they feature summarised information, which may also prove useful to those viewing cells and who require more data on them. As well as giving rise to highlighted data, charts, diagrams and tables, MS Excel workbooks give users the opportunity to link them with other useful locations via hyperlinks.

This means that documents containing the links can be seen as a starting point, or gateway to other important information. While you are creating your MS Excel files, you have the opportunity to bring together a host of other documents or virtual locations, which complement the data currently contained in your documents. For instance, you may have entered figures from this week's sales concerning particular clothing.

You could be keen to compare these amounts with those captured at a similar time last year, in order to reveal trends. The application allows you to insert hyperlinks to other locations in your workbook so those viewing it are able to call up these past figures. In addition, there are a range of other documents that could supply more information to that already held in your workbook. For example, you may have written an accompanying report on the sales of a department over the seasons, with in-depth insights and commentary on the latest results.

Again, this is a great way of adding more information to reports. For more impact you can also use the functions of other programmes to get your message across, such as via PowerPoint. Indeed, this could work in reverse, in that those due to present information to an audience can give support to their talks by having facts and figures from MS Excel workbooks available in a link if necessary.

If you are not present when your workbook is viewed, but are keen to answer questions or get feedback on the data contained within it, the hyperlink function gives you the chance to include your email address in the cells concerned, or any address you prefer. This allows people to click through and contact you if they require your assistance.