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1. Getting Started
These FAQs augment the extensive guidance on using Cashflow Plan
contained in the online help, the 100-page Word-based version of
its manual and a series of Flash-based tutorials (running for 19
minutes) covering setting up Excel, getting started, the basics and
using Quik-Plan which are supplied with all version of Cashflow Plan.
These FAQs are based on the menu system used by Excel 5, 7, 8,
95, 97, 2000, XP and 2003. If using Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 365 with its new Ribbon
interface, you may wish to consult the interactive Excel
2003 to Excel 2007 and 2010 command reference guide (within
Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016's help) or get it on-line (or as a download) from Microsoft here.
Q. How do I configure Cashflow Plan to handle a service or distribution
business?
There is no need to configure anything. As supplied, Cashflow Plan can
accommodate a manufacturing, service or distribution business. To handle
the latter, you simply ignore (i.e. set values to zero or empty after
clearing assumption reports) the assumption variables which are irrelevant
to your business type (e.g. finished inventory). For more detailed guidance,
see the topic/appendix "Adapting Cashflow Plan to Different Business
Types" in help/manual.
To automatically suppress the printing of empty rows in output reports,
select *Setup | No empty rows printed. If desired, you can manually
hide rows in an assumption report which are never used by unprotecting
the sheet (press the "U" toolbar button), displaying row headers (Tools
| Options | View), selecting the rows to hide and using Format
| Rows | Hide. Note: Never delete unused rows or formulae.
Q. How do I decide on the best approach to using Cashflow Plan?
Have a look at the sections of the manual or help topics dealing with
Structuring a Model and Adapting Cashflow Plan to Different
Business Types. Start by entering basic, high-level assumptions
to get an insight into how Cashflow Plan works and then progressively
add detail and/or make simple changes to Cashflow Plan - see Making
Simple Changes in the manual or online help. If you need further
guidance, use this Contact Form.
Q. When should I create separate models (files) for each business
unit within a single company?
If the business units are relatively small and there is extensive internal
trading or shared resources, the best approach might be to treat all
the business units as a single entity and use one of the more powerful
versions of Cashflow Plan such as Super or Ultra which handle multiple
revenue/cost streams.
If the business units are relatively independent
with their own balance sheets, it would make sense to create separate
models (i.e. Cashflow Plan files) for each unit and then consolidate
the key results. The Super and Ultra versions of Cashflow Plan both
contain a comprehensive tool for consolidating projections (i.e. cash
flow and income statements plus forecast balance sheets) for subsidiary
businesses using a special Report
for Consolidation. This report is linked to an additional workbook (Cashflow
Plan Consolidator) which facilitates the consolidation process and includes
tools for changing currencies/ denominations and eliminating inter-company
transactions. A Cashflow Plan Consolidator Guide is
included in the download
files for Cashflow Plan Super and Ultra.
Q. How do I use Cashflow Plan to forecast external funding needs?
Build your projections (sales, costs etc.) but, initially, exclude any
assumptions about external funding. Run Cashflow Plan and review the
rows in the monthly balance sheets relating to Line of credit
(Overdraft). The peak values in these rows will indicate the
external funding need. The next question is whether the funding peak
can be lowered and what is the optimum type, terms etc. of funding -
use Cashflow Plan to explore alternative scenarios. Check out our White
Papers about Managing Working Capital, Making
Cashflow Forecasts and Preparing Financial
Projections.
Q. Can I use Cashflow Plan to produce more than one set of projections?
Yes, provided that the licensed copies of Cashflow Plan are all used
on the same PC. There is no limit to the number of models that can be
created - simply use new file names.
Q. What changes does Cashflow Plan make to Excel and Windows?
When installed, Cashflow Plan creates an install log and sets up a facility
for uninstalling Cashflow Plan (using Control Panel | Add/Remove
Programs). When Cashflow Plan runs within Excel, it makes some minor
changes to the operation of Excel. These include hiding row/column headers,
setting the calculation method to manual, and showing only the standard
toolbar along with Cashflow Plan's own toolbar. Most changes are removed
automatically when an Cashflow Plan file is closed and the balance disappear
once Excel is re-started.
Q. Any problems if I use a comma (",") instead of a point (".")
as the decimal symbol?
You may encounter a divide by zero message whenever you recalculate
even though Cashflow Plan contains no such errors. Better to switch
to using a point as the symbol via Control Panel, Regional Settings.
Q. Can I use Cashflow Plan as an accounting system?
In theory, yes. In practice, no. Not recommended!
Q. Can I overwrite Cashflow Plan's projections with actuals?
In theory, yes. In practice, with difficulty. Refer to Updating Projections
with Actuals in the manual or online help. A much better use of
Cashflow Plan in this context is to do analysis of variances
by placing year-to-date actuals alongside the original projections -
refer to Incorporating Actuals with Projections in the manual
or online help. An extension of this approach would be to create reports
which combine actuals for the year-to-date with projections for the
remainder of the year. Note that if Cashflow Plan is used for these
purposes, its roll-forward facility should not be used.
Q. Can I change variable descriptions?
Any variable descriptions shown in blue (i.e. unlocked) can be directly
overwritten and the change will be replicated by formulae in all other
worksheets. For many other variables, minor changes in wording are possible
provided the sense of the variable remains unchanged (e.g. change Long-Term
Loans to LT Debt).
Q. How do I change references to VAT (Value Added Tax) to GST (Goods
& Services Tax) ?
You can define the term for input/output tax (e.g. GST, HST or VAT)
so that the correct description appears throughout Cashflow Plan's reports
via the menu option for *Setup | Basic Model Info ...
Q. How do I change the start date for projections, business name
and so on?
This facility may not available in all trial versions of Cashflow Plan.
In the fully-operational version, use the *Setup | Basic Info ...
menu option to change start dates, business name and type.
Q. How do I change the names of the sales groups?
Use the *Setup | Assign Names to Sales Groups menu option to
change descriptions of the main sales groups (two for Lite, four for
Plus, six for Super & ten for Ultra).
Q. Why does Cashflow Plan fail to update values whenever I enter
an assumption?
By design, Excel's automatic recalculation facility is turned off
in all versions of Cashflow Plan. To recalculate a model, select the
menu option *Setup | Calculate All & Check or click the button
with the "tick" within the red/green circle. To recalculate the current
worksheet, select the menu option *Setup | Calculate Sheetor
click the button with the "X" within the circle.
