Wall Street Prep Excel Crash Course Exam Updated 2026 |
Comprehensive Study Guide, Practice Exam Questions and Answers,
Financial Modeling Excel Skills Test Bank, Spreadsheet Formulas and
Functions, Data Analysis Techniques, Valuation Modeling, Accounting
Integration, and Detailed Revision Material for Finance and Investment
Career Success
Question 1: In Excel, what type of cell reference remains constant when a formula
is copied to another cell?
A. Relative reference
B. Mixed reference
C. Circular reference
D. Absolute reference
CORRECT ANSWER: D. Absolute reference
Rationale: An absolute reference (e.g., $A$1) locks both the column and row so it does
not change when copied.
Question 2: Which of the following represents a mixed cell reference in Excel?
A. A1
B. $A$1
C. A$1
D. #REF!
CORRECT ANSWER: C. A$1
Rationale: A mixed reference locks either the row (A$1) or the column ($A1), but not
both.
Question 3: According to Excel’s order of operations, which calculation is
performed first in the formula =6+3*2^2?
A. 6+3
B. 3*2
C. 2^2
D. 6+12
CORRECT ANSWER: C. 2^2
Rationale: Exponentiation (^) has higher precedence than multiplication (*) and
addition (+), so 2^2 is calculated first.
Question 4: What is the result of the formula =ROUND(3.14159, 2)?
A. 3.14
B. 3.142
C. 3.1
D. 3
,CORRECT ANSWER: A. 3.14
Rationale: The ROUND function rounds a number to a specified number of digits; here,
3.14159 rounded to 2 decimal places is 3.14.
Question 5: Which function counts only the cells that contain numbers in a given
range?
A. COUNTA
B. COUNTBLANK
C. COUNT
D. LEN
CORRECT ANSWER: C. COUNT
Rationale: The COUNT function tallies only numeric values, whereas COUNTA includes
all non-blank cells.
Question 6: What does the AVERAGE function return if applied to a range containing
the values 10, 20, blank, and text?
A. 15
B. 10
C. Error
D. 30
CORRECT ANSWER: A. 15
Rationale: AVERAGE ignores blank cells and text, so it calculates (10+20)/2 = 15.
Question 7: Which function returns TRUE only if all its arguments are TRUE?
A. OR
B. NOT
C. XOR
D. AND
CORRECT ANSWER: D. AND
Rationale: The AND function evaluates to TRUE only when every condition provided is
TRUE.
Question 8: What is the output of =IF(5>3, "Yes", "No")?
A. FALSE
B. TRUE
C. Yes
D. No
CORRECT ANSWER: C. Yes
,Rationale: Since 5>3 is TRUE, the IF function returns the value_if_true argument, which
is "Yes".
Question 9: In VLOOKUP, what does the 'V' stand for?
A. Vertical
B. Value
C. Variable
D. Vector
CORRECT ANSWER: A. Vertical
Rationale: VLOOKUP stands for Vertical Lookup, as it searches down the first column of
a table.
Question 10: When using VLOOKUP with an exact match, what should the
range_lookup argument be set to?
A. TRUE
B. 1
C. FALSE
D. 0
CORRECT ANSWER: C. FALSE
Rationale: Setting range_lookup to FALSE ensures an exact match is required; TRUE
allows approximate matches.
Question 11: Which combination is more flexible than VLOOKUP for lookups to the
left?
A. HLOOKUP-INDEX
B. MATCH-INDEX
C. INDEX-MATCH
D. VLOOKUP-MATCH
CORRECT ANSWER: C. INDEX-MATCH
Rationale: INDEX-MATCH can look in any direction, including to the left, unlike
VLOOKUP which only looks right.
Question 12: In the formula =INDEX(A2:D10, MATCH(G1, B2:B10, 0), 3), what does
the '3' represent?
A. Row number
B. Column offset from start of array
C. Third argument of MATCH
D. Absolute reference
CORRECT ANSWER: B. Column offset from start of array
, Rationale: The third argument in INDEX specifies the column number within the array
A2:D10 to return a value from.
Question 13: Which function extracts the last 3 characters from the text in cell A1?
A. LEFT(A1,3)
B. MID(A1,3,3)
C. RIGHT(A1,3)
D. LEN(A1)-3
CORRECT ANSWER: C. RIGHT(A1,3)
Rationale: The RIGHT function returns a specified number of characters from the end
(right side) of a text string.
Question 14: What does the TRIM function do in Excel?
A. Converts text to uppercase
B. Removes extra spaces between words
C. Deletes leading zeros
D. Counts characters
CORRECT ANSWER: B. Removes extra spaces between words
Rationale: TRIM removes leading, trailing, and excessive spaces between words, leaving
single spaces.
Question 15: Which function returns the last day of the month, n months before or
after a start date?
A. EOMONTH
B. EDATE
C. DATE
D. MONTHEND
CORRECT ANSWER: A. EOMONTH
Rationale: EOMONTH(start_date, months) calculates the last day of the month after
adding the specified number of months
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.
Question 16: What does =TODAY() return?
