Excel Problem*

Objective: How to do what-if analysis with graphs.

REQUIRED

a. Read the article “Tweaking the Numbers,” by Theo Callahan in the June 2001 issue of the Journal of Accountancy (available at www.aicpa.org). Follow the instructions in the article to create a spreadsheet with graphs that do what-if analysis.

b. Now create a spreadsheet to do graphical what-if analysis for the “cash gap.” Cash gap represents the number of days between when a company has to pay its suppliers and when it gets paid by its customers. Thus, Cash gap 5 Inventory days on hand 1 Receivables collection period 2 Accounts payable period The purpose of your spreadsheet is to display visually what happens to cash gap when you “tweak” policies concerning inventory, receivables, and payables. Thus, you will create a spreadsheet that looks like Figure 16-16.

c. Set the three spin buttons to have the following values:

SPIN BUTTON FOR INVENTORY SPIN BUTTON FOR RECEIVABLES SPIN BUTTON FOR PAYABLES Linked cell C2 C3 C4 Maximum 120 120 90 Minimum 0 30 20 Value 30 60 20 Small change 10 10 10