Excel 2016 for Mac Financial Analysis with Microsoft Excel, 8 th Edition Mac User Guide Unfortunately, Mac users of Microsoft Office don t have 100% compatibility with the Windows version. However, the differences between Excel 2016 (Windows) and Excel 2016 for Mac are mostly confined to the user-interface. That means that files and the formulas that they contain are almost entirely compatible, so you should be able to use the files that you create on either the Mac or Windows version of Excel. In this document, I will cover the main issues that Mac users will confront when using the book. The only things that I am sure do not exist in Excel 2016 for Mac that do exist in Excel 2016 are Pivot Charts, Get & Transform (both discussed in Chapter 16), and Web Queries. There are also numerous problems with the VBA programming language that is used for add-ins and user-defined functions. This means that it is difficult, or impossible, for me to make the ExcelSim and Cov-Matrix add-ins function on the Mac. They did work on Excel for Mac 2011, but no more. Microsoft has been very slow to address these issues. You can read some complaints by programmers on the UserVoice Forums. I have included the versions of those add-ins that work on Excel for Mac 2011, just in case some readers have that version. Almost everything else that is used in the book is available one way or another on the Mac. The good news is that the Analysis ToolPak add-in, which is used for regression analysis and other things, is now available in Excel 2016 for Mac. There are many differences in the keyboard shortcuts that are used in Windows and on the Mac. In those places that I call out a keyboard shortcut, I also give the Mac equivalent. If I miss a few, or you want to explore them further, you can find a list of shortcuts at Excel 2016 for Mac Keyboard Shortcuts. Ultimately, the best course of action is to use Excel 2016 on Windows. Every other version (whether Mac, ios, Android, or Excel Online) sacrifices some features. The easiest way to use Excel 2016 on Windows is to first install Windows on your Mac using Bootcamp. This way, you only need to purchase a copy of Windows and not a new PC. Further, it is possible that your college/university has a site license for Office 365. If so, then you should be able to get Office for free and install it in your Windows installation. If you have any questions that are not answered here, please contact me at mayest@msudenver.edu and I will try to find the answer for you. Please note, however, that I am not a regular Mac user and may not know the answers.
User Interface Basics Some of the user interface is quite similar on the Mac and Windows, so you shouldn t have too much trouble translating instructions from the book. However, you will notice that Excel 2016 for Mac has both a Ribbon-style interface and menus. Chapter 1 in the book gives an overview of the user-interface for Excel 2016 on Windows. Here is a very quick look at the interface on the Mac. Menus File The File menu is quite similar to that of other programs. It contains commands for opening, closing, saving, and printing files. This is very similar to the File tab in Excel 2016, which is described in chapter 1. Edit The Edit menu contains commands for Cut, Copy, and Paste, as well as Undo/Redo. It also has Fill series, delete sheet, and some other commands. Most of these are duplicated on the Ribbon or the Standard toolbar. View The View menu is similar to the Layout tab on the Ribbon, but it has a few commands (such as Formula Builder) that are located on other tabs. Insert The Insert menu contains commands to, well, insert things into your worksheet (e.g., new columns or rows, charts, etc). Much of this menu is available in various tabs of the Ribbon, or by right-clicking a cell. Format The Format menu has commands for applying number formats, borders, etc. when you click Format -> Cells. In addition, you can set column widths and row heights, and you can apply conditional formatting. Tools The Tools menu is where you will go to access tools such as the Solver or Goal Seek. In addition, you can install or remove add-ins from this menu. Data The Data menu contains commands for inserting Pivot Tables, Data Tables, getting data from external sources and so on. It duplicates the Data tab in the Ribbon. Window The Window menu contains a list of all open workbooks, and has commands such as Freeze Panes and others that make it easy to work with several workbooks at once (e.g., Arrange, which is discussed in Chapter 2 beginning at the bottom of page 59). Help The Help menu is where you can search the online help (say for function definitions or how to do something), and also check for updates. The Ribbon The Ribbon in Excel 2016 for Mac is not quite a Ribbon interface as it is on Windows. Functionally, it is similar and Microsoft calls it the Ribbon. You can edit the Ribbon by going to the Excel menu and choosing Preferences. Under Privacy and Sharing is a tool to control the Ribbon. You can show or hide any of the toolbars, or you can rearrange them.
