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Excel: Introduction to Formulas and Functions

Beginner 2.6 hours English Course Certificate
SkillsExcelFormulasFunctionsCell referencesData summarisationSpreadsheets

Is this course right for you?

Our take
Formulas are the engine that makes a spreadsheet powerful; this LinkedIn Learning course aims straight at them.

Good for: Getting properly comfortable with Excel formulas and functions.

Skip if: You are brand new to Excel or want advanced analytics.

Over about two and a half hours it gets you building mathematical formulas, using absolute and relative cell references properly, and summarising data with the core functions — the step that turns a spreadsheet from a table into a tool. It assumes you know the Excel basics, so it's not a first course, and it stops short of advanced analytics. It comes with a LinkedIn Learning subscription (usually a free trial first; free via many libraries), and Excel itself needs a separate Microsoft 365 licence; the certificate it leaves is a learning marker, not a qualification. Formula fundamentals are as steady as they come (as of 2026).

Comparison · LBS

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About this course

Excel: Introduction to Formulas and Functions focuses on the engine that makes spreadsheets powerful. Over about two and a half hours you learn to build mathematical formulas, use absolute and relative cell references, summarise data with functions like SUM and AVERAGE, work with named ranges and tables, and audit formulas to catch errors.

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Instructor

CF
Curt Frye
LinkedIn Learning instructor

Taught by Curt Frye, a prolific spreadsheet and analytics author with dozens of Excel and data courses to his name.

Frequently asked questions

A little helps. It focuses on formulas and functions specifically, so being able to open a spreadsheet, enter data, and navigate cells beforehand makes it smoother — but it starts from the basics of how formulas work, so near-beginners can follow it. If you have literally never used Excel, a general intro first helps; otherwise this is a fine early step into actually calculating with it.

The foundations of Excel formulas and functions: writing basic formulas, cell references (relative and absolute), and common functions like SUM, AVERAGE, IF, and lookups, plus how to combine them. It is the core calculating skill that makes Excel useful, taking you from typing numbers to actually computing and analysing with them — the essential next step after basic spreadsheet navigation.

To practise properly, yes — you learn by writing formulas, so having Excel open to follow along makes it far more effective. Any reasonably recent version works, since the core formulas covered are stable across versions. You can watch without it, but formulas are a doing skill, so applying them in your own spreadsheet as you go is where it takes hold.

Not by default — it runs on LinkedIn Learning, which is subscription-based — but a free trial is common, and many public libraries and universities give members full access at no cost. Check whether a library card or an institution you belong to already provides LinkedIn Learning before paying, since that quietly unlocks this course and the whole catalogue.

Yes, you earn a LinkedIn Learning completion certificate for your profile. Treat it as a signal of professional development rather than a formal qualification — Excel skill is shown by what you can actually do in a spreadsheet. The real value is becoming genuinely comfortable with formulas and functions, which shows up in your work far more than the certificate.
Paid
LinkedIn Learning subscription
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