Chapter 15

Chapter 15: From Excel to the Deck - Turning Financial Analysis Into Judge-Friendly Evidence

"Excel is where you prove it. The presentation is where you communicate it."

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

• determine which financial analysis belongs in the presentation

• convert complex Excel analysis into simple visual evidence

• select the most important financial metrics

• design financial slides around insights rather than calculations

• simplify numbers without losing meaning

• connect charts and tables directly to your recommendation

• communicate assumptions clearly

• avoid common financial presentation mistakes

• create financial slides that are easy for judges to understand

• move from a detailed financial model to a concise executive-level story

Why This Matters

Case teams often spend hours building financial models.

They calculate:

• ratios

• forecasts

• budgets

• market sizes

• ROI

• NPV

• IRR

• valuation

• scenarios

• sensitivities

• cash flows

Then they put as much of it as possible into the presentation. That is usually a mistake.

• The purpose of the presentation is not to demonstrate how much analysis your team completed.
• The purpose is to demonstrate why your recommendation is the best decision.

Your Excel model may contain hundreds of cells. Your financial section may need only three or four slides. That isn't a problem. It is the point.

Discover Your Mad Skills Principle

The best financial presentation is not the one that shows the most analysis. It is the one that makes the most important analysis easiest to understand.

---

Excel and PowerPoint Have Different Jobs

Think of the two tools as serving different purposes.

Excel

Excel is where you:

• explore

• calculate

• test

• compare

• model

• estimate

• stress-test

• investigate

• make mistakes

• change assumptions

• discover relationships

Excel is your thinking environment.

---

PowerPoint

PowerPoint is where you:

• communicate

• prioritize

• explain

• persuade

• simplify

• highlight

• connect

• recommend

PowerPoint is your communication environment.

---

The Model → Insight → Slide Pipeline

A useful way to think about financial presentation development is:

DATA -->

↓

MODEL -->

↓

ANALYSIS -->

↓

INSIGHT -->

↓

IMPLICATION -->

↓

VISUAL -->

↓

MESSAGE -->

↓

DECISION

Your presentation should normally begin around the insight rather than the data.

---

The Common Team Mistake

Many teams follow this process:

Build Excel -->

↓

Take screenshot -->

↓

Put screenshot into PowerPoint -->

↓

Explain the spreadsheet

This creates a presentation that looks like a spreadsheet.

Instead:

Build Excel -->

↓

Identify insight -->

↓

Determine message -->

↓

Choose visual -->

↓

Build slide -->

↓

Explain implication

This creates a presentation that looks like a business decision.

---

What Should Stay in Excel?

Not everything you calculate needs to appear in the presentation.

Keep detailed calculations in Excel when they are primarily used for:

• checking assumptions

• validating estimates

• exploring alternatives

• calculating ratios

• testing scenarios

• supporting potential Q&A

• confirming financial feasibility

• building confidence in the model

The judges don't need to see every step.

But you need to understand every important step.

---

The "Show Your Work" Trap

Students are often taught that they need to show their work.

That is useful in a classroom.

Case competitions are different.

Judges aren't grading whether you included every calculation.

They are evaluating whether your recommendation is:

• logical

• supported

• realistic

• financially viable

• strategically sound

You should therefore show enough evidence to establish credibility without overwhelming the audience.

---

What Should Move to the Deck?

Financial analysis belongs in the presentation when it does one of four things.

1.

• Establishes the problem

- Example:

Profit margins have declined from 18% to 11%.

2.

Supports the opportunity

- Example:

The serviceable market represents a $180M opportunity.

3.

Proves the recommendation works

- Example:

The initiative generates a $5.2M NPV.

4.

Demonstrates robustness

- Example:

NPV remains positive even when adoption is 20% below forecast.

If the analysis doesn't do one of these things, question whether it belongs in the deck.

---

The Three-Question Slide Test

Before putting a financial visual on a slide, ask:

• Question 1

- WWhathat does this show?

Question 2

- Why does it matter?

Question 3

-What should the judge conclude?

If you cannot answer all three, the visual probably needs work.

---

Choosing the Right Financial Visual

Different financial questions require different visuals.

Use a Bar Chart When:

You are comparing:

• alternatives

• years

• competitors

• products

• scenarios

Example:

NPV by Strategic Alternative

---

Use a Line Chart When:

You are showing:

• trends

• growth

• declining margins

• cash flow over time

• market growth

Example:

Revenue Growth Over Five Years

---

Use a Waterfall When:

You want to explain how you get from one financial result to another.

For example:

Revenue -->

↓

Variable Costs -->

↓

Fixed Costs -->

↓

Operating Profit

A waterfall can be especially effective for explaining the economics of a recommendation.

---

Use a Sensitivity Table When:

You need to demonstrate how an outcome changes under different assumptions.

