1. Before You Download

Exl-Plan is a range of business planning software for preparing comprehensive financial projections including cash flow forecasts for up to seven years ahead. You can use Exl-Plan for a business plan, strategic and corporate planning, raising finance, budgeting, restructuring and financial appraisals within almost any size and type of business.

Exl-Plan can save time and money and contribute substantial business, financial and spreadsheet know-how to your plan - check these benefits and get full details or download a free trial copy using the links further down on this page.

Exl-Plan requires Excel (versions 5, 7, 8, 95, 97, 2000, XP, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016) running on Windows (95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/Vista/Win7,8,10).

Important Note: Exl-Plan requires a Windows-based, desktop version of Excel. It will not run, on account of its extensive use of macros, with any cloud-based versions of Excel (or other similar spreadsheet types). If using Office 365 or Office 16, Excel must be installed on a Windows PC.

The Exl-Plan range (Free, Basic, Micro, Lite, Pro, Super, Super Plus, Ultra and Ultra Plus) is available for downloading using either UK/ International or US/ Canadian accounting conventions - eighteen variants in all. Click thumb opposite to see part of the assumptions report for the Quik-Plan facility built into all versions of Exl-Plan for generating 'first-cut', high-level projections. For business planning, all versions/editions of Exl-Plan include a FREEBusiness Plan Template for Word (48 pages) and a complementary Guide (supplied as a 90+ topic Help file and as a 100+ page PDF file for printing).

The downloadable trial versions of Exl-Plan Basic, Micro, Lite, Pro, Super, Super Plus, Ultra and Ultra Plus (download links in table below) are operational but contain use restrictions. They can be remotely upgraded after payment to become fully-operational commercial versions. Alternatively, unrestricted, fully-operational versions can be downloaded immediately after payment. Check here for upgrade/payment methods.

Exl-Plan Free (download link in table below) is free - it is a fully usable and useful both as a package in its own right and as a great introduction to the entire Exl-Plan range.

Some advice about downloading:

• All versions/editions include extensive online help (130+ topics) along with a 90-page manual (Word or PDF format) and a series of Flash-based tutorials (running for 19 minutes) covering setting up Excel, getting started, the basics and using Quik-Plan.
• You don't need to download a trial copy prior to making a purchase. If you know which version of Exl-Plan you want, buy and immediately download a fully-operational copy here.
• You cannot download one version/edition of Exl-Plan and then remotely upgrade it to a different version/edition. To switch, you must download the specific version/edition you need and then upgrade it.
• If you envisage upgrading a trial copy to fully-operational, you should install Exl-Plan, at the very outset, onto the PC where you would propose to use the upgraded version.
• If you are using Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) - released August 2004 - you can ignore the Security Warning about 'unknown publisher' when downloading an EXE file from a link below as we are the publisher.
• Our Privacy & Security Statement applies to all our software. This means that it DOES NOT contain 'adware', 'spyware' or any devices for collecting and/or transmitting any user information.
• The ZIP files below need to be uncompressed using an utility like WinZip before installation.
• If you using Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, you may wish to check the Frequently Asked Questions for Using Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 for more information.

2. Download Links

1. Click a link in the table below for the desired Edition and Version of Exl-Plan. Go here if you need detailed information on the different versions and editions.
2. Take note of the downloading file's name (EX*.*) for reference purposes (in case it gets lost on your PC).
3. Once the downloading is complete, refer to the installation and running instructions immediately below the download table or open and print this Quick Start Guide (opens in new window) which contains critical information about setting Excel to load and run Exl-Plan's macros.
   Alternatively, check out this PDF diagram explaining how to enable macros for different releases of Excel.

3. After You Download

Suggestion: Instead of having to refer back to the notes below, you may wish to open and print this Quick Start Guide (opens in new window). It will lead you through installing, running and exploring Exl-Plan. In particular, it contains critical information about setting Excel to load and run Exl-Plan's macros which are essential for using Exl-Plan.

Note: Your downloaded copy of Exl-Plan includes a 90-page manual (Word or PDF format) and a series of Flash-based tutorials (running for 19 minutes) covering setting up Excel, getting started, the basics and using Quik-Plan. After installation, they can be found in the EX* folder and they are accessible via the Start > Programs > Exl-Plan menu.

Installation

Once Exl-Plan has been downloaded (and unzipped if appropriate), run the EX*.EXE file and you will be guided through the installation procedure. You will also be informed in README.TXT on how to uninstall Exl-Plan.

Running

When installed, do one of the following to run Exl-Plan:

• Select Exl-Plan from the Start, Programs menu (W95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/Vista/Win7,8,10).
  or
• Load Excel and open the EXLPLAN.XLS file from within EX* subdirectory or folder specified during installation (this may be located below the EXCEL subdirectory or MY DOCUMENTS folder).

You can watch several How to ... Tutorials covering the basics of setting up and using Exl-Plan.

IMPORTANT: When loading Exl-Plan into Excel, you must enable macros so that Exl-Plan's menus, buttons, tools etc. can operate. The following instructions explain how to do this for different versions of Excel.

If using Excel 5, 7, 8, 95, 97, 2000, XP and 2003:

1. If Excel displays a message about enabling macros while Exl-Plan is loading, you must select Enable Macros (click thumb opposite for guidance).
2. If Excel displays a message like 'The macros in this project are disabled ..... ' you need to reduce the security level set within Excel from High to Medium via Tools Macro Security Security Level (click thumbs below for guidance). You should then close and reopen Excel and then reload Exl-Plan. During reloading, you will be asked whether you want to enable macros. This is quite safe to do provided you secured Exl-Plan from our site or another reliable, trustworthy source.
3. If Exl-Plan appears to load but only its FRONT worksheet is visible and its special menus do not appear in Excel's toolbar, you need to reduce the security level set within Excel from High to Medium via Tools Macro Security Security Level (click thumbs below for guidance). Once done, you will be asked whether you want to enable macros whenever you try to load a workbook file (like Exl-Plan) that contains macros.
   

