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Use this guide to type or change the numbers in a table yourself, such as a new hire’s salary or next quarter’s price. It also shows how to remove a value you typed, so the cell goes back to its row’s formula. To learn how a typed value and a row’s formula work together, read How formulas work. You need a desktop browser and edit access to the Page.

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Change a value, such as a team member’s salary

Name the person or line, the new value, and when it starts:
Set Maria Lopez’s salary to $140,000 a year starting in March.
Ari changes the value in your Model, and the change appears in version history.
The new value shows at once while cfo.ai recalculates everything that depends on it. If cfo.ai refuses the change and says the cells come from an integration, the value comes from a connected system, such as your payroll provider. Change it there; it arrives with the next sync. See Refresh data or change when it refreshes.

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Type numbers the way you would in a spreadsheet

cfo.ai reads a number written the way people write one: 1,000, $1,250.75, 50%, and (500) each save the number they mean. A currency sign or a percent sign also shows that cell as Currency or Percentage. Every form cfo.ai reads is listed in What you can type into a cell. Anything else you type in a number cell is read as a formula, such as Revenue * 1.1; a leading = is optional. See Write a formula.

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Type text, dates, and items

In a Variable that holds text, such as Job Title, what you type is saved as words: Finance assistant, N/A, and 2026-01-01 all stay as typed. Start with = to enter a formula instead. A cell of a date Variable, such as Start Date, opens a calendar. Pick a day, or select Edit formula to write a formula. A column that shows which item each row belongs to, such as each employee’s Department, opens a list of the Dimension’s items. Search, then pick one. To use a new item, type its name and choose Add with that name. The Edit formula button opens the formula editor. When an item column reads its values from a connected system, the list shows Source with the name of the import. Picking another item saves your choice over it, and the list then reads Overrides source. View source opens that connection, or a page headed Connection removed when the connection was removed; see A removed connection’s page.

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See whether a number is typed or calculated

A dashed underline marks a cell that holds its own value or formula, such as a number someone typed. That value replaces the row’s formula in this cell only. A cell without the underline takes its number from the row’s formula or from a connected system. A picked item or date is the exception: it belongs to the cell but never shows the underline. To see the formula behind a cell, open it. A formula the cell inherits shows dimmed; point at it to see Inherited from and where the formula comes from. See Override one cell.

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Clear a value or a cell’s own formula

Select the cell, or several cells, and press Delete or Backspace. Each cell loses the value or formula it held on its own, the dashed underline disappears, and the cell follows its row’s formula again. You can also open the cell, delete everything in it, and press Enter. A cell with nothing of its own has nothing to clear. Its number comes from the row’s formula or from a connected system, or is 0 when neither covers it; see A cell that no formula covers. To change a calculated number, change the row’s formula; see Write a formula. To make one cell different from its row, type a value into it. Cells that come from a connected system can be changed only in that system.

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Copy, cut, and paste

  • ⌘ C copies the selected cells, ⌘ X cuts them, and ⌘ V pastes. On Windows and Linux, use Ctrl.
  • ⌘ Shift V pastes values only, without formulas.
  • Right-click a cell for Copy value, Copy formula, and Paste.
A cut works the way it does in Excel: the cut cells stay in place, outlined, until you paste, and the paste clears them. Press Esc, or copy something else, to cancel the cut. You can paste into another table. You can paste a range from Excel or Google Sheets. Each pasted cell is read the way a typed entry is, so $1,000 becomes 1000. Text is saved exactly as copied, and a spreadsheet cell with line breaks stays one cell. A formula copied from a cfo.ai table pastes as that formula.

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Fill neighboring cells

Select one cell and drag the small square at its corner across the cells next to it. Each of those cells gets the same value or formula.

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Add up selected cells

Select a range of cells. A bar at the lower right of the Page shows Count:, Sum:, and Avg: for the numbers in the selection. ⌘ A selects every cell in the table.

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If a value does not save

When cfo.ai refuses a change, the cell returns to its earlier value and a notice says why. Common reasons are a value that comes from an integration, a selection whose cells take different formulas, and a table you can only read. For a value you typed, the formula editor reopens with your entry so you can fix it. Every notice and what to do about it is listed in Table block controls and messages. To take back a change, press ⌘ Z, or see Undo a change or restore an earlier version.