For example:

• NPV by Growth Rate and Discount Rate

But remember:

The table is evidence.

The insight is the message.

---

Use a Simple Number When:

One number tells the story.

For example:

• $5.2M 

  NPV

• 28% 

  IRR

• 3.1× 

  Return Multiple

Large numbers can be extremely powerful when properly contextualized.contextualised.

---

Discover Your Mad Skills Principle

Choose the visual that makes the insight obvious—not the visual that makes the analysis look sophisticated.

---

The One-Message Visual

Every financial visual should have one primary job.

Suppose your analysis shows:

• Revenue ↑

• Profit ↑

• Margin ↓

Don't simply title the slide:

Financial PerformancePerformance.

Instead, make the message:

Revenue growth is strong, but declining margins are limiting profit growth. 

Then use the visual to demonstrate that relationship.

---

Insight-Based Titles

Your title should tell the audience what they are supposed to understand.

Weak

• Weak: ROI Analysis

Better

• Better:

  The Initiative Generates a 32% ROI

Stronger

• Stronger:

  The Initiative Generates a 32% ROI and Recovers Its Investment Within Two Years

The strongest version provides interpretation.

---

Financial Slide Architecture

A simple structure works extremely well.

• Headline

- The insight.

Evidence

- The chart, table, or key numbers.

Assumptions

- The critical inputs.

Implication

- What the evidence means for the recommendation.

For example:

Headline

• Headline: The investment creates significant value while remaining resilient to downside risk.

Evidence

• NPV:

• Base Case — $5.2M

• Downside — $2.1M

• Upside — $8.4M

• Key AssumptionAssumption: 

  Customer adoption.

Implication

• Implication:

  ProceedProceed with the investment while monitoring adoption monthly.

---

The Financial Slide Should Answer a Question

Rather than asking:

What financial information should we put here?

Ask:

Ask:

What question does this slide answer?

For example:

• Slide Question

= Is the company financially healthy enough to pursue this strategy?

Use:

• Use:

• liquidity

• profitability

• leverage

• cash flow

---

Slide Question

- How large is the opportunity?

Use:

• Use:

• TAM

• SAM

• SOM

• growth rates

---

Slide Question

- Can we afford the recommendation?

Use:

• Use:

• investment

• budget

• funding requirements

• cash flow

---

Slide Question

- Does the investment create value?

Use:

• Use:

• ROI

• NPV

• IRR

---

Slide Question

- How confident are we in the result?

Use:

• Use:

• sensitivity

• scenarios

• downside cases

• break-even analysis

This approach makes slide selection much easier.

---

From Model to Message: Example

Suppose your Excel model contains:

• initial investment: $3M

• annual revenue: $4M

• operating costs: $2.5M

• annual cash flow: $1.5M

• NPV: $5.2M

• IRR: 28%

• ROI: 64%

• break-even: 2.1 years

• downside NPV: $1.8M

• upside NPV: $8.7M

You could put all of this on one slide.

But you probably shouldn't.

Instead, identify the most important message:

The investment generates attractive returns and remains value-creating under downside assumptions. 

Then show:

• $5.2M 
  NPV

NPV

• 28% 
  IRR

IRR

• 2.1 years 
  Payback

Payback

And perhaps a small sensitivity visual.

The rest remains available in Excel for Q&A.

---

Financial Numbers Need Context

A number without context is often meaningless.

Consider:

$5.2M NPVNPV.

Is that good?

It depends.

$5.2M could be:

• enormous for a small company

• insignificant for a multinational

• attractive relative to the investment

• unattractive relative to the risk

Instead, add context.

For example:

$5.2M NPV on a $3M investmentinvestment.

Or:

Or:

$5.2M NPV represents 8% of current enterprise valuevalue.

Context turns a number into meaning.

---

Relative Measures Are Powerful

Financial numbers often become more useful when expressed relative to something.

Examples:

Investment

• Investment: $3M
  
  

  ↓

  • • 2% of annual revenue

    Savings

• Savings: $4M
  
  

  ↓

  • 15% reduction in operating costs

  NPV

• NPV: $5.2M
  
  

  ↓

  • 1.7× initial investment

  Market

• Market: $180M
  
  

  ↓

  • 12% of the company's current addressable market

These comparisons help judges understand scale quickly.

---

Make Large Numbers Readable

Long numbers create unnecessary cognitive load.

Instead of:

• $9,900,000 
  consider: 

  consider:

  $9.9M

• Instead of:
   

  $90,000 

  consider: 

  consider:

  $90K

The goal is not to hide precision.

The goal is to communicate the appropriate level of precision.

---

Precision Should Match the Evidence

Don't present:

$9,873,412.83 

when your underlying assumptions are rough estimates.

That creates false precision.

