Financial Modeling Education

Financial Modeling Courses for Investment Banking, Private Equity, and FP&A.

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Mission Capital Consulting

Leesa Sleep

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TitleCard Capital Group, LLC

Vice President

Lariat Partners, LP

Associate

Hilton

Senior Analyst

FTI Consulting

Consultant

👇50% off all Financial Modeling Courses this week only.

Ever found yourself facing a last-minute request to build a financial model, feeling so overwhelmed you literally couldn’t think straight?  Then read this 👇

I've been there.  I remember EXACTLY how it feels, and it 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘴.

After being up until 2am the previous night, I had my head in my hands at a Colorado Rockies’ game, so insanely overwhelmed because I felt unprepared building a financial model.

Today, I can build in 2 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 what used to take me 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴, and it’s definitely 𝘯𝘰𝘵 because I’m smarter, it’s because... 𝗜 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗼.

What most people don’t realize is that Financial Modeling can be broken down in systematic steps you can repeat every time, so you’re not always recreating the wheel from scratch.

So that’s why I created the 𝗨𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺: teach everything I 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 I knew back then—𝙖 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠—to hopefully save just one Analyst from spending all weekend at the office.

Fast forward, here’s what things look like today:

🏆 Trusted by over 43,000 students with 4.9/5.0 Star average rating

🏆 Over 100,000 followers on LinkedIn & other social media platforms

🏆 Recognized by Business Insider and Financial Modeling World Cup

🏆 Featured by Wharton Online, Wall Street Prep, & LinkedIn Learning

In just 8 hours, you'll learn to build the 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵 Financial Models I use with real Investment Banks, FP&A Teams, and Private Equity Firms—models you can use immediately—no fluff or insufferable corporate jargon.

Enroll today, and make sure you never spend another night, weekend (or vacation) burned out at the office 👉 https://www.financialmodelingeducation.com/

"Training is fantastic..."
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"Best money ever spent..."
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"Absolute game changer..."
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"Best course I've taken online..."
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"Most comprehensive course I've taken..."
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"I have taken several modeling courses, this one is the best..."
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Check it out here 👉 https://www.financialmodelingeducation.com/

Chris Reilly

Learn the statement of cash flows with this simple AF one-pager 👇


✓ 𝙍𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙇𝙞𝙨𝙩

First things first, you'll need some data.

Ask for the Income Statement and the Balance Sheet.


✓ 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙥𝙨 — 𝙄𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩

1. Pull the Net Income from the Income Statement

2. Pull the Depreciation from the Income Statement

(or use the change in Accumulated Depreciation from the Balance Sheet if available)


✓ 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙥𝙨 — 𝘽𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙎𝙝𝙚𝙚𝙩

You're calculating the 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 between two periods.

For Assets: Previous Period - Current Period

For Liabilities & Equity: Current Period - Previous Period

(note, if Fixed Assets are shown on a "net basis," you'll need to subtract Depreciation from your calculation as well)

~~~
📥 btw, here's a balance sheet guide 👉 https://lnkd.in/ew4nwaVx 
~~~


✓ 𝙀𝙣𝙙 𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙡𝙩

If done correctly, the ending cash should match what you see on the Balance Sheet.

Once it does, you can be confident your model is structurally sound.

And now you can carry those formulas forward to reflect your forecast.


💡𝙋𝙧𝙤 𝙏𝙞𝙥

Once your Statement of Cash Flows is built correctly, you leave it alone.

~~~𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥~~~

Your modeling should only be done in the Income Statement and Balance Sheet.

The Statement of Cash Flows is nothing more than a formulaic bridge between the other two statements.


✓ 𝙎𝙠𝙞𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙑𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣

   • Get Income Statement & Balance Sheet
   • Calculate Changes b/t Balance Sheet
   • Works correctly when Ending Cash matches the Balance Sheet


~~~

Hey! I'm Chris Reilly, and I teach financial modeling.

I can help you master Three Statement Modeling in a few hours.

↪ https://bit.ly/FMECourses

I can help you master Three Statement Modeling & 13 Week Cash Flow Forecasting in 8 hours.

