It is well-documented that up to 90% of spreadsheets contain errors and although any individual mistake may be small, they can quickly add up. Checking for errors is an important part of the financial model build and there are many native Excel tools that can be used for this purpose. (more…)
Excel today is not the Excel of yesterday. Dynamic Array Functions and Custom Data Types are just two of the relatively new must-know game-changing features. In this session, Microsoft trainer Mike Thomas gives us a tour of the most useful techniques, incorporating practical use cases that can help take your productivity in Excel to the next level.
At the recent Financial Modelling Summit, Danielle Stein Fairhurst hosted a panel discussion on the important topic of “Women in Financial Modelling” with ModelOff Champion Hilary Smart, top ranking FMWC competitor Stephanie Annerose and Partner at Mazars Rickard Warnelid. Not only are the financial modelling and Excel competitions still lacking in female competitors and champions, but there’s a shortage of female senior leaders in many companies, particular in the modelling space. (more…)
Best practice financial modelling in Excel has always been to enter your formulas in blocks. Enter a formula, then copy this across and possibly down also, making sure you have your absolute and relative references set correctly.
This is very useful because it is faster to build a model, easier to enter lots of formulas, less error-prone and easier to audit, all very desirable things when you’re constructing a financial model! Excel’s dynamic array functions take this concept to a whole new level because they automatically copy themselves. The dynamic array functionality has improved recently & now, with a bit of thought & planning, it can be applied to building a full financial model.
Excel is a versatile piece of software and the techniques used to build financial models can also be applied to solve other problems using Excel. Many modellers compete in various competitions which explore the use of Excel for recreational problem solving where we can often develop or pick up new techniques and methods that prove useful in traditional modelling situations. (more…)
The best way to get people to pay attention to your models and reports is to present them professionally by changing the standard Microsoft settings and applying tasteful colours, borders and fonts. Formatting, however, is notoriously time consuming and it’s sometimes overlooked by the busy modeller. In this virtual meetup, we look at some quick and easy ways to use standard Excel for Microsoft 365 features to make your models look fabulous! (more…)
Understanding key data structure concepts is critical for any modeller who wants to efficiently perform data analysis in Power BI. Watch to hear from Microsoft Certified Data Analyst and Power BI specialist Sue Bayes.
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. (more…)
