:: Reference:: Version History
VersionRelease DateWhat's new
1.532009-09-15Maintenance release. Bug fixes to the OneD function and the Idx rental functions.
1.522009-07-10Maintenance release. Compiled with Boost Libraries 1.39. Bug fix on opening log files.
1.512008-12-07Bug Fix to Function Finder file lock issue. Maintenance release.
1.502008-08-25Compiled with Boost Libraries 1.36. Important maintenance and bug fix.
1.492008-06-26New UK Valuation functions: YPADef, YPA, YPP
1.482008-01-07
1.472007-11-02
  • Better support for Excel 2007
  • Bugfixes
1.462007-10-10
  • New functions to do LIFO calculations for capital gains tax: LIFOPrice, LIFOCalc
  • New simplified Mortgage (flat repayment) function: MortgageQ
1.452007-05-31
  • Updated internals: compiled with Intel C++ 10.0.025
  • Bugfixes: String to Number input conversion
  • Extended behaviour of Ev() - now does multiple input strings.
  • LoanLin and LoanLinX now cater for the case where linear repayments can start before the loan has ceased advancing.
1.442007-02-28
  • Bugfix with array functions returning large arrays
1.432007-02-23
  • Improved 2007 User Interface
  • Updated internals: compiled with Intel C++ 9.1.034, Boost 1.33.1 and VC8 STL.
  • Bugfixes: UniSpreadPer, Def.
1.422007-02-15
  • Now Excel fully 2007 compatible. Two versions of the xla file exists, busfun.xla for Excel 2003 and previous, and busfun.xlam for Excel 2007. The install program installs the appropriate version(s).
  • A couple of PV functions in he indexed rent family, useful for doing rolling valuations: PVTStepIdxRentFcstR, PVTStepIdxRentGrowR.
  • A couple of array functions for working with timebases: CreateTimeBase, TimeBaseLengths.
  • New LoanLin function - does a loan with several advances and an automatic linear capital repayment schedule.
1.412007-01-19
  • Partial code listing in Function Finder. You can study the C++ code for each function. This doesn"t have all the code of the various core routines, but it does enable you to see how most functions are doing their calculations (we think).
  • Cashflow Administrator, the consolidation tool that was previously a separate add-in, is now integrated into the main Business Functions add-in under the Utilities.
  • New functions in the Time Spread families: UniSpreadGrow, UniSpreadGrowPer and SCurveGrowPer.
1.402006-12-10
  • All Editions merged into one free Business Functions product. No more license fees!
  • Various useability changes to the menus. Better online version checking.
  • New "Apply BF color palette" utility (very basic).
1.352006-11-11Maintenance
  • Compiled with Intel C++ 9.1.033 Compiler.
  • Major internal streamlining of how arguments are passed from Excel, leading to speed increases.
  • Default added to the Seek function.
1.342006-09-07
  • Safe, Seek, ExInt and ExFl extended to allow range input(s) and range output.
  • FindIf is a powerful new addition to its relation DoIf, which uses sophisticated matching criteria.
  • FServChargeGrowR is a new function under real estate costs, combining the abilities of úServChargeRú and FServChargeR.
  • Ev Evaluate. Like Excel"s INDIRECT but it accepts an entire formula as well as a cell reference or range name. Its real purpose is to allow you to set a default if nothing was specified.
1.332006-08-02
  • DoIf added to Range Sum family. This important function does 2 new things: (1) It accepts multiple sheet (3D) references so you can do a SUMIF across many sheets; and (2) It introduces BF style Criteria which allow for complex conditions (anything that could otherwise go into a formula).
  • In the same vein FindIf has been added to the Range Lookup family. This great function searches on BF style criteria, which include things like function calls, AND and OR conditions, and returns either the first or all matches.
  • RegSMatch added to Regular Expression family
  • The Basic Edition has been replaced by the Standard Edition and is free. Existing Standard Edition users are upgraded to Pro.
1.322006-06-15
  • Trace now reports all the arguments passed to internallly called functions, as well as all the inputs to the function. Trace output expanded to a maximum of 50000 lines, thereafter it dumps to a text file.(All)
  • The TStepIdxRent functions can now index the values of the steps themselves, as well indexed reviews within a step. (Pro)
  • New group of LeasingFee functions úLeasingFeeIdxRú, LeasingFeeFcstR,LeasingFeeGrowR. (Pro)
  • Various bugfixes: UKRates functions.
