So, you know your SUM formula, you also know how to use the COUNTIF function. In addition, you are the go-to person at your office, when basic or intermediate level Excel help is needed. You now want to take your Excel to the next level. Wait for it – yes that is, namely the Advanced Excel user level and dramatically increase your speed, workflow, and outputs in Excel.

This is the domain, where you will frequently encounter financial accountants, data analysts, MBAs, scientists and engineers and once you join the advanced user ranks – you will be able to read, understand and modify their spreadsheets with ease.

Not only that, you will be able to, as an Advanced Excel user improve spreadsheets that you are given, design templates, and occasionally or frequently answer Excel related questions on online forums. It is a wonderful feeling when you are given a complex real life challenge or problem and then you are able to come up with the solution using Excel formulas or tools.

In addition, once you reach this level, you are well on your way to getting a certification in Excel, if you so desire. You can sit for exams such as the Microsoft Office Excel Expert exam to add an impressive qualification to your resume.

Also further down the line, if you do regularly use your acquired advanced Excel knowledge to help build the Excel community by answering questions in forums or running tutorial blogs or YouTube Channels. You may attain the knighthood of Excel Dom, which is the much sought after and valued MVP (Microsoft Valued Professional) status. So, in other words, an advanced Excel user has a lot to gain and a lot to look forward to.

So, I’m sure you are already excited and want to know more about how to reach this level. Well, look no further, since we’ve put together a list of books that will help you reach this Advanced Excel user level and gain a comprehensive understanding of Excel.

Topics such as financial functions, complex formula creation, PowerPivot, modeling with Excel and much much more – are covered in the books below. After going through these books diligently, your productivity in Excel will be maximized, optimized and enhanced.

Best Excel Books for Advanced Users

• Learn Excel 2016 Expert Skills with The Smart Method: Courseware Tutorial teaching Advanced Techniques by Mike Smart
• Learn Excel 2013 Expert Skills with The Smart Method by Mike Smart
• Learn Excel 2010 Expert Skills with The Smart Method by Mike Smart
• Advanced Excel Essentials by Jordan Goldmeier
• Excel 2016 Bible by John Walkenbach
• Slaying Excel Dragons by Mike Girvin (Excel Is Fun)
• Guerrilla Data Analysis Using Microsoft Excel: 2nd Edition Covering Excel 2010/2013 by Oz du Soleil & Bill Jelen
• Advanced Excel Reporting for Management Accountants (Wiley Corporate F&A) by Neale Blackwood
• Advanced Excel for Productivity by Chris Urban

Optimize Modeling with Excel Books

As an advanced Excel expert, your one of the jobs might be to optimize the business for which you work. These two books are the best, simply the best to learn to optimize modeling with Excel:

• Optimization Modeling with Spreadsheets by Kenneth R. Baker
• Step-By-Step Optimization With Excel Solver – The Excel Statistical Master by Mark Harmon

Make Complex Excel Formulas with Excel

Making complex Excel formulas (including making ones with array formulas) might be your day to day job as an advanced level Excel user. The following books are carefully selected and will fulfill your needs. Try them.

• Excel 2016 Formulas (Mr. Spreadsheet’s Bookshelf) by Michael Alexander
• Ctrl+Shift+Enter Mastering Excel Array Formulas: Do the Impossible with Excel Formulas Thanks to Array Formula Magic by Mike Girvin (Excel Is Fun)
• Advanced Excel: How to use VLOOKUP & INDEX MATCH Functions by Sterling Libs FCCA
• 101 Ready-to-Use Excel Formulas (Mr. Spreadsheet’s Bookshelf) by Michael Alexander
• F1 Get the Most Out of Excel Formulas & Functions: The Ultimate Excel Formulas & Functions Help Guide by Joseph Rubin CPA

Books on Excel Programming (VBA/ Macros)

OK! Without knowing Excel VBA, you cannot demand yourself an advanced user of Excel. Referring here those books that are must read to become a pro-Excel VBA user.

• Excel 2013 Power Programming with VBA by John Walkenbach
• Excel 2016 Power Programming with VBA (Mr. Spreadsheet’s Bookshelf) by Michael Alexander, Richard Kusleika
• Professional Excel Development: The Definitive Guide to Developing Applications Using Microsoft Excel, VBA, and .NET (2nd Edition) by Rob Bovey, Dennis Wallentin, Stephen Bullen, John Green
• VBA for Modelers: Developing Decision Support Systems with Microsoft Office Excel by S. Christian Albright
• 101 Ready-To-Use Excel Macros by Michael Alexander

Excel Pivot Table Books

The pivot table is one of the most used sophisticated tools in Excel. Master them as details as possible. This can be your most used tool if you work as the data analyst person for your company.

• Excel 2016 Pivot Table Data Crunching (includes Content Update Program) (MrExcel Library) by Bill Jelen, Michael Alexander
• Excel PivotTables and PivotCharts: Your visual blueprint for creating dynamic spreadsheets by Paul McFedries

Best Books on Charting

• Show Me the Numbers: Designing Tables and Graphs to Enlighten by Stephen Few
• Good Charts: The HBR Guide to Making Smarter, More Persuasive Data Visualizations by Scott Berinato

Data Visualization Books

• Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
• Effective Data Visualization: The Right Chart for the Right Data by Stephanie D. H. Evergreen
• Meaningful Graphs: Converting Data into Informative Excel Charts by James M. Smith
• Good Charts: The HBR Guide to Making Smarter, More Persuasive Data Visualizations by Scott Berinato

Dashboard Books for Advanced Users

This is the most important job you will do when you will be tagged as an advanced user of Excel.

You will design or update dashboards for your company, might be all day long. Master the techniques and general rules for building dashboards with Excel. These books are the best in the market.

• Dashboards for Excel by Jordan Goldmeier
• Excel Dashboards and Reports by Michael Alexander, John Walkenbach
• The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward R. Tufte
• Information Dashboard Design: The Effective Visual Communication of Data by Stephen Few

Best Power BI (business intelligence) books

Business intelligence is the trend now. Every business is adopting BI. Master the Power BI tools from Microsoft.

• M Is for (Data) Monkey: A Guide to the M Language in Excel Power Query by Ken Puls, Miguel Escobar
• DAX Formulas for PowerPivot: A Simple Guide to the Excel Revolution by Rob Collie
• Power Pivot and Power BI: The Excel User’s Guide to DAX, Power Query, Power BI & Power Pivot in Excel 2010-2016 by Rob Collie, Avichal Singh
• The Definitive Guide to DAX: Business intelligence with Microsoft Excel, SQL Server Analysis Services, and Power BI (Business Skills) by Alberto Ferrari, Marco Russo
• DAX Patterns 2015 by Marco Russo, Alberto Ferrari
• Microsoft Excel 2013 Building Data Models with PowerPivot (Business Skills) by Alberto Ferrari, Marco Russo

So, you’re done. You got your track.

Why so many books?

When you want to tag yourself as the advanced user of Excel, you need to learn a lot of topics.

You might be at a position where you lead your whole team. In that case, deep understanding of every tool of Excel is not necessary. Acquire just the general understandings with every topic. This will help you lead your team more effectively.

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