Financial Modeling for Business Analysts and Consultants

What is the aim of this course?

As a business analyst or a consultant, you will have to from time to time create financial models. They are a bit different than business models. In business models, you go into details of operations and you focus on getting the links on the KPIs. Those models are usually done for internal purposes, to manage in the right direction the business. Financial models on the other hand are more for external users. You concentrate on creating a picture of the business in a standardized, understood by everybody way. You also want to create financial statements: profit & loss statement, balance sheet statement, and cash flow statement.   

On top of that, you use financial statements for valuation purposes.   

The most typical situation when, as a business analyst or a consultant, you will have to prepare such a model is connected with selling or purchasing a company. You may be doing it on the sell side or on the buy side.  Financial modeling is done as a part of strategy projects, turnaround projects, and due diligence.   

I will NOT teach you everything on financial modeling because it is simply not efficient (and frankly you don’t need it). This course is organized around the 80/20 rule and I want to teach you the most useful (from a business analyst/consultant perspective) ways to go as fast as possible from rough description to working model in Excel that you can make more and more complicated.   

The aim of this course is that you are able to do a financial model of the business as fast as possible.   

If done properly, this course will transform you in a few days into a pretty good business analyst who knows how to create fast and efficiently financial models.

This course is based on my 15 years of experience as a consultant in top consulting firms and as a Board Member responsible for strategy, performance improvement, and turn-arounds in the biggest firms from Retail, FMCG, SMG, B2B, and services sectors that I worked for. I have carried out or supervised over 90 different performance improvement projects in different industries that generated a total of 2 billion in additional EBITDA. On the basis of what you will find in this course, I have trained in person over 100 consultants, business analysts, and managers who now are Partners in PE and VC funds, Investment Directors and Business Analysts in PE and VC, Operational Directors, COO, CRO, CEO, Directors in Consulting Companies, Board Members, etc. On top of that my courses on Udemy were already taken by more than 300 000 students including people working in EY, Walmart, Booz Allen Hamilton, Adidas, Naspers, Alvarez & Marsal, PwC, Dell, Walgreens, Orange, and many others.

I teach step by step on the basis of Excel files that will be attached to the course.  We will go through a real-life example of a business and create the financial model for it. To make the best out of the course you should follow my steps and repeat what I do with the data after every lecture. Don’t move to the next lecture if you have not done what I show in the lecture that you have gone through.   

I assume that you know basic Excel so the basic features (i.e. how to write formulas in Excel) are not explained in this course. I concentrate on intermediate and advanced solutions and purposefully get rid of some things that are advanced yet later become very inflexible and useless (i.e. naming the variables).     

To every lecture, you will find attached  (in additional resources) the Excel shown in the Lecture so as a part of this course you will also get a library of ready-made analyses that can, with certain modifications, be applied by you in your work.   

Why have I decided to create this course?   

This course is a part of my attempt to help business analysts and consultants gain fast useful knowledge that will help them excel at their work. I have done 10 other courses that will help you become a great business analyst or consultant. I have covered already: hacks and tricks in Excel, business modeling, market research, management productivity hacks, and others. Now you have the opportunity to learn financial modeling in Excel   

In what way will you benefit from this course?   

The course is a practical, step-by-step guide loaded with tons of analyses, tricks, and hints that will significantly improve the speed with which you do the analyses as well as the quality of the conclusions coming out of available in your company data. There is little theory – mainly examples, a lot of tips from my own experience as well as other notable examples worth mentioning. Our intention is that thanks to the course you will know:   

• What is the difference between business models and financial models?   

• How to model cost positions and balance sheet positions?   

• How to create on the basis of these financial statements: profit and loss statement, balance sheet statement, and cash flow statements   

• How to make sure that there is integrity in the model?   

• What analyses and conclusions you can draw from the financial model?   

You can also ask me any question either through the discussion mode or by messaging me directly. 

How the course is organized?   

The course is divided currently into 10 sections and will be adding new sections to address other important issues. Currently, you will find the following sections:   

• Introduction. We begin with a little intro to the course     

• Modeling of Profit & Loss account. In this section, we start by showing how to model cost positions (except for Depreciation)and how to create on the basis of this, a profit & loss statement   

• Capex and Depreciation.  Capex and Depreciation are some of the most difficult elements that you will model in Excel. Therefore, we have created a separate section devoted just to this subject. In this section, you will learn how to follow specific groups of assets, track their gross and net value, and calculate depreciation.   

• Working Capital. Working capital is crucial to the business as it defines how much money you have to have engaged in the business. I will show you how to model specific positions of Working Capital   

• Debt.  You may need external sources of financing for the company. I will show you how to model loans and get the necessary info to create a balance sheet later.   

• Equity. In this section, I will show you how to model equity and all relations with shareholders   

• Balance sheet modeling. Here we get everything together to model the balance sheet statement.     

• Cash flow modeling.  Here we get everything together to model the cash flow statement.  Here we will check the integrity of the model as well.   

• Analyses of the Financial Model.  In the end, on the basis of a ready model, I will try to draw conclusions that will show us whether the business we have been analyzing is interesting or not   

• Valuation. In this section, I will show you the main valuation methods. We will look at DCF and the Multiplier method

• Business modeling. In many cases, you will have no time to do a full financial model. In such situations, you may resort to creating a business model. A business model will usually have only a P&L statement. In some cases also simplified the Cash Flow statement. In this section, we will see how you can create such models. You can also get access to more than 30 models. You will see how to model e-commerce, marketplace, real estate, subscription businesses, and many more.    

You will also be able to download many additional resources   

• Excels with analyses shown in the course

• Links to additional presentations and movies

• Links to books worth reading  

At the end of my course, students will be able to…   

• You will master financial modeling in Excel at the needed for a business analyst and consultant level

• Understand the main challenges in financial modeling

• Perform the analyses of the financial model

• You will get a ready model that you can utilize for your purposes

Who should take this course? Who should not?   

• Business analysts

• Researchers

• Controllers

• Consultants

• Small and medium business owners

• Startups founders

What will students need to know or do before starting this course?   

• Basic Excel

• Basic knowledge of economics or finance