If your market estimate is based on several assumptions, you may be better off presenting:

≈ $9.9M 

or

or

~$10M

The level of precision should reflect the quality of your information.

---

Assumptions Belong Beside the Number

One of the biggest credibility killers is presenting a financial projection without explaining where it came from.

Suppose you say:

$12M incremental revenuerevenue.

The obvious question is:

How?

Your slide should make the logic visible.

For example:

• 120,000 customers 
  ×

  ×

  $100 annual revenue 

  =

  =

  $12M incremental revenue

Now the judge can see the logic.

---

Build From Drivers

Whenever possible, show the financial drivers rather than simply presenting the final number.

For example:

• Revenue

• Customers × Price × Frequency

Cost Savings

• Units × Savings per Unit

Market Size

• Customers × Average Spend

Profit

• Revenue – Variable Cost – Fixed Cost

Investment Return

• Cash Flow – Investment

This allows judges to understand how your number was created.

---

The Unit Economics Principle

Large numbers can feel abstract.

Breaking them into units often makes them more credible.

For example:

Instead of:

• $100M savings opportunity

show: 

show:

$5 savings per transaction × 20M transactions = $100M

Or: 

Or:

$50K savings per location × 2,000 locations = $100M

The unit economics make the estimate easier to evaluate.

---

The "Could I Explain This?" Test

For every major financial number, ask:

Could I explain where this number came from if a judge challenged me? 

If the answer is no:

• Go back to the model.

• Find the driver.

• Document the assumption.

• Understand the calculation.

Then put the appropriate amount of evidence into the presentation.

---

Don't Confuse Complexity With Credibility

A complicated model doesn't automatically create a credible recommendation.

In fact, unnecessary complexity can reduce credibility.

Judges should be able to understand:

• what you assumed

• why you assumed it

• what the result is

• how sensitive it is

• why the result matters

They don't need to understand every Excel formula.

---

What Judges Often Want to Know

When judges see financial projections, they are often thinking:

1. "Where did that number come from?"

"Is that realistic?"

"Is the investment large enough to matter?"

"What happens if you're wrong?"

"How long before we see results?"

"What is the return?"

"What is the biggest risk?"

"Could the company actually afford this?"

"Why is this better than the alternatives?"

Design your financial slides so that these questions are anticipated.

---

The Judge-Friendly Financial Slide

A strong slide often allows the judge to understand the following within seconds:

• What is the result?

• How large is it?

• Why should I believe it?

• What does it mean?

That is the standard.

---

Financial Slide Sequence

A financial section can often follow this structure:

• Slide 1 — Current Financial Position

• Where are we now?

• Show the most important financial strengths, weaknesses, and trends.

---

Slide 2 — Financial Opportunity

• What could change?

• Show market opportunity, revenue opportunity, savings opportunity, or other economic potential.

---

Slide 3 — Investment Economics

• Does the recommendation create value?

• Show:

  • investment

  • cash flow

  • ROI

  • NPV

  • IRR

• Use only the metrics that matter.

---

Slide 4 — Risk and Sensitivity

• How robust is the recommendation?

• Show:

  • scenarios

  • sensitivity

  • break-even

  • critical assumptions

  ---

Slide 5 — Financial Implication

• What does all of this mean?

• Connect the analysis directly to the recommendation.

• Not every case requires five slides.

The point is to think in terms of questions and decisions.

---

Financial Analysis Should Not Become a Separate Universe

A common presentation problem looks like this:

• Strategy Team

• "We recommend launching a new product."

Finance Team

• "Now here's our financial analysis."

The two sections don't appear connected.

Instead:

Strategy

• Strategy: Customers want the product.
  
  

↓

• Operations: 

  Operations

  The organizationorganisation can deliver it.

  
  

↓

• Finance: 

  Finance

  The economics work.

  
  

↓

• Risk: 

  Risk

  The economics remain viable under reasonable downside assumptions.

  
  

↓

• Recommendation: 

  Recommendation

  Launch the product.

The financial analysis becomes evidence supporting the same decision.

---

The "So What?" Discipline

After every financial slide, ask:

So what? 

If your answer is:

• "It shows our NPV."

That's not enough.

Try again.

"It shows the project creates value."

Better.

Better.

Try again.

"It shows the project creates value even under conservative assumptions, which supports proceeding with a phased launch."

Now you have the implication.

---

Coach's Lens

When coaching teams, one of the most useful questions you can ask after every financial slide is:

"If I remember only one thing from this slide, what should it be?" 

The team should be able to answer immediately.

• If they give you three answers, the slide probably has too many messages.

• If they give you none, the slide probably doesn't have enough purpose.

---

Common Mistakes

Mistake

1 —
• Screenshotting Excel

Excel. 

Excel is not a presentation tool.

---

Mistake 2 —

Too many numbers

numbers. 

