CP019: 6 Tips for Best Practice Modeling – Interview with Danielle from Plum Solutions

In the 19th session of Chandoo.org podcast, lets talk about modeling best practices.

What is in this session?

I am very happy to interview my good friend, blogger, author, excel trainer & business-women – Danielle Stein Fairhurst for this session. I first met Danielle when I went to Sydney, Australia in April 2012. Our friendship & collaboration grew a lot in the last 2.5 years. She is a great speaker & trainer. This episode is loaded with her trademark style commentary, explanation & tips for better modeling. I hope you will enjoy it.

In this podcast, you will learn,

• Introduction to Danielle & her work
• 6 Tips for Best Practice Modeling
  • Write consistent formulas
  • Avoid hard-coding
  • Smart referencing
  • Ditch the bad habits
  • Document assumptions
  • Format & label things
• Resources for learning more

Go ahead and listen to the show

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Links & Resources mentioned in this session:

Download Example Workbook

Please download the example workbook Danielle created to understand these tips.

About Danielle

• Visit Plum Solutions: her website for more tips, tutorials & articles on modeling, data analysis & Excel
• Get Danielle’s book: its great for both aspiring & working analysts (read my review)
• Join Danielle’s linked group: and network with fellow financial modelers & professionals

Learn how to create financial models in Excel

• Here is a 6 part tutorial explaining the process of financial modeling using Excel

On Modeling Best Practices

• 5 tips on modeling best practices
• BASE rule for keeping your models simple
• 12 rules for making better Excel models
• 10 tips for better workbooks
• Introduction to Spreadsheet Risk Management

Other topics relevant to the podcast:

• Introduction to Excel Tables
• Introduction to data validation

Transcript of this session:

Download this podcast transcript [PDF].

What keeps your models sane & sexy?

I use all the tips recommended by Danielle. Apart from these, I also use ideas like named ranges, structural references, separation of input & output to keep my models user friendly.

What about you? Do you apply the tips suggested by Danielle? What else do you use to make your models awesome? Please share your tips & ideas using comments.