The grey background on rows such as Cost of goods sold, Salaries and Other operating expenses is only a colour. These rows are input rows, and you can type in every year column whether Input Level is set to Basic or Advanced. You do not need an Excel import to edit them. The cells you cannot type in are the calculated rows, and, only in Basic, the forecast cells of 6 supporting rows.
Which rows are grey, and can I edit them?
Yes. The grey rows are the main input rows, and every cell in them is an input field. They are:
Revenue / ARR
Cost of goods sold
Salaries
Other operating expenses
Capital expenditures
Debt at the end of the year
Future fundraising
The Input Level setting does not affect these rows. Click a cell and type a number.
Why is there a grey number in an empty cell?
That number is a suggestion shown as placeholder text, not a value. Type over it to enter your own figure. The suggestion comes from companies similar to yours or, if you used AI Discovery, from what was found about your company.
Suggestions appear only in empty cells, and only while no cost line has a final-year value above zero. A suggestion is not saved. The table saves only the numbers you type or apply.
Which cells are read-only?
Two kinds of cell show a number without an input field.
Calculated rows are the first kind. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation), EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes), Net profit, Working Capital, Change in Working Capital, Change in outstanding debt, Free cash flow to equity and Free Cash Flow are computed from the rows above them. They have a light green background. Hovering shows "Calculated by Equidam, save to get updated data". Change the input rows and save to update them.
The second kind is the forecast cells of 6 supporting rows in Basic mode. With Input Level set to Basic, D&A (depreciation and amortisation), Interest, Taxes, Receivables, Inventory and Payables accept a value in the Past year column only. Their forecast cells show a value Equidam calculates, and hovering shows "To edit this number, switch to Input Level: Advanced".
What changes when I switch Input Level to Advanced?
The forecast cells of D&A, Interest, Taxes, Receivables, Inventory and Payables become input fields. Each of these cells also gets a magic wand icon. Hover over it to see an estimate, and click it to put that estimate in the cell.
Nothing else changes. The grey input rows were already editable, and the calculated rows stay calculated at both levels.
In Basic mode, Equidam fills those 6 forecast rows for you. D&A, Receivables, Inventory and Payables follow your revenue and industry ratios. Interest follows your debt and a country rate. Taxes follow your pre-tax profit. If you switch back to Basic and save, these calculated values replace your forecast entries in the valuation.
Does importing from Excel give me more control over the rows?
No. The Excel import fills the same rows you see in the table. It does not add sub-rows or extra line items. After an import, Input Level is set to Advanced so that the imported forecast values for the 6 supporting rows are kept. You can make the same edits by typing in the table.
Limits
The Input Level switch works the same on every plan.
Past year columns added with + Add Past Year accept input in every non-calculated row at both Input Levels.
The magic wand appears only on the 6 supporting rows, in forecast columns, in Advanced mode. Cost of goods sold, Salaries and Other operating expenses have no magic wand, so type the value.
To save, at least one of Cost of goods sold, Salaries or Other operating expenses needs a final-year value above zero. Otherwise the save fails with "Final year costs cannot all be zero".
If your role in the organisation is Guest, you can type in the table but saving fails with "You have read-only access. Contact an admin to request editing permissions."
Common questions
Is it a bug that Cost of goods sold, Salaries and Other operating expenses look grey in Advanced mode?
No. Those rows always have a grey background, at both Input Levels. Click a cell and type to enter a value.
Why can I never type in EBITDA or Net profit?
They are calculated from your revenue and cost rows, so they have no input field. Edit the rows they are built from and save.
My table was already filled in when I opened it. Can I change the numbers?
Yes. If you used AI Discovery, empty input cells may be pre-filled with estimates when the page loads. Those are ordinary values, and you can overwrite any of them.