Tech Tip: Filling Empty Cells

Importing data that is not formatted correctly can drain hours of your analysis time. An IDEA user was working with general ledger detail that required an account number associated with each entry.

Manually copying account numbers was not an option given they were working with 10 tabs of Excel GL data, each containing 65,000 lines of data per tab. She took advantage of the 20-minute rule to see if there was a trick for filling in account numbers…and luckily there is!

CaseWare Passport has a number of postings (scripts, functions, videos) to help with tedious tasks, like working with data that is not formatted correctly. The Fill Down script fills empty cells with the value from the previous cell in the same column. It works well for Excel spreadsheets that have been configured as a report.

Instructions:
 
Click here to download the IDEAScript

Save the file to MACROS.ILB of your current project. From the MACROS TAB select RUN. You will be prompted for file name & field name(s) – like magic it will fill in the account numbers for you!