eFinancialCareers

If you’re interning in an investment bank this summer, one thing’s for certain: you’ll become intimately acquainted with Excel. You’ve undoubtedly come across Excel already, but do you know how to use it to maximum effect in an investment banking environment? No? Then read on.

The key things you’ll need to know are: how to draw graphs, how to create formulas, how to format cells, and how to work using the keyboard – limiting the need to use the mouse.

Format Cell

The Format Cell menu contains most of the things that you need to change the appearance of your Excel sheet. This menu allows you to change the number format, font, border and fill of a cell, and is opened by holding CTRL + 1 whilst in the cell you wish to format.

Excel has a number of pre-defined number formats, but it is worth learning how to define these yourself using the Custom option (in the Number section of the Format Cell menu). Some examples are given below.

To create a number with a comma separating it: Use the custom format #,##0

To create a negative number in brackets: Use the custom format 0;(0)

To write zero shown as - : Use the custom format 0;(0)-

To write a comps multiple like 20.0x: Use the custom format 0.0x

To write 20ppm (twenty parts per million), or add any other letters after a number: Use the custom format 0”ppm”

Another useful tool is Paste Special. This menu (found in the Edit dropdown) allows you to copy different elements of a cell, the most useful of which are the format, the formula and the value. For example, you could use paste special to copy the value of a cell when there is a formula underpinning it. If a cell has the underlying formula 3x3, you could quickly copy the number 9 to another cell.

Keyboard shortcuts

The most efficient analysts use keyboard shortcuts to navigate Excel. The ALT key allows you to access all of the menus that you normally navigate with your mouse, for example, pressing ALT followed by E, S and V will allow you to copy the value of a cell as described above. ALT allows you to access the menus, E opens the Edit menu, S opens the Paste Special menu and V selects the value option.

Along with navigating the menus via your keyboard, there are a number of other key combinations that can be used in all Office programs to save time:

ALT + TAB = Switch to the next program

ALT + SHIFT + TAB= Switch to the previous program

CTRL + S = Save

CTRL + C = Copy

CTRL + X = Cut

CTRL + V = Paste

F4= Repeat last action

Hazel Schofield worked as an analyst and associate in corporate finance before leaving to set up her own graduate recruitment company, Smith Howard (www.smithhoward.co.uk).