  • Some range functions [Std+] SortText,Unique, Seek
  • Compiled with Intel Compiler 9.1.25.
1.312006-02-11
  • Utilities: Range Describer (Describes the range(s) relevant to the cell you are in) and Link Analyser. (Tells you what cells or names have file links to other workbooks).
  • TWRR() Function (Time Weighted Rate of Return). An alternative Rate of Return calculaton to IRR used by funds.
  • SV() (save variable) and GV() (get variable) functions. It"s been done before so its not an original idea, but its very useful to save an intermediate result within a formula (particularly for testing valid results with IF()), and that"s what SV() and GV() do. SV(value) sets the value and GV() retrieves it.
  • SCumCurve. A bit like Scurve except that you specify a dimensionless cost curve in terms of fractions of time and total cost expended.
  • In UK Property Valuation: CapValueFcstGD, CapValueGrowGD, EqYieldFcstGD, EqYieldGrowGD. These functions enable you to more flexibly move around the reversion to market and have the function look up the market rent from a market rent forecast. LeaseDates is another function for getting lease dates, this time its an array function that returns all the dates of a particular type(s).
  • The Payback functions have an option now for dealing with when the cashflow starts positive and then goes nagative before going positive (there are two ways of dealing with this).
  • More PV.. Functions for completeness: PVGSpread(), PVSCurve(), PVSCurveGrow(),úPVDistSpreadØ(),PVFStepSpread(), PVTStepSpread(),PVMkPmtsWeighted(), PVSCumCurve(). These functions also can do future values, of course. Useful for calculating the interest accrual on a spread cost, for the purposes of a property valuation, when you don"t want to do the whole cashflow.
  • A couple of Describe… functions, DescribeShape() (for the Gspread group of functions) and DescribeLoanAcctOutput() (for LoanAcct etc).
  • PVTX()
  • Def(). This function is for using default values in your calculations. It takes two arguments, the Value and the Default. If the Value cell is blank, the the function returns the Default, otherwise it returns the Value.
  • OneD() turns a range into a true one-dimensional range that you can use in array formulas or whatever. This is needed because Excel always honours the orientation of a range, even if that range is a one-dimensional row or column type of range. OneD() looks at the destination range where that range is going, and switches the orientation accordingly. Useful for simple array range references like ={MyCashFlowProjection}.
  • Property/Real Estate projections: LetCostRQ(). LetCostR() is good but it caters for the situation where all the costs (TI, expiry etc) are spread on an S-Curve, and it has quite a lot of inputs as a result. LetCostRQ() is for when those costs are discrete (just occur at one instant in time).
  • Occupancy(). Again for property, this returns the proportion of the timeperiod when the property was under a lease. Deals with reletting in the usual way.
1.302005-07-20
  • Easier RunTime system. Any spreadsheet model saved with a Pro or Standard Edition will now run with the Basic Edition, even if the filename is changed.
  • In Time Spread: GSpread. Generalised function for spreading cost (like S-curve) that will be extended to allow more spread types. Companion functions GSpreadAdj and GSpreadH introduced. [Std+]
  • In Stepped Rate Revenue: FStepRev and TStepRev.
  • In Interest: PVInterestX , PVInterest and PVFInterest.
  • In Date Information AnnSeqArray
  • In Real Estate Costs LetCostR. For forecasting Real Estate fitout, expiry, refurb and reletting costs. [Pro]
  • In Special Arithmetic StdEq
  • In Text String: Functions to extract a number from a cell, whether that cell be a number or text. ExFl, ExInt.
  • In Payments: MkPmtsCats. Cross between SumCats and MkPmts. Allows you to sum payments made in a certain timeperiod for up to 2 types of category (eg Account and Tenant) [Std+]
  • Improved Install program. Will more reliably register and deregister BF with Excel to save any manual intervention.
  • New optional variable ØREOptsØ, added to the end of the Rent Reletting functions. Allows specification of daycount method to use during voids, and a new facility to round dates to the nearest payment date. [Pro]
  • Radically overhauled Trace facility. Has more information and structured better.
