That's right. It's summer time.
Although doing deals and pounding out diligence is sweet, the Hamptons are sweeter.
How can we save time to get out of the office faster?
Putting together a list of best practices and techniques (applicable to junior PE & banking professionals). There are a few precedent lists out there, so repaste and steel credit for other peoples' thoughtful responses.
1. Keeping paper / Excel tracker of tasks.
There are different flavors, and everyone has their own system, but keep track of tasks by time / priority.
2. Send out all external to-dos in the AM or before the weekend (eg, consultants / accountants / bankers / lawyers).
Minimizes chance of someone else's mess blowing up my weekend.
3. Expectations
Set expectations double how long you think it will take and push back as much as possible.
4. Research
Ask friends for their research logins / access. Getting good research always a pain
5. Slide templates
I save down slide templates for generic internal deliverables (company profile, diligence deck, memo, etc.) Makes it faster to fill out a new one.
6. BamSEC
BamSEC for public co financials. I don't use public co data that often anymore, but I do read 10-Ks for relevant public peers. This shaves a few seconds off grabbing the relevant files.
7. Logointern.com for logos.
Saw this on WSO a while back. Makes it way faster to grab a couple logos or make an industry overview slide (many logos).
8. Google alerts
Google alerts for relevant portcos / industries (grabbed this off WSO too).
9. Folder in outlook / on Desktop for each portco.
Includes all latest financials, correspondence, etc. Saves time when I get the: "Hey could you send the latest ___ for XYZ co? Thx."
Mod Note (Andy): top 50 posts of 2017, this one ranks #33 (based on # of silver bananas)
You scoundrel. +SB. This is a good list. I've borrowed a lot of these from WSO too
Could you please PM me that template!!!!????
@JB1995" Do some reading.
At the end of the thread, he posted the link to it.
BillyAckman - thanks for the great guide: https://multipleexpansion.com/</a">MultipleExpansion.com
I have a basic LBO template that I use to drop in the financials for a given CIM along with template output pages. It lets me pull together basic (but not thoughtful) CIM digest materials in 1 hour.
Hi, would you share it ?
PM me
Can you please also send it my way?
Would love to see this as well, thanks.
Hi, could you send it to me too please? Cheers
You mind PMing it here too?
Can you send it to me as well? Thanks.
This sounds amazing - I'd really appreciate it as well!
Same here
Could you please send that my way as well
Could you please share it? TIA
Could you please send it to me as well. Thanks a lot.
Could you please send it to me as well? Thanks in advance.
I would love it if you could PM me this too -- I just made a post on how my modelling skills are lacking, so this would be useful for me.
Go Carl Icahn though!
Can you also send it my way please
Can you please also send it my way? Many thanks!
Hi, appreciate if could please send. Thanks kindly
Can you share this to me as well via PM? Thanks.
Any chance you can please send this my way as well via PM? Really appreciate it. Thanks
.
Send it to me as well!!, you da best!!
can you send to me?
Read the thread. He posted it on https://multipleexpansion.com/</a">MultipleExpansion.com
Do you mind to share it with me too?
.
can you send it to me please?
Can you send to me too? Thanks.
If this is still alive I'd love it as well - Thanks, sir.
Probably old news, but for checking I always compare the prior PDF with the new version I'm about to send and I go page-by-page alternating between the two (alt-tab). Makes it easy to see all of the changes.
Saves time, because then I have an answer when VP says "Why did this change" as opposed to scrambling to 20 minutes and looking unprepared.
Old news but definitely a best practice.
/delete was being a dick about time saving
Bump. Nothing else to contribute monkeys??
What do you guys use as base assumptions for your LBO with respect to financing (% bank debt vs % mez % vs revolver etc.)?
I usually do 2 - 3x TLB (bank debt) and 2 - 3x other debt (mezz vs. TLC vs. senior notes); and typically ~1x revolver commitment, but a lot of times I swag it to get a round number.
Would be great to hear from someone in LevFin with a better illustrative read ;-)
Look at a comp in your portfolio...?
Don't have anything in my portfolio to compare, just trying to take a PE view on a certain investment and need some general high-level PE financing assumptions (if there is such a thing)
>
Good list, however,
Would slightly disagree with this as seems like (now) data service providers are tracking if an account is logged in multiple times or at different IP addresses
This doesn't make sense.
sorry was referring to this
Ask friends for their research logins / access. Getting good research always a pain
^Lol.
yelloweat is right though. We just lost our PitchBook account for this.
Make sure every excel has the majority of its outputs formatted so you can paste in as a picture. Makes updating books take 20 minutes rather than a couple hours
For that matter, add "Copy as Picture" to the Quick Access Toolbar, it will show up as a green circle icon. Click it and select to copy as printed rather than as shown on the screen. Voila.
I don't get this. Why? Any changes in the Excel data are already linked directly to the Powerpoint file as long as they are in the same folder.
Literally never do this. Makes all your files so big and cumbersome.
No they aren't unless you embedded the objects, which is obviously a terrible idea unless you embed your entire workbook.
Dude.....it's called FactSet
Preslink has saved me so much pain.
You should never use someone else's logins. Someone at my firm did that, the research provider tracked the IP address, sent a hostile letter threatening legal proceedings, and the letter landed on the CEO's desk. Needless to say, he doesn't work here anymore.
Lol bank's do this all the time. The research provider is never going to send a threatening letter to one of their largest existing / potential customers. At best it will be a "please stop this" and an offer to have one of their sales people try to convert you to their platform.
Yeah I've never heard of one of the data platforms actually putting a stop to this. This is common practice
THIS SHOULD BE UNDER PE.
Thank you for the list. Much appreciated!
