In this chapter, you have learned about financial metrics for analyzing the future of investments. We have discussed Future Value, Present Value, Net Present Value, and Internal Rate of Return, all of which are common metrics that are used by investment analysts around the world. They are so common that DAX offers some specific functions to calculate them: XNPV and XIRR.

In creating a model for dynamic financial analysis, you have learned how to use what-if parameters in complex calculations. We have seen that the NPV metric can be computed without the XNPV function as well, which opens up additional possibilities to view results at a lower level of detail than the all-up NPV.

The IRR is a metric that is not easily calculated, and an approximative method is needed to find a "good enough" result. This is what the XIRR function implements. We have presented an alternative approach through DAX which, although without much added value in calculating IRR, proved...