For when you want to find a specific result from a formula, but simply don’t know what to plug in for input value, goal seek is a lifesaver. Using the inverse of a function can yield the same result, but this may not always be easy to do or possible at all. Because of this, goal seek is very popular among data analysis and optimization experts.

With the 6.24 update, we’ve introduced a goal seek feature in SpreadsheetWeb in the form of an Action Button Event. Using the Goal Seek Event, you can define the input and output properties of a goal seek calculation and let the generate the results and display them during application runtime. Simply map your named ranges to the corresponding goal seek fields and assign the event to an Action Button, just like any other event like email or print.

An example for using goal seek to solve a problem is calculating the interest rate for a loan with given amount, term, and monthly payments. In Excel, your workbook and Goal Seek configuration might look like below. The example below can be used to find the interest rate with $1,000 monthly payments over 180 months on a $100,000 loan.

On the SpreadsheetWeb application, all you need to do is to use the same workbook, target the same cells as in Excel, and assign the Goal Seek Event into an Action Button.

When the Action Button is pressed, the system will run as many calculations as defined in the Goal Seek Event settings. If a result is found within the specified precision range, the system will return that value. Otherwise, it will trigger an error or not give a result – this can be configured, again, from the Goal Seek Event settings.

Another important addition in this version is two new CRM integrations: Close and Zoho. Our initiative to introduce third-party software has seen huge success and we have been pushing more integrations with every release. Close and Zoho are both powerful CRM platforms. Sales teams rely on them to close more deals and stay on top of their goals.

The setup process for our third-party integrations is very easy and takes only a few minutes if you already have your SpreadsheetWeb application ready. Check out our Close and Zoho help pages for more details.

For a full list of changes and new features, please see the change log and sign up for a free 14-day trial account if you haven’t done so already.