A new design method, Direct Strength Method (DSM), has been introduced by researchers in recent years for calculating the ultimate design strength of cold-formed steel sections. DSM is basically a stress-based approach, wherein the strength of the section is reduced to take care of buckling effects. The ultimate strengths corresponding to three buckling modes, local, distortional, and global modes are distinguished in DSM, in which the elastic buckling stresses are determined using analytical expressions or by using numerical methods like finite element, finite strip, or spline finite strip method. A finite strip computational procedure for evaluating the critical elastic buckling stresses has been proposed in the present study. Also, decomposition of buckling modes into pure modes can be performed using the formulation. This formulation has been validated for a range of cross-sectional dimensions under uniaxial compression and flexure and can be used as a design utility for IS 801 based on DSM. © 2019, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.