Management would like to decide whether they should discontinue any products. Any product which has had 50% less sales over the previous year should be discontinued. Are there any products that they should discontinued? List the product(s) and your recommendation in the worksheet. Which 3 products had the highest increase in sales?
a. Change the tab called 2017 vs 2018 to Q2 – 2017 vs. 2018 and move the tab to the second position.
b. Add a new column to calculate the percentage change from 2017 to 2018. Percentage change is computed using the following formula: (current year sales—last year sales) / (last year sales). Represent the numbers as percentages.
c. Calculate the total, average, and standard deviation for each year.
d. Format the title at the top so it stands out. Add distinct formatting to the column and row headings. Format the data in the cells to show currency.
e. Use conditional formatting to highlight the Percent Change cells that have a negative percent change in red.
f. Use conditional formatting to highlight the top 3 cells that had the highest increase in green.
g. Create a pie chart showing the contribution of each product to 2018 total sales. Make sure the percentages are displayed on the chart and the product names are displayed in the legend. Add a title to the chart.
h. Which product was the highest contributor in 2018? (write the answer directly into the worksheet).
The correct answer and explanation is :
To provide the answers for the tasks listed, we would need to go through the following steps:
Step-by-Step Explanation:
- Check for Products to Discontinue:
- The goal is to identify products that have had 50% less sales compared to the previous year (2017 vs. 2018). To do this, we will calculate the percentage change in sales between 2017 and 2018 for each product. If the percentage change is less than -50%, the product should be discontinued.
- Change the Tab Name:
- The tab should be renamed from “2017 vs. 2018” to “Q2 – 2017 vs. 2018”, and it should be moved to the second position in the workbook.
- Add a New Column for Percentage Change:
- Create a new column to calculate the percentage change in sales for each product using the formula:
[
\text{Percentage Change} = \frac{(\text{Sales in 2018} – \text{Sales in 2017})}{\text{Sales in 2017}} \times 100
] - This will help us determine if the sales for any product dropped by 50% or more.
- Calculate Total, Average, and Standard Deviation:
- For each year (2017 and 2018), we will calculate the total sales, average sales, and standard deviation of sales. This will give a general overview of the sales performance.
- Format Titles and Headings:
- Make sure the title at the top of the worksheet stands out (by bolding, increasing the font size, or changing the background color).
- Apply distinct formatting to column and row headings to make them visually distinguishable.
- Format the sales data in currency format.
- Apply Conditional Formatting:
- Highlight the Percent Change cells with a negative value in red (to identify products with a sales drop).
- Highlight the top 3 cells with the highest increase in green (to identify the products that performed best).
- Create a Pie Chart for 2018 Sales Contribution:
- Create a pie chart to show the contribution of each product to the total sales in 2018.
- Make sure the percentages are displayed on the chart and that the product names are shown in the legend.
- Identify the Highest Contributor in 2018:
- After creating the pie chart, identify the product that had the highest sales contribution in 2018.
- Write this information directly into the worksheet.
Answer to Task (Highest Contributor in 2018):
- Product Name: Based on the data from the “2017 vs. 2018” worksheet, I will identify the product that had the highest sales contribution in 2018