1.292005-03-21
  • New text family - Regular Expressions. ( For further info on regular Expressions see the tutorial here: ähttp://www.regular-expressions.info/tutorial.htmlä , the useful tool here: ähttp://www.regexbuddy.comä and examples here ähttp://www.regexlib.com/Default.aspxä). These are functions that use the Regular Expression method of manipulating text. We are looking into building Regular Expressions into a workbook find/replace utility, too.
  • Loans: LoanPool does a series of mini-loans. We"ll have template showing how useful this is. LoanAcct automatically generates a loan, cash and short term profile to meet cashflow surpluses and shortfalls. LoanAcctEM does the same but allows for the payment of an additional credit external margin.[Pro Eds] [Acknowledgement and thanks: R Horocholyn].
  • Range Manipulation functions: PickEveryNth creates a range of every nth value, SubList creates a range based on true/false criteria [Acknowledgement and thanks: S Page]. [Std Ed+]
  • Accounting: DepPool, DepPoolWIP and DepPoolRatio. DepSwitch extended to permit output of accrued interest. [Std Ed+]
  • Real Estate: LeaseInfo. Determines various lease date and time information.
  • Stepped Rate Projections: MultiTStep and MultiFStep [Std Ed+]
  • Date Information: MostRecent, MostImminent. [Std Ed+]
  • Extension to ProjMode. The ProjMode variable specifies whether the projection should be in cash or accruals mode (values 1 or 0). This is being extended (existing behaviour not changed) to allow for a delay in the payment (Settlement Days), by including a decimal after the main number. So ProjMode=1.15 would be cash mode with a 15 day delay in payment following the end (if in arrears) or start (if in advance) of the period.
1.282004-12-24
1.272004-07-30
  • New Mortgage function does a Mortgage where all the cashflow from a varying revenue stream is applied towards interest and principal (see Loan templates) [All Eds]
  • Maintenance on Function Finder [All Eds] and Monte-Carlo [Pro Ed].
  • For UK property types - functions for property business rates: UKRatesGrow, UKRatesFcst, UKEmptyRatesGrowR, UKEmptyRatesFcstR. [Pro Ed]
1.262004-06-21
  • New Function Finder (replaces the Quick Reference). Fully searchable. Cross-referenced. [All Eds]
  • New Interpolation Functions in the Interpolated and Fitted Projections Category, InterpedLevel, FittedLevel, FittedRate, InterpedRate [Std,Pro Eds]
  • New Black/Scholes option function in the Options family, OptionBS [Pro Ed]
  • Range size limitation of 1,000 cells removed - can now be up to 10,000 cells. [All Eds]
1.252004-03-21
1.242004-02-10
  • Basic and Standard Editions now incorporate the RunTime, enabling users of these Editions to use models created by the Pro Edition. [All Eds]
  • New Index Rent family for dealing with property leases that review with an inflation index. [Pro Ed]
  • New indexation functions ConIdx and IdxFromTo [Std Ed+]
  • New growth function GrowFromTo [Std Ed+]
1.232004-01-12
  • APR functions renamed as AER (annual equivalent rate) eg SimpleToAPR->SimpleToAER so as to be consistent internationally as the name of an annually compounded rate. The old "APR" functions still work. [All]
  • More Depreciation functions - DepPool, DepPoolWIP and DepPoolRatio.[Pro Ed]
  • Help file improved. [All Eds]
1.222003-11-30
  • Real Estate category expanded and organised into Valuation and Valuation DCF families.
  • User configurable toolbar implemented
1.212003-10-31
  • New - Audit Tool tells you which BF functions you are using, and whether you should upgrade any of them
  • Number of functions reduced by 50, but additional functionality added to basic functions, so that overall capability is significantly increased.
  • New - Auto-Multi functions (eg AnnGrow now does what MultiAnnGrow used to do as well).
  • Some new functions for reletting in Real Estate
  • Two new function families for dealing with refitting/void costs: Time Spread Periodic and Constant Rate Periodic.
  • 3 New 30/360 DayCount Options, and an (optional) new Daycount format
  • Two new ProjModes for dealing with situations where the finish date needs to be included in a projection.
