diff --git a/poi-util/src/main/java/de/muehlencord/shared/poi/PoiException.java b/poi-util/src/main/java/de/muehlencord/shared/poi/PoiException.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d81e532
--- /dev/null
+++ b/poi-util/src/main/java/de/muehlencord/shared/poi/PoiException.java
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2019 joern.muehlencord.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package de.muehlencord.shared.poi;
+
+/**
+ *
+ * @author joern.muehlencord
+ */
+public class PoiException extends Exception {
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a new instance of <code>PoiException</code> without detail
+     * message.
+     */
+    public PoiException() {
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Constructs an instance of <code>PoiException</code> with the specified
+     * detail message.
+     *
+     * @param msg the detail message.
+     */
+    public PoiException(String msg) {
+        super(msg);
+    }
+    
+    /**
+     * Constructs an instance of <code>PoiException</code> with the specified
+     * detail message.
+     *
+     * @param msg the detail message.
+     * @param th the root cause of this exception
+     */
+    public PoiException(String msg, Throwable th) {
+        super(msg, th);
+    }    
+}
diff --git a/poi-util/src/main/java/de/muehlencord/shared/poi/PoiUtil.java b/poi-util/src/main/java/de/muehlencord/shared/poi/PoiUtil.java
index 1898de4..08c92ad 100644
--- a/poi-util/src/main/java/de/muehlencord/shared/poi/PoiUtil.java
+++ b/poi-util/src/main/java/de/muehlencord/shared/poi/PoiUtil.java
@@ -15,8 +15,23 @@
  */
 package de.muehlencord.shared.poi;
 
+import java.text.ParseException;
+import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
+import java.time.LocalDate;
+import java.time.ZoneId;
+import java.util.Date;
 import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.Cell;
+import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.CellStyle;
 import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.CellType;
+import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.ClientAnchor;
+import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.Comment;
+import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.CreationHelper;
+import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.Drawing;
+import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.RichTextString;
+import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.Row;
+import org.apache.poi.xssf.usermodel.XSSFWorkbook;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
 /**
  *
@@ -24,21 +39,212 @@ import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.CellType;
  */
 public abstract class PoiUtil {
 
+    private static final Logger LOGGER = LoggerFactory.getLogger(PoiUtil.class);
+
     private PoiUtil() {
         // hide constructor of abstract classes
     }
-    
+
     public static boolean cellEmpty(Cell cell) {
-        if (cell == null)
+        if (cell == null) {
             return true;
-        if (cell.getCellType() == CellType.BLANK)
-            return true;
-        if (cell.getCellType() == CellType.STRING) {
-            return cell.getStringCellValue().equals ("");
         }
-        return false;           
+        if (cell.getCellType() == CellType.BLANK) {
+            return true;
+        }
+        if (cell.getCellType() == CellType.STRING) {
+            return cell.getStringCellValue().equals("");
+        }
+        return false;
     }
-    
-    
-    
+
+    public static Cell createOrGetCell(Row row, int cellNumber, CellStyle cellStyle) {
+        Cell currentCell = row.getCell(cellNumber);
+        if (currentCell == null) {
+            currentCell = row.createCell(cellNumber);
+        }
+        if (cellStyle != null) {
+            currentCell.setCellStyle(cellStyle);
+        }
+        return currentCell;
+    }
+
+    public static Cell setStringValue(Row row, int cellNumber, String stringValue, CellStyle cellStyle) {
+        Cell currentCell = createOrGetCell(row, cellNumber, cellStyle);
+        if (stringValue != null) {
+            currentCell.setCellValue(stringValue);
+        }
+        return currentCell;
+    }
+
+    public static void addCellComment(XSSFWorkbook wb, Row row, int cellNumber, String cellComment) {
+        addCellComment(wb, row, cellNumber, cellComment, 3, 1);
+    }
+
+    public static void addCellComment(XSSFWorkbook wb, Row row, int cellNumber, String cellComment, int rowCount, int columnCount) {
+        Drawing drawing = row.getSheet().createDrawingPatriarch();
+        CreationHelper factory = wb.getCreationHelper();
+
+        Cell cell = createOrGetCell(row, cellNumber, null);
+
+        // When the comment box is visible, have it show in a 1x3 space
+        ClientAnchor anchor = factory.createClientAnchor();
+        anchor.setCol1(cell.getColumnIndex());
+        anchor.setCol2(cell.getColumnIndex() + columnCount);
+        anchor.setRow1(row.getRowNum());
+        anchor.setRow2(row.getRowNum() + rowCount);
+
+        // Create the comment and set the text+author
+        Comment comment = drawing.createCellComment(anchor);
+        RichTextString str = factory.createRichTextString(cellComment);
+        comment.setString(str);
+        comment.setAuthor("PCD");
+
+        // Assign the comment to the cell
+        cell.setCellComment(comment);
+    }
+
+    public static void setDateValue(Row row, int cellNumber, Date date, CellStyle cellStyle) {
+        Cell currentCell = createOrGetCell(row, cellNumber, cellStyle);
+        if (date != null) {
+            currentCell.setCellValue(date);
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static void setDoubleValue(Row row, int cellNumber, Double value, CellStyle cellStyle) {
+        Cell currentCell = createOrGetCell(row, cellNumber, cellStyle);
+        if (value != null) {
+            currentCell.setCellValue(value);
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static void setBooleanValue(Row row, int cellNumber, boolean value, CellStyle cellStyle) {
