Spreadsheet Models for Managers


Getting Access to Spreadsheet Models for Managers


If Spreadsheet Models for Managersyou use Excel to model businesses, business processes, or business transactions, this course will change your life. You’ll learn how to create tools for yourself that will amaze even you. Unrestricted use of this material is available in two ways.

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Order "Spreadsheet Models for Managers, on-line edition, one month" by credit card, for USD 69.95 each, using our secure server, and receive download instructions by return email.
Order "Spreadsheet Models for Managers, on-line edition, three months" by credit card, for USD 199.00 each, using our secure server, and receive download instructions by return email.
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Make your check payable to Chaco Canyon Consulting, for the amount indicated:
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Spreadsheet Models for Managers

Multiple lease events 10/5
Session Links
  • Typical model contains multiple leases
    • Different lease terms (start dates and end dates)
    • Different depreciation schedules
    • Different interest rates
  • Often a lease agreement covers a stream of acquisitions over a period of time
  • For this case it’s most convenient to use a Lease Characteristic Array

Things get even more complex when there are multiple lease events. Somehow, though, we don’t mind when the events are under different leases with different sets of terms. But when a series of events occurs under the same lease agreement, we can end up doing a lot of repetitive work.

For this special case, there is a technique that dramatically reduces the amount of work we have to do. It involves the creation of something we call the Lease Characteristic Array. More on the next page.

Last Modified: Wednesday, 27-Apr-2016 04:15:26 EDT

The LCA Is an Example of a Spreadsheet Idiom

The Lease Characteristic Array is an example of a construct that makes more effective the modeling of a wide class of problems involving leasing. Certainly, it can be generalized, and certainly there are other possible constructs that could also be helpful with these kinds of problems. But let’s not stop there.

Certainly there are other problems that are susceptible to similar approaches. That is, we can create spreadsheet “idioms” that have applicability to problems more general than the problem immediately at hand. In a field as rich and complex as spreadsheet modeling, it is extremely unlikely that you will find all such techniques described in books, course, or Web sites. From time to time, you’ll have to invent them yourself.

You’ll do best if you can figure out how to produce useful idioms that can help solve wide classes of problems.

A Tip for Verifying Complex Models

Many models are linear with respect to some of their input parameters and input streams. This means, among other things, that when we multiply the input by a constant K, the output also increases by a factor of K. If you know that your model is supposed to be linear with respect to some input parameter or input stream, you can use this fact to check your model: doubling the input should double the output.

You can build these checks into your model from the beginning by defining parameter multiplication factors. For instance, suppose you know that the model’s personal computer expenses should be proportional to the number of employees. By introducing a scaling parameter (normally 1.0), which multiplies the initial number of employees, and multiplies the hiring streams, before they’re used in the rest of the model, you can easily investigate the effects of changing the number of employees, to verify proportionality.

It's Easier to Prevent Errors Than It Is to Correct Them