A. Current date and time
B. Current date only
C. Yesterday’s date
D. System startup date
CORRECT ANSWER: B. Current date only
Comprehensive Study Guide, Practice Exam Questions and Answers,
Financial Modeling Excel Skills Test Bank, Spreadsheet Formulas and
Functions, Data Analysis Techniques, Valuation Modeling, Accounting
Integration, and Detailed Revision Material for Finance and Investment
Career Success
Question 1: In Excel, what type of cell reference remains constant when a formula
is copied to another cell?
A. Relative reference
B. Mixed reference
C. Circular reference
D. Absolute reference
CORRECT ANSWER: D. Absolute reference
Rationale: An absolute reference (e.g., $A$1) locks both the column and row so it does
not change when copied.
Question 2: Which of the following represents a mixed cell reference in Excel?
A. A1
B. $A$1
C. A$1
D. #REF!
CORRECT ANSWER: C. A$1
Rationale: A mixed reference locks either the row (A$1) or the column ($A1), but not
both.
Question 3: According to Excel’s order of operations, which calculation is
performed first in the formula =6+3*2^2?
A. 6+3
B. 3*2
C. 2^2
D. 6+12
CORRECT ANSWER: C. 2^2
Rationale: Exponentiation (^) has higher precedence than multiplication (*) and
addition (+), so 2^2 is calculated first.
Question 4: What is the result of the formula =ROUND(3.14159, 2)?
A. 3.14
B. 3.142
C. 3.1
D. 3
,CORRECT ANSWER: A. 3.14
Rationale: The ROUND function rounds a number to a specified number of digits; here,
3.14159 rounded to 2 decimal places is 3.14.
Question 5: Which function counts only the cells that contain numbers in a given
range?
A. COUNTA
B. COUNTBLANK
C. COUNT
D. LEN
CORRECT ANSWER: C. COUNT
Rationale: The COUNT function tallies only numeric values, whereas COUNTA includes
all non-blank cells.
Question 6: What does the AVERAGE function return if applied to a range containing
the values 10, 20, blank, and text?
A. 15
B. 10
C. Error
D. 30
CORRECT ANSWER: A. 15
Rationale: AVERAGE ignores blank cells and text, so it calculates (10+20)/2 = 15.
Question 7: Which function returns TRUE only if all its arguments are TRUE?
A. OR
B. NOT
C. XOR
D. AND
CORRECT ANSWER: D. AND
Rationale: The AND function evaluates to TRUE only when every condition provided is
TRUE.
Question 8: What is the output of =IF(5>3, "Yes", "No")?
A. FALSE
B. TRUE
C. Yes
D. No
CORRECT ANSWER: C. Yes
,Rationale: Since 5>3 is TRUE, the IF function returns the value_if_true argument, which
is "Yes".
Question 9: In VLOOKUP, what does the 'V' stand for?
A. Vertical
B. Value
C. Variable
D. Vector
CORRECT ANSWER: A. Vertical
Rationale: VLOOKUP stands for Vertical Lookup, as it searches down the first column of
a table.
Question 10: When using VLOOKUP with an exact match, what should the
range_lookup argument be set to?
A. TRUE
B. 1
C. FALSE
D. 0
CORRECT ANSWER: C. FALSE
Rationale: Setting range_lookup to FALSE ensures an exact match is required; TRUE
allows approximate matches.
Question 11: Which combination is more flexible than VLOOKUP for lookups to the
left?
A. HLOOKUP-INDEX
B. MATCH-INDEX
C. INDEX-MATCH
D. VLOOKUP-MATCH
CORRECT ANSWER: C. INDEX-MATCH
Rationale: INDEX-MATCH can look in any direction, including to the left, unlike
VLOOKUP which only looks right.
Question 12: In the formula =INDEX(A2:D10, MATCH(G1, B2:B10, 0), 3), what does
the '3' represent?
A. Row number
B. Column offset from start of array
C. Third argument of MATCH
D. Absolute reference
CORRECT ANSWER: B. Column offset from start of array
, Rationale: The third argument in INDEX specifies the column number within the array
A2:D10 to return a value from.
Question 13: Which function extracts the last 3 characters from the text in cell A1?
A. LEFT(A1,3)
B. MID(A1,3,3)
C. RIGHT(A1,3)
D. LEN(A1)-3
CORRECT ANSWER: C. RIGHT(A1,3)
Rationale: The RIGHT function returns a specified number of characters from the end
(right side) of a text string.
Question 14: What does the TRIM function do in Excel?
A. Converts text to uppercase
B. Removes extra spaces between words
C. Deletes leading zeros
D. Counts characters
CORRECT ANSWER: B. Removes extra spaces between words
Rationale: TRIM removes leading, trailing, and excessive spaces between words, leaving
single spaces.
Question 15: Which function returns the last day of the month, n months before or
after a start date?
A. EOMONTH
B. EDATE
C. DATE
D. MONTHEND
CORRECT ANSWER: A. EOMONTH
Rationale: EOMONTH(start_date, months) calculates the last day of the month after
adding the specified number of months
www.coursehero.com
.
Question 16: What does =TODAY() return?
A. Current date and time
B. Current date only
C. Yesterday’s date
D. System startup date
CORRECT ANSWER: B. Current date only
