Excel: A Financial Modelling System

Peter Bartholomew, Luke Phillips

Since the calculation engine of Excel was the subject of a major upgrade to accommodate Dynamic Arrays in 2018, there has been a series of seismic changes to the art of financial modelling. This paper will show the traditional financial modelling techniques for spreadsheets can be replaced by radically different approaches that have significant gains in readability, performance and flexibility. With so much power added to the Excel engine in recent years, it is the responsibility of financial modellers to ensure that they are building in the simplest and most auditable way possible going forward.