Excel Formulas For Financial Analysts
TEXTJOIN with conditional inclusion?
=COUNTIFS(region, "EMEA", year, 2025, value, ">1000") — all conditions ANDed.
SUMIFS(sum_range, criteria_range1, criteria1, ...) — sum_range comes first, a common source of bugs since it differs from SUMIF.
=TEXTJOIN(", ", TRUE, IF(A2:A100="Active", B2:B100, "")) entered as a dynamic array — joins only rows where condition is TRUE.
NPV discounts the first value by 1 period, the second by 2, etc. A period-0 outflow must be added outside the NPV call, not listed as the first argument.
Excel Formulas For Financial Analysts
Pivot Slicer for interactivity?
Insert → Slicer, bind to a field, place on the dashboard. Slicers filter all connected pivots and charts.
Project FCF, discount at WACC, sum, add terminal value: TV / (1+WACC)^n, subtract debt, divide by shares for per-share value.
PV(rate, nper, pmt, [fv], [type]) discounts a single future lump sum or annuity stream. NPV discounts a series of unequal cash flows that already start at period 1; you must add the period-0 outflow manually.
Each period: beginning balance → interest accrual (rate × avg balance) → mandatory + optional repayments → ending balance.
Excel Formulas For Financial Analysts
Lock a row in a formula?
=FixedCosts / (Price - VariableCost) — sales volume at zero profit.
=RATE(nper, pmt, pv, [fv], [type], [guess]) — solves for the periodic interest rate of an annuity (e.g., implied yield on a loan with known payment).
=FV(rate, nper, pmt, [pv], 1) — final argument 1 marks annuity due (payments at start of period).
Use absolute: $A$1. Lock only column or only row with single dollar sign.
Excel Formulas For Financial Analysts
Common circular reference cause?
=LEFT(A1, 3), =MID(A1, 5, 2), =RIGHT(A1, 4) — extract substrings. Combine with FIND/SEARCH for position-aware parsing.
DIVIDE(numerator, denominator, alternate) handles divide-by-zero by returning the alternate (often BLANK()). Use instead of / to avoid blank rows in visuals.
Interest expense uses average debt, which depends on cash flow, which depends on interest. Resolve via iterative calculation (File → Options → Formulas).
=NUMBERVALUE("$1,234.56") parses currency-formatted strings to numbers, accepting locale-specific separators. =VALUE("123") is the simpler legacy form.
Excel Formulas For Financial Analysts
Protection: lock formulas but allow inputs?
=NETWORKDAYS(start, end, [holidays]) — counts weekdays between two dates, optionally excluding a holiday range.
=NPV(rate, value1, value2, ...) + initial_investment — NPV discounts from period 1; include the initial outflow (often negative) separately.
PV(rate, nper, pmt, [fv], [type]) discounts a single future lump sum or annuity stream. NPV discounts a series of unequal cash flows that already start at period 1; you must add the period-0 outflow manually.
Format cells → uncheck Locked on input cells, then Review → Protect Sheet. Users can only edit unlocked cells.
Excel Formulas For Financial Analysts
ACCRINT for accrued interest?
=WORKDAY(start_date, days, [holidays]) — returns the working day n days from start, skipping weekends and holidays.
=ACCRINT(issue, first_interest, settlement, rate, par, frequency, [basis]) — interest accrued since last coupon.
=AVERAGEX(Sales, Sales[Amount]) — averages over a derived table, e.g., per-customer or per-day averages that ordinary AVERAGE can't produce.
VLOOKUP : looks up by leftmost column, returns a column to the right; can't go left.XLOOKUP : any direction, exact match default, IFNULL built in.
Excel Formulas For Financial Analysts
FILTER function syntax?
=YEARFRAC(start, end, basis) — fractional years between two dates with day-count conventions (30/360, ACT/360, etc.).
OFFSET, INDIRECT, NOW, TODAY, RAND, RANDBETWEEN recalc on every change — they slow large workbooks. Replace with INDEX where possible.
