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MS Excel: Working with What-If Analysis Explained

  • 6 days ago
  • 2 min read

Excel’s What-If Analysis tools let you explore different scenarios and see how changes to your data affect outcomes. It’s a powerful feature for budgeting, forecasting, and decision-making in finance, operations, and project management.


Instead of manually recalculating every possibility, What-If Analysis lets Excel do it automatically.


What Is What-If Analysis?


What-If Analysis allows you to test “what happens if” scenarios in your spreadsheet. For example:


  • What if sales increase by 10%?

  • What if costs decrease by £500?

  • What if a project deadline is extended by two weeks?


It helps you predict results and make informed decisions.


Key Tools in What-If Analysis


1️⃣ Scenario Manager


  • Allows you to create and compare multiple scenarios.

  • Example: Best case, worst case, and most likely case for a project budget.

  • Steps:

    1. Go to Data → What-If Analysis → Scenario Manager

    2. Add scenarios with different input values

    3. Show results side-by-side


2️⃣ Goal Seek


  • Finds the input value needed to achieve a specific outcome.

  • Example: How many units must be sold to reach £10,000 in revenue?

  • Steps:

    1. Data → What-If Analysis → Goal Seek

    2. Set the target value for a formula cell

    3. Choose the input cell Excel should adjust


3️⃣ Data Tables


  • Allows you to see how changes in one or two variables affect a formula.

  • Example: Compare profits for multiple prices and sales volumes in one table.

  • Steps:

    1. Enter your formula

    2. Select the range for your input values

    3. Data → What-If Analysis → Data Table

    4. Choose row and/or column input cells


Why What-If Analysis Matters


What-If Analysis is essential for:


✔ Financial forecasting and budgeting

✔ Project planning and resource allocation

✔ Pricing and cost analysis

✔ Decision-making based on data

✔ Quickly testing multiple scenarios without manual recalculation


It allows you to anticipate results before committing to decisions.


Final Thoughts

Mastering What-If Analysis in Excel makes you a proactive data user rather than a reactive one. From simple budgets to complex business scenarios, these tools allow you to predict, compare, and decide with confidence.

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