+        Cell currentCell = createOrGetCell(row, cellNumber, cellStyle);
+        currentCell.setCellValue(value);
+    }
+
+    public static void setDateValue(Row row, int cellNumber, String dateString, String dateFormat, CellStyle cellStyle) {
+        Cell currentCell = createOrGetCell(row, cellNumber, cellStyle);
+        SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat(dateFormat);
+        Date date;
+        try {
+            date = sdf.parse(dateString);
+        } catch (ParseException ex) {
+            if (LOGGER.isTraceEnabled()) {
+                LOGGER.trace(ex.toString(), ex);
+            }
+            date = null;
+        }
+        currentCell.setCellValue(date);
+    }
+
+    public static String getStringValue(Row row, int cellNumber) throws PoiException {
+        return getStringValue(row, cellNumber, false, null);
+    }
+
+    public static String getStringValue(Row row, int cellNumber, boolean returnDefaultValue, String defaultValue) throws PoiException {
+        if (row == null) {
+            throw new PoiException("Current row must not be null");
+        }
+        Cell cell = row.getCell(cellNumber);
+        if ((PoiUtil.cellEmpty(cell)) && !returnDefaultValue) {
+            throw new PoiException("Cannot read cell " + cellNumber + " from row " + row.getRowNum());
+        } else {
+            if (PoiUtil.cellEmpty(cell)) {
+                return defaultValue;
+            } else {
+                if (cell.getCellType() == CellType.NUMERIC) {
+                    Double doubleValue = cell.getNumericCellValue();
+                    return Integer.toString(doubleValue.intValue());
+                } else {
+                    String returnValue = cell.getStringCellValue();
+                    if (returnValue != null) {
+                        returnValue = returnValue.trim();
+                        returnValue = replaceProblematicCharacters(returnValue);
+                    }
+                    return returnValue;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static LocalDate getDateValue(Row row, int cellNumber) throws PoiException {
+        return getDateValue(row, cellNumber, false, null);
+    }
+
+    public static LocalDate getDateValue(Row row, int cellNumber, boolean returnDefaultValue, LocalDate defaultValue) throws PoiException {
+        if (row == null) {
+            throw new PoiException("Current row must not be null");
+        }
+        Cell cell = row.getCell(cellNumber);
+        if ((PoiUtil.cellEmpty(cell)) && !returnDefaultValue) {
+            throw new PoiException("Cannot read cell " + cellNumber + " from row " + row.getRowNum());
+        } else {
+            if (PoiUtil.cellEmpty(cell)) {
+                return defaultValue;
+            } else {
+                Date date = cell.getDateCellValue();
+                if (date == null) {
+                    if (returnDefaultValue) {
+                        return defaultValue;
+                    } else {
+                        throw new PoiException("Cell contains null value but not default value shall be returned");
+                    }
+                }
+                return date.toInstant().atZone(ZoneId.systemDefault()).toLocalDate();
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static boolean getBooleanValue(Row currentRow, int cellNumber, boolean returnDefaultValue, boolean defaultValue) throws PoiException {
+        if (currentRow == null) {
+            throw new PoiException("Current row must not be null");
+        }
+        Cell cell = currentRow.getCell(cellNumber);
+        if ((PoiUtil.cellEmpty(cell)) && !returnDefaultValue) {
+            throw new PoiException("Cannot read cell " + cellNumber + " from row " + currentRow.getRowNum());
+        } else {
+            if (PoiUtil.cellEmpty(cell)) {
+                return defaultValue;
+            } else {
+                return cell.getBooleanCellValue();
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static double getDoubleValue(Row currentRow, int cellNumber) throws PoiException {
+        return getDoubleValue(currentRow, cellNumber, false, 0D);
+    }
+
+    public static Double getDoubleValue(Row currentRow, int cellNumber, boolean returnDefaultValue, Double defaultValue) throws PoiException {
+        if (currentRow == null) {
+            throw new PoiException("Current row must not be null");
+        }
+        Cell cell = currentRow.getCell(cellNumber);
+        if ((PoiUtil.cellEmpty(cell)) && !returnDefaultValue) {
+            throw new PoiException("Cannot read cell " + cellNumber + " from row " + currentRow.getRowNum());
+        } else {
+            if (PoiUtil.cellEmpty(cell)) {
+                return defaultValue;
+            } else {
+                return cell.getNumericCellValue();
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * remove charecters which often cause troubles in other applications - e.g. em dash (long dash) is created by Excel automatically 
+     * @param sourceValue the input string to execute the replacement
+     * @return sourceValue with replaced characters
+     */
+    protected static String replaceProblematicCharacters(final String sourceValue) {
+        String returnValue = sourceValue;
+        returnValue = returnValue.replace("\u2011", "-");
+        returnValue = returnValue.replace("\u2012", "-");
+        returnValue = returnValue.replace("\u2013", "-");
+        returnValue = returnValue.replace("\u2014", "-");
+
+        return returnValue;
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/poi-util/src/main/java/de/muehlencord/shared/poi/WorkbookApp.java b/poi-util/src/main/java/de/muehlencord/shared/poi/WorkbookApp.java
index 974f2c4..4f9f5a1 100644
--- a/poi-util/src/main/java/de/muehlencord/shared/poi/WorkbookApp.java
+++ b/poi-util/src/main/java/de/muehlencord/shared/poi/WorkbookApp.java
@@ -315,5 +315,5 @@ public class WorkbookApp {
             sheet.autoSizeColumn(currentColumn);
         }
     }
-
+    
 }