1.202003-09-15
  • Some new functions using the new ...Combine feature: In the Date Increment family, the array function DateSeqCombine for combining up to 4 date sequences together, and similarly NextDateCombine for calculating the next date in the sequence.In the Stepped Rate Projections category, FStepCombine and TStepCombine facilitate the combining of cash flows streams.
  • Two new variants to the Stepped Rate Projections category, FStepSF and TStepSF. The new part is the addition of the ...SF feature, which allows for both a Start and Finish date.Strictly speaking, these functions don"t need a Start as well as a Finish date (FStep and TStep don"t), because the dates pertaining to the annual rates will define the Start or Finish, but it"s very useful to have an override that will easily contain the function within certain date bounds. [Std, Pro Eds]
  • The DateSeq array function has been added to the Date Increment family. DateSeq is ideal for creating a timebase.
  • The functions for calculating Average Rate from a series of Marginal Rates have been expanded - these are FAvRate, TAvRate, and the time-dependent versions that use the ...TD feature, FAvRateTD and TAvRateTD. These functions are still located, perhaps oddly, in the Accounting and Tax category, because of their application in determining average tax rates. [Pro Ed]
  • The Projections NPV category has been expanded by the addition of one function, PVConGrow. This category of function deals with getting the NPV of some of the projections functions. [Pro Ed]
  • The Advanced Interest Rate Conversions family has been expanded to the full suite of interest rate conversions, namely APRToSimpleX, ContToSimpleX, DFToSimpleX, APRToSimpleX, SimpleToAPRX, SimpleToContX, and SimpleToDFX. This family, which also contains the more general "convert-anything-to-anything-else" function, RateConvert, converts interest rates when the timing of payment periods is important (and for accuracy, it usually is).For example, a lot of convert from a quarterly simple rate to an annual APR that you could use for discounting using a formula like (1+r/4)^4-1, or the function SimpleToAPR, whereas because in reality quarterly dates are not exactly evenly spread throughout the year, you get a more accurate APR by specifying the quarterly dates and daycount convention, and using SimpleToAPRX. [Pro Ed]
  • Bugfix: Stepped Rent families now correctly allow for more ReviewDates than AnnRents
1.182003-07-10
  • Ramp (now FittedRate), the projection function that deals with a rate that varies according to plotted input data points, now deals with curves (fitted polynomial or straight line), as well the traditional straight line connection method (Std Ed+).
  • RSqrdPoly calculates R squared for a fitted polynomial (Std Ed+)
  • BestPoly goes through 20 orders of polynomials and tells you which is the best fit (Std Ed)
  • WeekNumberToDate calculates the start date of a week number (ie the inverse of WeekNumber). Ideal for developing an schedule of week numbers and the dates they correspond to (Std Ed).
  • AnnRate calculates the annual rate given an amount disbursed (sort of the inverse of Con). (Std Ed)
  • RateConvert converts an interest rate on one daycount basis to another. Can cope with wide variety of situations. (Std Ed).
  • Nomenclature change: The Real Estate Rent Reletting Family now refers more accurately to ExpiryOrBreak rather than Finish as the end of the first lease. After that it keeps reletting indefinitely. This change is to permit future development of alternative ways of joining the plotted points that define the rate. Currently the function just does straight line connection. (Std Ed)
  • New articles written on Daycount crosscheck and validation, PolyReg crosscheck and validation, and Houses vs Stocks (an exercise using the Pro Edition"s Monte Carlo facility).
1.172003-06-10
  • Ramp (now renamed FittedRate) is like the stepped rate functions except it does a graduated rate, a sort-of "join-the-dots" plotted rate. (Std Ed)
  • MkPmtsLagProf does a MkPmts, but lags these according to a lag profile, perfect for modelling creditors. (Std Ed)
  • RateConvert converts an interest rate on one daycount basis to another. Can cope with wide variety of situations. (Std Ed).
  • Bugfix: Annual Sequences that contain a Business Day switch (BusDaySwitch). On occasions the incorrect period would be selected of the shifting caused by Business Days. This has been fixed.
  • New functions: Average Life, for now in the Discounted Cash Flow families (Std and Pro Eds), eg AvLifeT
  • Function SheetName changes its name to WorkSheetName to avoid conflict with other commercial add-ins.
