ModelXcel Pro

Getting Started

ModelXcel Pro adds a dedicated ModelXcel Pro tab to your Excel ribbon. Once the add-in is installed, you will see the tab appear alongside Excel's standard tabs.

The ribbon is organized into four groups:

Smart Formatting

The Smart Formatting engine is the core of ModelXcel Pro. It analyzes each cell's content, role, and context — then applies the appropriate formatting automatically, including number formats, colors, borders, and styles based on your active theme.

Format Selection

ModelXcel Pro › Smart Formatting › Format Selection

Applies intelligent formatting to the cells you currently have selected.

1. Select the range of cells you want to format.
2. Click Format Selection on the ribbon.
3. A progress dialog appears — the add-in analyzes each cell and applies the appropriate style.
4. When complete, your cells are formatted with the correct number format, colors, borders, and fonts.

Each cell is classified by role (Header, Input, Calculation, Output, or Error) and by data type (Number, Percentage, Date, Currency, Factor, and more). The engine then applies the matching style from your active theme.

Format Sheet

ModelXcel Pro › Smart Formatting › Format Sheet

Applies smart formatting to every used cell in the active worksheet.

1. Click Format Sheet on the ribbon.
2. A confirmation dialog asks: "This will format all used cells in the current worksheet. Continue?"
3. Click Yes to proceed. A progress dialog shows the operation status.

Auto Format

ModelXcel Pro › Smart Formatting › Auto Format

When enabled, cells are automatically formatted as you type or edit values — no need to manually click Format Selection each time.

1. Click the Auto Format toggle button. It appears highlighted when active.
2. Edit any cell. As soon as you press Enter or move to another cell, the changed cell is automatically analyzed and formatted.
3. Click the toggle again to disable Auto Format.

Formatting Settings

ModelXcel Pro › Smart Formatting › Formatting Settings

Opens the ModelXcel Pro Settings dialog where you can configure how smart formatting behaves.

Number Format Presets

You can choose preferred number formats for different data types:

Click Save to apply your settings, or Cancel to discard changes.

Themes

Themes control the visual appearance of all formatted cells — colors, fonts, and borders for every style category. You can use one of the six built-in themes or create your own.

Built-in Themes

ModelXcel Pro › Smart Formatting › Theme Settings › (dropdown)

Click the dropdown arrow next to Theme Settings to quickly switch between built-in themes:

Selecting a theme immediately applies it to your workbook's style definitions. All previously formatted cells (and any cells you format going forward) will reflect the new theme.

Custom Theme Editor

ModelXcel Pro › Smart Formatting › Theme Settings

Click the main Theme Settings button (or select Customize from the dropdown) to open the full Theme Settings dialog.

The editor is organized into tabs:

Headers Tab

Configure colors for sheet headers, section headers, and data headers:

Inputs Tab

Configure colors for input cells, table headers, and reference cells:

General Tab

Configure unit/dimension label styling and other general styles.

For each style you can set:

• Background color — via color picker
• Font color — via color picker
• Border settings — per side (top, bottom, left, right) with style, weight, and color options

A live preview panel on the right side of the dialog shows all styles simultaneously so you can see how they look together before applying.

Click Apply to save your custom theme, or Cancel to discard changes.

Saving & Sharing Themes

Themes are stored inside each workbook, so your formatting travels with the file when shared with colleagues. You can also import and export themes between workbooks to standardize formatting across your financial models.

Flags & Line Item Formatting

Flag Cells

Boolean cells (TRUE/FALSE, 1/0, Yes/No) receive special conditional formatting. In the Theme Settings dialog you can customize:

• False state — the default appearance when the flag is FALSE, 0, or No
• True state — a conditional format highlight when the flag is TRUE, 1, or Yes

Each state has configurable font color, background color, and border settings.

Financial Line Items

Financial models use specific border conventions that ModelXcel Pro recognizes and applies automatically:

All line item borders are fully customizable in the Theme Settings dialog.

Formula Explorer

The Formula Explorer lets you visually trace how data flows through your formulas. Instead of manually following cell references, you get an interactive flow diagram that breaks down any formula into its components.

Trace Precedents

ModelXcel Pro › Formula Explorer › Trace Precedents

Shows all cells that provide data to the selected cell.

1. Select a cell that contains a formula.
2. Click Trace Precedents on the ribbon.
3. The Formula Explorer pane opens on the right side of your Excel window.
4. An interactive flow diagram displays the formula broken down into its components — functions, cell references, constants, and operators.

