Microsoft Excel Inside Out (Office 2021 and Microsoft 365)

Chapter 18

Using What-If, Scenario Manager, Goal Seek, and Solver

Using What-If

Using Scenario Manager

Using Goal Seek

Using Solver

When Dan Bricklin invented VisiCalc in 1979, he was trying to come up with a tool that would let him quickly recalculate his MBA school case studies. Forty years later, spreadsheets are still used for the same functionality.

Newer spreadsheet tools such as Goal Seek and an improved Solver enable you to back directly into the assumptions that lead to a solution. This chapter discusses some of Excel’s features that are helpful when you are trying to find a specific answer.

Using What-If

After you have set up a model in Excel, you can make copies of the model side by side and then change the various input variables ...