File Operations

The File menu provides all the operations you need to create, open, save, and export your model specifications. Understanding these operations and the available file formats helps you manage your work efficiently and collaborate with others.

Creating a New Specification

New Model Specs (from Template)

Creates a new specification pre-populated with a standard chart of accounts, typical master account settings, and common account structures for a given industry or business type. Templates provide a starting point that you can customize rather than building everything from scratch.

When to use: Starting a new model for a common business type (e.g., services company, industrial company, generic). Templates save significant setup time.

New Model Specs (Blank)

Creates an empty specification with no accounts, no periods, and default settings. You define everything from the ground up.

When to use: Building a highly specialized model that does not fit any available template, or when you want complete control over every aspect of the specification.

Opening an Existing Specification

Open

Loads an existing specification from an Excel (.xlsx) file. The application reads the specification data from the Excel workbook's structured sheets and populates the editor with all settings, accounts, periods, and configurations.

What it reads: The Open operation expects an Excel file in the application's specification format, not an arbitrary spreadsheet. This is the same format produced by the Save operation.

When to use: Resuming work on a previously saved specification, or opening a specification shared by a colleague.

Saving Your Work

Save

Saves the current specification to its existing file path, overwriting the previous version. If the specification has not been saved before, Save behaves like Save As and prompts for a file name and location.

Save As

Saves the current specification to a new file, prompting you to choose a file name and location. The original file (if any) remains unchanged. Use Save As to create a copy of your specification, for example to preserve a baseline version before making significant changes.

Both Save and Save As produce an Excel (.xlsx) file in the application's specification format.

Import and Export

Import YAML

Loads a specification from a YAML (.yaml or .yml) file. YAML is a text-based format that represents the same specification data as the Excel format but in a human-readable, plain-text structure.

When to use: Loading a specification that is stored in version control (Git), reviewing a specification that was shared as a text file, or migrating from a text-based workflow.

Export as YAML

Saves the current specification as a YAML file. The exported file contains all settings, accounts, periods, and configurations in a structured text format.

When to use: Saving a specification for version control, creating a text-based backup, sharing a specification via email or messaging (YAML files are small and readable), or enabling text-based diffing to see exactly what changed between versions.

Downloading the Built Model

Download Model

After building the model (see Building the Model), this operation saves the generated Excel financial model to your local machine. This is the final output — a complete workbook with all worksheets, formulas, charts, and formatting.

This is different from Save, which saves the specification (the blueprint). Download Model saves the generated product (the finished Excel model).

Excel vs. YAML: Which Format to Use

The application supports two formats for specifications: Excel and YAML. Each has advantages depending on your workflow.

Excel Format (.xlsx)

| Advantage | Detail | |-----------|--------| | Familiar | Most finance professionals are comfortable with Excel files. | | Self-contained | One file holds all specification data. | | Shareable | Easy to email or share via cloud storage. | | Direct editing | Can be opened in Excel for manual review (though editing outside the app is not recommended). |

Best for: Day-to-day work, sharing with colleagues, and archival storage.

YAML Format (.yaml)

| Advantage | Detail | |-----------|--------| | Version control | Works seamlessly with Git and other VCS tools. | | Text-based diffing | Changes between versions are visible line by line. | | Lightweight | Small file size; fast to read and write. | | Scriptable | Can be generated or modified by scripts and automation tools. | | Human-readable | The structure is clear without opening a specialized application. |

Best for: Teams using Git for collaboration, automated workflows, CI/CD pipelines, and situations where tracking change history is important.

Recommended Workflow

For most users, the following workflow combines the strengths of both formats:

1. Work in the application using the Excel format for day-to-day editing and saving.
2. Export to YAML at key milestones (before major changes, at version releases) for version control.
3. Import from YAML when you need to restore a previous version or load a specification from a repository.

The Dirty Indicator

The status bar at the bottom of the application displays a dirty indicator (an asterisk * next to the file name) when the current specification has unsaved changes. This visual cue reminds you to save your work before closing the application or building the model.

The indicator clears when you save (via Save or Save As). It reappears whenever you make a change to any part of the specification.

Tips

• Save frequently. Use the keyboard shortcut (Ctrl+S / Cmd+S) to save quickly without navigating menus.
• Use Save As to create checkpoints before making large structural changes to your specification.
• Export to YAML before and after significant edits if you want a clear text-based record of what changed.
• Do not confuse Save and Download. Save preserves the specification (your blueprint). Download gives you the generated model (the finished product).