Datasheet

This is an unbelievable feat that would have been impossible without Crystal
Xcelsius. The ability to make on-the-spot changes to the actual analysis behind
a presentation is one of the most powerful and attractive functionalities of
Crystal Xcelsius.
Building tools that help make decisions
A key benefit to building what-if analyses into your presentation is the ability to
give managers a decision-making tool — a tool that allows them to test several
scenarios and then choose the most appropriate scenario for the task at hand.
For instance, open the PowerPoint presentation Chapter1 – Example C,
found in the C:\Xcelsius Sample Files\Chapter 1 directory (at this
book’s companion Web site), and run the slide show. This presentation, as
shown here in Figure 1-7, presents the budget plan for FY 2005, which is based
on the assumption that gross sales will grow by 7 percent.
Suppose that when you present this plan, a few managers are disappointed
that the planned net income for FY 2005 is less than the net income for FY
2004. In a knee-jerk reaction, they ask you to increase the gross sales until the
net income for FY 2005 is more than FY 2004.
As you can see in Figure 1-8, the problem is that you will have to increase
gross sales by 59 percent — yikes! — in order to beat FY 2004’s net income.
Needless to say, it is unrealistic to think that the company will increase gross
sales by 59 percent.
Figure 1-7:
Presenting
the budget
plan for
FY 2005 and
comparing it
with actual
revenue for
FY 2004.
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Chapter 1: Introducing Crystal Xcelsius
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