Excel is the Horse-Drawn Carriage of Finance, Python is the Tesla
Let's be honest: Excel is fine, but it’s stuck in the past. Sure, it can do basic financial modeling, but if you're relying on it for everything, you're like someone still using a flip phone in 2024. Python, on the other hand, is faster, more flexible, and way more powerful. While Excel is crashing with a big data set, Python is just getting started. Plus, Python’s libraries make Excel’s features look like child’s play. The future of finance is automation and digital solutions, and Python’s leading the charge. Stick with Excel, and you’re setting yourself up to be left behind.
Friendly heads up - nobody gives a shit about Python unless you are doing free labor/ad-hoc analysis with huge data sets for a portco.
I get it, not everyone’s on the Python train yet, but let me clarify a few things. I majored in Computer Science, graduated with top grades, and have been deep in this game for a while. So, yeah, my opinion holds some weight.
Here’s the deal: Python isn’t just a fad; it’s built for efficiency. You can process millions of rows of data in seconds, something Excel would choke on. Need to automate a repetitive task? Python can handle it in a few lines of code, whereas you’d be struggling with Excel macros for hours. And don’t get me started on JavaScript—perfect for creating dynamic dashboards that blow Excel out of the water in terms of interactivity.
The finance world is evolving, and clinging to Excel like a security blanket isn’t going to cut it. If you want to stay relevant, you might want to start caring about Python.
You sound insufferable
“sO yEaH mY oPiNiOn HoLdS sOmE wEiGht”🤓🤓👆👆🥴🥴
Here’s what the tech mouth breathers don’t understand - even at the most complex level, excel is all you need in banking / pe / public markets. Truly, not a single person I work with or have worked with gives a single shit about python
I also majored in computer science, and if you’re using python you’re just wasting time. We’re doing basic math, this isn’t rocket science. Not even sure you need excel for basic LBO math that can be done on a notepad. It’s just CYA at the end of the day
Silence, Nerd!
I had a genius analyst at one point when I was an associate. He studied astrophysics in college and loved programming. He loved incorporating VBA or python into what he was doing where possible. Whatever he was adding in was probably great and worked flawlessly like the rest of his output.
It didn’t matter. Nobody else in the team could audit it or confidently say it was working as intended so we couldn’t allow it to be the fundamental basis of the analysis. As long as you have dumbasses like me who can’t comprehend anything beyond the complexity of Excel, it will remain king. There’s no need to overcomplicate things, the model should be understandable by the lowest common denominator (not the Partner who can’t save a file as a PDF, but maybe the MD who just about still understands Excel).
You are literally proving "Associate 1 in VC"s point...
Oh my goodness analysts talking about their CompSci degrees and Python being better for finance than xls 😂 You're a ppt & xls monkey now bud, Python is not it.
I have a PhD in particle physics, wrote analytics software in FORTRAN77 and C++ and Python before I ever touched Excel. So, yeah, my opinion holds some weight.
All financial math is just arithmetic. You never need anything more sophisticated than Excel. If you think Python would be helpful you fundamentally misunderstand what financial models are and what financial professionals do.
(And Python is indeed the Tesla of computer languages, in the sense that posers think it’s awesome but anyone who really codes knows it’s terrible. Thinking a dynamically typed, interpreted language is awesome says a lot about your depth in CS.)
This has to be satire. Anyone who codes knows python is the most JV level shit compared to stuff you can do in excel
It’s Friday evening. Get a fucking life.
Please generate the exact same picture with Python. Am waiting.
The math on this looks funky. How are you discounting $15,307 of FCF all the way down to $11,533 in the first year? That's like a 40% discount rate. And how is the $17,988 in the third year actually increasing to $18,037 when discounted to the present value?
I typed "LBO model" on Google Images don't @ me
Found my associate
Python back office mouth breather vs buyside excel Chad
As someone on the buyside, I can confidently say that the amount of actual chads in PE these days is close to zero. those days are long gone
May very well be true but I’d rather hang out with a finance loser than an “ACKSHUALLY PYTHON!!!” tech nerd
Build a three statement model in python and post the script oh wise one. It’ll take more than an hour and is a bitch to add new lines/additional detail.
