MUST-HAVE

EXCEL SKILLS
FOR
FP&A
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 POWER QUERY
With Power Query (known as Get & Transform in
Excel), you can import or connect to external data,
and then shape that data, for example remove a
column, change a data type, or merge tables, in
ways that meet your needs. Then, you can load
your query into Excel to create charts and reports.

The Power Query tools lives in the Data

tab, under the “Get & Transform”
section (Excel 2016)
 POWER PIVOT
Powerful data analysis and data modeling in Excel

Power Pivot is an Excel add-in you can use to

perform powerful data analysis and create
sophisticated data models. With Power Pivot, you
can mash up large volumes of data from various
sources, perform information analysis rapidly, and
share insights easily.
 MACROS
If you have tasks in Microsoft Excel that you
do repeatedly, you can record a macro to
automate those tasks.
DATA VALIDATION
Use data validation to restrict the type
of data or the values that users enter
into a cell. One of the most common
data validation uses is to create a
drop-down list.
 ADVANCED CHARTING
An advanced chart is a chart that goes beyond the basic
charts created by Excel. Let’s say you have more than
one set of data that you would like to compare on the
same chart, you can create your basic chart with one set
of data then add more datasets to it and apply other
items i.e. formatting to the chart. This is what advanced
charts are all about.
 WHAT-IF ANALYSIS
Excel What-if Analysis is a procedure employed to the Excel sheets with
formulas to see the tabular data results when any variations are applied
to the original values without having to recreate a new sheet. We have
three types of What-if Analysis as shown below.

SCEARNIO MANAGER
The Scenario Manager in What-if Analysis Excel is used to consume the original data
and the mathematical formulas implemented on the data to recreate another
scenario that inherits similarities from the previous table and generates a new table.

GOAL SEEK
This option helps the user run all possible permutations and combinations to
generate or achieve a target in the resultant cell.

DATA TABLE
Data Table in Excel What-if Analysis eases the challenging task of calculating fields
and storing results in cells with just a simple drag and drop operation.
 FORECAST SHEET
If you have historical time-based data, you can use it to create a forecast.
When you create a forecast, Excel creates a new worksheet that contains
both a table of the historical and predicted values and a chart that
expresses this data. A forecast can help you predict things like future
sales, inventory requirements, or consumer trends.
 CONDITIONAL FORMATTING
Use the Quick Analysis tool to conditionally format cells in a range that
have duplicate text, unique text, and text that is the same as text you
specify. You can even conditionally format a row based on the text in one
of the cells in the row.
 PIVOT TABLE
A PivotTable is a powerful tool to calculate, summarize,
and analyze data that lets you see comparisons,
patterns, and trends in your data.
 FLASH FILL
Flash Fill automatically fills your data when it senses a
pattern. For example, you can use Flash Fill to separate
first and last names from a single column, or combine
first and last names from two different columns.
 SPARKLINES
A sparkline is a tiny chart in a worksheet cell that provides a visual
representation of data. Use sparklines to show trends in a series of
values, such as seasonal increases or decreases, economic cycles, or to
highlight maximum and minimum values. Position a sparkline near its
data for greatest impact.
 GET EXTERNAL DATA
Excel can import data from external data sources including other files,
databases, or web pages. If you have data to import from Access, the
web, or another source, select one of those options in the Get External
Data group instead.
 SUMIFS
The SUMIFS function, one of the math and trig
functions, adds all of its arguments that meet
multiple criteria.
 COUNTIFS
The Excel COUNTIFS function returns the count of cells
that meet one or more criteria. COUNTIFS can be used to
count cells that contain dates, numbers, and text, with
logical operators (>,<,<>,=)
 MATCH INDEX
While the INDEX and MATCH functions aren't overly
powerful when used independently, together they allow
you to return a cell value based on its vertical and
horizontal position.
 IFERROR
You can use the IFERROR function to trap and handle
errors in a formula. IFERROR returns a value you specify
if a formula evaluates to an error; otherwise, it returns
the result of the formula.
 TEXT TO COLUMNS
To separate the contents of one Excel cell into separate
columns, you can use the 'Convert Text to Columns
Wizard'.
NET PRESENT VALUE (NPV)
Net Present Value (NPV) is the value of a specific stream of future cash
flows presented in today’s dollar. NPV help you to decide whether the
project to be accepted or rejected.

It’s used in capital budgeting to determine if a project should be

undertaken.

=NPV(rate,value1,[value2],…)
Return the NPV of the annual flows

Hint: if a project has a positive

NPV, the project should be
taken as it will add value to the
business.
 INTERNAL RATE OF RETURN (IRR)

IRR is one of the most popular method of evaluating potential projects.

IRR is the discount rate needed to make the NPV equal 0. The higher the
IRR, the more valuable the project is. It is useful when comparing
between two projects, or when comparing a project against a company
WACC (Weighted Average Cost of Capital).

=IRR(values, [guess])
Returns the internal rate of return for a series of cash flows represented by
the numbers in values.

The values must include at

least 1 positive and 1 negative
number. The guess rate is a
rate that you can input. If
guess is taken, Excel will begin
its calculations with the rate of
10%
 TEXT TO COLUMNS
To separate the contents of one Excel cell into separate
columns, you can use the 'Convert Text to Columns
Wizard'. For example, when you want to separate a list
of full names into last and first names you want to
convert text into numbers.
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