CIFA Advanced Level
Financial Modelling and Data Analytics glossary
Every term this guide defines, A to Z, each with the chapter that teaches it. Open it when a word in a question is unfamiliar, and test yourself on it in the last week: cover the definition and say it in one sentence.
16 terms from the free first chapter
A
- Absolute reference ($B$7)
Neither moves. Use it for a single input that every period reads: the price, the tax rate, the discount rate.
Taught in Excel for the financial analyst
B
- Bonds[#All]
The whole Table, headers and totals included, as one range.
Taught in Excel for the financial analyst
- Bonds[#Totals]
The total row, switched on with Ctrl+Shift+T or the Total Row box. Its cells use SUBTOTAL(109,...), which ignores filtered-out rows.
Taught in Excel for the financial analyst
- Bonds[Face]
The whole Face column of the Table named Bonds, excluding the header and total row. =SUM(Bonds[Face]) totals it however many rows are added.
Taught in Excel for the financial analyst
C
- Cell reference
The address of a cell, column letter then row number (B7). A reference in a formula can be relative (B7), absolute ($B$7) or mixed ($B7, B$7), which decides how it changes when the formula is copied.
Taught in Excel for the financial analyst
- Custom number format
A format code entered in Format Cells (Ctrl+1) that changes how a value is displayed, not the value stored: #,##0,, shows 12,345,678 as 12.
Taught in Excel for the financial analyst
E
- Excel Table
A range converted with Ctrl+T into a named object that expands automatically, copies formulas down a whole column and allows structured references such as Bonds[Coupon].
Taught in Excel for the financial analyst
F
- [@Face]
The Face value in the same row as the formula. =[@Face]*[@Coupon] is the row's annual coupon.
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I
- Input cell
A cell holding a hard-coded assumption: a tax rate, a price, a discount rate. Convention colours it blue so a reviewer knows it may be changed.
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M
- Mixed reference, column fixed ($A5)
The row moves, the column stays. Use it for a column of years that a grid reads down.
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- Mixed reference, row fixed (B$4)
The column moves, the row stays. Use it for a header row of rates that a grid reads across.
Taught in Excel for the financial analyst
N
- Named range
A name such as Loan or Rate given to a cell or range through the Name Box or Name Manager, so formulas read =PMT(Rate/12,Term*12,-Loan) instead of =PMT(B4/12,B5*12,-B3).
Taught in Excel for the financial analyst
P
- PivotTable
An interactive summary of a list: drag fields into Rows, Columns, Values and Filters and Excel sums, counts or averages the data without a single formula. It must be refreshed when the source changes.
Taught in Excel for the financial analyst
R
- Relative reference (B7)
Both column and row move when copied. =C14*$B$7 copied one column right becomes =D14*$B$7: the volume moves to the next year, the price stays put.
Taught in Excel for the financial analyst
W
- Workbook
One Excel file (.xlsx). It holds worksheets and may hold chart sheets. In this paper all your answers sit in one workbook, one worksheet per question entity.
Taught in Excel for the financial analyst
- Worksheet
One grid of 1,048,576 rows by 16,384 columns (A to XFD). Each answer sheet is named after the entity in the question, for example Makupa Cement or Herbert Rono.
Taught in Excel for the financial analyst
The full glossary adds every term from the other 48 chapters, A to Z, each with the chapter that teaches it.