Trace Dependents

ModelXcel Pro › Formula Explorer › Trace Dependents

Shows all cells that use data from the selected cell.

1. Select any cell (with or without a formula).
2. Click Trace Dependents on the ribbon.
3. The Formula Explorer pane opens, showing every cell that depends on the selected cell's value.

Working with the Formula Explorer Pane

The pane displays:

• Active Cell reference at the top (updates as you select different cells)
• Formula text with syntax highlighting
• Calculated result of the formula
• Interactive tree view showing all precedent or dependent cells
• Flow diagram with zoom controls for visual navigation

Click any cell reference in the tree view or diagram to navigate directly to that cell in your worksheet.

Supported Functions

The formula parser understands 300+ Excel functions across all categories:

Cross-sheet references and external workbook references are detected and clearly labeled in the explorer.

Worksheet Map

ModelXcel Pro › Worksheet Map › Show Map

The Worksheet Map gives you a bird's-eye view of your worksheet structure. It reveals formula consistency patterns, flags potential inconsistencies, and highlights areas of complexity — all at a glance.

1. Click Show Map on the ribbon. The Worksheet Map pane opens on the right.
2. Configure analysis options if needed (or use the defaults).
3. Click Analyze in the pane toolbar.
4. A progress bar shows the analysis status. When complete, the map is displayed.

Reading the Map

Each cell in the map is marked with a symbol that indicates its formula consistency:

Analysis Options

You can toggle which aspects of the worksheet to analyze:

Inconsistency Detection

One of the most powerful features of the Worksheet Map is automatic inconsistency detection. The engine scans for cells whose formulas differ from their neighbors, which often points to errors in financial models.

• A clickable tree view lists all detected inconsistencies.
• Items are categorized by type: Formula, Formatting, or Value.
• Click any item to jump to that cell in your worksheet.

Complexity Scoring

Each formula is scored on a complexity scale of 1 to 10 based on nesting depth, number of references, and function complexity. You can filter the map to focus on specific complexity levels:

The analyzer also flags formulas with potential risks:

• Circular references
• External workbook links
• Volatile functions (OFFSET, INDIRECT, TODAY, NOW)
• Complex array formulas
• Error propagation paths

Color Schemes

Choose from six color schemes for the map rendering:

Map Pane Toolbar

A collapsible legend panel at the bottom of the pane shows the color coding used in the current map, and summary statistics display cell counts by type.

How Cell Analysis Works

Understanding how ModelXcel Pro classifies cells helps you get the most out of the smart formatting engine.

Cell Roles

Every cell is assigned one of five roles:

Data Types

Within each role, cells are further classified by data type to apply the correct number format:

Financial Keyword Recognition

The engine recognizes common financial modeling keywords to improve header detection. Cells containing these keywords are classified as headers regardless of position:

REVENUE • SALES • COST • EXPENSE • EBITDA • PROFIT • MARGIN • ASSET • LIABILITY • EQUITY • CASH • DEBT • RATIO • TOTAL • NET • GROSS • OPERATING • CAPEX • OPEX • TAX • DEPRECIATION • AMORTIZATION • INTEREST • WORKING CAPITAL • FCF • NPV • IRR

Styles Reference

ModelXcel Pro creates and manages named styles in each workbook. These styles are applied automatically by the formatting engine and updated when you change themes.

Troubleshooting

The ModelXcel Pro tab is not visible in Excel

Check that the add-in is loaded: go to File → Options → Add-ins. If ModelXcel Pro appears in the "Disabled Application Add-ins" list, select it and click Go to re-enable it.

Formatting is slow on large worksheets

• Avoid enabling both Auto Format and Auto-Save at the same time.
• Format a smaller selection instead of the entire sheet when working with very large datasets.
• The operation can always be cancelled via the progress dialog.

Styles don't look right after changing themes

Run Format Selection or Format Sheet after switching themes to re-apply styles to existing cells with the new theme colors.

Formula Explorer shows no data

Make sure you have selected a cell that contains a formula before clicking Trace Precedents. For Trace Dependents, the selected cell must be referenced by at least one other cell.

Where are log files?

ModelXcel Pro writes diagnostic logs to your Desktop:

C:\Users\[YourUsername]\Desktop\ModelxcelPro_Log.txt

If you encounter an issue, this file contains detailed information that can help with troubleshooting.

Need more help?

Visit our online documentation at modelxcel.com or click Help on the ribbon to open the documentation website.