Q. Can I change Cashflow Plan's print orientation to landscape?
Yes, you can do this by changing the Page Setup. We originally thought
of offering users the option to specify the orientation for each report
but opted against this because many of Cashflow Plan's reports would
spill over into several landscape pages. This gets very messy when collating
for presentations and reports. Our recommendation to users who need
different layouts etc. is to photocopy Cashflow Plan's reports to secure
the desired orientations, paper sizes, changed left margins for binding
etc. etc. For example, where the text on some reports is too small,
the best solution is to photocopy onto A3 paper (equivalent to double
letter size) and then fold these pages into reports etc. as pull outs.
However, if desired, File | Page Setup can be used to change
almost any feature of a printed report including orientation, header/footer,
margin widths etc. These are best done on a worksheet or report-by-report
basis rather than by selecting several worksheets and making grouped
changes.
Q. Should I always run Cashflow Plan by clicking on its menu option
or icon within the Start menu or Program Manager?
This option/icon is set up during installation of Cashflow Plan and
can be used to load Excel plus the supplied CASHPLAN.XLS file. It is
really intended only for first-time use. Once Cashflow Plan has
been fully installed, you should access Cashflow Plan by running Excel
and then use its File | Open dialog to load Cashflow Plan files,
usually in the C:\CASH* folder or directory. This suggestion is consistent
with our advice that users should make regular copies of their Cashflow
Plan files, to ensure minimal reworking in the event of system/software
problems, using file names (e.g. PLAN-1.XLS, PLAN-2.XLS and so on).
Q. You supply Cashflow Plan as a 5.0/7.0 Excel file, can I convert
it to the Excel 97, 2000, XP or 2003 file format?
We supply the file in the 5.0/7.0 to suit all versions of Excel from
5 upwards. If you are only using Excel 97, 2000, XP or 2003, it is a
good idea to convert it to the latest format (i.e. using File | Save
As ...). This will help eliminate the problem of losing the
Cashflow Plan toolbar (see below) and will give you access to additional
features included with the latest versions of Excel.
Q. How can I show row/column headings & grid lines?
Whenever Cashflow Plan loads, it turns off these items to maximize the
display of reports etc. Cashflow Plan incorporates a menu option (at
*Setup | Change View of Reports ...) to allow a user to automatically
turn on/off the gridlines and row/column headings throughout Cashflow
Plan's worksheets.
Q. How can I see the formulae inside Cashflow Plan?
Select View | Formula Bar and move the cursor to the relevant
cells.
Q. Can I replace my very old copy of Cashflow Plan
with the latest release?
If you are a paid-up registered user of Cashflow Plan, you are welcome
to secure a copy of the latest release. To
do this, send us an email or use
the Contact
Form giving the following details about your original purchase of Cashflow
Plan:
(a) your registered
user name and/or organization.
(b) your current version (i.e. Micro,
Lite etc.)
of Cashflow Plan.
(c) approximate date (or serial number)
of the invoice/delivery note or confirmation email sent
by us when you originally
purchased Cashflow Plan. Note that the Upgrade Code from the
FRONT worksheet of your existing version
of Cashflow Plan is not suitable as confirmation of
purchase.
Alternatively (or in addition) you may wish to consider trading up
to a more powerful version of Cashflow Plan at a specially
reduced price (US$20 plus difference in price between existing
and proposed version. VAT and other sales taxes may apply). Review
the detailed
description of the Cashflow Plan range to identify the most appropriate
version to meet your changing needs. Get full details on trading up here.
Once you have traded up, you can also continue using your original version.
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2. Specific Issues
These FAQs augment the extensive guidance on using Cashflow Plan
contained in the online help, the 100-page Word-based version of its
manual and a series of Flash-based tutorials (running for 19 minutes)
covering setting up Excel, getting started, the basics and using Quik-Plan
which are supplied with all version of Cashflow Plan.
These FAQs are based on the menu system used by Excel 5, 7, 8, 95,
97, 2000, XP and 2003. If using Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 365 with its new Ribbon interface,
you may wish to consult the interactive Excel 2003 to Excel
2007 command reference guide (within Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016's help)
or get it on-line (or as a download) from Microsoft here.
Q. How do I use the euro symbol "" within Cashflow Plan?
The display of the euro symbol "" by Cashflow Plan is an operating
system, printer and Excel issue. Assuming that you have the proper operating
system, updated printer fonts and a compliant version of Office there
should be no problems. If this is not the case, you may wish to refer
to following Microsoft pages:
https://www.microsoft.com/windows/euro.asp
https://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview
/default.asp?url=/euro/Default.asp
https://www.microsoft.com/typography/faq/faq1
If the euro symbol has been installed but you have no dedicated key for
it on your keyboard, you can use either of the following keystroke combinations:
CTRL+ALT+4
ALT and enter 0128 on the numeric keypad
If these keystrokes do not display the euro symbol, then it has not been
fully installed on your system. If you cannot upgrade your system or printer
to display the symbol, the fall back is to use the abbreviation EUR.
To enter the euro symbol as the base currency for Cashflow Plan, select
*Setup | Enter Basic Model Info and use one of the above key combinations
to enter the symbol. Note that the symbol may display as a thin vertical
line on some worksheets due to their zoom settings. However, it will display
correctly when printed and/or the zoom setting is increased.
If you insert a formula like "=$333" into a cell, this will be displayed
by Excel as "$333". However, if you insert a formula like "=333"
into a cell, you may get an error message. The work around is to create
a custom format via Format, Cells, Number as follows:
For Excel 95: From within the "Category" window, select "Custom" or "Currency",
choose an appropriate format code, replace its currency symbol by the
"" symbol and press OK.
For Excel 97 and higher: From within the "Category" window, select "Currency",
choose the "" symbol from the pull down list and press OK.
Q. How do I run two Cashflow Plan models at the same time?
In theory, you could run Excel and then simply load the two Cashflow Plan
files. However, this can lead to Cashflow Plan's toolbar getting confused
!! A much better solution is to load the two Cashflow Plan files into
separate copies of Excel (i.e. run Excel twice).
Q. How can I produce monthly cashflow projections extending beyond
one year?
If you need monthly projections beyond one year, you should consider acquiring
a copy of Exl-Plan Ultra or Ultra Plus, our
fully-integrated financial planners. They create monthly projections for
three years, quarterly projections for the following two years and, optional,
annual projections for a further two years. Details
and downloads. The following table shows the
equivalent versions of Cashflow Plan and Exl-Plan:
Cashflow
Plan
Version * |
Equivalent Exl-Plan
Version |
Exl-Plan's Time Horizon |
Micro |
Micro |
One revenue/cost group - first year on monthly basis plus 2 years
on quarterly basis (3 years) |
Lite |
Lite |
Two revenue/cost groups - first year on monthly basis plus 2 years
on quarterly basis |
Plus |
Pro |
Four revenue/cost groups - first year on monthly basis, 2 years
on quarterly basis plus 2 years on annual basis |
Super |
Super |
Six revenue/cost groups - first year on monthly basis, 2 years
on quarterly basis plus 2 years on annual basis |
Super |
Super Plus |
Ten revenue/cost groups - first year on monthly basis, 2 years
on quarterly basis plus 2 years on annual basis |
Ultra |
Ultra |
Six revenue/cost groups - first three years on monthly basis,
2 years on quarterly basis plus optional 2 years on annual basis |
Ultra |
Ultra Plus |
Ten revenue/cost groups - first three years on monthly basis,
2 years on quarterly basis plus optional 2 years on annual basis |
* All version cover 12 months ahead with weekly breakdown
for initial three months.
Alternatively (but much less satisfactorily), you could use Cashflow
Plan to generate two-year monthly projections by creating the first-year
projections using one Cashflow Plan file and then use a second file to
handle the second-year projections. You would need to either file link
or directly insert the first-year's closing balance sheet data from the
first file into the second file as the second year's opening balances.
Q. Could you explain in more detail about the Seasonal Index and the
facility for allocating assumptions?
The Seasonal Index appears in certain Monthly Assumption Reports (Sales,
DirCost and Ohead worksheets). It is used in conjunction
with the menu option *Assumptions | Seasonal Assumptions to allocate
an annual assumption value across months in accordance with a seasonal
(monthly) profile defined by the user in the Seasonal Index. Let us illustrate
its use with an example:
The first row in the table below sets out a Seasonal Index as entered
by a user. This index could relate to any seasonal factor and its monthly
total need not equal 100%. It could be derived from historic data or reflect
expected trends. The second row shows how annual sales of 1,000 are automatically
allocated using the Seasonal Assumptions facility based on the values
specified for the Seasonal Index. This was done by placing the cursor
in the cell for Jan's sales, selecting the *Assumptions | Seasonal
Assumptions menu option and entering the value 1000.
Months |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Total |
Seasonal Index |
5 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
10 |
12 |
9 |
6 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
|
Sales |
66 |
66 |
79 |
92 |
105 |
132 |
158 |
118 |
79 |
53 |
26 |
26 |
1000 |
Once the Seasonal Index has been defined, it can be used to allocate
any monthly assumptions (sales, labor, inventory, costs, energy usage
etc.) within a specific report.
Q. How can I tweak Cashflow Plan to handle cashflows which are exceptional
or out-of-synch with expenses?
With Cashflow Plan, you can defer payment of expense items for up to four
months by inserting integers (1, 2, 3 or 4) in the boxed single cells
adjacent to the variable descriptions in the DirCost and Ohead
worksheets. This means, for example, that you can show an item as an expense
in January but defer payment until May. If you need to handle exceptional
cashflows relating to capital or operating expense items, use the variables
Changes (+/-) in Prepayments or Changes (+/-) in Accruals
in the Fund worksheet to either accelerate or defer the related
cash payments. To see how this works, enter a single easily recognizable
value as a change in prepayments or accruals in Fund and then trace
its impact in the Monthly Cashflows and Balance Sheets. Instead of entering
simple numeric values in Fund, you could write complex formulae
to link the changes in prepayments or accruals to variations in other
variables.
Q. How can I make copies of selected reports in Cashflow Plan for
non-users?
We suggest four methods of copying Cashflow Plan's reports for non-users.
See also the answer to the next question which deals with incorporating
Cashflow Plan reports into a Word document.
Method 1 - Create an Adobe PDF file
This is probably the ideal method as it can create a very attractive, compact,
easy-to-access version of a Cashflow Plan file. Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 365 have
built in utilties to facilitate this. Basically, when saving a Cashflow Plan
file, just select *.pdf as the fie type.
Also, if you temporarily set Excel's default printer to Adobe
PDF (via File, Print, Printer), you will be able to use
Cashflow Plan's Print menu to produce PDFs for individual reports
or batches e.g. all assumption reports.
Method 2 - Copy & Paste Sheets
Only use this method if it is essential to create a values-only
file. See below for an alternative (and much better) method. Bear in
mind that it is not possible to supply a copy of an Cashflow Plan model
file to a unlicensed user for technical and legal reasons. To make values-only
copies of selected worksheets/reports for distribution to non-users
as Excel files, proceed as follows:
- Load the relevant Cashflow Plan file into Excel.
- Create a new workbook file using Excel (File | New ...).
- Within Cashflow Plan, unprotect and select a report to be copied
and then copy it to the clipboard using Edit | Copy.
- Switch to the new workbook file and use Edit | Paste Special
... Values to paste in the selected values (do not use Edit
| Paste as this will paste links). Without changing the selected
range, use Edit | Paste Special .... Formats to paste in the
formats from Cashflow Plan (again, do not use Edit | Paste
as this will paste links).
- If using Excel 2000 (or higher versions), use Edit
| Paste Special .... Column Widths to paste in the column widths
used in Cashflow Plan (do not use Edit | Paste as this will
paste links). Otherwise, set the column widths manually (for most
reports, columns C-E &
S should be hidden).
- Repeat steps 3-5 for other reports.
This procedure will not work for the charts within Cashflow Plan as
the charts will want to maintain their links back to Cashflow Plan.
Instead, select a chart within Cashflow Plan and copy it to the clipboard,
paste it into any Word document as a picture (using Edit | Paste
Special ...) and then re-copy this picture from Word into Excel
Method 3 - Copy Worksheets
For technical and license reasons, it is not possible to simply email
an Cashflow Plan XLS file to an unlicensed user. However, there are
two workarounds. Obviously, the first option is for the unlicensed user
to acquire their own licensed copy of the exact same version
of Cashflow Plan. The second option is to create a static copy of some/all
of the Cashflow Plan workbook. We confirm that this would not infringe
the Cashflow Plan license agreement. The procedure is as follows (for
Excel 97/2000/XP/2003):
- Select all relevant worksheets in the Cashflow Plan file as a single
group. Do this by selecting the tab for the first worksheet (e.g.
FRONT), pressing SHIFT key and then selecting the tabs corresponding
to the worksheets to be copied. All the selected tabs will now appear
in white (instead of the normal dark color).
- Right click on any of the whitened tab and select Move or Copy...
- In the Move or Copy dialog, select the (new book) option
within the pulldown menu for To book:; tick the Create a
copy box; and then press OK. This process creates a new workbook
called BOOK*.XLS. incorporating all the selected worksheets with their
values and formatting intact and with some (but not all) of the underlying
formulae.
- From within the original file, right click on any whitened tab and
select the option to Ungroup Sheets.
- Save the new workbook file with a more appropriate file name. It
is now ready for emailing. The following critical
instructions should be given to the recipient:
- When loading the file a message will appear
indicating that "The workbook you opened contains automatic links
....". Press the No or Don't Update button in order
to to keep the existing information.
- Do not change any values or formulae within
the file.
- Do not press F9 to recalculate, or change
the workbook from manual to automatic calculation.
Method 4 - Convert to Web Pages
With Excel 2000 (or higher versions) you can convert a entire Cashflow
Plan file into a series of web pages which can be uploaded to the Internet
or Intranet as explained below.
- Unprotect all worksheets within the Cashflow Plan file via *Protection
| Unprotect All Worksheets. Ignore the request for a password
and click OK.
- Select all worksheets within the Cashflow Plan file as a single
group. Do this by selecting the tab for the first worksheet (e.g.
FRONT), pressing SHIFT key and then selecting the tabs corresponding
to the worksheets to be copied. All the selected tabs will now appear
in white (instead of the normal dark color).
- Right click on any of the whitened tab and select Move or Copy...
- In the Move or Copy dialog, select the (new book) option
within the pulldown menu for To book:; tick the Create a
copy box; and then press OK. This process creates a new workbook
called BOOK*.XLS. incorporating all the selected worksheets with their
values and formatting intact and with some (but not all) of the underlying
formulae.
- From within the original file, right click on any whitened tab and
select the option to Ungroup Sheets.
- Switch to the newly created file and delete the FRONT and START
worksheets by right clicking on their tabs and selecting Delete
from the pop-up menu.
- Finally, save this file as a series of web pages via File | Save
as Web Page .... Be sure that Entire Workbook is checked
and that Add Interactivity is unchecked. Give the web pages
an appropriate title. Once saved as web pages, the Cashflow Plan results
(within a newly created *.htm file and folder of the same name, for
example, automatically called BOOK*.HTM and BOOK*_FILES
respectively by Excel) can be published on the web.
To convert a single Cashflow Plan report into a web page the
procedure is as follows:
- Go the report and unprotect it using the "U" toolbar
button.
- Select File | Save as Web Page .... Be sure that Selection:Sheet
is checked and that Add Interactivity is unchecked. Give
the web page an appropriate title and file name. Once saved as
a web page, the Cashflow Plan report (within a newly created *.htm
file and folder of the same name, for example, automatically called
PAGE*.HTM and PAGE*_FILES respectively by Excel)
can be published on the web.
- Repeat #1 and 2 to convert further reports into web pages.
Q. How can I insert reports and charts from Cashflow Plan into a financial
report or plan being prepared with Word?
You can copy and paste any reports or charts from Cashflow Plan into a
Word document by creating links. As a result, any changes to assumptions
in Cashflow Plan will be automatically reflected in the report or chart
inserted into the business plan. You will need to watch out for unlinked
values which you quote as text in Word and which are not automatically
updated. The only drawback is that you will break the links as a result
of changing the Cashflow Plan file name when creating incremental backup
files of your Cashflow Plan model. (Note: This approach is recommended
as a safeguard in the event of errors creeping into the Cashflow Plan
model.)
Alternatively, you might prefer to paste reports and charts into the
Word document as static pictures. Obviously, this should be done
once the Cashflow Plan's projections are absolutely final. To paste,
copy the required report or chart in Cashflow Plan and then use Word's
Edit | Paste Special
| Paste | Picture (depending on your
version of Word, make sure that 'float over text' is not ticked)
to insert the item into the Word document at the appropriate location.
Some tips:
- You will be able to resize the pasted picture by clicking on it and
moving its corner handles.
- Generally, you will want the pasted in picture to wrap in line with
text. To do this, right click the pasted table and select Format
Object | Layout.
- Many of the tables and charts in Cashflow Plan's Textual Summary Report
are ideally sized for pasting directly into a Word document.
- To paste any of Cashflow Plan's wider tables (e.g. for 12 month projections)
into a Word document, you will need to re-orientate it so that fits
vertically within an A4- or Letter-size page. To do this, copy the table,
paste it into Microsoft Paint, select Image | Flip/Rotate and
rotate by 270 degrees and then paste the rotated table into Word.
This approach works extremely well and is very professional looking.
The only drawback is that it may result a very large Word file which
could be a problem if the file needs to be emailed without being compressed.
Each rotated picture may consume about three megs before compression.
- Before editing text or hiding/unhiding rows/columns within an Cashflow
Plan report to prepare it for copying in a Word document, save the file
with a new name in case any unrecoverable mistakes occur. You
must then unprotect the sheet that is being revised (press the "U" toolbar
button). Finally, display column/row headers via Tools | Options
| View to simplify the selection of rows and columns to be hidden.
Q. What is the easiest way to create annual projections for the first
year with Cashflow Plan?
First-year projections are usually generated on a monthly basis. If you
simply need annual projections for the first year, use the Monthly Assumption
Reports and utilize the data-entry facilities for allocating annual values
(over the twelve months) and for entering constant monthly values where
pro-rata is inappropriate (e.g. for interest rates). These facilities
are accessible via the Toolbar and *Assumptions menu. Of course, it would
also be possible to use Quik-Plan to create high-level, first-year projections.
Q. Could you explain more about "negative" purchases?
Negative purchases can appear in the Monthly Assumptions Report No 2 (worksheet
DirCost) within its schedule for Total Purchases. The following table
illustrates how they can arise as a consequence of the interactions between
a user's assumptions and Cashflow Plan's calculations.
|
Case 1 |
Case 2 |
Case 3 |
Case 4 |
|
Projected materials/goods requirements |
75 |
75 |
75 |
75 |
Calculated by Cashflow Plan |
Desired opening materials/goods inventory for month i.e. Desired
closing inventory for previous month |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
Entered by user |
Desired closing materials/goods inventory for month |
100 |
60 |
10 |
25 |
Entered by user |
Purchases for month (Closing inventory + requirements - opening
inventory) |
75 |
35 |
-15 |
0 |
Calculated by Cashflow Plan |
In Case 1, there is no change between opening and closing inventory targets
(100) and consequently purchases and requirements are identical (75).
In Case 2, there is a planned reduction in inventory (100-60=40) and there
is a resultant reduction in purchases (35) to meet the projected requirements
(75). In Case 3, the desired reduction in inventory (100-10=90) exceeds
projected requirements (75). The only way that this can be handled mathematically
by Cashflow Plan is to create negative purchases (-15). The solution,
illustrated in Case 4, is to increase the closing inventory to 25 based
on the difference between the desired opening inventory (100) and the
projected requirements (75). Resultant purchases are zero.
Negative purchases can be prevented by ensuring that planned reductions
in each month's materials/goods inventories (in worksheet DirCost) never
exceed that month's projected requirements.
To eliminate negative purchases, review the desired closing inventory
targets for materials/goods (in worksheet DirCost) for each month (working
from left to right) for each main sales group and check that the desired
monthly reductions do not exceed the monthly requirements of goods/materials.
It is feasible to use formulae to automate the calculation of these inventory
targets. For example, the inventory target for the first month could be
set at, say, 50% of that month's Cost of materials/packaging or goods
required. This formula could be replicated across the remaining months.
The only drawback is that this 'one size fits all' formula could
be inappropriate for months with big fluctuations in demand and it could
generate negative purchases. Another approach would be to use a conditional
formula to help eliminate negative purchase and, at the same time, gain
better control over projected inventory levels. For example:
= if (current month's requirements - previous month's closing inventory
>=0, 60, 20).
Note: Two conditional values (60 and 20) are shown here for illustrative
purposes only. The appropriate conditional values can be derived from
trial and error. The simplest approach is to enter best guesses for
both values to address the terms of the conditional statement and
recalcuate.
If negative purchases are encountered, increase one (or other) of
the guessed value by the maximum value of negative purchases. As either
(or both) conditions can cause negative purchases, the guessed value
to be adjusted depends on the applicable condition. If, for the month
which causes the greatest negative purchases, the month's requirements
are greater than the previous month's closing inventory then add the
value of the month's negative purchases to the first conditional value
(e.g. 60 in above formula). Replicate this revised formula across
all months. If any negative purchases remain, increase the second
conditional value (e.g. 20) by the maximum value of negative purchases
and replicate the revised formula.
If no negative purchases are encountered then then one or other of
the conditional values could be reduced.
The formula works as follows: If the current month's requirements
exceed the previous month's closing inventory, then the formula sets
the month's closing inventory to the first (usually higher) conditional
value (e.g. 60). If the current month's requirements are less than
the previous month's closing inventory, the formula sets the closing
inventory level to the second (lower) conditional value (e.g. 20).
Q. How can I get Cashflow Plan to handle factoring or invoice discounting?
To handle factoring or invoice discounting, the approach is to (a) set
the debtor (receivables) credit period in the second table in worksheet
RecPay for the relevant sales group(s) to "under one month" and (b) enter
assumption values (or simple formulae) to calculate the interest or service
costs for the facility within an existing assumptions' row in worksheets
DirCost or Ohead. If unlocked, this row description may be retitled as
"Discounting charges" or the assumption values may be added to other related
assumptions within an assumptions row.
Q. How can I consolidate Cashflow Plan projections for several subsidiary
companies?
Releases 1.3 (and higher) of Cashflow Plan Super and Ultra contain comprehensive
tools for consolidating projections (i.e. cashflow and income statements plus
forecast balance sheets) for subsidiary businesses using a special Report
for Consolidation. This report is linked to an additional workbook (Cashflow
Plan Consolidator) which facilitates the consolidation process and includes
tools for changing currencies/ denominations and eliminating inter-company
transactions. A Cashflow Plan Consolidator Guide is included
in the download
files for Cashflow Plan Super and Ultra.
Q. How do I phase out the receipt of an opening tax credit?
Cashflow Plan is set up to handle the payment of taxes (e.g. corporation
taxes) which are shown as liabilities in the opening balance sheet. The
phasing of these payments is done in the first table within Assumption
Report No. 6 (RecPay worksheet) which will also handle the receipt
of a tax credit. However, if you are using a version of Cashflow Plan
prior to release 1.3 and try to phase in the receipt of a tax credit
then an error message (Error
in the phasing out of opening balance sheet items !) is reported.
The workaround to handle the receipt of an opening tax credit is as
follows:
- Enter the opening tax credit
as a negative value in the cell for
Taxes in the Current Liabilities part of the opening balance sheet.
- Go to the RecPay worksheet, unprotect it (press the "U"
toolbar button) and display its row and column headers (via Tools | Options
| View tab
and select Row & column headers within
the Window
options).
- Unhide the hidden column
S and go to the cell in this column opposite Taxes
due.
- Edit the formula
there by adding ABS with parenthesis i.e. (
) around all four cell
references as per the following example:
=IF(OR(ABS(T13)>ABS(F13)*1.05,ABS(T13)<ABS(F13)*0.95),1,0).
- Rehide column S and enter the phased receipts of the opening tax credit
as negative values within the Taxes due row.
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3. Extending Cashflow Plan
Important: The online help and manual supplied with all versions
of Cashflow Plan contain much more extensive guidance on changing
and extending Cashflow Plan.
These FAQs are based on the menu system used by Excel 5, 7, 8, 95,
97, 2000, XP and 2003. If using Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 365 with its new Ribbon interface,
you may wish to consult the interactive Excel 2003 to Excel
2007 command reference guide (within Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016's help)
or get it on-line (or as a download) from Microsoft here.
Q. How can I trade up to a more powerful version of Cashflow
Plan?
If you have already purchased a copy of Cashflow Plan, you can trade up
to a more powerful version at a specially reduced
price (US$20 plus difference in price between existing and proposed
version. VAT and other sales taxes may apply). We use the term "trade
up" for this process to distinguish it from "upgrading" from
a trial copy to a fully-operational copy. Review the detailed description
of the Cashflow Plan range to identify the most appropriate version to
meet your changing needs. Full
details about trading up.
Once you have traded up, you can also continue using
your original version.
Q. Is it easy to expand Cashflow Plan?
Yes. The upgraded commercial version can be easily customized by users.
The manual and online help (Changing Cashflow Plan) both explain
many ways for making simple and complex changes. It proposes a technique
called plugging whereby a user's special requirements and additional
projections can be plugged into an appropriate predefined row within Cashflow
Plan. This is very simple and extremely powerful. Some specific examples:
- Within the Sales Assumptions Report (Sales), you can insert
very detailed schedules of sales (by region, product, customer etc.)
in the empty rows below the Report and then use simple formulae to plug
the results into the boxed-in, cream-colored, assumption areas within
the Report.
- In the Direct Costs Report (DirCost), the cost of materials
(or purchases for resale) could be expanded to include a bill of materials
and component costs with exchange rates etc.
- In the Direct Costs Report (DirCost) and Overhead Report (Ohead),
there is provision for specify the number of people engaged in specific
categories and their average monthly payroll costs. More detail could
be generated in accompanying schedules showing the names of individuals
and costs. All that is required in order to plug these details
into the Cashflow Plan assumptions would be the head count and weighted
average payroll cost.
- In other reports, it would be straightforward to draw up detailed
schedules and plug the overall results into Cashflow Plan assumption
rows. For example, these could cover fixed assets, capital expenditure,
long-term loans etc.
See other answers in this section for more specific advice on expanding Cashflow Plan.
Q. Can I use formulae instead of values within Cashflow Plan's assumption
areas?
Yes. Plugging-in as described in the previous question is an example
of this. Another example would be to use formulae to calculate head counts
for operations based on forecast sales (or production requirements) and
productivity indices (e.g. units produced per person per month). These
formulae are then inserted (instead of values) into the appropriate assumption
areas within Cashflow Plan.
Q. How can I restructure Cashflow Plan's reports to include additional
variables?
One solution would be to work through the various reports making changes
to formulae as required. Obviously, this has to be done with great care
to ensure that the integrity of Cashflow Plan is not disrupted. Another
approach would be to (i) copy the contents of output reports into empty
rows on their respective worksheets using simple cell references (like
"=A16"), (ii) copy and paste (use Paste Special ... Formats) the
original reports' formatting into the new reports and (iii) make all the
desired changes within the copied reports. Although, it requires setting
up, this approach may be more expedient in the long run as the underlying
Cashflow Plan model is not disrupted and changes should be much easier
to apply and be more evident.
Q. How do I generate financial projection reports in different languages
and formats?
This is straightforward. First, select one version of Cashflow Plan as
the primary planning system. Second, build the projections using this
version. Third, use simple cell linking within Cashflow Plan to create
the desired additional reports - see Changing Report Layouts in
the manual or online help. Essentially, you create a new report below
an existing English report with all the description items translated into
the new language and with simple cell references to link values back into
the calculated values in the English report. This approach eliminates
to need to make changes to the supplied descriptions within an English
report and ensures that the new language report is automatically updated
as soon as Cashflow Plan recalculates. This methodology can also be used
to create customized reports in English.
Q. How do I extend Cashflow Plan to handle purchases of intangible
assets?
Cashflow Plan Micro, Lite and Plus allow a user to amortize intangible
assets which have been included in the opening balance sheet. However,
these versions do not permit a user to increase the investment in intangibles.
The notes below explain how Cashflow Plan can be easily modified to handle
such an investment. Note: Cashflow Plan Super
and Ultra (release 1.3 or higher) include facilities within
worksheet Fund that allow a user to handle purchases of intangible
assets.
- Go to the Fund worksheet and unprotect it. Use Tools | Options
| View to display its row/column headers.
- Select the entire row for "Intangible asset amortization" (or "Intangible
asset writedowns" if using the UK/I format) and insert a new row. It
should appear above the existing row. Use the "Unlock range" button
to unlock the new row from Columns G to R. Enter a description in Column
A of the new row e.g. "Investment in intangible assets".
- Go to the Cash worksheet and unprotect it. Use Tools | Options
| View to display its row/column headers.
- Select the entire row "Operating lease payments" and insert a new
row above it. Enter "Investment in intangible assets" in Column A of
this new row. In Columns G to R, enter formulae which refer back to
the corresponding cells in the recently inserted row in the Fund worksheet.
- Enter summing formulae in Column T within the Cash worksheet by copying
down the formula from the row immediately above into the new row. There
is no need to change the monthly summing formulae as the values in the
new row will be picked up automatically by the existing formulae.
- Go to the Bal_US worksheet (or Bal_UK worksheet if using the UK/I
format) and unprotect it. Extend the formula for "Net intangible assets"
in Column G to include the value of "Investment in intangible assets"
shown in Column G of the worksheet Cash. Replicate this formulae across
the remaining months to Column R.
To handle the investment, enter its value in the new row of the Fund
worksheet at the appropriate month and then provide for the cost of acquisition
by issuing shares, increasing loans, or using cash/overdraft resources.
The value of intangible assets can be amortized in subsequent months.
Q. How can I expand Cashflow Plan to incorporate detailed schedules
for sales, labor, materials, expenses etc.?
Do this by creating these schedules within the empty rows below
assumption reports and plugging their monthly totals into Cashflow Plan's
designated assumption cells.
To create a basic schedule, e.g. to expand the detail for an expense
item within the Monthly Assumption Report for Overhead Expenses (No. 3),
proceed as follows:
- Unprotect the worksheet (e.g. Ohead) using the "U" toolbar button
and scroll down.
- Working in empty rows below the text "Supplementary Data & Calculations"
, create the desired schedule with descriptions in column A and assumption
values in the corresponding monthly columns (G, H etc.).
- Unlock the block of cells containing the monthly assumption values
by using the "Unlock range" toolbar button. This will change their font
color to blue and the cell backgrounds to creamish and will ensure that
they are included in a roll-forward by Cashflow Plan.
- Immediately below, insert SUM formulae for each monthly column to
embrace the values in the unlocked cells.
- Scroll back up to the relevant expense item within the Assumption
Report and insert cell references (e.g. =G87) across the boxed-in, cream-colored
row in order to plug-in the schedule's SUM formulae.
For some variables, it may be necessary to create more extensive schedules
to include quantities (e.g. headcounts or units of consumption) and rates
(e.g. payroll costs or unit prices) and to calculate weighted average
rates. The following example shows how this is done in the case of staffing
variables (headcounts and payroll cost/person) within the Monthly Assumption
Report for Overhead Expenses (No. 3):
- Unprotect the worksheet (e.g. Ohead) using the "U" toolbar button
and scroll down.
- Working in empty rows below the text "Supplementary Data & Calculations"
, create three simple schedules with descriptions in column A and a
mix of assumption values and formulae in the corresponding monthly columns
(G, H etc.) along the following lines:
|
Row |
A |
G |
First
schedule |
90 |
Staff headcount: |
|
91 |
- Grade A |
2 |
92 |
- Grade B |
3 |
93 |
- Grade C |
4 |
94 |
Total staff headcount |
=SUM(G90:G93) |
|
95 |
|
|
Second
schedule |
96 |
Staff payroll/benefit cost (US$000/person/month): |
|
97 |
- Grade A |
3.0 |
98 |
- Grade B |
2.5 |
99 |
- Grade C |
7.2 |
|
100 |
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Third
schedule |
101 |
Total staff costs (US$000/month): |
|
102 |
- Grade A |
=G91*G97 |
103 |
- Grade B |
=G92*G98 |
104 |
- Grade C |
=G93*G99 |
105 |
Total staff costs |
=SUM(G101:G104) |
|
106 |
|
|
|
107 |
Weighted average payroll/benefit cost
(US$000/person/month) |
=G105/G94 |
- Unlock all the cells within these schedules which contain assumption
values by using the "Unlock range" toolbar button. This will change
their font color to blue and the cell backgrounds to creamish and will
ensure that they are included in a roll-forward by Cashflow Plan.
- Scroll back up to the relevant assumption variables within the Assumption
Report and insert cell references for headcount (e.g. =G94) and payroll/benefit
costs (e.g. =G107) across the designated boxed-in, cream-colored rows.
These two approaches can be readily adapted to suit a wide range of other
situations, for example, detailed sales volume/price schedules or material
cost analyses. Where practicable, it is always preferable to create or
include detailed schedules within Cashflow Plan by either using empty
rows below assumption reports or inserting extra worksheets. This avoids
the need to create file links and manage assumptions dispersed across
several files.
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4. Common & Unusual Problems
Note that the supplied online help, README.DOC file and manual are
the primary sources of assistance for dealing with common problems. These
FAQs are based on the menu system used by Excel 5, 7, 8, 95, 97, 2000,
XP and 2003. If using Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 365 with its new Ribbon interface, you may
wish to consult the interactive Excel 2003 to Excel 2007 and 2010 command
reference guide (within Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016's help) or get it on-line
(or as a download) from Microsoft here.
Q. After I enter monthly sales assumptions in Cashflow Plan, why are
these correctly reflected in the Income Statements (P&Ls) but no corresponding
cash inflows appear in the Cashflow Projections?
This can arise where (a) all values have been cleared from an Cashflow
Plan model; and (b) sales assumptions have been entered into the Assumptions
Report No. 1 - Sales; and (c) no further assumption have been entered
into other monthly assumption reports. This condition gives rise to the
following calculation error message when the model re-calculates: "The
four sub-models are not producing identical results !".
In addition to entering the sales assumptions, you need to specify customer
credit terms by completing the lower table in Assumptions Report No. 6
- Receivables, Payables & Phasing of Opening Balances. Once this has
been done and the model updated, the cashflows relating to sales (and
any associated output taxes e.g. VAT, GST) will appear in the monthly
cashflows. The cashflows will be calculated in accordance with the credit
terms specified in Report No. 6.
Q. Why can't I change the formatting within a report?
First, you must unprotect the worksheet that you wish to modify. To do
this, click the "U" button in Cashflow Plan's toolbar.
Q. Why do I see an error message "This command only operates when
Cashflow Plan is the active workbook." ?
Either, you are trying to access an Cashflow Plan menus from a non-Cashflow
Plan workbook (solution: make the Cashflow Plan workbook active) or you
have added a worksheet in front (to left) of the supplied FRONT worksheet
(solution: move the new worksheet to behind FRONT).
Q. Why does a second copy of Cashflow Plan load when I click on Cashflow
Plan's toolbar?
This arises because the second copy has the same file name as the first
copy but is located in different folder. To resolve, close the second
copy and then reset the toolbar for the first copy by *Setup | Reset Toolbar
Buttons. To prevent this recurring, don't use two different Cashflow Plan
files with the same file names at the same time.
Q. Why does my copy of Excel cease to calculate immediately after
I have finished using Cashflow Plan?
This arises because Cashflow Plan switches Excel from automatic to manual
calculation (to speed up data entry and facilitate its error-trapping).
To restore automatic calculation, restart Excel or simply use Tools
| Options | Calculation | Automatic.
Q. How can I get rid of ############?
#### signifies that values cannot be displayed inside a cell. There are
several simple solutions depending on whether the #######
appear on the screen or in a printed report. Tip: Print a report
to see if the ###### appear there as well as on the screen.
If ####### only appear on
the screen, try changing the zoom setting for the report using Cashflow
Plan's *Tools/Setup menu options, or Excel's View | Zoom,
or click the "+" button to the right of Cashflow Plan's toolbar.
If this does not work or the problem arises in printed reports, you can
change the column widths. To do this, you will need to unprotect the worksheet.
Then use Tools | Options View to turn on the row/column headings
and change the column widths as required. You can also change widths via
Format | Columns.
If you don't want to widen columns too much because of page width problems
when printing, another solution is to change the number format for the
page - remove the coma separator for thousands (e.g. change 1,000 to 1000);
eliminate any bold fonts; and/or reduce the decimal places displayed.
Changing format is often the easiest and best
solution.
A further solution is to widen columns and change the print orientation
for individual "problem" reports from portrait to landscape (via File
| Page Setup | Page). The only drawback with this solution is that
reports may be spread over two-three landscaped pages instead of one for
portrait.
If the ##### are very extensive, you may need to consider
changing the basic currency denomination (e.g. from 000s to Mlns) used
by Cashflow Plan (via *Setup | Basic Model Info). If you do this,
you will need to revise all the assumption values.
Final comment: 000s is the most widely used currency
denomination by Cashflow Plan users rather than single units e.g
US$000 rather than US$. The latter is only really applicable if you have
a micro business with annual sales of less than, say, US$100,000. If
you use US$000, you can still enter detailed values to the nearest dollar
e.g. enter 147,567 as 147.567 (note decimal point). Cashflow Plan
will display this as 147.6 but it will use 147.567 in calculations. This
makes the presentation of reports much clearer and avoids spurious accuracy
issues. It also avoids the need to widen columns which could lead to
very small font sizes being used in reports when printed with portrait
orientation.
Q. Why did I get a message "Unable to clear all assumption values."?
This message may appear when Quik-Plan is being run or when assumption
reports are being cleared. It usually indicates that Cashflow Plan encountered
formulae within boxed-in assumption areas in an assumption report or the
opening balance sheet (Bal). By design, Cashflow Plan will not
automatically clear these formulae in case they are important. Review
each assumption report and the opening balance sheet (Bal) to find
these formulae and then either delete them or lock them using *Protection
| Lock Range. Bear in mind that the cell entry "=305" (ignore
the "") is treated as a formula whereas the entry "305" (without
the = sign) is not a formula and will be automatically cleared.
Q. How do I get Cashflow Plan's special toolbar to appear?
Cashflow Plan's special toolbar (Cash-plan) is attached to Cashflow
Plan's XLS files and should appear automatically whenever a Cashflow
Plan XLS file loads. Unfortunately, Excel's binding of toolbars to XLS
files is weak and, in some circumstances, the Cashflow Plan toolbar may
get "lost".
This usually only happens if a user renames a Cashflow Plan XLS file
using Explorer. To get around this renaming problem, load the XLS
file into Excel and then save it with a new name. The following measures
should restore Cashflow Plan's special toolbar:
- Load Cashflow Plan and use View | Toolbars to display a
list of available toolbars. If Cash-plan is listed as a toolbar
but not selected,
tick it.
