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Introduction
TopRank is a spreadsheet add-in for Microsoft Excel. It can be used for
What-If analysis on any pre-existing or new spreadsheet. To set up
your What-If analyses, TopRank adds new custom “Vary” functions to
the spreadsheet function set. These functions specify how the values in
your spreadsheet can be varied in a What-If analysis; for example, +10%
and -10%, +1000 and -500, or according to a table of values you’ve
entered.
TopRank can also run a fully automatic What-If analysis. It uses
powerful auditing technology to find all possible values in your
spreadsheet which could affect your results. It can then change all these
possible values automatically and find out which is most significant in
determining your results.
Definition of Terms
Before getting into the details of What-If analysis with TopRank, you
should understand some of the special terms used in this chapter:
•
An input is a constant value used in a cell or formula in your
spreadsheet model that affects your results
•
An output is a cell on which you want to run a What-If analysis
that contains the result of spreadsheet calculations
•
The base case of an input is the number you entered in the
spreadsheet when you first designed the model (usually the
most likely value)
•
The minimum change is the possible downside or negative
change you think an input can reasonably have
•
The maximum change is the possible upside or positive change
you think an input can reasonably have
•
Steps are the number of values across an input’s minimummaximum range to be used in a What-If analysis
•
Distribution is a probability distribution type which shows the
likelihood of a value in an input’s minimum-maximum range
occurring (e.g. a normal distribution)
•
What-If Table is a table of values to be substituted for an input
in a What-If analysis
Chapter 3: Overview of TopRank
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