Copy-paste-ready getting started macros for tax professionals.
A toggle macro that highlights the entire row and column of whichever cell you click — like Excel's Focus Cell feature, but works on any version. Click to trace, click again to turn off.
Catalogs every chart and chart sheet in a workbook — reports chart type, series count, data source, and flags #REF! sources and hidden-sheet references. Find the broken chart feeding off a deleted sheet in seconds.
Scans every sheet for formulas longer than a threshold you set and compiles them into a report sorted longest-first. One click to find the 847-character nested IF that nobody can audit.
One macro that inserts a SUM row at the bottom of your data, compares every column against your expected totals, and color-codes matches green and mismatches red. Instant sanity check for any received workpaper.
Excel Tables, structured references, dynamic named ranges, and INDIRECT — four patterns that make your SUM ranges expand automatically so your workpapers survive new rows, new tabs, and new preparers.
IFERROR, IFNA, ISERROR, ISNA — the four error-handling functions every tax preparer uses and misuses. A decision tree and real workpaper examples to help you catch the errors you expect and surface the ones you don't.
A complete guide to Excel's Go To Special dialog — select every error cell, every hard-coded number, every blank, every conditional format, and more in one click. 8 options, 8 tax workpaper scenarios, zero macros.
Build checks directly into your workpaper structure — control totals, cross-foot verification, hash totals, variance flags, and version drift detection. No macros, no VBA. Just formulas that scream when something's wrong.
SUMIFS, XLOOKUP, EOMONTH, IFERROR, and TEXT — five functions that replace the most common manual work in tax workpapers. Each one explained with a real tax scenario you'll recognize from your own engagements.
Move the 10 most-clicked ribbon commands to the Quick Access Toolbar so they're always one keystroke away. Save 15–20 minutes per day by replacing mouse clicks with Alt+1 through Alt+9.
Side-by-side comparison of XLOOKUP, VLOOKUP, and INDEX-MATCH with real tax workpaper examples. If you've been using VLOOKUP since 2010, here's what you're missing — and how to switch in 30 seconds.
15 keyboard shortcuts every tax preparer should know, each with a real workpaper scenario. From tracing precedents to selecting visible cells only — replace mouse clicks with keystrokes and reclaim the time you lose to Excel's ribbon.
Welcome to the Tax Automation Blog. Copy-paste VBA macros built for tax preparers, not developers. No programming required — just real macros for real workpapers.