Mastering Financial Modeling: A Professional’s Guide to Building Financial Models in Excel

Book excerpt: All the precision of financial modeling--and none of the complexity Evidence-based decision making is only as good as the external evidence on which it is based. Financial models uncover potential risks on a company’s balance sheet, but the complexity of these instruments has limited their effectiveness. Now, Mastering Financial Modeling offers a simplified method for building the fast and accurate financial models serious evidencebased decision makers need. What sets this practical guide apart is its "learning-on-the-job" approach. Unlike other books that teach modeling in a vacuum, this superior method uses a diverse collection of case studies to convey each step of the building process. "Learning on the job" connects the dots between the proper Excel formulas and functions and the real-world situations where you want to use them. By learning through association, you can absorb the information quickly and have it ready to use when you need it. The book starts right off on building models--from creating a standalone cash flow model through integrating it with an income statement and balance sheet. Along the way, you will master the skill set you need to build advanced financial models. With only a basic knowledge of accounting and finance, individual investors and financial professionals alike can: Create a core model and customize it for companies in most industries Understand every working component of a financial model and what each one tells you about a company Format cells and sheets in Excel for easily repeatable modeling Written with the practitioner in mind, Mastering Financial Modeling shows you how to ensure your model is ready for real-world application by safeguarding it against modeling errors. It covers a full array of Excel's builtin auditing and testing tools and illustrates how to build customized error-checking tools of your own to catch the inaccuracies that typically fall through the cracks. Get the most out of your data with Mastering Financial Modeling. Mastering Financial Modeling brings the power of financial models down to earth and puts it in the hands of investors, bankers, and private equity professionals who don't have a passion for crunching numbers. Nowhere else can you get step-by-step instruction on building these valuable tools from an elite World Bank investment officer. Starting from the ground up, Eric Soubeiga shows you how to interpret and build financial models in Microsoft Excel that will accurately assess any company’s valuation and profit potential. Even if you have unsuccessfully tried financial modeling in the past, this book will reach you because it associates every lesson to the business world you work in daily. Chapter by chapter, you will master financial modeling, and in the end, you will: Command authority over building every aspect of a financial model Be capable of explaining the accounting and finance concepts behind the mechanics of modeling Confidently determine a company’s ability to generate cash flows for its capital investors with discounted cash flow (DCF) modeling Execute powerful spreadsheet calculations in Excel Most importantly, as a decision maker, the insight you bring to the table through your sophisticated understanding and application of financial modeling will benefit every stakeholder. See what leading professionals around the world already know--Mastering Financial Modeling is the most comprehensive guide on the market for designing, building, and implementing valuation projection models. What it does from there is up to you.