Each period: beginning balance → interest accrual (rate × avg balance) → mandatory + optional repayments → ending balance.
=FILTER(array, include, [if_empty]) — spills rows where include is TRUE. Example: =FILTER(A2:D100, B2:B100="Closed").
Excel Formulas For Financial Analysts
Power Pivot vs Power Query?
Formulas → Trace Precedents draws arrows from cells feeding into the selected formula. Trace Dependents shows the reverse. Critical for auditing models.
Power Query : shape/load data.Power Pivot : build a relational model + DAX measures for analysis.
=(PRICE(sett,mat,coup,yld+0.0001,freq,basis)-PRICE(sett,mat,coup,yld,freq,basis))/10000 — dollar value of a 1bp move.
Insert → Slicer, bind to a field, place on the dashboard. Slicers filter all connected pivots and charts.
Excel Formulas For Financial Analysts
Monte Carlo simulation in Excel?
Generate N random inputs with =NORM.INV(RAND(), mean, stdev), copy a model that produces an output, and record results. Data Table or VBA can iterate.
=HYPERLINK("#'P&L'!A1", "Open P&L") — sheet names with spaces or & require single quotes.
=INDEX(returnRange, MATCH(lookupValue, lookupRange, 0)) — more flexible than VLOOKUP.
=TEXTJOIN(", ", TRUE, IF(A2:A100="Active", B2:B100, "")) entered as a dynamic array — joins only rows where condition is TRUE.
Excel Formulas For Financial Analysts
SWITCH vs nested IF?
CALCULATE([NetFlow], FILTER(ALL('Date'), 'Date'[Date] <= MAX('Date'[Date]))) — running total across the visible date range.
=YEARFRAC(start, end, basis) — fractional years between two dates with day-count conventions (30/360, ACT/360, etc.).
=CONVEXITY(settlement, maturity, coupon, yld, frequency, [basis])
=SWITCH(value, 1, "Low", 2, "Med", 3, "High", "Other") — cleaner than nested IFs when comparing one value to a list.
Excel Formulas For Financial Analysts
LET function benefit?
=YIELD(settlement, maturity, rate, pr, redemption, frequency, [basis]) — bond yield to maturity given clean price.
=EnterpriseValue / LTM_EBITDA — sanity-check vs comparables.
SUM aggregates a column. SUMX iterates a table and evaluates an expression per row — e.g., SUMX(Sales, Sales[Qty] * Sales[Price]) for revenue.
=LET(x, A1*2, y, x+5, y*3) — names intermediate results; faster, cleaner, easier to debug.
Excel Formulas For Financial Analysts
CHOOSE function for scenario picks?
PARALLELPERIOD rolls to the start of the period (e.g., -1 YEAR gives the full prior year). DATEADD shifts by exact days, preserving partial periods.
=PMT(rate/12, n_months, -principal)
=LEFT(A1, 3), =MID(A1, 5, 2), =RIGHT(A1, 4) — extract substrings. Combine with FIND/SEARCH for position-aware parsing.
=CHOOSE(scenario_index, case1, case2, case3) — pick the nth argument. Common in Data Table / scenario-driven models.
Excel Formulas For Financial Analysts
DV01 / PV01 estimate?
=SUMPRODUCT((region="EMEA")*(value)) — multiplies the boolean (1/0) by the value, then sums. Pre-365 portable equivalent of SUMIFS.
=(PRICE(sett,mat,coup,yld+0.0001,freq,basis)-PRICE(sett,mat,coup,yld,freq,basis))/10000 — dollar value of a 1bp move.
CALCULATE([Sales], 'Date'[Year] = 2025) — evaluates the measure under a modified filter context. Foundation of almost every advanced DAX measure.
=YIELD(settlement, maturity, rate, pr, redemption, frequency, [basis]) — bond yield to maturity given clean price.
