BTA3O1 – Productivity Software – Unit 2: Spreadsheet – Part 1: Templates – Page 1 of 3

MS EXCEL 2003
TEMPLATES

Templates

Background Reading
Templates — When you need to create spreadsheets containing repeated data and formulae, you can
create your own worksheet and save it as a template.
A template is an Excel workbook with content and formatting that you use as a model to create other
similar workbooks. You set options and enter data in a template, and then when you base new workbooks
on the template, the new workbooks receive
the same settings and initially contain the
same data.
Templates save you time when you need to
create several workbooks with similar
features, and can help you standardize the
appearance and content of workbooks used in
your organization. Because a template
provides only the information and settings you
want to reuse, it's faster than copying an
existing workbook and deleting old information
from it.
For example, you want everyone in your group
to provide information each month about their
project schedules and how much of the budget
they've spent. You combine this information in
a report, so you want the same information in
the same order from each employee.
To make this job easy, you can set up a
worksheet with a row for each project and
labels for the information you want in each
column, even include the amount budgeted for
each project, apply any other formats you want, then save the workbook as a template. Every month, your
employees each create a new workbook from this template, fill in the information, and send it to you. By
using the template, everyone automatically gets the information in the right order and format, so it's easy
for you to compile your monthly spending report.

What information can a template include?

Features that you can save in a template for replication to new workbooks include formatting, styles,
standard text including page headers and footers, macros, and more.
For information about the settings and other information Microsoft Excel can save in a template, type
“settings you can save in a template” in the search box at the top right corner of the Excel screen.

BTA3O1 Information and Communication Technology: The Digital Environment- Productivity Software
Unit1: Spreadsheet – Part 1: Templates – Page 1 of 3
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MS EXCEL 2003
TEMPLATES

Ex. 1. Create a Simple, Personalized Template

1. Create a template with a header that includes your name, teacher’s name and period.
Use this template for most of the files in the Excel section of this course.

Ex. 2. Creating and using a template

The filename of an Excel workbook ends in .xls. The filename of an Excel template ends in .xlt.

Note: Before beginning to work, read through all the instructions below to get an overview of the
assignment. First, you will create a template that can
be used to hold data for your salespeople. Second,
you will create a new worksheet (i.e. a new file based
on the template) with the appropriate data for each
salesperson. Later, you will be using these data files in
an assignment that links them.
1. Create a new folder named Excel2003. Save all
your files in this folder.
2. Create the “Monthly Sales & Commission
Summary” worksheet (see illustration).
3. Save the file as a template named
Excel01_template.xlt.
Note: Be sure to save the template on your Home Drive, not in Excel’s default template folder.
4. Be sure to set the Commission Rate as an absolute cell in the Commission Earned calculation.
5. In the template use formulas as indicated below:
• In B9 use a function to calculate the total product sales.
• In B10 use a formula to multiply “Total Sales” by “Commission Rate”.
• In B12 use a formula to add “Commission Earned and “Base Salary”
6. Close the file.
7. Use the template to create a separate spreadsheet file for each of the sales representatives:
• Open a new worksheet based on the template by double-clicking on Excel1_template.xlt
from Windows Explorer or My Computer.
• Enter the first sales representative’s name, Joe Brown, in B2.
• Enter the computer, printer, and scanner product sales numbers for Joe Brown (see Sales
Representative Data below) in the range B5:B7.
• Enter the base salary in B11.
Use the data below when you create a template for each sales representative.
Sales Representative Data
Joe Brown Mary Nguyen Raj Singh
Computers 24027 37426 41089
Printer 14325 12645 9876
Scanners 3245 2389 1300

Base Salary 450 500 500

BTA3O1 Information and Communication Technology: The Digital Environment- Productivity Software
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MS EXCEL 2003
TEMPLATES

For example, the worksheet for Joe

Brown will be as illustrated.

8. Save the file as Excel1_JoeB.xls. Minimize the file (Do not close).
9. Repeat for the second and third sales representatives to create files named Excel1_MaryN.xls and
Excel1_RajS.xls.

You will use these files in a later exercise.

BTA3O1 Information and Communication Technology: The Digital Environment- Productivity Software
Unit1: Spreadsheet – Part 1: Templates – Page 3 of 3