# Mile Marker How Mile Marker Advisors Accelerated Transaction Advisory Services with Crunched ## Core metrics - **60-90%** time savings on financial modeling and spreads - **80-95%** time savings on deep research analysis and documentation ## About the client - **Client**: Mile Marker Advisors - **Industry**: Transaction Advisory Services - **Primary Use Case**: Financial modeling, financial spreads, and transaction-related write-ups in Excel - **Product**: Crunched - AI Excel Analyst for finance professionals > "We chose Crunched because it is purpose-built for transaction workflows, and not just another generic AI assistant" > **CD**: Caleb Dean, Principal at Mile Marker ## Executive Summary Mile Marker Advisors uses Crunched to dramatically accelerate core transaction advisory workflows - particularly complex financial modeling, financial spreads, and standardized deep research - without changing their existing Excel templates or review standards. By deploying Crunched directly inside Excel, Mile Marker reduced modeling and analysis tasks that previously took hours or days to minutes, enabling analysts and senior consultants to iterate faster and spend more time on judgment-driven work rather than manual Excel labor. Across Mile Marker's workflows, Crunched delivered meaningful time savings (days down to hours) on necessary yet time-consuming core tasks, while maintaining full auditability and Excel-native outputs. ## The Challenge ### High-stakes modeling under tight deadlines Like most transaction advisory consultants, Mile Marker Advisors operates under constant time pressure. Analysts and associates spend the majority of their time in Excel performing: - Complex, multi-sheet financial modeling - Financial spreads and normalization - Company, industry, and economic deep research - Repetitive updates across standardized templates These tasks are: - Manual and time-intensive - Error-prone under deadline pressure - Difficult to execute concurrently, even with larger teams Clients often request additional analysis - more scenarios, deeper diligence, tighter narratives - but the marginal cost in analyst hours sets a cap for the capacity and scope. ## The Solution ### Crunched the AI Excel analyst Mile Marker deployed Crunched, the AI Excel analyst built specifically for transaction advisory workflows. Crunched works directly inside Excel and is designed to operate the way experienced analysts do: - Reads and understands entire workbooks, not isolated cells - Builds and edits fully linked, formula-driven, auditable financial models - Populates standardized templates using structured data - Performs error checking across large models - Summarizes data into presentation-ready outputs Crucially, Crunched augments Mile Marker's existing templates and processes - it does not replace them. It allows all Mile Marker associates to have their own analyst in Excel, of which they are the expert reviewers. ## Focus Area ### Modeling first, write-ups second Crunched delivered step-change improvements for Mile Marker's most time-consuming Excel tasks. Crunched automated specific workflows, and the primary value came from accelerating modeling-heavy workflows, with write-ups layered on top. | **Workflow** | **What the work typically includes** | **Why it can take a long time** | **How Crunched helps in practice** | **Impact** | |--------------|-------------------------------------|----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|------------| | Complex financial modeling projects | Multi-tab models, sourcing and linking data, trend/variance analysis, benchmarking to public comps/peers | Inputs arrive in waves, assumptions evolve, source data needs cleaning/reconciliation | Rapidly scaffolds the model framework, organizes assumptions, accelerates early analysis, and helps generate first-pass outputs that our team refines | **60-90%** | | Financial spreading | Converting varied formats into structured schedules, mapping to chart-of-accounts logic, tie-outs to source documents | Data is inconsistent across periods/entities; reconciliation and mapping decisions require judgment | Speeds structuring and mapping, produces reviewable schedules faster | **80-90%** | | Target Research analysis and write-ups | Synthesizing model outputs with business overview, KPIs, trend drivers, key risks/opportunities | Research and summarization take time; aligning narrative to model outputs is iterative | Produces an initial structured narrative and summary points that we edit, validate, and tailor to engagement | **80-95%** | | Industry write-ups | Defining industry scope, gathering credible sources, identifying market structure and key metrics | Heavy reading and synthesis; sources vary in quality | Accelerates synthesis into an editable draft and helps surface key themes and data points for review | **80-90%** | | Economic write-ups | Macro context relevant to the engagement | Wide source set; requires filtering for relevance | Speeds compilation and synthesis into a draft that our team refines | **80-90%** | *The cycle-time impacts above are directional and based on internal experience and historical workflow comparisons—not minute-by-minute timekeeping records. Results vary by engagement scope, data readiness, complexity, and review requirements. All outputs are reviewed and validated by the Mile Marker team prior to use or delivery.* Mile Marker together with Crunched identified highly manual, long-lasting tasks, and automated specific workflows entirely. A human is still critically needed to review and iterate on the output, and there are still plenty of tasks where a human has the edge. Crunched augments the person modeling and enables the human to build a deeper, more rigorous model - it does not replace them. ## Implementation ### How Crunched works in practice at Mile Marker 1. **Complex financial modeling** - Crunched builds, edits, and validates multi-sheet financial models directly inside Excel. Analysts use it to: - Construct models from structured inputs - Link assumptions correctly across sheets - Update scenarios without breaking logic - Catch linking and methodology errors before review Tasks that previously required hours of careful manual work now complete in minutes - without sacrificing rigor. 2. **Financial spreads and normalization** - Crunched accelerates financial spreading by: - Structuring raw financials into standardized Excel formats - Linking outputs directly into valuation and transaction models - Maintaining traceability back to source data This reduced one of Mile Marker's most labor-intensive analyst tasks from a full day to roughly one hour. 3. **Model-driven write-ups** - For company, industry, and economic write-ups, Crunched: - Pulls data from analyst-approved datasets - Writes directly into templated Excel outputs - Maintains formula-level links to underlying assumptions This ensures narratives stay synchronized with the model, eliminating manual copy-paste errors and rework. ## The Decision ### Why Mile Marker chose Crunched Caleb highlights several key differentiators that made them choose Crunched: - Excel-native - works directly in existing models and templates - Audit-ready - outputs remain transparent and reviewable - Fast to deploy - no process overhaul required - Feedback-driven development - client feedback defines the product roadmap - Hands-on tailoring - assistance in customizing Crunched instructions to drive full workflow automation Crunched's forward-deployed approach allowed rapid tailoring to Mile Marker's specific modeling standards and formats. ## The Results ### Faster deals, deeper analysis #### Quantifiable outcomes - What used to take days now takes hours (or less) time savings across core transaction advisory workflows - Multiple hours saved per analyst per project, compounding across live engagements - Faster first-pass model reviews lead to quicker and materially fewer iteration cycles #### Qualitative impact - Analysts spend more time on judgment, structure, and insight - Senior consultants get deeper into the analysis - Teams deliver higher-quality outputs under the same deadlines Crunched effectively made previously "nice-to-have" analysis economically viable within standard deal timelines. This allows Mile Marker to deliver top-tier quality work to all clients regardless of size. ## Broader Impact ### Why this matters for other transaction advisory firms For most TAS consultants, the constraint is not ideas - it is execution capacity. Crunched allows firms like Mile Marker to: - Eliminate 80%+ of manual Excel time on core modeling and analysis tasks - Increase analytical depth without extending timelines - Reduce risk from manual Excel errors - Scale best-practice modeling across teams without adding headcount In an environment where speed and accuracy directly impact project outcomes, Crunched becomes a force multiplier for elite TAS teams. About Crunched Crunched is an AI Excel analyst built by and for Excel power users in investment banking, private equity, and management consulting. Backed by First Round Capital, Y Combinator, 20VC and others, Crunched integrates advanced AI models directly into Excel to automate modeling, error-checking, research, and templated outputs - without breaking existing workflows. The goal: automate Excel grunt work, one high-impact pain point at a time.