- If the Cash-plan toolbar is not listed or does not appear after
ticking, select the menu option "Reset
Toolbar Buttons" within the *Setup menu. Allow
a few moments for this resetting to take place.
- If the Cash-plan toolbar still does not
appear, try #1 above again. If the Cash-plan toolbar
is still not listed, try reattaching it to Excel using the supplied
TOOLCASH.XLS file. This file will be found in the folder to which you
first installed Cashflow Plan (i.e. CASH*). To use TOOLCASH.XLS, close
any open copy of Cashflow Plan and then load TOOLCASH.XLS into Excel.
It will use macros to automatically reattach the toolbar
to Excel. Close Excel, reload it and then rerun Cashflow Plan.
- If the Cash-plan toolbar still does not
appear, load Cashflow Plan and use View
| Toolbars to display a list of available toolbars. If Cash-plan is
listed as a toolbar but not selected,
tick it. You may also need to select the menu option "Reset Toolbar
Buttons" within
the *Setup (or *Tools/Setup) menu - allow a few moments for this resetting
to take place.
If needs be, see also the response to the question immediately below
and the discussion on "Cashflow Plan loses its Customized CASH-PLAN
Toolbar"
further down in 5. Fixes for Cashflow Plan.
Q. How should I respond to the message "Cashflow Plan could not find
its customized toolbar. Refer to accompanying README file for further
info."?
In certain exceptional circumstances, Cashflow Plan may display this
message when loading. We supply a simple fix to reattach the Cashflow
Plan toolbar to Excel and overcome this problem which is related to
changes in the file formats for Excel 5/95 and 97/2000/XP/2003. An Excel
file (TOOLCASH.XLS) located in the folder to which Cashflow Plan was
first installed (i.e. CASH*) contains this fix with instructions. To
use TOOLCASH.XLS, load it into Excel and it will automatically reattach
the toolbar. If using the fix, you might wish to refer to the notes further
down about 'hanging' for explanations and to prevent recurrences of the
problem.
Q. Why do I encounter an 'out of memory' message when my PC has plenty
of RAM ?
Even with 64 Mb (or more) of RAM, it is possible to run out of memory
due to memory leakage and/or running too many applications simultaneously.
The main solutions/fixes to this problem are listed below:
- Close down and reboot - this usually solves the problem.
- Quit non-essential programs when starting Windows and run Excel as
the first program after loading Windows. If not restarting Windows,
close all non-essential programs.
- Remove Excel add-ins which you don't use - select Tools | Add-ins
and deselect the add-ins you don't need.
- Try setting the zoom to 100% before you use *Tools/Setup | Basic
Info (Apparently Excel does not like zoom settings other than 100%
!!!!). Once changed, restore the zoom setting to the default using the
Cashflow Plan *Tools/Setup menu.
- If you have added charts to Cashflow Plan, you may have hit the infamous
Excel 97 resource-gobbling charts problem. Don't add additional charts
to Cashflow Plan as these can be very memory intensive. You may also
be able to work around this limit by moving some of your additional
charts from your Cashflow Plan workbook into a separate workbook. Note
that charts moved to another workbook remain linked to the data in the
original workbook.
- Turn off virus protection. Does that change anything? Turn it back
on. If it makes a difference some people have turned off McAfee Virus
Shield from scan "all files" to scan "program files only" to resolve
memory problems. If that helps, it would be a good idea to check McAfee
site to see if you can find more information.
- Screen Savers and backgrounds consume resources. Try turning off
your screen saver.
- HP printers can cause memory problems because their drivers do not
release system resources. Even if you just do a Page Setup and do not
print, this will cause problems. HP692 drivers and some other HP drivers
according to MS will cause OS resource memory loss. It is possible that
the latest version of the printer driver will correct the problem. More
info at the Microsoft Knowledge Base at http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q165/9/85.ASP
- Reduce the number of colors the video driver is set to (256 is enough
for most spreadsheets, although the desktop won't look too pretty).
Consider disabling any unnecessary video features/acceleration or updating
your video drivers.
- Make sure Virtual Memory is on and consider increasing Virtual
Memory (take note of the initial settings if you wish to restore them).
Windows 95/98: Right-click the My Computer icon on the
desktop, and then click Properties on the shortcut menu. Click the Performance
tab. Click Virtual Memory. Click to select "Let Windows manage my virtual
memory settings (recommended)." Click OK, and then click Close.
Windows NT: Right-click the My Computer icon on the desktop.
Click Properties on the shortcut menu. Click the Performance tab. Click
Change. In the Virtual Memory dialog box, you can change the parameters
for your paging file (initial size, maximum size, and so on). After
you change the settings, click Set, and then click OK. Click Close.
More info at the Microsoft Knowledge Base at http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q199/3/40.ASP.
- More info about Methods for Conserving GDI Resources at the Microsoft
Knowledge Base at http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q102/4/38.ASP.
Q. What can I do if a GPF occurs when using Cashflow Plan and I can
only reopen my file as 'read-only'?
If you encounter an Excel General Protection Fault ("Illegal operation"
stuff) then the file in used is not marked "closed" by Excel/Windows.
Restarting Excel will only permit read-only access to this file.
Restarting Windows usually sorts out the problem. If it doesn't, open
the file as read-only and save it with another name. If you can write
after that, delete the original file and rename new file back to the original
file name.
Q. Why can't I copy a chart or selected ranges from Cashflow Plan
into Word?
Before using the copy function in Cashflow Plan, you must unprotect the
worksheet that you wish to copy from. To do this, click the "U" button
in Cashflow Plan's toolbar.
Q. One of my Cashflow Plan XLS files contains links to another file
but I cannot find the links?
Links in an Excel file are not evident. One solution is to search the
linked file for any formulae containing "[" (left square bracket without
the ""). This will display links in the form [xxx.xls!xxxx] one at a time.
If desired, replace the linked cells by their underlying values (i.e.
Edit | Copy and Edit | Paste Special .. Values)
Q. When trying to print reports, I get an error message "Cannot shift
objects off sheet" or Cashflow Plan fails to hide columns in certain reports?
This is an Excel problem which can arise after you have inserted Comments
within the body of a monthly output report. It will manifest itself when
Cashflow Plan's macros fail to correctly hide certain columns to produce
a compacted report, for example, to hide all monthly columns when printing
a full-year output report. To confirm the source of the problem, go to
the relevant sheet and hide a series of columns in order to provoke the
message "Cannot shift objects off sheet". From our experimentation, the
problem seems to almost occur at random.
The simplest solutions are to (a) place all new comments relating to
a particular row into a comment inserted into column A for that row and/or
(b) relocate existing comments within columns G-R etc. into a new comment
inserted in column A. See also Microsoft's solution at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q170081.
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