You’re trying to kill an ant with a rifle when all you need is a rock.
Your analogy is bad because you don’t understand the roles in finance or how finance is really done. A better analogy would be excel is a 10 year old ford f-150, python is a tesla.
No one moderately intelligent would argue excel should be used for extreme data analysis. Academia, statistics professionals, or high level asset management/ hedge funds crunching extreme data is not using excel. However, that’s really not the majority of finance. The majority of finance is napkin math and the visualization of 5 years of projected financials and instantly toggling scenarios.
Are you really going to run a script every time you want to see 5% vs 10% top line revenue growth? No, that would be stupid. It would be like trying to tow a trailer and a bunch of lawn equipment with a Tesla vs the ford. Yeah the Tesla has a better motor and fuel economy, but it’s the wrong tool for the job.
Excel won’t go away because it’s a step above paper and pencil. I use Python if I have an intense data exercise, but it’s really quite shit for leading a meeting with an investment committee and explaining different scenarios in live time. As the other person mentioned as well, I also will take excel if I’m trying to create a simple chart—it’s just orders of magnitude faster.
***
Thanks for your detailed response, but I think you might be underestimating the potential of Python here. As a Computer Science prodigy with extensive knowledge on the subject, I can confidently say that Python's versatility far exceeds what you've described. Your analogy about the Tesla and the F-150 is cute, but it's missing the point.
Python isn't just about running scripts—it's about automation, scalability, and precision. Sure, for quick projections Excel might work, but for anything that needs repeatability, efficiency, or complex calculations, Python is the superior tool. Why would you settle for toggling numbers manually when you could automate the whole process and eliminate human error?
Finance is evolving, and clinging to Excel is like insisting on using a typewriter in the age of computers. The future is data-driven, and those who can harness the power of programming will outpace those who stick to old habits. Excel has its place, but it's not at the forefront of modern finance.
Again, appreciate the discussion, but this is more in my wheelhouse. Happy to enlighten anytime.
Dude, why can't you get this through your skull? LBO math is not about automation, scalability and it certainly isn't about "complex calculations". At its core, its just addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of like 30-40 key assumptions. What matters is only whether you understand those assumptions well and how differences in those numbers impact your returns. Excel is still used because its the most appropriate tool for the job. If a killer app came along that led to real efficiency for the users while at the same time being understandable to both the 23 year old Associate and the 50 year old Partner, I promise you it would have been industry standard a long while back.
“As a Computer Science prodigy with extensive knowledge on the subject…”
This was the moment I found out this entire thread is a troll
Are you volunteering to convert ibanking models to code/UI?
Happy to staff you on that - good initiative
Isn’t this what Mosaic and all the other automated modeling tools are built on?
So why is the comp sci genius not launching a start up, getting a PhD or doing an elite SWE role?
Until the day the entire world changes from excel to python, finance will run on excel.
I’m about to start as an MBA associate in M&A for a top investment bank. They only taught us EXCEL in our MBA so I doubt Python would be relevant for this industry
I did a lot of programming in college, so I was also initially in the elitist coder camp that Excel was just for people who didn't know how to use a real programming language. And while it's true that VBA is indefensibly bad and should be replaced, Excel is still the best tool for a lot of things. Many things people use Excel for, computationally simple equations without too much data, are much better off staying in Excel where it's easy to visualize and modify the numbers, equations, formatting. Sure, I could code a GUI to display everything in the sheets I use, but that's much more effort and harder to adapt or debug on the fly than an Excel sheet would be. And Bloomberg's Excel plug-in alone is worth the cost of the terminal.
