Microsoft Excel handles temporal data effectively if you know which formulas to use. The problem is that Excel includes over 20 date and time functions, but most people only ever need a small core set ...

DATEDIF(), which means Date + Dif, is a compatibility function left over from Lotus 1-2-3 that Microsoft adopted in Excel version 2000, which is the only version that explains how this function works.

In my previous articles, I described how to use Microsoft Excel pivot tables to analyze support contracts and massage the data to help understand service contracts and potentially reduce support costs ...