Introduction

Table Based Modeling (TBM) is all about tables. Several tables are displayed at top. Tables are lists. Lists are everywhere. Lists can contain people, places, categories, properties, calculations, and much more. Many Excel projects include lists of all kinds but most do not use tables. 

Table Advantages

Excel tables bring many advantages to lists. We will go into each of them later, but for how here is a list of them:

• Automatic Dynamic Named Ranges - No need to create names in Name Manger with exotic formulas to determine range sizes

• Structured References - Make formulas self-documenting and, thus, far easier to understand than cryptic cell references.

• Auto-Extending Formulas - No need to copy/paste or drag/fill formulas for repeated calculations

• Formula Consistency Enforcement - Auto-extending formulas helps, but add to that alerts when formulas are inconsistent within columns.

• Intellisense - Let Excel help us enter references and eliminate reference entry errors common with cell references.

• Advanced Integration - Work with Power Query data, or export tables to Power BI. Tables work seamlessly with Power Pivots too.

• Total Row - Eliminate entering formulas to total columns.

• Filters and Slicers - Tables have auto-filters and work with slicers.

• Formatting - Automatically format headers and add (lightly) banded rows for easier following of calculation sequences.

Conclusion

Tables are lists with advantages. In the next section we will learn about table's structure and elements.