Mastering Excel: a Roadmap for the Average Modeller
Microsoft Excel continues to evolve at an incredible pace. The introduction of new features and functions like Dynamic Arrays, LET and LAMBDA open up a whole new world of possibilities for modellers. Those at the cutting edge of these Excel features are more excited than they’ve ever been. But what about the vast majority of Excel users who still struggle with the basics? How can they keep up, and how can we, as a global community, help them cut through the hype? Watch to hear from financial modeller Giles Male, co-founder at Full Stack Modeller during his visit to Sydney.
As AI technology evolves rapidly through advances such as ChatGPT, let’s consider how this will impact the financial modelling industry. Join industry leaders Jeff Robson, Lance Rubin and Craig Hatmaker and host Danielle Stein Fairhurst for a virtual meetup to discuss how these technological advancements might impact the process of building a model along with the role and skills of a financial modeller both today and in the future. 
A Monte Carlo simulation is a numerical method that uses random draws to perform calculations and complex problems. Contrary to what many people think, you don’t need programming knowledge or a fancy software to start using the power of Monte Carlo Simulations in your Excel models. Watch to see the Hybrid meetup replay of the Sydney financial Modelling meetup group with visiting Associate Professor of Finance, David Brown during his trip to Sydney. 
Summarise the outputs of your financial model using standard Excel skills into a concise, dynamic and visually appealing one-page dashboard report which can effectively communicate the results of your model to be easily interpreted and understood by others at a glance. 
As a consultant starting on a new project, I’d always prefer to start a new model from scratch – but that rarely happens! Normally we modellers have to take apart, check and validate a model that’s already been built by another modeller and when this happens, you can either start over and build your own model from the ground up or validate and verify the existing model to the extent that you’re comfortable to take responsibility for the calculations. Starting over to build your own model from scratch is inefficient and a waste of resources. Unless the model is in extremely poor shape, it’s usually far more efficient to use what you already have — but leave no cell untouched during the process of validation and verification.
In this special interview we talk about travel, work/life balance, the highs and lows of starting a business, the privilege of working for yourself and plans for the future.
The Financial Modeling World Cup (FMWC) competition brings competitive modellers from all over the world and different backgrounds together online each month to learn, train, compete and improve their financial modelling skills through case studies. This session was organised by the Queensland CPA Business Committee Financial Modelling discussion group and co-hosted by Jessica D’Souza and Danielle Stein Fairhurst. 