   Load Excel, select Tools, Macro, Security ...

   ... click Medium security level and close Excel.

   Reload Excel, load Exl-Plan and, when prompted, enable macros.

   
   
4. If Exl-Plan loads and all its worksheets are visible but its special menus (they all start with * to simplify identification) do not appear in Excel's toolbar, you will need to temporarily reduce the number of menus displayed by Excel by disabling any add-ins which create special menus. To do this, use Tools Add-ins to open a list of available add-ins. Uncheck the relevant add-ins, press the OK button, close and reload Excel. This should allow Exl-Plan to load fully and display its menus. To restore the disabled add-ins, reverse the procedure described above.
5. Occasionally, Exl-Plan will load satisfactorily but may not display its special menus starting with *Assumptions, *Protect and so on. This may be due to a conflict with some add-ins loaded automatically by Excel. The fix is to reload Excel, uncheck all add-ins via Tools Add-Ins; reload Excel and then open the Exl-Plan file.
6. If a blank screen appears while loading of Exl-Plan and the system hangs, there has probably been a memory leak, caused by another application, which has reduced the memory available to Excel and Exl-Plan. To resolve, use CTRL+ALT + DEL to close down Excel and Exl-Plan. Then, reboot the PC to wash out the leak.

If using Excel 2007:

1. Change the security level in Excel 2007 to enable it run macros by checking that Excel's Macro Settings within the Trust Center have been set to Disable all macros with notification. Access the Trust Center by clicking the Office button and selecting Excel Options. Having done that, you must permit Excel to run macros each time that Exl-Plan is loaded as indicated in #2 and #3 below.
2. Once Exl-Plan has loaded, look out for a message Security Warning - Macros have been disabled and an Option button immediately below Excel's Home tab. Note that this warning is much less evident than that used in earlier versions of Excel.
3. Click the Options button, specify Enable this content in the Security Alert Macro dialog and wait a few moments for Exl-Plan's macros to run. Note that Exl-Plan's menu bar (*Assumptions, *Protection etc.) is located in the Add-Ins tab. For ease of identification, the Exl-Plan menus all start with an asterisk (*), e.g. *Assumptions. Exl-Plan's special toolbar also appears in the Add-Ins tab. Note that by design the toolbar does not appear for every Exl-Plan worksheet. For more information on using Exl-Plan with Excel 2007, see the comprehensive Checklist and FAQs at http://www.planware.org/exlfaq3.htm.

If using Excel 2010, 2013, 2016:

1. Change the security level in Excel 2010, 2013, 2016 to enable it run macros by checking that Excel's Macro Settings within the Trust Center have been set to Disable all macros with notification. Access the Trust Center by clicking the File button and selecting Options. Having done that, you must permit Excel to run macros when an Exl-Plan file is loaded for the first time as indicated in #2 and #3 below.
2. Once Exl-Plan has loaded, look out for a message Security Warning - Macros have been disabled and an Enable Content button immediately below Excel's Home tab. Note that this warning is much less evident than that used in earlier versions of Excel.
3. Click the Enable Content button and wait a few moments for Exl-Plan's macros to run. Note that Exl-Plan's menu bar (*Assumptions, *Protection etc.) is located in the Add-Ins tab. For ease of identification, the Exl-Plan menus all start with an asterisk (*), e.g. *Assumptions. Exl-Plan's special toolbar also appears in the Add-Ins tab. Note that by design the toolbar does not appear for every Exl-Plan worksheet. For more information on using Exl-Plan with Excel 2010, 2013, 2016, see the comprehensive Checklist and FAQs at http://www.planware.org/exlfaq3.htm.

Click here to access more detailed Installation & Running Notes. We suggest that you print these notes for reference. Once installed, you can directly access Exl-Plan's Online Help from within Exl-Plan, or via the Start > Programs menu option (W95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/Vista/Win7,8,10). If using Vista and if Exl-Plan's help files fail to load and/or Excel indicates 'There was a problem running the macro (1037).' there are two solutions as follows:

1. Download and install the widely-used Help program (WinHlp32.exe) needed for help files used by some versions of Exl-Plan. You can get it from the Microsoft Download Center. If this link is broken, search the Microsoft site for 'Windows Help program (WinHlp32.exe) for Windows Vista'.
2. An alternative solution is to disregard the help files and simply use the comprehensive manual supplied in PDF format with all versions of Exl-Plan. This covers the exact same material as the help files. If doing this, you should not click the help-related buttons within Exl-Plan's worksheets or within the *Exl-Plan Helpmenu. Also, you should turn off Toggle Help for Calculation Errors within Exl-Plan's *Tools or *Setup menu.

Important Note: By design, Excel's automatic calculation function does not work in Exl-Plan. To update projections, you must click the one of the 'C' buttons within Exl-Plan's toolbar or use the calculate options within the *Tools/Setup menu. To restore autocalculate to Excel after using Exl-Plan, close and reload Excel.

Recommended: Click here for answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).

Suggestion: Instead of having to refer back to these notes, you may wish to open and print this Quick Start Guide. It will lead you through installing, running and exploring Exl-Plan.