Software Africa will be Open on Monday 20 March

You might be taking a day's leave to make it a long weekend.  Or you might be staying away from work, intimidated by the threats of Julius Malema, theatrical "Commander" of the EFF (Fighters against Economic Freedom) and his stay-away.

If you're not working on Monday, enjoy your day.

However, if you are working and need us,  Software Africa will be available to serve you on Monday 20 March, at the phone numbers and email address listed below.

Rand Decline Means Regular AutoCAD Price Increases

Bad News! Due to the weakening of the Rand against the US Dollar, our supplier gave notice to increase prices effective close of business 28 February. The amount of the possible increase could not be accurately predicted at the time, but they estimated about 5.6%.  In the event, the price increase turned out to be even higher, at 7.42%.

Would you like to renew your AutoCAD LT or AutoCAD Annual Subscription due in April?  It might be wise to do it in March and avoid another probable price increase.  We haven't been told of one yet, but it's entirely possible.  Feel free to check later in the month.

On-Line Business Tip #71 – Wireless Mouse Working Backwards

Question: My wireless mouse is behaving oddly.  When I move it away from me, the pointer moves down the screen . When I move it left, the pointer moves right, and vice versa.

Answer: You have the mouse back-to-front –quite easy with a cordless mouse.  The mouse wheel should be away from you.  If you try clicking, you will find that the buttons are at your end instead of away from you. Turn it around 180° and all will be well.

Excel for Engineers Online Self-Paced Course

Not just for engineers, the Excel for Engineers course is available on-line as a self-paced course.  The same manual and examples as the live version.  The same trainer. Done at your own pace at times that suit you.  Take half an hour a day and complete it in a month.  Spend an hour a day and finish it in two weeks.  Or dedicate two days –a weekend, perhaps?– and crack the whole course.

Sign up now and get these Bonuses:

1. Report, "Are You Making These Microsoft Excel Mistakes?"
2. A Free Support Group
3. Our Excel file "Excel Shortcut keys & My Macro Shortcuts" (you'll want this once you start building macros).

Take our self-paced online course in your own time and venue.  All the value at a quarter of the price of the live course.  Backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Excel Tip #217 – Working with Dates, Part V: The EOMONTH (End of Month) Function

Last month we used the TEXT function to format a number as text, with the formula ="The warranty expires on " & TEXT(end_date, "ddd dd mmm yyyy.")
This gives: The warranty expires on Thu 29 Feb 2024.

We have a cell named end_date that calculates the end-of-month a year hence. Here's how it is done:

EOMONTH(start_date, months) returns the last day of the month a specified number of months after a start_date.  Use EOMONTH to calculate due dates that fall on the last day of the month, like a warranty. Example: =EOMONTH(TODAY(), 12) for the end-of-month a year hence.

Here is a post with more detail and examples on EOMONTH.

The function is not sophisticated enough to avoid weekends or holidays.  For that we need the NETWORKDAYS and/or WORKDAY functions:

But what if we want the warranty to expire exactly 12 months hence, not on the last day of the month?  We'll see that next month.

More about Excel dates next time. Read more here on our Excel for Engineers blog.

Microsoft Excel Macros Online Self-Paced Course

Macros let you do repetitive work in a flash, instead of repeating the same boring stuff by hand.  Save hours not working late, and spend more time with your family ...or the cat.  Do you have a good knowledge of Excel, and now want to program your own time-saving applications?  Then this course is for you!

Do it in your own time, at your own venue and pace, cost-effectively.  The Software Africa Quick 'n Easy Turbo-Start Excel Macros course is waiting for you online.  Take it now!

Computius Say:

At the same speed, all computers wait.

Remember,  We can make your business run better by:

• Training your company live online, or live in-house, or via a self-paced online course.
• We train on Excel, Word, Access, and Windows (all levels from beginners to Programming).
• Automating your in-house processes with Excel macros, a custom program or database.
• Promoting your corporate image with a set of templates on Microsoft Word or Excel, linked to your address list.
• Speeding up your processes by linking to your database or spreadsheet.
• Solving your QuickBooks, Microsoft Access, Excel, Word, Visual Basic, and PowerPoint problems.
• Supplying software: We sell and support various accounting, timesheet, scheduling, and productivity programs.
• Providing programs for the Engineer and Engineering Geologist. Like dotPLOT, progeCAD, ZWCAD, Autodesk AutoCAD, AutoCAD LT, Revit Suite and Maya LT.

All the Best from

Communication in Action cc trading as Software Africa

Reg.  2009/007863/23 ~ VAT No 4500104387 ~ 126 Kelvin Drive, Morningside Manor, Sandton, 2191 South Africa.