Home The Home tab contains icons to Paste from the clipboard, Fill a series, and Clear a selected region of the worksheet. Most of the rest of its icons are for formatting cells in your worksheet. Insert The Insert tab is where you go if you need to insert a chart, Pivot Table, Table, Smart Art, shapes, or a Text Box. Page Layout The Layout tab contains commands that affect how your worksheet will print or appear on the screen. For example, you can set the page margins for printing, or change what you view on the screen (e.g., gridlines). Formulas The Formulas tab is where you can go to find and insert a function using the Insert button. Alternatively, you can use the Formula Builder, which is very similar to the Insert Function dialog box in Excel 2016 (see page 22). This tab also contains the formula auditing tools as discussed beginning on page 92, and the calculation options. Data The Data tab contains commands for sorting and filtering data on your worksheet as well as important tools such as the Scenario Manager, Goal Seek, and Data Tables (all under the What If button). Additionally, you can go to this tab to do data validation, and group or ungroup cells. Review The Review tab contains the Spelling checker and tools for managing cell comments, as well as workbook/worksheet protection (i.e., setting passwords and permissions). View The View tab is where you can change the view (Normal, Page Break Preview, etc), Freeze Panes, and turn on/off certain features such as gridlines. Developer The developer toolbar is where you will find the tools for working with the VBA language. See Chapter 14 for details on writing your own userdefined functions. Add-Ins This tab may be visible if you install any third-party add-ins written in VBA and that use certain features. For example, the ExcelSim and Cov-Matrix add-ins that are available will cause this tab to be visible (see the notes below about these add-ins not working anymore). Problems with Add-Ins Aside from the user-interface differences, the major difference between the Mac and Windows versions has to do with add-ins. Many add-ins that were written for Excel 2016 on Windows will not work on the Mac. This is particularly true if the add-in makes use of the Ribbon interface in Excel 2016. In Financial Analysis with Microsoft Excel, 8 th Edition we will make use of several add-ins: The Analysis ToolPak is used in Chapter 5 to run regression analysis, and it also contains several other useful tools such as the ability to create
correlation and covariance matrices that are used in Chapter 14. This add-in is standard with Excel 2016 for Mac, but does not exist for Excel for Mac 2011 (see below for the replacement). The Solver add-in that ships with Excel 2016 is available for Excel 2016 for Mac. In previous versions for Mac it was not available. You can now find it at the bottom of the Tools menu and on the Data tab, and it works just like the Windows version that is described in Chapters 12 and 14. If you are using an older version of Excel, you can find out how to download the Solver at http://www.solver.com/welcome-mac-users-solver-now-included-excel- 2011. The ExcelSim 2017 add-in that is supplied with this book and used in Chapter 12 is available for download from the official Web site for the book as ExcelSim_Mac.xlam. See below for more information. The cov-matrix add-in that is mentioned in Chapter 14, is available on the official Web site as cov-matrix_mac.xlam. The FameFNCS.xlam add-in contains many user-defined functions that are used primarily in the second half of the book. This add-in is completely compatible with Excel 2016 for Mac, so you will use the same file as Windows users. To install add-ins on the Mac, you will go to the Tools menu and then click Excel Add-Ins. In the Add-Ins dialog box, click the Browse button and then find and open the file. You will see it listed in the dialog box and its check box will have a check mark. If you ever wish to remove an add-in, simply uncheck the box. Removing an add-in does not delete it from your computer, it simple tells Excel to unload it. You can turn it back on by checking the box again. StatPlus:mac LE Replaces Analysis ToolPak for Excel for Mac 2011 As mentioned above, the Analysis ToolPak add-in doesn t exist for Excel for Mac 2011, though it is included with Excel 2016 for Mac. If you are using the 2011 version, you must download the free StatPlus:mac LE from AnalystSoft. After downloading the app, extract it from the zip file and copy the app to your applications folder. To run it, you must double-click the StatPlus.app file. Note that you may be warned that the app can t be run because it isn t signed. This is no problem as the app is recommended by Microsoft. To make it run, go to System Preferences -> Security and Privacy and then allow the StatPlus app to run. Note that StatPlus is a separate application, and not an Excel add-in. Therefore, you will have to launch it separately from Excel. You can make this easier by dragging the StatPlus.app file to your Dock. This way, it will be only a click away. Creating a Yield Curve from U.S. Treasury Website data (Chapter 10) Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, it is currently impossible to do a Web query in Excel 2016 for Mac. In previous versions, it was possible to do so by using an.iqy
file. However, this no longer works. In Excel 2016 on Windows, as discussed in the text, you can use Get & Transform (formerly Power Query), but this is not available on the Mac version. Add-Ins Included that May Not Work on Excel 2016 for Mac The two add-ins mentioned below do not function on the latest version of Excel 2016 for Mac. I have kept this little bit of documentation in hopes that Microsoft will fix VBA at some point and that they will begin to work. Also, any reader that is using Excel for Mac 2011 should be able to use the add-ins, though I can no longer test them on that version (they used to work fine). ExcelSim Add-in The ExcelSim 2015 add-in that is used in Chapter 13 is available from the student download section of the official Web site for the book. Please note that ExcelSim.xlam will not run properly on the Mac, so you must use ExcelSim_Mac.xlam instead. It is identical to the Windows version, except that it creates a menu rather than being launched from the Ribbon. To use ExcelSim 2015, you must first install it. Download the file from the official Web site and save it to a convenient location on your Mac. Launch Excel, and then go to Tools -> Add-Ins. Click the Select button in the dialog box and then navigate to the folder where you saved ExcelSim_Mac.xlam. Select the file and then click the Open button. It should now appear in the Add-Ins dialog box and you should have a menu item called ExcelSim. To launch the add-in, simply click ExcelSim -> Simulate. The dialog box that results will be virtually identical to that shown in Chapter 12, and the usage is as described. Covariance Matrix Add-in The cov-matrix.xlam add-in that is mentioned in the footnote on page 421 is available as cov-matrix_mac.xlam for the Mac. This add-in is recommended over StatPlus for creating covariance matrices because it is more flexible and creates its output in the same workbook. To use cov-matrix_mac.xlam, you must first install it. Download the file from the official Web site and save it to a convenient location on your Mac. Launch Excel, and then go to Tools -> Add-Ins. Click the Select button in the dialog box and then navigate to the folder where you saved cov-matrix_mac.xlam. Select the file and then click the Open button. It should now appear in the Add-Ins dialog box and you should have a menu item called Covariance. To launch the add-in, simply click Covariance -> Covariance Matrix. Usage of this add-in is described in my post at: http://www.tvmcalcs.com/blog/comments/update_to_variance_covariance_matrix_ builder_for_excel_2010_and_2013. I hope that this short guide is useful to you and helps to avoid confusion due to the differences between the Mac and Windows versions of Excel.
Timothy R. Mayes, Ph.D. Professor of Finance Metropolitan State University of Denver mayest@msudenver.edu May 2017.