| name | fpa-excel-model |
| description | Use when the user wants their model in Excel with real working formulas - "export this to Excel", "a workbook I can hand my board", "something that recalculates when I change an assumption". Produces a live-formula workbook generated from the model structure and verified against the engine before delivery. |
Live-Formula Excel Model (Operate)
Overview
Finance professionals ultimately want a workbook where changing an assumption
recalculates the model. This skill produces one from the model structure, with
named assumption cells and real formulas, then proves it reproduces the engine
before it ships. Static value dumps stay with forecast_to_excel; this skill
is for living models.
Core principle: no workbook ships unverified. The workbook is generated
from the model, never hand-edited values.
The standard model
For the kernel's monthly model, one call:
import pyfpa
cfg = pyfpa.load_config("config.yaml")
pyfpa.model_to_excel(cfg, "model.xlsx")
Or via CLI: python3 -m pyfpa.cli model-export <company-root> --config config.yaml --out model.xlsx.
The workbook has an Assumptions sheet (every driver a named, editable cell:
growth, COGS pct, seasonality, DSO/DIO/DPO, debt, tax, D&A, capex) and a Model
sheet where every line of the monthly P&L and cash flow is a formula
referencing those names.
Any other cadence or layout
Quarterly, weekly, a tab per segment, a lender view: these are YOUR work, not
kernel variants. Compose pyfpa.excel.toolkit (add_named_cell,
add_named_row, fill_formula_row, formats) in a company-specific exporter
under the generated namespace (models/generated/<name>/), then register it:
python3 -m pyfpa.cli entrypoint-register <root> --name excel-quarterly --kind report \
--description "Quarterly live-formula workbook" \
--command-json '["python3", "models/generated/<name>/excel_quarterly.py"]'
Keep formulas within the supported vocabulary (arithmetic, ^, SUM, MIN,
MAX, IF) so verification works.
Verify before delivering (always)
pip install formulas (verification-only dependency, not shipped at runtime).-
report = pyfpa.verify_workbook("model.xlsx", pyfpa.cashflow_from_config(cfg))
assert report.passed, report.failures
- For a bespoke exporter, verify against the frame your exporter is meant to
reproduce (the engine frame, or its quarterly/weekly aggregation).
- A failing report means the exporter is wrong. Fix the formulas, never the
tolerance, and never deliver an unverified workbook.
Guardrails
- No workbook ships unverified.
- Generated from model structure; never paste computed values into formula cells.
- Supported formula vocabulary only; if you need a function outside it, restructure
the formula (helper rows are fine) rather than expanding the vocabulary.
- Company-specific exporters live in generated namespaces and get tests like any
other generated code.
Next
Workbook delivered, then fpa-board-briefing (the narrative that goes with it).