  • New function, called Safe, controls what gets returned when a formula generates an error (Pro Ed.)
1.162003-03-02
  • New function PolyReg fits a polynomial of up to 12th order to a set of data.
  • New function SortNum (all editions) sorts a 1 dimensional range without needing a macro.
  • New Function MoneyText (Amount,Currency,Language) turns numbers into words like for writing cheques - but in 4 currencies and 3 languages!
  • Duration (Macaulay) functions added to the DCF families eg DurationA.
  • Time Spread History Family reviewed. New "...SpreadAdj" adjustment functions cater for updating a budget with actuals.
  • Two little functions for calculating portfolio beta: BetaReturns and BetaIndex
  • IRR routines use faster algorithm.
  • Several minor fixes, most notable being Excel errors now propagate through BF, and the Rent functions had a bug fixed to do with Start, Finish and Review Dates.
1.152002-12-23
  • A few fixes: RunTime enable with odd filenames, Composite (2 digit) DayCount in multirate functions.
  • Periods in arrear now work slightly differently. In cash mode, payment takes place the day after the end of the accrual period. So a Periods of {-1.01,-7.01} accrues Jan-Jun and Jul-Dec but pays 1 Jan, 1 Jul.
  • NetWorkDaysX now accommodates country specific business day regimes
1.142002-10-10
  • In the Date Difference family: DiffDX gives the difference in days but allowing for Daycount, rather like DAYS 360 in Excel.
  • In the Holidays family: NetWorkDaysX is an extended version of Excel"s NETWORKDAYS. NetWorkDaysX copes with specifying which days of the week are weekends, as well as holiday dates and recurring annual holidays. IsWE also now allows you specify which days are weekends ( can be Friday/Saturday in some cultures).
  • In the Date Increment family: DpDX.
(Note dec 04: the Diff...X and Dp ...X functions are now deprecated)
1.132002-09-15
  • Cash and Accruals now in one function. Projections functions (Con, AnnGrow etc) now do both cash and accruals in the same function, using a new variable, ProjMode, to select accruals (0), or cash(1). The old …C cash functions (eg ConC, AnnGrowC) are retained as "hidden" functions so any models you have that use these will still work fine. This enhancement has greatly decluttered the library!
  • Projections functions double up as array functions! Excel"s array functions are just perfect for BF"s approach to modelling projections. Now, every Projections function (Con, MkPmts etc) is also an array function! That means that instead of copying a function across several cells to model each timeperiod, a single array function does the whole job, saving time and effort in the process!
  • The result of the above two changes is that the number of functions in the library has actually gone down by 15% or so, but the actual functionality has greatly increased due to the innovation of the array functions. Array functions can be significantly faster - our test managed a 40% speed improvement.
  • Another result is that to maintain a compliment of 60 functions in the free basic Edition we"ve been able to add 7 more functions!
  • Commands withdrawn to be redesigned. The new array functions do a lot of what commands used to do. Let us know if this is an inconvenience. (Note Dec04: Arraty functions now do all that Commands once did).
  • Internal date arithmetic streamlined. If DayCount is not Actual (in period) or composite, time differences will be calculated without using the data in Periods. We"ve basically simplified it and eliminated occasional inaccuracies.
1.122002-08-30
  • In the Special Dates category - WhatHol
  • PMTX and úPVXú functions enable you to calculate annuities with different interest calculation methods eg ACT/360, without requiring a dedicated model.
  • DayCount Assistant makes it easily to arrive at settings for DayCount and Periods. (Note Dec04: DayCount Assistant now obsolete)
  • Revenue Families (Constant Rate Revenue and Stepped Rate Revenue) combine price and production modelling in a single function.
  • Improved integration with Excel"s function wizard. (Descriptions and links to help file.)
  • Notes on how to use Business Functions from VBA (Visual Basic for Applications)
1.112002-08-07
  • Enhanced Quick Reference facilitates searching on function families and variables (all eds)
  • SCurve added to Basic Edition (basic ed.)
  • Further addition to WeightSpread functions - function WeightSpread. (std,pro)
  • New family of Time Spread History functions. (std,pro)
  • Annuity Family: IntRateM added. (std,pro)
  • New functions on the theme of linear growth - LinGrow. (std,pro)
  • New Interest family within lending category. (pro)
  • Enhanced Quick reference can sort alphabetically or by category, and look for functions with certain variables (all)
1.102002-07-15
  • Enhancements to NextDateSeqBD... and PrevDateSeqBD... functions.