/delete post is probably beyond the scope of this forum, see last link to www.spreadsheetguru.com
Any other time savers, monkeys?
Instead of making that chart your VP asked for, I'm a big advocate for reading WSO instead.
Touche
Edit: joke but example of a time saver: The pivot chart connected to Sql updated after I pressed f5
Regarding using the same excel file over and over again, you should seriously consider versioning in case the file becomes corrupted or you want to re-visit an assumption down the road. Also might help with any potential audits.
Function FileExist(FilePath As String) As Boolean 'PURPOSE: Test to see if a file exists or not 'SOURCE: www.TheSpreadsheetGuru.com/The-Code-Vault 'RESOURCE: http://www.rondebruin.nl/win/s9/win003.htm
Dim TestStr As String
'Test File Path (ie "C:\Users\Chris\Desktop\Test\book1.xlsm") On Error Resume Next TestStr = Dir(FilePath) On Error GoTo 0
'Determine if File exists If TestStr = "" Then FileExist = False Else FileExist = True End If
End Function
Sub SaveNewVersion_Excel() 'PURPOSE: Save file, if already exists add a new version indicator to filename 'SOURCE: www.TheSpreadsheetGuru.com/The-Code-Vault
Dim FolderPath As String Dim myPath As String Dim SaveName As String Dim SaveExt As String Dim VersionExt As String Dim Saved As Boolean Dim x As Long
TestStr = "" Saved = False x = 2
'Version Indicator (change to liking) VersionExt = "_v"
'Pull info about file On Error GoTo NotSavedYet myPath = ActiveWorkbook.FullName myFileName = Mid(myPath, InStrRev(myPath, "\") + 1, InStrRev(myPath, ".") - InStrRev(myPath, "\") - 1) FolderPath = Left(myPath, InStrRev(myPath, "\")) SaveExt = "." & Right(myPath, Len(myPath) - InStrRev(myPath, ".")) On Error GoTo 0
'Determine Base File Name If InStr(1, myFileName, VersionExt) > 1 Then myArray = Split(myFileName, VersionExt) SaveName = myArray(0) Else SaveName = myFileName End If
'Test to see if file name already exists If FileExist(FolderPath & SaveName & SaveExt) = False Then ActiveWorkbook.SaveAs FolderPath & SaveName & SaveExt Exit Sub End If
'Need a new version made Do While Saved = False If FileExist(FolderPath & SaveName & VersionExt & x & SaveExt) = False Then ActiveWorkbook.SaveAs FolderPath & SaveName & VersionExt & x & SaveExt Saved = True Else x = x + 1 End If Loop
'New version saved MsgBox "New file version saved (version " & x & ")"
Exit Sub
'Error Handler NotSavedYet: MsgBox "This file has not been initially saved. " & _ "Cannot save a new version!", vbCritical, "Not Saved To Computer"
End Sub
[disclaimer: google is amazing, and this likely will need to be tweaked slightly to your file paths etc.]
Edit: on #1 change activeworkbook to activedocument
lastly start using OneNote for your tasks/list
If it isn't painfully obvious at this point start automating the repetitive tasks that take you a lot of time.
Edit: Easier yet just buy all the add in a from www.spreadsheetguru.com I think it will automate a good portion of that list.
Hey betches,
Some buddies are I are putting together training materials / relevant Excel resources, including my LBO template. Check it out here: https://multipleexpansion.com/
Amazing. People, throw this guy some SBs.
Thanks Sil
Also folks -- feel free to reply with want you want next in terms of modeling guides / resources, and we'll throw it up there. The site is going to remain free to access forever. It's been too hard to track down good, step-by-step guides for too long.
Thanks +SB
More advanced LBO stuff could be good: Ability to pay, how to properly set up different cases, LBO outputs
Like Sil said, a merger model would also be helpful.
Thanks a lot Billy! Have just discovered your site - incredibly valuable content!
Thanks for this site. Very helpful for incoming bankers. Really appreciate the work and am looking forward to new content.
adding a few others to the list...
MappingIntern.com - similar to LogoIntern, but great for creating a quick map of US locations (company geo footprint, etc)
Macros. Try them. One of the posters keyed me into this - great way to save time on some of the most mind numbing formatting work.
Does anyone who knows VBA code have any good suggestions for ways to use VBA to save time? Doesn't have to just be recorded macros.
Formatting macros, but interested to know if people have more of ideas
Trace first precedent
Sub AUDIT_TRACE_1st_Precedent() On Error Resume Next Selection.ShowPrecedents ActiveCell.NavigateArrow TowardPrecedent:=True, ArrowNumber:=1, LinkNumber _ :=1
End Sub
To trace precedents with multiple links:
Run the macro on a formula with multiple links
A dialogue box will pop up
Enter the number corresponding to the link you are seeking to audit (i.e., first linked number is in the leftmost part of the equation).
Enjoy!!
Sub AUDIT_TRACE_PRECEDENT_2ND_LINK() On Error Resume Next LINK_NUMBER = InputBox("Link number...") Selection.ShowPrecedents ActiveCell.NavigateArrow TowardPrecedent:=True, ArrowNumber:=1, LinkNumber _ :=LINK_NUMBER
End Sub
Jump to sheet navigation macro:
Sub GotoSheet() Dim sSheet As String sSheet = InputBox( _ Prompt:="Sheet name or number?", _ Title:="Input Sheet") On Error Resume Next If Val(sSheet) > 0 Then Worksheets(Val(sSheet)).Activate Else Worksheets(sSheet).Activate End If End SubIncidunt laboriosam nostrum distinctio minus. Ea sit eum odio consequatur commodi eos. Odit corrupti cum vitae voluptates. Quisquam nisi consequatur aut voluptatibus corrupti quas libero.
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