More numbers create more cognitive load.

---

Mistake 3 —

No context

context. 

A number without scale or comparison is difficult to interpret.

---

Mistake 4 —

False precision

precision.

Detailed numbers based on rough assumptions create unnecessary skepticism.

---

Mistake 5 —

No assumptions

assumptions. 

Judges need to understand how major numbers were generated.

---

Mistake 6 —

Showing calculations instead of insights

insights. 

The calculation is evidence.

 

The insight is the message.

---

Mistake 7 —

Using every financial metric

metric. 

ROI, NPV, IRR, payback, ROIC, EBITDA margin, and dozens of ratios may all be available.

 

That doesn't mean they all belong on the slide.

---

Mistake 8 —

Separating financial analysis from strategy

strategy. 

Finance should help answer the strategic question.

---

Mistake 9 —

No downside case

case. 

A single optimistic forecast creates skepticism.

---

Mistake 10 —

Making judges calculate

calculate. 

Don't make the audience work to find the insight.

---

Mad Skills Drill

- The Excel-to-Slide Challenge

Take one completed financial model.

You have 10 minutes.

Your task:

• Step 1

- Identify the three most important financial insights.

Step 2

- Write one sentence explaining each.

Step 3

- Choose one visual for each insight.

Step 4

- Create three slide headlines.

Step 5

- Reduce the model to those three slides.

Step 6

- Explain the financial story in 60 seconds.

Your goal is not to show everything you know.

Your goal is to communicate what matters.

---

Team Exercise

- The Financial Translation Challenge

Give each team member the same financial model.

Ask them independently to identify:

1. the most important number

2. the most important insight

3. the biggest assumption

4. the biggest risk

5. the most important implication

Compare the answers.

If everyone identifies something different, the team probably hasn't agreed on the financial story.

---

A Useful Financial Slide Checklist

Before finalizing your deck, ask:

Message

☐ Does the slide have one clear message?

☐ Is the title insight-based?

Evidence

☐ Does the visual prove the message?

☐ Are the numbers accurate?

☐ Are the calculations supported by the model?

Context

☐ Is scale clear?

☐ Are units clear?

☐ Are comparisons meaningful?

Assumptions

☐ Are important assumptions visible?

☐ Are they realistic?

Decision

☐ Does the slide explain why the information matters?

☐ Does it support the recommendation?

Design

☐ Can the judge understand it quickly?

☐ Is unnecessary information removed?

☐ Are numbers appropriately formatted?

---

The Financial Story Test

Stand back from your entire financial section.

Can you answer these five questions?

1.

1. Where are we now?

2.

What is the financial opportunity or problem?

3.

What will our recommendation cost?

4.

What value will it create?

5.

What happens if our assumptions are wrong?

If the answer to all five is clear, your financial section is probably doing its job.

---

Chapter Summary

Your financial model and your financial presentation have different purposes.

Excel allows you to explore complexity.

The presentation requires you to simplify that complexity into a decision-ready story.

The process should therefore be:

Model -->

↓

Analyze -->

↓

Identify Insights -->

↓

Prioritize -->

↓

Visualize -->

↓

Communicate -->

↓

Decide

The best financial slides don't attempt to reproduce the spreadsheet.

They extract the most important evidence from the spreadsheet and make that evidence easy to understand.

---

Key Takeaways

✓ Excel is for analysis; the deck is for communication.

✓ Don't screenshot your spreadsheet and call it a financial slide.

✓ Build the story before building the slide.

✓ Every financial slide should answer a question.

✓ Every visual should have a clear purpose.

✓ Use insight-based titles.

✓ Show the numbers that support the decision—not every number you calculated.

✓ Provide context for important financial figures.

✓ Use appropriate precision.

✓ Make important assumptions visible.

✓ Break large numbers into understandable drivers when appropriate.

✓ Use unit economics to make estimates more credible.

✓ Anticipate the questions judges are likely to ask.

✓ Keep detailed analysis available for Q&A.

✓ Don't confuse complexity with credibility.

✓ Don't make judges calculate the insight themselves.

✓ Connect financial analysis directly to strategy.

✓ The financial section should strengthen the recommendation, not become a separate technical presentation.

Your job isn't to show the judges everything you calculated. Your job is to show them enough to believe your decision.

---

Looking Ahead

Once the financial story has been translated from Excel into the presentation, one final challenge remains.

The numbers must survive scrutiny.

Judges may challenge:

• your assumptions

• your market size

• your costs

• your revenue projections

• your discount rate

• your valuation

• your sensitivity analysis

• your interpretation of the financial results

A strong financial section therefore requires more than a polished slide.

It requires defensible analysis.

The next chapter moves into that challenge:

Can you defend the numbers when the judges start asking questions? 

That is where financial analysis becomes financial confidence.