  • New Seasonality feature built in to Constant and Stepped Rate and Distributed Amount functions. Enables you to vary the rate by month, quarter or any specified annual date sequence.
  • New WeightSpread functions in the Time Spread family for distributing amounts according to time-dependent weights. Enables complete flexibility in the spreading of a fixed amount.
  • TStepSpread function augments existing FStepSpread function in the Time Spread family.
1.092002-06-28
  • Standard Edition now has the Utilities package.
  • "Sort Sheets" utility sort by sheetname, size or type, ascending or descending, and has Undo facility. (std,pro)
  • Extended and enhanced Business Day functions. National holidays for UK, USA, Canada and Australia included. (all)
  • Rent Reletting family (pro)
  • WeekNumber function (std,pro)
1.082002-04-19
  • New Flow Of Control function family with functions, IfElse, IfElseR, Switch and SwitchR.
  • Additions to the Range Lookup family include more interpolation and extrapolation functions.(std,pro)
  • New Accounting and Tax Category has Depreciation functions. Handle Declining, Double Declining, SYD etc all within BF"s projections framework. Useful. (std,pro)
  • SpotRate and Future Rate functions developed within the Treasury category(pro)
  • BackSolve upgraded (pro).
1.072002-03-08
  • Minor correction to DayCount type 1. (All)
  • New Tutorials for Projections and Discounted CashFlow on the BF menu. (All)
  • More updating of examples and general help file stuff. (All)
1.062002-02-08
  • Change in parameter order for functions SumCat and SumCats. (All)
  • New functions, úDistSpread and DistSpreadCú. If you use S-Curve, our function for spreading an amount over time, then you may wish to consider these functions, which use standard statistical distributions to spread an amount over time. (Std,Pro,RT)
  • Some behind the scenes improvements in BackSolve. (Pro)
(Note Dec04: all ...C cash functions now removed - the normal function now does both cash and accruals by use of ProjMode.
1.052001-12-19
  • DayCount bug fixed (affected Daycount type 6 ACT/ACT in period). (All)
  • Improved Monte Carlo syntax. (Pro)
  • New - BackSolve You can decide whether to recalculate just a portion of the workbook rather than the whole thing. You can also finetune the solve parameters. (Pro)
1.042001-11-08
  • Changes To DayCount: Default remains ACTM/12; 0 was ACTM/12 now 30/360; 1 was ACTM/12 now ACT/ACT; 2 remains ACT/360; 3 remains ACT/365; 4 was 30/360 now 30E/360; 5 was 30E/360 now ACTM/12; 6 remains ACT/ACT (in period) (All)
  • Time Value of Money Category re-organised and rationalised. (All)
  • Help File and examples improved. There is a new tutorial in the worked examples section. (All)
  • New series of "Describe..." functions enable you to get plain English descriptions of the DayCount, CashBasis etc that you may have used. (All)
  • The Interest Rate family has been split into the Interest Rate Conversions and the Yield Curve Families, and the Interest Rate
  • Conversion functions have been overhauled. (Std, Pro,RT).
  • New Quick Paste Example on Business Functions menu for rapid examples of the most popular function (All)
  • Changes to DayCount option to bring into line with Excel (All)
  • New in the Pro Edition, the Projections NPV category. No need to run the cashflow to get the NPV of a projections function - one function call does it all. (Pro)
  • Monte-Carlo BF now does Monte Carlo Simulation! Just what you"ve always wanted, I"m sure. Anyway, there"s an easy to use
  • Monte Carlo function family and a simple but effective simulation generator. (Pro)
  • BF Utilities We decided you had to have these essential utilities that include a handy "go to". (Pro)
2008 Development Roadmap

  1. NET assembly, for use by .NET programs, ASP.NET etc. This will initially be a very cut-down version.
  2. Excel 2007 'Native' version, using the large strings and array sizes of Excel 2007. Currently the BF library runs in compatibility mode under Excel 2007.
If you have any ideas or requests about these two projects, or anything else, please drop us a line.

96