Data analytics may seem daunting, but if you’re familiar with Excel, you have a head start that can help you make the leap into analytics.
Hear from author George Mount, founder and CEO of Stringfest Analytics give us an introduction to his new book, “Advancing into Analytics; from Excel to Python and R”. (more…)
This mini-masterclass with Financial Modelling in Excel specialist Danielle Stein Fairhurst shows various techniques for building scenarios into financial models. This session explores how to reduce uncertainty in decision-making with sensitivity and scenario analysis techniques, applying in-built standard spreadsheet tools, and understanding the inputs, assumptions and drivers when creating forecasts. (more…)
Hear from Excel legend Bob Umlas took us through some of his best Excel tips and tricks. Prepare to be amazed! Bob received the first ever Microsoft Excel MVP award back in 1993, continued to receive it for 25 years after that and is still the longest-running MVP.
He has written numerous books, and hosted & presented at many conferences, and been a beta-tester for Excel for production.His latest book, “Cool Excel Sh*t” is now available from Holy Macro books. (more…)
It’s never been more important for business professionals to have the skills to build robust, flexible and dynamic forecast models. Using in-built standard Excel tools, we explore how to predict business outcomes and handle the volatile economic inputs we see in these uncertain times. Understanding the inputs, assumptions and drivers and the best way to incorporate them into forecast models is critical for accurate forward planning. We also discuss the best ways to deal with the unknown and evaluate several different forecasting techniques to perform analysis in Excel models. (more…)
Have you ever built a perfect financial model without any errors? Thought not! And for that reason, all good modellers know they need to include some error checks. But what is not as clear is how many error checks you should have, when you should include them and what form they should take. Excel “helpfully” provided us with functions like ISERR, ISERROR and IFERROR but as you progress your modelling journey you should learn to avoid these functions. Plus, you also learn the sad truth that Excel can’t even do basic maths sometimes! (more…)
Ever been guilty of using Excel as a fancy calculator? If so, you’d just be using a formula in Excel. If you entered a calculation such as =A1+A2 or =452*12, then that’s just a formula. If a formula is all you need, then that’s fine. But Excel can do so much more!
You may hear the two words function and formula used interchangeably, but they’re not technically the same. So, what’s the difference? A formula is an expression that uses cell references or hard-coded numbers to calculate the value of a cell. Sometimes a simple formula is all you need to get the right answer, but you can do so much more using functions.
With the huge amount of data available to us every day, a well-built and visually appealing dashboard is one of the best ways to interpret and communicate large quantities of information. Learn to quickly and effectively communicate the results of your analysis to be easily interpreted and understood by others at a glance. Hear from Excel modelling specialist, Danielle Stein Fairhurst as she provides an introduction to her popular online workshop “Dashboard Reporting in Modern Excel”. (more…)
Dynamic Arrays in Microsoft 365 Excel have fundamentally changed the way we use Excel for financial modelling. A single cell formula may return several values and they all spill across and/or down the grid. Financial modellers can benefit by using dynamic arrays to offer more business insights with fewer formulae than ever before. (more…)
There’s nothing quite like experience to really hone and sharpen your Excel modelling skills. Every hour that you spend nutting through a problem on the job means that the next time you come across a similar problem, you’ll solve it in a matter of minutes, not hours. This is especially true for creating complicated Excel formulas, or for model design and layout. So often I come across a problem when building a modelling solution for a client and I know I’ve seen this problem before. Whilst it might have taken me half an hour to model it out the first time, often using trial and error but the next time it’ll only take a few minutes. The more experience you’ve got, the quicker and better modeller you’ll be.
Financial models often follow a similar format, but their design, build, layout, drivers and assumptions will be entirely different depending the sector or function for which they will be used. For example, a modeller working in Mergers & Acquisitions will build a model quite differently to a FP&A professional, and a Project Finance Business Case will look very different to Tech startup model.