They're called Excel monkeys for a reason, any idiot can pick it up. Who tf has the time and patience to learn Python?
how the fuck is no one else seeing that this is obviously AI-generated garbage?
it sounds like you prompted chatGPT to write in the tone of a WallStreetOasis user... pretty fuckin scary no one else has noticed
@Mods something needs to be done to prevent this type of abuse/spam or else it'll take over this forum
How do you even spot that? I know there are apps to detect AI language but would be curious to know how a human can detect that stuff…
As someone who also dualed in CS and Finance, I see all your points OP and am in total agreement.
But my coworkers aren't technical at all, and they have a huge inferiority complex when utilizing any sort of statistical tool (not just Python, SAS, R, even fucking Tableau). Makes them feel like they're in fear of loosing their jobs lol.
So nothing will change for another 20 years. Was in banking for a yr before pivoting, and I can see the entire industry streamline very fluidly if they make it a desire.
How would it streamline?
I'm shocked at how many people don't realize this is AI-generated content slop
Before we get replaced by python, I’m sure basic coding will itself be redundant due the rise of AI.
I’m sure transition will be from excel to an AI built software ( having a good UX and prompt typing ) rather than python or coding in general.
Correct me if I’m wrong
Someone else said that using python for financial modeling is like trying to kill an ant with a rifle and it’s so true. Also, you don’t have any of the other office products with python or any plug-in to have python back into; this draws down its value tremendously. However for running stats I think being proficient in python is useful, that’s just not where 99% of us in IB are using our skills, or we’re pulling the number from somewhere else
Ever tried killing ants with a rifle? It’s damn effective
Can I dm you?
Just read your comment about you being a comp science prodigy.
Myself a comp sci major at a decent school ( whatever you might call it in humble language 😂)
Why do you think that we should adapt to Python or coding over an in-house AI developed software where you might get all the benefits in near future without coding?
Like what will be the use of LLMs and whole process of automation then, if we ourselves have to code?
Curiously waiting.
Excel and Python are two different animals, and comparing them is apples to oranges. There is a sweet spot for using Excel for many purposes, and using Python for those purposes would be like using a sledgehammer to drive a nail. And, there are optimal uses for Python as the OP described, or which Excel is inappropriate.
Describe the "huge data sets" you need to manipulate when doing IB/PE modeling. We're not recreating the detail accounting function and booking general ledger journal entries. We're using accounting data, not creating it.
I wonder what caliber of talent this poster is? hmmmmmm???
Where are you getting your sets of big data from? Sounds like you do the boring work. In PE you basically only use monthly data, and then some sort of multiple at the end to get to the value. It's not a quant intensive field.
Sir this is a Wendy's
Thinking Python can replace Excel is beyond absurd—like a kid thinking their toy can outperform professional tools. As a rising star in finance, I can say with authority that Excel isn’t just the backbone of this industry; it’s the gold standard that Python enthusiasts can only dream of matching. If you honestly believe Python will make Excel obsolete, you’re out of your league and clearly have no place in serious financial discussions. Excel will continue to dominate while you tinker with your code, completely missing what real finance professionals actually need.
Forget Excel.
What's your view on Python vs Rust? Tabs vs spaces? Dark theme vs light theme IDE? Text editors vs fancy IDEs? Coding in landscape or portrait? Best Linux distro? Is the first element in an array a or a1?
Is using Python within Excel a hybrid, or a violation of the Geneva Conventions? Not like the usual hybrid vehicle obviously since Excel is horse-drawn. The good news is horses are born with FSD.
Most importantly, if Tesla = Python, what are BYD (pre- and post-BRK investment), Toyota, VW, etc.? Maybe this deserves its own post.
barren-wuffett enough with the fluff. Python vs. Rust? Not even the same game. Tabs vs. spaces, IDE themes—who cares?
Python in Excel isn’t a violation; it’s a lifeline. And if Tesla’s Python, then BYD is Excel—trying to look innovative while playing catch-up. You can joke all you want, but the future’s already here, and it's running on Python.
Looking at your reply on this post a day ago, we basically share the same exact view. Tho I wouldn't say Python is a kid's toy.
Since the day of Lotus 1-2-3, people have understood that spreadsheet software is for arithmetic, not complex data analysis or programming.
You don't work in this business, do ya
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