Track Maintenance Due Dates with Excel

Here is an Excel worksheet with all of the scheduled tasks that have to be completed at a department. The worksheet lists a piece of equipment, the maintenance to be performed, how often it should be performed, and the next due date.

1. It is possible to add a worksheet function to the top of the worksheet that will calculate the current day. Enter the =TODAY() function at the top of the worksheet. This will calculate to show the current day each time the worksheet is opened.

2. Next, you can add a column to the database that subtracts Today from the Due Date in order to figure out how many days away the due date is. Important concept: be sure to hit the F4 key when you point to the Today function.

3. Copy the formula down by double-clicking the fill handle.

4. Cool Trick: Set up a Conditional Format that will use three colors:

• Tasks Due today in Green
  
• Tasks Due tomorrow in Yellow
  
• Tasks overdue in Red
  
  
  Once the format is set up in one cell, follow these steps: 5. Copy the cell with Ctrl+c
  6. Highlight the other cells
  7. Edit - Paste Special - Formats - OK
  
  Result: You can quickly see at a glance which items are due today.