Prodev can export the Appraisal and Cashflow reports to Excel and Word. This is useful in a number of instances; for example
| • | You can email the Appraisal and Cashflow report to someone who does not have a copy of Prodev. |
| • | You can incorporate the report as part of a larger document, prospectus or presentation. |
| • | The report can be turned into an initial budget estimate and analysed further using Excel’s mathematical and graphing facilities. |
Note 1: The exported reports consist of text and numbers only, no calculations or formulae are embedded. This is because the information sent is the output (i.e. the results) rather that the input for the calculation. Prodev’s export facility will only work with Microsoft Office 2000 or later.
Note 2: When Prodev projects are exported to Excel the file created is initially ‘locked’. Very often exported reports are used for presenting appraisals and cashflows to third parties who do not use Prodev and the locking process ensures that the content is not inadvertently altered. Once exported, the resultant Excel file can be unlocked using the ‘Unlock Workbook’ option found on the ‘Prodev menu within Excel’ (described later in this section).
Note 3: If you are using the Office 2007 version of Excel then you need to use Prodev version 4023. This is because changes have been made within Office 2007 that prevent export using Prodev version 4022. This issue has been addressed in Prodev version 4023.
Wherever possible use Excel rather than Word as it supports this task much better. The reason that support for Word has been included is that some users prefer to use other spreadsheets but the implementation of Word seems to be universal.
You can access the Export facility from the Print/Preview screen using the ‘Export’ button. This displays the Export dialog box which controls the manner in which you transfer your reports to either Excel or Word.
Predominantly you will be using the two buttons in the lower centre part of the display entitled ‘Send to Excel’ and ‘Excel View’. The ‘Send to Excel’ button will launch Excel and transfer the Appraisal and Cashflow as two separate worksheets. The ‘Excel View’ button has the same effect as the ‘Send to Excel’ button except that it will immediately invoke Excel’s Preview facility once Excel has been launched. Before using either of these buttons you may wish to alter the export options, these are predominantly controlled by the check boxes which you can tick or un-tick as appropriate. They are explained as follows:
Export Dialog Box options
Appraisal
Includes the Appraisal as part of the exported report.
Cashflow
Includes the Cashflow as part of the exported report.
Cashflow Graphs
These are only available when exporting to Excel and comprise two or three standard graphs as part of the exported report. They show level of interest paid, overall cashflow balance and (if NPV and IRR are used) graphs showing the inflows and outflows for NPV/IRR calculation purposes.
Landscape Cashflow
Sets the orientation of the Cashflow to landscape for printing purposes.
Exclude Date from Title
If an Appraisal Title has been provided then, by default the current date will also appear as part of the title provided. Tick this box to prevent the date from appearing as part of the title at the top of each printed page.
No Section Breaks
Excludes section breaks between reports when exporting to Word. This is useful if you wish to cut and paste from Word without upsetting the format of the document into which the text is being pasted.
No Excel Page Setup
In order to format reports correctly Excel itself needs to communicate with the printer driver in order to arrange the page layout. Certain printers (mainly the lower cost variety) have printer drivers that are slow in responding and this can delay the export procedure. If you enable this option then Excel will skip formatting and load much faster. The disadvantage is that cashflows will not be set to landscape where required.
Export Dialog Box commands
Send to Excel
Exports a Prodev report to Excel.
Excel View
This has the same effect as the ‘Send to Excel’ button but directly invokes Excel’s preview function when complete.
Excel Print
This also has the same effect as the ‘Send to Excel’ button but invokes Excel’s print function when complete.
Send to Word
Exports the Prodev report to Microsoft Word.
Title
This allows you to attach a title and notes to your report and works in exactly the same way as the title facility available for reports within Print/Preview.
Font
Allows you to change the font name and font size used in the exported report. Please note that only the font name, font size and italic options are implemented.
Cashflow Font Size
The ‘Font’ button allows you to set the font size for the exported Appraisal report. Sometimes you will require a slightly smaller font size for the Cashflow and this setting is provided here.
Cashflow Columns Per Page
This only applies to the Word export facility and sets the number of columns that will be allocated to each page in the Cashflow report within Word. Prodev will attempt to automate this item depending upon the paper size and font size you are using, but it can be manually manipulated here if you wish.
Close
Closes the Excel Export Dialog Box and returns you to the Print/Preview display.
The Excel Report
Following export to Excel, the Appraisal and Cashflow reports are displayed as separate worksheets.
There may be further worksheets containing graphs if the Cashflow Graphs option has been selected. In Excel you can view the separate reports by clicking on the tab normally located at the bottom of each worksheet.
Exported reports are initially locked, in other words they cannot be amended. This is to prevent inadvertent alteration. They can be subsequently unlocked if required.
It is important to bear in mind that the reports consist of text and numbers only, not formulae. This is because the report is the output (i.e. the result) of the appraisal calculations and not the original input.
Prodev menu within Excel
When reports are exported to Excel, a separate menu will appear on Excel’s menu bar entitled ‘Prodev’ (it is normally located next to the Help menu). This contains a number of utilities particular to the exported report. Note that in the Office 2007 version of Excel this menu is found on the ‘Add-Ins’ tab.
Unlock Workbook
By default exported reports are locked to prevent inadvertent alteration. The unlock workbook option will remove this protection and convert the report to a normal Excel worksheet (consisting of text and numbers only). This is useful if you wish to manipulate or make use of the available information. Note that the facilities on the Prodev menu can only function if the workbook is locked and Prodev knows how the report is laid out. Therefore once an exported report is unlocked, the facilities on the Prodev menu are no longer available.
Font
This will display a dialog box allowing you to change the font name and font size for both the Appraisal and the Cashflow reports. Note: Only the font name, font size and italic options are implemented.
Gridlines On/Off
Sets or removes the appearance of gridlines within the worksheet.
Row/Column Headings On/Off
Sets or removes the appearance of row and column headings within the worksheet.
Print/Preview and Print
Although you can use the normal Excel print options you will find the printing facilities on the Prodev menu more convenient to use as they are designed to work solely in conjunction with the Prodev report. They are similar to the ‘Excel View’ and ‘Excel Print’ buttons within Prodev.
Exporting to Word
When exporting to Excel Prodev can spread the individual components of the report over different rows and columns. When using Word the only way to emulate this is by using tables which are rather more difficult to manipulate than cells within Excel. Unless you have a particular reason for wishing to export to Word then we recommend you use Excel as it is more convenient to use and portions of the report can be cut and pasted into Word documents very easily.
The Word export function relies on there being a copy of Excel installed as it will first use Excel to format the report and then transfer it to Word. Even though you may not use Excel you will probably find it is already installed on your computer as part of the Microsoft Office suite.
In terms of layout and presentation, the Word exported document is similar except that it is not locked, does not have a facility for displaying graphs and does not have the Prodev menu to refine the formatting.