How to Convert an Excel Financial Model to Google Sheets (Formulas That Break and How to Fix Them)

I moved our 3-statement model from Excel to Sheets last month. Most formulas came over. A handful did not, and those are the ones that make totals lie. This is the how-to I run now. Convert the file, fix the broken formulas, then do a short check.

1. Convert the file for real

Don't keep working in the Excel preview. That mode looks close enough and then surprises you later.

• Upload the .xlsx to Drive.
• Open it.
• File > Save as Google Sheets. That makes a native Sheet. Keep the original Excel file until the totals tie out.

2. Formulas that break, and how I fix each one

I go through these in order. For each one: what you'll see, why, then the fix.

Links to other workbooks

What you'll see: #REF!, or a number that no longer updates. Excel can point at another file. Sheets cannot. Google's own docs say a cell in another spreadsheet has to go through IMPORTRANGE. A leftover [Budget.xlsx]Sheet1!B2 does nothing useful.

Fix: convert the source file to a Sheet too. Then replace the link. First time, click Allow access.

• Before: =[Budget.xlsx]Assumptions!B2
• After: =IMPORTRANGE("https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/abcd123", "Assumptions!B2")

If you don't need it live, paste values and move on.

Excel table refs (Table1[Revenue])

What you'll see: #NAME? or a formula that still has Table1[Revenue] in it. Sheets can do table refs, but only after you turn the range into a Sheets table (Format > Convert to table) and the table name matches. If the import left you a plain range, that old Table1[Revenue] formula has nothing to hit.

Fix: either convert that range to a table and keep the name, or swap to a normal range.

• Before: =SUM(Sales[Amount])
• After: =SUM(C2:C100), or Format > Convert to table and keep =SUM(Sales[Amount])

Circular refs (interest on average cash, etc.)

What you'll see: #REF! and "Circular dependency detected." In Excel you probably had iterative calc on. In Sheets it lives under File > Settings > Calculation, and if it's off the interest loop errors.

Fix: File > Settings > Calculation. Turn on Iterative calculation and set how many times it can run. Save settings. If you still can't see the loop, I wrote the 60-second finder.

Named ranges

What you'll see: #NAME?. Sheets names are one list for the whole file (Data > Named ranges). They can only be letters, numbers, and underscores. No spaces. Can't start with a number. An Excel name like Tax Rate fails that rule.

Fix: open Data > Named ranges. If the name is missing, recreate it as tax_rate pointing at the same cells, then update the formulas. INDIRECT("Tax Rate") dies for the same reason.

INDIRECT pointed at another file

What you'll see: #REF! or #NAME?. INDIRECT works inside this spreadsheet (INDIRECT("Assumptions!B2") is fine). It cannot reach another file. Same rule as above. Other spreadsheet = IMPORTRANGE.

• Before: =INDIRECT("'[Budget.xlsx]Assumptions'!B2")
• After: =IMPORTRANGE("https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/abcd123", "Assumptions!B2")

Functions Sheets does not support

What you'll see: #NAME?. Google lists these as not working in Sheets: INFO, WEBSERVICE, CALL, RTD, REGISTER.ID, and the CUBE functions (CUBEMEMBER and friends). CELL exists, but only for a short list of info types (address, col, contents, row, sheet, and a few others). CELL("filename") is not on that list.

Fix: rewrite or delete. There is no Sheets INFO or WEBSERVICE. VBA is also gone (Apps Script if you actually need the macro). Everyday finance functions (PMT, PPMT, XIRR, NPV) are in the Sheets function list and usually survive.

Excel What-If data tables

What you'll see: a grid of numbers that no longer recalcs. Sheets has no TABLE function and no Excel What-If data table. That feature does not come over.

Fix: rebuild the sensitivity as a normal formula grid (one input down the side, formula copied across). Or use the XLKeys Sensitivity Table (Alt A W T) if you want the one-keystroke version.

Numbers or dates that came in as text

What you'll see: values left-aligned, SUM returns 0, dates look off. Locale drives how Sheets reads 1,234.56 vs 1.234,56 and 3/4/26. File > Settings > Locale. If the locale is wrong, change it and Save settings.

Fix for leftover text: Format > Number on the column, or wrap the cell. =VALUE(A2) turns a number-looking string into a number. =DATEVALUE(A2) does dates. DATEVALUE only accepts a string. If separators still look wrong, the locale is the actual fix.

Array formulas that don't spill

What you'll see: one cell with a result that used to fill a range, or a calc that needs an array and now sits there. Sheets expands a lot of arrays on its own. When it doesn't, wrap the formula in ARRAYFORMULA. Ctrl + Shift + Enter adds ARRAYFORMULA( at the front while you're editing.

• Before: an old Excel array that only returns the first cell
• After: =ARRAYFORMULA(A2:A100*B2:B100)

How I find all of them

• Edit > Find and replace. Check "Also search within formulas." Search #REF!, then #NAME?, then #VALUE!.
• Pick ending cash or EBITDA. Run Trace Precedents (Ctrl + Shift + [) and walk it back two hops. If a total doesn't tie to the Excel file, this is faster than reading every formula.

3. Then tidy the formatting

Once the numbers are right, the book often still looks messy. Colors shift, borders get thin, number formats go back to General, column widths are off. I don't spend an hour on this.

Select the used range and press Ctrl + Shift + S (Cmd + Shift + S on Mac). Auto Color paints hardcodes blue, formulas black, same-sheet refs purple, cross-sheet refs green. Purple is extra vs the usual bank 3-color setup. You're looking for blue sitting in a formula row (typed-over plug). Auto Color is Pro, 3-day trial, no card.

Then the Alt keys I actually use. Sheets has no native Alt sequences. XLKeys makes these work (Option on Mac). Alt sequences are free.

• Alt H H -- fill color
• Alt H B A -- all borders
• Alt H B B -- double bottom (totals)
• Alt H A N -- accounting format
• Alt H O I -- autofit columns

Full list is in the formatting shortcuts post.

4. Two-minute check

• Compare ending cash / EBITDA to the original Excel file. If they don't tie, you missed a formula above.
• If the file feels huge, press Alt A W C. The Cell Capacity Audit shows allocated cells by tab and trailing empty grid. Empty grid still counts. Google raised the cap from 10 million to 20 million cells in Sep 2026 (Rapid Release Sep 10, Scheduled Release starts Sep 28, up to 15 days). The audit never deletes anything.

If someone else already converted the file and handed it to you, use the inherited-model audit instead. Same tools, different order. This post is the pass I run right after I do the move myself.

Convert the file, fix the broken formulas, then Auto Color if you want the model readable. Install XLKeys.