Excel Print Settings: A Financial Modeler’s Guide to Professional Reports

For financial modelers, the presentation of reports is just as important as the data within them. Properly configured Excel print settings can make a significant difference in how reports are perceived by clients, investors, or senior management. Whether you're preparing financial forecasts, valuation models, or sensitivity analysis, ensuring that your printed output reflects the professionalism of your work is essential.

Here’s a tailored guide to help financial modelers optimize print settings for polished, client-ready reports:

1. Scaling

Clarity in readability of a report / worksheet which gets printed on a piece of paper is crucial. A scaling of ‘55% of normal size’ is commonly used for dense reports (if being printed on a A4 sheet), but this should be adjusted based on the layout of the page you would like to get printed. If you're printing a compact summary, increase the zoom to enhance readability, especially when presenting financial metrics or summary dashboards. Conversely, reduce the zoom for large datasets or detailed financial breakdowns to fit more data on the page.

When your report is too large for a single page. Excel’s "Fit to Page" options can be particularly useful for printing large financial models or dashboards. By setting the page scaling, you can compress the content to fit on a single page without distorting the layout. However, avoid excessive scaling as it may make your financial data difficult to read, which could hinder client comprehension.

2. Orientation

Financial models often span multiple columns, making landscape orientation ideal for wide reports that won’t fit neatly in portrait mode. Always choose an orientation that best displays your financial data without compromising readability. Select the appropriate paper size (e.g., A4, A3) based on your presentation needs.

3. Margins

For financial reports, margins are key to ensuring both clarity and professionalism. Excel’s default margins of 1 inch work well for most financial models, but for large datasets or wide financial models, you may need to reduce margins to fit most of the data on a single page. Avoid going below 0.5 inches to maintain the professional look and ensure the printed data is easily readable.

4. Page Break View

While printing, controlling what gets printed is vital. Use the 'Page Break' view to define the exact print area and ensure that only relevant sections of the worksheet in your financial model are printed. Excel shortcut [Alt, V, P] brings you into this view, allowing you to manually adjust page breaks to avoid cutting off key financial data or charts. Always review the page breaks before printing, as newly added formulas or charts may extend beyond the set print area. To revert to Normal view, press the shortcut, Alt, V, N.

5. Header & Footer

In professional financial reports, headers and footers provide essential context and branding. Use them to include page numbers, model version numbers, dates, company logos, or report titles—especially important when presenting to clients or senior management. It's important to remember that when you move worksheets between workbooks, the headers and footers are carried over as well. Therefore, be sure to remove any headers or footers that are not needed in the new file.

6. Object Settings

Financial models often include buttons, form controls, or charts that may not be necessary for the printing. Be sure to uncheck the “Print Object” option for elements like these, especially if they are linked to VBA macros or are meant for user interaction while working on Excel rather than presentation. This keeps your printed financial reports clean and focused on the key data and analysis.

7. Page Order

Many financial models span multiple pages both horizontally and vertically, such as large income statements or financial forecasts. The "Page Order" setting allows you to control how the content is split across pages. In financial modeling, setting the page order to 'over then down' is often more effective, as it ensures that wider sections of the model are displayed in a logical, left-to-right sequence before moving downward.

8. Rows and Columns to Repeat

In financial models that span several pages, consistency is crucial for interpretation. Use the ‘Rows to Repeat at top’ and ‘Columns to Repeat at left’ options to ensure that key financial headers or row labels (such as account names, years, or financial ratios) appear on each printed page. This helps maintain context and clarity when your clients or stakeholders review the printed data.

9. Print Preview Check

Before finalizing your print, always use the "Print Preview" feature to double-check the output. This allows you to review how each page of your printable worksheets in a financial model will look once printed and catch any errors or misalignments. Print Preview is essential for spotting issues like cut-off data, misaligned tables, or blank pages in long reports, giving you the chance to fix these before getting it printed for your clients or management.

10. VBA Automation

For financial modelers dealing with large reports, VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) can be a game-changer. VBA enables you to automate print settings, reducing the risk of manual errors and saving time. You can create dynamic print ranges that adjust based on model content—automatically resizing the print area or selecting specific sheets for printing. It can also automate the saving of files in PDF format, streamlining the process of sharing financial reports with clients.

Conclusion

For financial modelers, perfecting print settings in Excel is essential to delivering professional, client-ready reports. By adjusting zoom sizes, optimizing page layout, and using advanced tools like VBA, you ensure that your financial models not only convey accurate data but are presented in a polished, readable format.

Paying attention to these details underscores your commitment to delivering high-quality financial analysis, transforming your models from standard spreadsheets into professional-grade reports that clients and decision-makers can trust. Whether it’s aligning complex financial projections or simplifying a sensitivity analysis for print, these best practices help elevate the overall impact of your work.