Saturday, September 23, 2023
Does your company need to make scheduled payments to companies that don't send invoices? This worksheet will help to plan those cash requirements.

Manage Periodic Payments with an Excel Cash Calendar

Most companies must write checks periodically to companies that don't send invoices. Often, their accounting systems provide little help in keeping track of these...
The SUMIFS function returns a sum for nearly any number of single criteria. But with SUMPFODUCT you can return the sum for many criteria listed in a Criteria List.

How to Use SUMIFS with Criteria Lists, Summarizing Sales

With one exception, SUMIFS is a very powerful function. And it's very fast. To understand the one exception, suppose you have a table of sales...
In this final article of the SUMIFS, SUMPRODUCT series, you'll learn more reasons to use advanced multi-criteria lists in marketing and finance.

Advanced SUMIFS Calculations with Criteria Lists

In Part 1 of this series, you learned how to use criteria lists for marketing data. In Part 2, we looked at financial data. And now, in Part...
If you track Accounts Receivable the way most companies do—with Days Sales Outstanding in Receivables (DSO)—you probably know less about your receivables than you think. There's a better way, which also can improve your cash flow forecasts.

Use Excel to Fix Your Broken AR Measure of Days Sales Outstanding in Receivables

During tough economic times it's particularly important to manage your Accounts Receivable balance carefully. Unfortunately, the traditional way to measure AR performance is badly...
In finance, breakeven charts illustrate how your fixed and variable costs vary with your monthly sales. Here's how to set up break-even charts in Excel.

Map Costs and Sales in Excel with a Classic Breakeven Chart

When I worked as a CFO, my monthly reports always included a breakeven chart. It was one of the most popular reports I produced. But...
Here's how to add sources and uses of funds to your company's Balance Sheet in Excel to get a clearer picture of how the changes affect your cash flow.

Use this Excel ‘Cash Flow Balance Sheet’ to See Sources & Uses of Funds...

For most businesses, cash flow is more important than profits and losses. The reason is clear. A profitable company with negative cash flows may not...
You can ratchet down errors in your Excel reports by using an Error Summary Table that uses conditional formatting to alert you to errors.

How to Set Up an Automatic Error-Checking System in Excel Reports

Decades ago, I worked as a cost accountant for a large company. But because our department received terrible reports, I wrote my own reports...using...
This simple invoicing system allows you to keep a list of products and prices in Excel, then use VLOOKUP or INDEX-MATCH to populate an invoice with the item and quantity you choose.

Use Excel’s INDEX-MATCH or VLOOKUP Functions to Populate Invoices and POs

A visitor asked how to set up a simple invoicing system in Excel. This is a common problem in many small businesses, divisions, and sales...
Here's how to use Excel to figure out whether you're making or losing money on the cash you borrow, why it matters, and what you can do about it.

Weighing Your Debt Load

(Originally published in Inc Magazine.) I've talked to any number of business owners over the years who felt buried under a mountain of debt. But...
Your Return On Equity ratio is a key indicator of financial health. This report lets you show the components of that ratio in a unique Excel display.

Map Your Financial Health With an Excel DuPont Dashboard

Management reporting is all about communication. Reporting Return On Equity (ROE) is a case in point. The ROE financial ratio is a key measure of...

Latest Articles

Growing too fast can be dangerous to your company's health. Use the Sustainable Growth Rate ratio to track your company's financial ability to grow.

How Fast Is Too Fast?

(Originally published in Inc Magazine.) What typically tops the list of worries of the chief executive officers of fast growing companies? Financing that growth, according...

How to Smooth Data by Using the TREND Function

Years ago, I read that Prof. William S. Cleveland had suggested that data could be smoothed by calculating a centered trendline through adjacent data—a...
Two economists have introduced a new leading indicator, which predicts a recession soon. These Excel charts illustrate their insight. If they're correct, Excel users will be very busy in the months ahead.

Consumer Sentiment Suggests a 2022 Recession

In recent months, business websites have speculated about recessions and stagflation in 2022. These predictions could affect your Excel work significantly in the next few...
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