http://www.themodelanswer.com The home of Rainbow Analyst spreadsheet auditing software Sun, 29 Jun 2008 11:47:52 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en We have just released version 5.1 of Rainbow Analyst Professional, and the main news about this release is that it is compatible with Microsoft Excel 2007. We have fixed a few issues that made previous releases incompatible with Excel 2007, so you can now use Rainbow Analyst Professional with the ... http://www.themodelanswer.com/latest-news/version-51-now-excel-2007-compatible/ If you are using an earlier version of Rainbow Analyst Professional, you are missing out on a wide range of new features introduced in version 5, not to mention the completely redesigned user interface (see details below on this page). Now that version 5 has been available for over a year, ... http://www.themodelanswer.com/latest-news/free-upgrade-to-professional-version-5/ Are you looking for a simple but powerful spreadsheet checker for casual or home use? Our Rainbow Analyst Personal add-in is now available completely free of charge! It offers many of the key features of our flagship Professional product, such as Formula Groups and Dependencies, in a simple and clear ... http://www.themodelanswer.com/latest-news/rainbow-analyst-personal-available-free/ The most obvious new feature in version 5.0 of Rainbow Analyst Professional is a completely redesigned front end. Nearly all Rainbow’s functions are now accessed via a dialogue box similar to the one shown here, which lets you change the selected workbook/ worksheet and the output medium (colour, map, ... http://www.themodelanswer.com/latest-news/new-in-version-50/ Version 5.0 is the first full version of Rainbow to include the Cell Inspector, an interactive function which displays the precedents and dependents of the currently selected cell, and also provides a best-guess description of the meaning of each cell. It will take you to each precedent or dependent (double-click ... http://www.themodelanswer.com/latest-news/the-cell-inspector-function/ Many studies over the past ten years have shown that up to 90% of models contain significant errors. Generally these errors go undetected, but there have been some well-publicised cases where they have resulted in financial loss and embarrassment. For example, an employee at a US investment fund omitted the minus ... http://www.themodelanswer.com/modelling/the-value-of-quality/ The hallmark of a good model is that it is clearly laid out and easy to understand, so minimising the possibility of errors such as that mentioned above. Some key steps to achieving this are: Design, then develop, then test Separate the inputs from the calculations Use only one formula ... http://www.themodelanswer.com/modelling/key-quality-principles/ There are many issues that can present a challenge in modelling. Discussion of these can be found at some of the websites listed on our Links page, and there are also many books covering spreadsheet software packages, although these tend to focus on technical points rather than quality and business ... http://www.themodelanswer.com/modelling/modelling-issues/ Mike worked at KPMG from 1982 until 1999, initially as a tax specialist and then as a financial modelling consultant. From 1996 to 1999 he was a Principal Consultant responsible for developing KPMG's London-based financial modelling service.During this time he wrote a Financial Modelling Handbook which set out the ... http://www.themodelanswer.com/track-record/background/ Following are examples of some spreadsheet models developed by Mike over the course of his career: Trading terms evaluation Pricing decision support Transport franchise bid Power generation industry Debt restructuring Payroll and tax grossing-up Lease evaluation and rental adjustment Management accounting and consolidation Trading terms evaluation A trading terms model for a ... http://www.themodelanswer.com/track-record/spreadsheet-models/