Format Cycles
Macabacus' formatting cycles streamline cell formatting, saving nearly all the time typically required. For example, pressing the Fill Color Cycle shortcut three times applies a different fill color each time. When the cycle ends, pressing the shortcut again starts it over. Cycles can be triggered with keyboard shortcuts or via buttons on the Macabacus tab.
Macabacus formatting cycles always start at the beginning, allowing you to reach the third style by pressing the shortcut three times, regardless of existing cell formatting. The alternative method of inspecting existing formats and determining the required keystrokes is slower and requires more processing time by you and Macabacus.
Configuring a cycle
You can customize the Macabacus formatting cycles under the Excel > Format section of the Settings dialogue. Limit styles, colors, etc. in each cycle to six to reduce cycling time and improve workbook readability/consistency. Sort items in each cycle by decreasing the frequency of use for faster modeling.
Default Font Color - The default font color is used for optionally recoloring fonts when exporting cells to PowerPoint/Word and generating PDFs. Black is the default font color, but it can be customized.
Default Border Color - The default border color is applied when using border style cycles and the Sum Bar tool. Black is the default border color, but it can be customized.
Default Shading Color - The default fill color is used to shade alternate rows or columns. Light gray is the default shading color, but it can be customized.
In financial and other types of modeling, font colors are commonly used to visually characterize cell content. For example, numeric inputs are typically colored blue. Macabacus lets you create an AutoColor scheme that defines which font colors to use for cells containing numeric inputs, partial inputs, formulas that reference cells on the same worksheet, formulas that reference cells in other worksheets and workbooks, hyperlinks, and formulas that contain external data functions (e.g., FactSet or CapIQ "pulls").
What is a partial input?
Partial inputs are formulas that contain one or more inputs, or "hardcoded" values, such as =A1+12.34. This formula is effectively an input because we have hardcoded the value 12.34 into the formula. Accordingly, you might expect AutoColor to apply the same font color to this cell that it applies to normal input cells (those containing just a number). If so, specify the same color for inputs and partial inputs in your AutoColor scheme. Alternatively, assign a unique color for partial inputs.
Whether a formula is a partial input can be subjective. The formula in the example above is clearly a partial input, but what about the formula =CHOOSE(2,A1,A2,A3)? Does the value "2" constitute a partial input? Macabacus' AutoColor algorithm makes that determination for you, and you may not always agree with it. If this happens often, you can disable AutoColoring for partial inputs by removing the partial inputs color from your AutoColor scheme.
Macabacus ignores the values 0, 1, 100, 1000, and 1000000 in formulas when checking for partial inputs.
With this feature enabled, Macabacus will automatically color cell fonts according to your AutoColor scheme as you enter cell values and formulas.
Performance considerations
AutoColor on Entry may slow down some operations involving large numbers of cells, and may adversely impact Undo/Redo behavior. For this reason, AutoColor on Entry is disabled by default.
Shade odd/even rows/columns in the selection the default shading color. Because Macabacus uses conditional formatting to achieve alternate shading, alternate shading will persist as rows/columns are inserted and removed. Alternate shading can be cycled using a keyboard shortcut, or applied using the buttons on the Macabacus > Format > Color > Pinstripes Cycle menu.
Note that conditional formatting is "volatile," and may slow down Excel when used extensively or applied to very large cell ranges. You can alternatively apply alternating row/column shading using traditional (i.e., non-conditional) formatting with Macabacus' Modify Rows and Modify Columns tools.
Macabacus includes curated number formats for financial modeling, facilitating alignment of currencies, percentages, and positive/negative values. Customize these formats in the Excel > Format > Numbers section of the Settings dialog.
If you need assistance with understanding number formats, see this Microsoft guidance.
Too many number formats
If a number format cycle does not appear to be working, the workbook may contain too many number formats (an Excel limitation). Try removing unused number formats from the workbook.
If you receive an "Invalid number format" error when customizing number format cycles, the active workbook may contain too many number formats. In this scenario, open a new workbook and try again.
International currencies
A single dollar sign ("$") in a number format instructs Excel to apply the currency symbol (e.g.,"€", "£") set in Windows. To ensure that currencies are formatted in USD, regardless of your Windows currency symbol setting, replace all occurrences of "$" with "[$$]" in your currency number formats.
You can adjust the indentation of selected cells using the Left Indent Cycle and Right Indent Cycle tools. For both tools, repeating the shortcut keystroke will increase the indent level up to the maximum specified in the Excel > Format > Other section of the Settings dialog. Once the maximum indent level is reached, the indent will return to zero with the next shortcut keystroke. This functionality allows for convenient and flexible formatting adjustments for both left and right indents.
This documentation refers to the latest Macabacus version. Some features and descriptions of these features may not apply to older versions of Macabacus. Update your Macabacus software to take advantage of the latest features.