• Wall Street Prep: Excel Crash Course

Excel Shortcuts and Best
Practices for Finance Modeling:
Cash Flow Items
Cash Flow Items
Shortcuts and best practices for modeling the following
cash flow items in Excel:

 Depreciation
 Amortization
 Dividends
 Change in Working Capital
Navigating & Editing Cell Formats

 Ctrl + Arrow Key : Navigate to the edge of data
set
 Shift + Arrow Key : Select a range of cells

 Ctrl + Shift + Arrow Key : Select a block of
cells based on current cell
 F2 : Enter edit mode for the current cell

 Ctrl + 1 : Open the "Format Cells" dialog box

Color Coding & Checking Data

 Conditional Formatting : Highlight cells based
on rules or formulas
 F2 : Check entered formula

 Ctrl + : Switch between the formula bar and the
cell

, DCF Model
Shortcuts and best practices for building a Discounted
Cash Flow (DCF) model in Excel:

 Shift + F11 : Insert new worksheet

 Ctrl + Shift + + : Autofit row height

 Ctrl + Shift + - : Autofit column width

 Alt + = : Auto-sum cells

 Ctrl + D : Fill down the selected cells

Data Organization & Acquisition

 Data tab > From Text/CSV : Import data from a
text or CSV file
 Data tab > Get Data > From Other Sources :
Import data from various sources
 Freeze Panes : Fix the row(s) or column(s) at the
top and/or left of the worksheet
 Group Rows/Columns : Toggle the visibility of
selected rows/columns
Adjusting Sheet Names & Formatting

 F4 : Cycle through cell address options when
entering a formula
 Ctrl + Shift + L : Toggle filters

 Alt + H + O + A : Set cell format to Accounting

 Right-click on sheet tab > Rename : Change
sheet name