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School of Data & Tech

Google Sheets for Business

Step 2 of 8 in Tech Lab

Next in your path: 7.3 Data Analytics Basics

What you'll be able to do
  • Set up Google Sheets for a small business and share it safely with the right people.
  • Collect orders, bookings or sign-ups automatically with Google Forms.
  • Keep data clean with drop-down lists and catch problems with conditional formatting.
  • Use the functions small businesses rely on: COUNTIF, SUMIF, XLOOKUP, UNIQUE, FILTER and QUERY.
  • Pull data from one spreadsheet into another with IMPORTRANGE.
  • Build a simple live dashboard and restore old versions when something goes wrong.
Words in this course 48Open the Vocabulary Hall
01

Why Sheets, and how to set it up

In simple words

Google Sheets is a spreadsheet that lives on the internet, like a notebook in the cloud. You and your team can write in the same notebook at the same time, from any computer or phone.

Key facts
  • Google Sheets works in a web browser and in the Sheets app on phones. You need a Google Account.
  • Each Google Account includes up to 15 GB of free storage, shared across Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos.
  • A spreadsheet created in or converted to Google Sheets can hold up to 20 million cells or 100 MB. Very large data sets belong in a database (see course 7.4, SQL Basics).
  • Sheets saves automatically as you type. There is no Save button.
  • You can open Excel files in Sheets and download Sheets as Excel (File > Download > Microsoft Excel (.xlsx)), so you can work with clients who use Excel.
  • Good business setup: one folder in Google Drive per area (Sales, Inventory, Bookings), and clear file names with dates, for example "2026-11 Sales Tracker".
Step by step
  1. Sign in to your Google Account and open Google Drive in your browser.
  2. Click New, then Folder, and name it for one area, such as Sales.
  3. Open the folder, click New, then Google Sheets.
  4. Click the title at the top and rename the file with a date, for example "2026-11 Sales Tracker".
  5. Type a few headings in row 1 and some data below. Notice there is no Save button.
  6. To work with an Excel user, click File, Download, then Microsoft Excel (.xlsx).
  7. Check: your file is in the right Drive folder with a clear name.
Watch on YouTube
Google Sheets tutorial for beginnersCoupler.io Academy · YouTube · youtube.com

Videos by other creators on YouTube, for reference. They are not made by or affiliated with The Future Market.

LESSON 01Why Sheets, and how to set it up
LESSON 01 / ANIMATED LESSON / AI VOICE00:00 / 01:00
Read the video script
[Host] "If your business runs on scraps of paper and screenshots, Google Sheets is the upgrade."
[Screen: sheets.new opening a blank spreadsheet] "Open a blank sheet. It saves itself as you type. No Save button."
[Screen: two cursors editing at once] "Your partner can edit at the same time, from their phone."
[Text on screen: 15 GB free, shared with Gmail and Photos] "A free Google Account comes with 15 gigabytes, shared with Gmail and Photos."
Try it now

Create a Drive folder called "My Business". Inside it, make a spreadsheet called "Sales Tracker" with the headers Date, Customer, Product, Qty, Price, Total, Paid.

ClaudeStuck? Copy a ready-made prompt for Claude

Copy this, open Claude, paste it, and Claude will walk you through the lesson step by step.

For a grown-up: Claude is for adults (18+). Copy this, paste it into Claude, and use the answer to explain the lesson to your child.

I'm learning "Google Sheets for Business" on The Future Market. Lesson 1: "Why Sheets, and how to set it up".

What the lesson teaches:
- Google Sheets works in a web browser and in the Sheets app on phones. You need a Google Account.
- Each Google Account includes up to 15 GB of free storage, shared across Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos.
- A spreadsheet created in or converted to Google Sheets can hold up to 20 million cells or 100 MB. Very large data sets belong in a database (see course 7.4, SQL Basics).
- Sheets saves automatically as you type. There is no Save button.
- You can open Excel files in Sheets and download Sheets as Excel (File > Download > Microsoft Excel (.xlsx)), so you can work with clients who use Excel.
- Good business setup: one folder in Google Drive per area (Sales, Inventory, Bookings), and clear file names with dates, for example "2026-11 Sales Tracker".

The exercise I'm working on:
Create a Drive folder called "My Business". Inside it, make a spreadsheet called "Sales Tracker" with the headers Date, Customer, Product, Qty, Price, Total, Paid.

I'm stuck. Please:
1. Explain the main idea in plain, simple words with one everyday example.
2. Walk me through the exercise one small step at a time. Ask me what I've done so far before giving the next step.
3. Don't just give me the final answer. Help me do it myself, and check my work when I share it.
I'm a parent helping my child (about 8 years old) with a lesson called "Why Sheets, and how to set it up" from the course "Google Sheets for Business".

Here's what the lesson says:
Google Sheets is a spreadsheet that lives on the internet, like a notebook in the cloud. You and your team can write in the same notebook at the same time, from any computer or phone.

The activity:
Create a Drive folder called "My Business". Inside it, make a spreadsheet called "Sales Tracker" with the headers Date, Customer, Product, Qty, Price, Total, Paid.

Please explain this so an 8-year-old understands: short sentences, a fun everyday example, and no hard words.
Then give me 3 simple questions I can ask my child to check they understood, and a way to do the activity together, one tiny step at a time.
Open Claude
Sources
My notes
02

Sharing safely and undoing disasters

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

03

Collect data automatically with Google Forms

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

04

Clean data with drop-downs and colour rules

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

05

The functions small businesses use most

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

06

QUERY and IMPORTRANGE: the power tools

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

07

A live dashboard for your business

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

++

Final project

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??

Quiz

  1. How much free storage comes with a Google Account, and what shares it?

  2. Which sharing role can comment but not edit?

  3. How do you get back yesterday's version of a sheet?

  4. Where do Google Form answers go in your spreadsheet?

  5. What happens by default if someone types a value that is not in a drop-down list?

  6. What does =UNIQUE(B2:B) do?

  7. In SUMIF, does the range to add come first or last?

  8. What are the three parts of QUERY's syntax?

  9. What must you do the first time IMPORTRANGE connects two files?

  10. What is the size limit of a Google Sheets spreadsheet?

EX

Final exam

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

CE

Certificate

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.