Nuno Nogueira

Nuno Nogueira

Working to improve my spreadsheet skills...

Monday, 29 April 2013 15:14

Design a Strategy Map in Excel

It has been a while since I last posted here... But this time for a good reason, I've been busy improving an existing spreadsheet. The Balanced Scorecard has now a Strategy Map that designs boxes for strategic objectives and indicators. It also designs arrows to point cause-effect relationships between objectives. All you have to do is to write the names in a table and the application will do the work for you. I'm quite happy with the result, have a look!

Monday, 26 November 2012 15:25

Bank Reconciliation in Excel

Are you still wasting your time with bank reconciliations? If you are like most financial professionals, I'm sure you'd rather run an automated routine in Excel and get the work done for you, so you can devote your knowledge and energy to more value-added functions.

Of course, bank reconciliations are necessary to avoid errors and follow the cash. But, they are also time-consuming and boring. With this in mind, I created a VBA macro in Excel that checks every line item of your bank statement and cash book to do the job for you.

Tuesday, 25 September 2012 15:28

New Business Models Spreadsheet now available!

I'm happy to announce that our new business models spreadsheet is now finalized, tested and ready to support any business or entrepreneur with the difficult task of planning and preparing the future. We wanted to highlight certain features that aren't always properly built in most business model packages.

Tuesday, 25 September 2012 12:39

Business Models for Excel

  • Forecasts demand using Product Life Cycle, linear and exponential techniques
  • Calculates NPV, IRR and Payback
  • Performs Monte Carlo simulations
  • Evaluates Dependency Ranking
  • Builds Financial Statements 
Saturday, 08 September 2012 15:31

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Do I have to install Add-ins to run Stock Analysis?

    No, the spreadsheet has an inbuilt VBA application - SMF lite, developed by Randy Harmelink - that captures stock prices from Yahoo Finance. All you have to do is to enable macros when opening the spreadsheet and be connected to the Internet.

    Everyting else is automatic and user-friendly!

    Where is the financial data of Stock Analysis stored?

    All data is maintained in separate, off-line, databases. Because financial statements are historical data by definition, there's no need to retrieve that information from any source using the web. We simply capture the data from the companies' annual reports and refresh it periodically as new data becomes available.

    Doing it this way allows us to avoid queries to retrieve dead information and allows you to use the information in a friendly, faster way.

    Will Stock Analysis work on a Mac?

    No, Microsoft Excel 2007 or higher is the right environment for the Stock Analysis spreadsheet. It won't work on a Mac, unless you install MS Excel in a Mac using a partition or virtual system.

    How fast is Stock Analysis?

    It usually takes less than 3 seconds to refresh prices, fundamental data and analytics. Considering that the database has more than 250 companies in 17 countries that use multiple currencies, it's not a bad performance at all!

    Should you experience a slower response time, try setting Excel Calculation Options to "Automatic except for data tables", it usually speeds up the whole system while keeping all calculations in automatic mode.

    How much will it cost me to maintain Stock Analysis?

    Stock Analysis will cost you $49. You will get free upgrades with newly available data and new features for one year. After one year, your spreadsheet will still work, of course, but it will not be updated.

    How do I buy it?

    You may click here to buy and download the spreadsheet instantaneously.

  • How does Financial Analysis Work?

    Very simply, just introduce the data from a series of Profit & Loss Statements and Balance Sheets, or even Trial Balances, and get the complete ratio analysis, Cash Flow Statement and Performance Charts. That's it!

    If you include forecasted data, you also get the company valuation and Sensitivity Analysis.

    Do I have to be an accountant to use this spreadsheet?

    No, all you have to know is to fill in the input data and be able to interpret the results. We have a lot of valuable articles in our blog to help you with accounting and finance, should you have any difficulties. You may also contact me, in case of trouble.

    Will Financial Analysis run on a Mac?

    No, unless you use some sort of virtualisation, that is, you force the Mac to run on Windows, like a PC.

    Will I be able to edit the formulas?

    Yes, you may see and edit the formulas.

    What kind of assumptions do I have to make to perform a company valuation?

    You have enter the forecasted P&L and Balance Sheet Data for the period of your choice. You also need to enter the cost of borrowing, the cost of equity and the tax rate.

    What if I want to add more periods for historical/forecasted?

    Just add columns and drag the formulas to the left or right as needed.

    How is residual value calculated?

    Residual value is a perpetuity that depends on the last forecasted cash flow plus an estimated annual growth rate. The spreadsheet will do the calculation for you as long as you enter the estimated growth rate.

    Does Financial Analysis calculate the WACC?

    Sure, using the inputs for cost of equity and cost of borrowing and the capital structure, the spreadsheet will automatically calculate the weighted average cost of capital (wacc).

    How do I buy it?

    Just click here to download the application immediately.

  • What's a Balanced Scorecard?

    The Balanced Scorecard is a management system that helps organisations define, measure and implement their strategies. It has been adopted by a wide range of organisations around the world and it is undoubtedly one of the most important management tools ever created.

