AAT L3 Spreadsheets for Accounting 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which Excel chart type is most appropriate for showing trends over time?
- Pie chart
- Bar chart
- Line chart (Correct answer)
- Scatter chart
Correct answer: Line chart
Line charts are ideal for displaying data trends over time — the continuous line clearly shows whether values are rising, falling, or stable across time periods.
Question 2: In Excel, pressing Ctrl+Z will:
- Redo the last action
- Undo the last action (Correct answer)
- Save the workbook
- Open a new worksheet
Correct answer: Undo the last action
Ctrl+Z is the universal undo shortcut in Excel (and most applications); it reverses the most recent action. Ctrl+Y or Ctrl+Shift+Z redoes an undone action.
Question 3: When copying a formula in Excel and you want the row reference to remain fixed but the column to change, you should use:
- $A1 (absolute column, relative row)
- A$1 (relative column, absolute row) (Correct answer)
- $A$1 (absolute column and row)
- A1 (fully relative)
Correct answer: A$1 (relative column, absolute row)
A$1 fixes only the row (the $ is before the row number); when the formula is copied horizontally, the column letter changes (relative) but the row remains fixed at row 1.
Question 4: Which Excel function looks up a value in the first row of a range and returns a value from a specified row below it?
- VLOOKUP
- HLOOKUP (Correct answer)
- INDEX
- MATCH
Correct answer: HLOOKUP
HLOOKUP (Horizontal Lookup) searches across the first row of a range for a match and returns the corresponding value from a specified row below — the horizontal equivalent of VLOOKUP.
Question 5: In Excel, the shortcut to insert the current date in a cell is:
- Ctrl+D
- Ctrl+; (Correct answer)
- Ctrl+Shift+;
- Ctrl+T
Correct answer: Ctrl+;
Ctrl+; (Ctrl + semicolon) inserts the current date as a static value in the active cell. Ctrl+Shift+; inserts the current time. Note this is a static entry — it does not update automatically.
Question 6: For accountancy purposes, which Excel function would you use to add up invoice amounts only where the invoice date falls within a specific date range?
- SUMIF
- SUMIFS (Correct answer)
- COUNTIFS
- AVERAGEIF
Correct answer: SUMIFS
SUMIFS allows multiple criteria — for example, sum amounts where date is after 01/01/2024 AND before 31/03/2024. SUMIF only supports a single criterion, which would be insufficient for a date range.
AAT L3 Spreadsheets for Accounting 4
Which Excel chart type is most appropriate for showing trends over time?