Business Functions 1.52

Business Functions 1.52 is a convenient tool with 500+ high-performance functions which can help you analyze and plan your business. It is designed to make financial models such as business plans and budgets faster to build, less error-prone, and easier to understand and maintain. It does this through integrated families of functions, in particular for budgeting and cash flow projections.

One of the features is its day count accuracy when used for projecting cash flows.It has specific interfaces for both Excel 2007 and Excel 1997-2003, as well an expanded utility set that includes number formatting and a time chart wizard, allows partial view of C++ code via the Function Finder, and includes the consolidation tool Cashflow Administrator.

Major Features:

1. Flexibility
   • Project in either cash or accruals, by changing one variable (ProjMode).
   • Change the payment timing from quarterly to annual, calendar quarters or specified dates, again using one variable (Periods).
   • Change the timebase of your budget again by using just one variable (Base).
2. Accuracy
   • Many more DayCount options than Excel, covering all types of payment stream including rent, loans, bonds, and sales revenue.
   • Accurate date arithmetic using an advanced timeperiod description methodology (Time, Base, DayCount and Periods) ...
3. Projections Functions
   • This is the only library that provides specialist projections functions, which are the most accurate and reliable way of projecting cash flows, accruals etc.
   • Projections functions are designed to deal accurately with partial periods, change of rate part-way through a period, etc.
   • Running through the core of each projection function is the highly optimised daycount and date arithmetic, developed over several years.
   • The unique projections functions in the library give model developers a distinct edge over conventional approaches.
   • Whatever your business, project it right! Project your interest the same as your banker or bond manager, project your rent just like your Property Manager, Banker or Accountant.
4. Rapid Model Development
   • Familiar approach within Excel, the tool your already know, using standard functions. No need to learn new user interface.
   • Debug and error Trace facility. No more unexplained #NUM! errors, faster formulae debugging.
   • Online support Forum for all users.
   • Common chart of variables, standard variable names, consistent argument order and style throughout the library eases learning curve.
5. Quick to run
   • Several times faster than functions written in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA).
   • Functions written in optimized native C++ (faster than other methods such as .NET managed code).
6. Error Reduction
   • Use of same function across the timeframe of the model results in less one-off cell errors.
   • The likelihood of error depends less from ill-designed formulas and one-off cell mistakes and more on the choice of correct function and inputs. Inputs are in part checkable automatically by Trace, and in part easier to check by hand because you know what each argument is supposed to be.
   • Function inputs and range sizes are screened automatically by the functions for inconsistencies.
7. Ease of understanding
   • Functions are good practise - a modular way to separate logic from data.
   • The name of the function a much better indication of what spreadsheet designer was intending - there is an strong element of self-documentation.
   • No need to document a model cell by cell, formula by formula - the presence of a Business Function means that users can revert to the BF documentation for details of what a line in the spreadsheet is doing.
8. Robust
   • Functions work across a wide range of input magnitudes and will inform, via Trace, where an input is invalid or out of range.
   • C++ libraries are the most reliable form of Excel library, because of industry-strength C++compilers, syntax checkers and optimizers, and a minimum of extraneous overhead.
9. Ease of Maintenance
   • Used widely, standardisation amongst models leverages the analysts knowledge.
   • Business Functions behaviour is stable and constant over several years now - future releases are very unlikely to cause model breakages.

Enhancements:

• Maintenance release.
• Compiled with Boost Libraries 1.39.
• Bug fix on opening log files.