Finance Guide with Formulated Solutions for Excel : Finance Applications, Formulas, and Mathematics

Rating:
Summary: Total waste of time for Excel users!
Review: I just received my order of "Finance Guide with Formulated Solutions for Excel" and I was immediately disappointed. It also came with a CD, but I did not even bother to open it. The title and product description led me to believe that the author used Excel formulae, when in fact he did not. This book's title is completely misleading because the way the author presents the information is such that he could have used any spreadsheet program.

As anyone who uses Excel regularly can attest, building spreadsheets is part technical skill and part art. Although I'm relatively familiar with some of Excel's formulae, I was hoping that this textbook would provide novel, more sophisticated, and efficient ways to deploy them. What this textbook does is in fact the opposite. It turns back the clock on the reader to days before my time, perhaps when spreadsheet programs didn't have hundreds of ready-made formulae to deploy as the user saw fit.

For example, the author presents this formula in order to solve for the present value of a series of equal semi-annual cash flows at simple annual interest, compounded annually: =1/(((1+(interest rate/100))^(1/2)-1)/(1-(1/(1+(((1+interest rate/100))^(1/2))-1)^(time in semi-annual periods))))*one semi-annual cash flow. This is unequivocal evidence that the author in fact does not know how to use Excel's formulae. There is a built in formula in Excel identified as PV. All you have to do is select this formula and enter the relevant data in the prompts and you're done!

Given the price of this textbook, Amazon should implore the publisher to allow prospective buyers to see some of the body of the textbook so that buyers will not have to waste time and money for something they may not find useful. This textbook should be re-titled, "Finance Guide with Formulated Solutions in Long Hand for use in any Spreadsheet Program," and price it at no more than $20.

Rating:
Summary: Total waste of time for Excel users!
Review: I just received my order of "Finance Guide with Formulated Solutions for Excel" and I was immediately disappointed. It also came with a CD, but I did not even bother to open it. The title and product description led me to believe that the author used Excel formulae, when in fact he did not. This book's title is completely misleading because the way the author presents the information is such that he could have used any spreadsheet program.

As anyone who uses Excel regularly can attest, building spreadsheets is part technical skill and part art. Although I'm relatively familiar with some of Excel's formulae, I was hoping that this textbook would provide novel, more sophisticated, and efficient ways to deploy them. What this textbook does is in fact the opposite. It turns back the clock on the reader to days before my time, perhaps when spreadsheet programs didn't have hundreds of ready-made formulae to deploy as the user saw fit.

For example, the author presents this formula in order to solve for the present value of a series of equal semi-annual cash flows at simple annual interest, compounded annually: =1/(((1+(interest rate/100))^(1/2)-1)/(1-(1/(1+(((1+interest rate/100))^(1/2))-1)^(time in semi-annual periods))))*one semi-annual cash flow. This is unequivocal evidence that the author in fact does not know how to use Excel's formulae. There is a built in formula in Excel identified as PV. All you have to do is select this formula and enter the relevant data in the prompts and you're done!

Given the price of this textbook, Amazon should implore the publisher to allow prospective buyers to see some of the body of the textbook so that buyers will not have to waste time and money for something they may not find useful. This textbook should be re-titled, "Finance Guide with Formulated Solutions in Long Hand for use in any Spreadsheet Program," and price it at no more than $20.

Rating:
Summary: I am so grateful for this book
Review: This book lays it all out for you, simply and succinctly. I got this because I wanted to improve my spreadsheets without having to waste time in a class or doing tutorials, as I already knew how to make simple formulas. I was not disappointed. All I can say is this guy covers it all very clearly. Totally removes the mystery from financial formulas. He even shows you where and why you would use them. There are no chart wizard directions because as he says, when you use it, it is self-explanatory. I have one comment however, and that is on page 13 he tells you how to copy from Excel to Word. He gives a very tedious way to do something very simple. Instead of his advice, to remove the "box" that appears once copied into Word, just highlight the cell in Word, go to pull-down menus, select "Table" and "Convert Table to Text".

Rating:
Summary: A real productivity tool for financial managers...
Review: Wow! If you are looking for a one stop shopping place for ready made financial formulas, then this book is for you. With this book and accompanying CD, I've been able to save hours and in some cases days in developing effective electronic spreadsheets solutions to some complex issues. For instance, this book save me a lot of effort analysing capital lease options involving uneven cash flows and time periods. Another example involved the Excel (tm) addin called XIRR, which was great for a quick calculation but not very good for reviewing the different parts of the project. I needed the details not just the answer. Sometimes seeing the parts of the analysis and the concepts involved give insights not available in quick and dirty methods.

This book gives great insight to the concepts involved (works well as a financial primer or reference book) as well as quick access to ready made spreadsheets adaptable to any sitiuation.

Sincerely Yours,

Chuck Samson Manager Financial Analysis

Rating:
Summary: A real productivity tool for financial managers...
Review: Wow! If you are looking for a one stop shopping place for ready made financial formulas, then this book is for you. With this book and accompanying CD, I've been able to save hours and in some cases days in developing effective electronic spreadsheets solutions to some complex issues. For instance, this book save me a lot of effort analysing capital lease options involving uneven cash flows and time periods. Another example involved the Excel (tm) addin called XIRR, which was great for a quick calculation but not very good for reviewing the different parts of the project. I needed the details not just the answer. Sometimes seeing the parts of the analysis and the concepts involved give insights not available in quick and dirty methods.

This book gives great insight to the concepts involved (works well as a financial primer or reference book) as well as quick access to ready made spreadsheets adaptable to any sitiuation.

Sincerely Yours,

Chuck Samson Manager Financial Analysis