Macabacus - Tips & Tricks

For those of you that use Macabacus, what are some of the functions you find most useful? I’m trying to make sure I’m utilizing its full capabilities to become more efficient. And even more specifically I’m curious what is most useful in:

1) Excel 2) PowerPoint

Thanks ladies and gents.

11 Comments
 

I dont really use macabacus for PPT, besides the refresh button for excel paste ins.

for excel, Ctrl Shift 1 for number format, auto color like someone said, file size reducer sometimes, trace dependents / precedents are the main ones.

sometimes I'll use the error wrap function also.

Ctrl shift R for fast fill right (although this might be Cap IQ hot key?)

Go all the way
 

3 key functions for me are :

Tracing dependents in a a detailed manner

Export charts/tables etc from excel to PowerPoint and refreshing everything quickly without having to 3x chec everything 

Flattening the excel files to share with external parties

I wish there was a versioning functionality with logs (who did what, were and when) for some files that we have more than 1 guy working on

 
Most Helpful

I agree with pretty much everything already mentioned here, so I'll only add a few new ones I like. 

Excel:

  • All of the number cycles. I know Ctrl + Shift + 1 was mentioned, but 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, Y are all good as well
  • Smart tree precedents. If one of your cell inputs has inputs itself, hit the right arrow and you can track into those as well. 
  • Banded rows (Ctrl + Alt + R)
  • Grouping rows/columns for collapsing (Alt + Shift + Right/Down), opposite ungroups (left/up)
  • For files with a ton of tabs, Ctrl + Alt + Home/End takes to the first/last tab
  • Accounting underline (Ctrl + Shift + U)

PPT:

  • Swap positions. I forget the shortcut (sacrilege I know) but you click two shapes and can swap their position based on an anchor point (1 of 4 corners or center)
  • They have a bunch of other stuff that is cool that I never use (Turbo Shapes, recoloring, Airplane Mode, etc.)   
 

Quia voluptas blanditiis similique numquam. Non est voluptatem temporibus autem inventore mollitia amet. Et animi ducimus et tempora minima accusamus et.

Suscipit accusantium et iure autem corrupti ipsa. Omnis quis quo aperiam consequuntur non illo eos. Qui eum voluptatibus sed consequatur corrupti eos nesciunt.

Possimus quia consectetur dolorum aut atque. Beatae odit exercitationem necessitatibus dolor corporis quo. Quo ab labore ipsam omnis commodi. Commodi deserunt voluptatem totam a in et molestias vero.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Private Equity

  • The Riverside Company 99.6%
  • Blackstone Group 99.2%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 98.9%
  • Warburg Pincus 98.5%
  • Bain Capital 98.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Private Equity

  • Blackstone Group 99.6%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 99.2%
  • The Riverside Company 98.9%
  • Ardian 98.5%
  • Starwood Capital Group 98.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Private Equity

  • Bain Capital 99.6%
  • The Riverside Company 99.2%
  • Blackstone Group 98.9%
  • Starwood Capital Group 98.5%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 98.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Private Equity

  • Principal (9) $653
  • Director/MD (24) $547
  • Vice President (98) $365
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (104) $281
  • 2nd Year Associate (235) $272
  • 1st Year Associate (411) $229
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (33) $157
  • 2nd Year Analyst (97) $134
  • 1st Year Analyst (272) $124
  • Intern/Summer Associate (38) $81
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (355) $62
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”