a cash flow statement is a roll-forward wearing an income statement’s clothes — every line above the roll is borrowed from somewhere else.
The board pack prints tomorrow and the cash page is the only one still empty. The operating model and the working-capital schedule are already done and sitting above it — a cash flow statement READS from them, it never retypes them. Carry the two schedule lines down into the statement, total the operating section, close the cash roll year by year, and leave the cash-conversion memo the credit committee will look for.
Alt walks: tap Alt, release, then the letters in sequence — each key steps one ribbon menu. On a Mac, tap ⌥ and use the same letters (KeyTips, Excel 2024+).
Ctrl+R⌘R on macFill right from the cell to the left
Same as fill down, but across — one quarter’s formula becomes the whole year in two keystrokes.
Ctrl+1⌘1 on macOpen the Format Cells dialog
The master formatting dialog — number formats, alignment, borders in one place when a ribbon walk would take longer.
Ctrl+B⌘B on macBold
Bold marks structure: titles, total rows, anything the reviewer’s eye should land on first.
Alt h b p⌥ h b p on macTop border
Top border above a total row — the accounting ruling that says “this line sums the ones above.”
functions you'll type: SUM()
the par-setting sequence, straight through:
point B12 at B7 and B14 at B6 · B13 =SUM(B10:B12) · B15 =SUM(B13:B14) · select B12:F15 ctrl+r · B19 =B15/B5 fill → + ctrl+1 p · B17 =B16+B15 · C16 =B17 · fill C16:F16 → and B17:F17 → · B17:F17 ctrl+b + alt h b p · ctrl+s