    What's the use of this spreadsheet?

    The Balanced Scorecard & Dashboard spreadsheet will support you with the task of defining strategic objectives, indicators and metrics for your company or non-for-profit organisation. It will suggest 65 pre-defined indicators, organised into 4 strategic perspectives, visualize strategic maps and automatically create a dashboard. With it, you may promote strategic discussions in your company or maintain a strategic reporting system.

    Will it run on a Mac?

    No, Microsoft Excel 2007 or higher is the right environment for this spreadsheet as it uses macros. It won't work on a Mac, unless you install MS Excel in a Mac using a partition or virtual system.

    Will I be able to edit the formulas?

    Yes, you can view or modify the formulas or customize your own data.

    Will I be able to use more than one spreadsheet?

    Yes, you can save as many spreadsheets as you need. You may even have different Scorecards for different companies or departments withing your organisation.

    How do I buy it?

    Just click here to download the application immediately.

  • What is Business Models for Excel?

    It is an Excel tool that performs demand forecast, financial forecast, project appraisal and analysis

    What kind of data do I need to feed the model?

    You will have to make certain assumptions for your project: sales, prices, costs, taxes, inflation, etc. This may be based on your personal experience and/or external resarch data.

    What is Monte Carlo simulation?

    It is an automated simulation of a large number of random values for the model's variables. It will test the model's feasibility and give you a statistical distribution for the Net Present Value.

    Do I have to be an accountant to use this spreadsheet?

    No, all you have to know is to fill in the input data and be able to interpret the results. We have a lot of valuable articles in our blog to help you with accounting and finance, should you have any difficulties. You may also contact me, in case of trouble.

    Will Business Models run on a Mac?

    No, unless you use some sort of virtualization, that is, force the Mac to run on Window like a PC.

    Will I be able to edit the formulas?

    Yes, you may see and edit the formulas.

  • What if I don't have a Paypal account?

    If you don't own a Paypal account (and don't want to open one), you can still pay using your credit card. Just click on "Don't have a Paypal account?" when redirected to Paypal page and proceed with entering your credit card info. Currently, you may use Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express.

    What's your return policy?

    I will reimburse you in full within 30 days after purchase should any of the spreadsheets you buy fails to deliver what is described in this website.

    How do I edit my shopping cart?

    Right after clicking on a "Buy Now" button and before you are redirected to Paypal, you may edit your shopping cart and/or edit your customer infomation. To do that, click on the "Checkout" button on the top-right of the page:

    checkout

    How does the activation key work?

    After purchasing a spreadsheet, you will be asked to enter the Activation Code. This process will ensure that each license purchased from us will work in a single computer only. Just follow the instructions provided directly on the screen and enter the Activation Code. This process is necessary only when you open the spreadsheet for the first time. After activated, it is yours forever.

    Still have questions?

    I've tried to design these spreadsheets as user-friendly as possible. I've also tried to describe their features and answer FAQ as clearly as I could. But if you still have doubts or comments, just get in contact with me.

Two new features have been added to the stock analysis spreadsheet: Benjamin Graham's intrinsic value calculation and risk premium analysis per country. This allows a quick, accurate and conservative stock valuation using the company's financial data and the country's risk-free rate, given by the Government Bond - 10 years rate. See how it works!

A stock screener is a great way to add rationality to your stock investing strategy. If you demand strong fundamentals, you may end up with a short, yet powerful, list of companies worth digging deeper into. You also avoid "diworsification", that is, excessively diversifiying your portfolio, which will give you nothing but market average results with higher transaction costs than an index fund. Here's what I've found while searching for outstanding companies.

Wednesday, 16 May 2012 10:00

New stock analysis spreadsheet

I've just finished designing and testing the stock analysis spreadsheet I had in my mind for some time now. I wanted a tool to support investing decisions with high-quality, relevant and on-time financial data. I also wanted to have real-time quotes so I could evaluate the attractiveness of an investment in a fast, systematic way. Maybe it could also be possible to perform additional calculations including non-financial leading indicators and a portfolio tracker (but I left these to a newer version).

All this for a large list of international stocks, using multiple currencies and no plugins. Just an Excel table and a financial Dashboard. The result is quite satisfying and I think this will be a fantastic investing decision supporter, so I decided to test it using the most popular companies of our time: Apple.

Monday, 14 May 2012 15:28

Stock Analysis

  • Get live stock quotes and fundamental data in Excel
  • Value more than 250 stocks worldwide using Benjamin Graham's formula
  • Screen, filter and sort stocks to capture investing opportunities
  • All in Excel, no add-ins!

One of the things I always had to explain to non-financial people when analysing a business is that profit doesn't necessarily mean cash. You can have a profitable business and run out of cash (you can actually go bankrupt because of this) or you can have a loss-making company and lots of cash. You just need to know the basics of accounting to understand this. Following the cash is the single most important financial analysis in any company, and you can do it using a cash flow statement or a calculation using a profit and loss and two consecutive balance sheets. Here's how...

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