Excel Formulas For Financial Analysts
SYD depreciation?
=XLOOKUP(1, (A:A=x)*(B:B=y), C:C) — boolean AND.
=FILTER(array, include, [if_empty]) — spills rows where include is TRUE. Example: =FILTER(A2:D100, B2:B100="Closed").
=FV(rate, nper, pmt, [pv], 1) — final argument 1 marks annuity due (payments at start of period).
=SYD(cost, salvage, life, per) — sum-of-years'-digits; front-loads depreciation.
Excel Formulas For Financial Analysts
Approximate YTM with RATE on bond cash flows?
=YIELD(settlement, maturity, rate, pr, redemption, frequency, [basis]) — bond yield to maturity given clean price.
Drag Customer to Values → Value Field Settings → choose Distinct Count (Excel 2013+). Models the COUNT DISTINCT pattern.
#,##0_);(#,##0) — accounting style: positive numbers right-aligned, negatives in parentheses.
Build a schedule of [-Price, Coupon, Coupon, ..., Coupon+Par], then =RATE(N, Coupon, -Price) — the bond's YTM as if it were an annuity.
Excel Formulas For Financial Analysts
IFNA vs IFERROR?
IFNA traps only #N/A (preserves other errors so you notice bugs). IFERROR traps all error types — riskier because it hides formula mistakes.
=(PRICE(sett,mat,coup,yld+0.0001,freq,basis)-PRICE(sett,mat,coup,yld,freq,basis))/10000 — dollar value of a 1bp move.
Drag Customer to Values → Value Field Settings → choose Distinct Count (Excel 2013+). Models the COUNT DISTINCT pattern.
=FORMULATEXT(A1) — returns the formula text in A1 as a string. Good for documentation tabs in complex models.
Excel Formulas For Financial Analysts
DAX: filter context vs row context?
=IFS(cond1, val1, cond2, val2, TRUE, "default") — readable replacement for nested IFs.
Filter context is set by slicers, page filters, and CALCULATE filters — it determines which rows are aggregated. Row context is the current row iterated by a calculated column or iterator (SUMX, FILTER).
ROE = (NetIncome/Sales) * (Sales/Assets) * (Assets/Equity) — break ROE into margin, turnover, leverage.
Use structured table references (Table1[Column] ) — auto-adjust as the table grows.
Excel Formulas For Financial Analysts
Pivot: show running total?
Project FCF, discount at WACC, sum, add terminal value: TV / (1+WACC)^n, subtract debt, divide by shares for per-share value.
=VDB(cost, salvage, life, start_period, end_period, [factor], [no_switch]) — declining-balance with switch to straight-line.
Value Field Settings → Show Values As → Running Total In → choose the date field.
=ContributionMargin / OperatingIncome — % change in EBIT from a 1% change in sales.
Excel Formulas For Financial Analysts
SUMIFS argument order?
=(PRICE(sett,mat,coup,yld+0.0001,freq,basis)-PRICE(sett,mat,coup,yld,freq,basis))/10000 — dollar value of a 1bp move.
SUMIFS(sum_range, criteria_range1, criteria1, ...) — sum_range comes first, a common source of bugs since it differs from SUMIF.
COVAR / COVARIANCE.P measures directional co-movement. CORREL normalizes to [-1, 1] — usually what you want for diversification analysis.
=DGET(database, field, criteria) — extracts a single value from a table that matches a criteria range. Useful for ad-hoc lookups with multi-condition criteria.
Excel Formulas For Financial Analysts
Convert dollar amounts to thousands without changing values?
Each period: beginning balance → interest accrual (rate × avg balance) → mandatory + optional repayments → ending balance.
Custom format: #,##0,;-#,##0,;0 — one trailing comma divides display by 1000.
=ACCRINT(issue, first_interest, settlement, rate, par, frequency, [basis]) — interest accrued since last coupon.
=FinalMetric * ExitMultiple — e.g., LTM EBITDA × 8.