Excel is great for doing calculations. It is even better for doing large numbers of calculations. Since Monte Carlo Simulation is based on doing large numbers of calculations it is natural that I'd try to use excel to do it.

I have a couple of examples. The first is one using Excel with Microsoft Project to give a probablistic finish date for a project given a range of estimates for individual tasks. The second is using Excel to solve the problem that Monte Carlo simulation was named for.

There are many things that people would like Excel to do which are not built in to the standard tool. Fortunately, there is a way to get Excel to do almost anything that you want. This is through the use of VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) which is Excel's built-in programming language. It is common with the other Microsoft Office Tools such as Project and Word so that you can interoperate with those tools to extend the capabilities of Excel, frequently using Excel to crunch numbers or do other calculations. I'm still working on figuring out which examples to post here so no links at this time.

This part of the site is mostly concerned with Microsoft Project, but that doesn't mean you have to use it. Often I find that other tools such as Powerpoint or even Excel are more suited to a particular situation. If you fall in this category I've put together a sample file which shows how you can use things like conditional formatting and formulas to use Excel as a scheduling tool.

Follow this link to a page which has information about writing and using macros and several examples. Source code is included for all examples.

I am not alone. Here are some links to other useful MS Excel Pages: