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EXCEL BILLING FOR CJA CASES
NOTES ABOUT MICROSOFT EXCEL
Microsoft Excel was selected as the program to drive this billing program because it is widely available and is Windows-based. The
files created in Excel are managed in the same way on your computer as Word Perfect and Microsoft Word files. The files are easy to
manage and easy to attach to emails.
This program was developed in Excel 2003. The latest version of Excel (2007) looks considerably different and there are some
special considerations that are discussed for that version. However, the differences are largely cosmetic and the program should work
in the same way.
A basic knowledge of Excel is all that is necessary to use these billing spreadsheets. Excel is menu driven and has helpful icons like
other popular windows-based programs. Many areas of the spreadsheets are password protected and therefore normal Excel functions,
such as adding rows and columns, or adding and editing formulas, are not allowed.
Excel spreadsheets are also referred to as “workbooks.” This is because it allows the use of multiple worksheets or pages that interact
with each other. As described in this guide, this billing file utilizes several separate worksheets to make the billing process easier and
more user-friendly. You can move from sheet to sheet by selecting the desired worksheet from the tabs across the bottom of the file.
On each Excel worksheet, columns are labeled alphabetically and rows are labeled numerically. There is
a name box in the upper left corner of the sheet that will tell you the cell you are in. The example to the
right is an Excel 2003 sheet that has cell A1 selected.
The example to the left (in Excel 2007) has cell B2 selected. You can
move around a sheet by tabbing from cell to cell, using the arrow
buttons on your keyboard or clicking on the desired cell. It you try to
access a protected part of the spreadsheet, you will get a warning that
the cell is protected (click OK to proceed).
Because so much of the data entry will be numerical, it is suggested that you use the number lock on
your keyboard so that your number pad will function like a calculator. This will probably make data
entry more efficient and accurate.