Test Alternative Strategies

You need to be able to see the effect of different reductions on each department and on the bottom line. Using goal seeking, you can adjust a projection to achieve a specific percentage over or under budget. Goal seeking lets you set a target value for a formula, then adjusts one of the cells used in the formula to calculate your target value. For example, determine how much you’d have to lower the sales projection to reduce the total budget overrun to zero. Try changing different projections to see what it takes to balance the budget.

Important   The cell in which the contents will be adjusted (cell C8 in the preceding example) must contain a value, not a formula.

Change multiple values simultaneously   Use Microsoft Excel Solver to perform goal seeking on multiple values at the same time.

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Want to know more?   Look up Getting Results - Budgeting in Help.