Check out this video...

How you can use SUMPRODUCT to spot errors in your model 👇

~~~
📥 𝘱.𝘴. 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰 👉 https://lnkd.in/efdpVuxX 
~~~

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮

Here's the formula: =SUMPRODUCT(--iserror([range]))

Note: In the video I incorrectly say "double negative 🙃," but Matthew Herbert of BizTrix pointed out that:

"The double minus is an operator, not negation. The double minus is the unary operator and it explicitly converts logical values into numbers (true converts to 1 and false converts to 0). ISERROR returns a logical value. This is why SUM(ISERROR(range)) or SUMPRODUCT(ISERROR(range)) returns 0 but placing the unary operator in front of ISERROR returns >0 when there is an error."

I have no idea what that means, but sounds good to me.

(Even as an experienced user and instructor there's always something new to learn!)


𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲

I will often put this SUMPRODUCT formula in the upper-left corner of a given sheet, and use it as a quick check/scan to see if any errors pop up.

Maybe something helpful you can add to your model 🙂.



~~~

👋 Hey, I'm Chris Reilly -- I teach financial modeling the way I 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 someone taught me.

🎓 I can help you master Three Statement Modeling and 13 Week Cash Flow Forecasting in only 8 hours -- and you'll complete your first working model in just 45 minutes.

↪ https://bit.ly/FMECourses

Hey so that model you just emailed your boss...

...did you check it for errors?


For real though, how closely?

(slamming F2 saying "looks good looks good looks good" isn't a strategy)

I hate to break it to you, but 90% of all spreadsheets contain errors.

(𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘵)

That's an A- in being wrong.

Not great.

The truth is, Excel's amazing flexibility also exposes our 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 limitations —

We make mistakes.

All of us.

———

If there is software out there that can be:

▪️ a grocery list, and;

▪️ a time keeper, and;

▪️ billion-dollar LBO, then;

𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 the human mind can find a way to make a mistake.

(I've done it plenty of times)

———

That's why the first thing I do with every file is build "error checks."

It's a separate tab.

I call it "QC" for "Quality Control."

Others call it "QA" ("Quality Assurance").

Others call it "Errors" or "Validations."

Doesn't matter what you call it, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵.

———

You link all your possible errors to this one place.

▪️ Does my Balance Sheet balance?

▪️ Does my Statement of Cash Flows match the Balance Sheet?

▪️ Are my Covenants in compliance?

▪️ Does my Cash go negative?

Then at the top, you put a "𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗖𝗞 𝗖𝗘𝗟𝗟."

The Master Check Cell references all the 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 errors below.

And ~𝗣𝗿𝗼 𝗧𝗶𝗽~ you link this Master Check Cell to cell A1 of 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘣 in your workbook.

That way, when something goes wrong (and it will),

you are 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 notified (in cell A1), and you can investigate.

𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗶𝗽:

▪️ press "ctrl + [ " on cell A1

▪️ it will bring you to your "QC" tab

———

I've got an example in the image below.

You can see my list of possible errors,

and my "Master Check Cell" at the top.

For complicated files I will have hundreds of these.

It is the first and last tab I 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 check before hitting "send" in my email.


𝙉𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙥𝙨 ⤵️

📥 Stay organized with this modeling checklist 👉 https://lnkd.in/eVTU67fY 

✅ Master this error-checking technique with step-by-step videos 👉 https://bit.ly/FMECourses

Josh Aharonoff, CPA

Fractional CFO | Founder & CEO at Mighty Digits | Follow Your CFO Guy for Finance & Accounting tips!

I build tools that make financial reporting effortless — starting with Model Wiz, the Excel-based FP&A platform used by accounting firms, founders, and CFOs. 

I also teach finance and Excel to a community of 400,000+ across YouTube, LinkedIn, and my newsletter. 

When I’m not creating, I work as a fractional CFO helping companies turn their financial data into action.

Check out some helpful resources here:

🔗 www.modelwiz.com - Get beautiful dashboards + forecast right in your excel file

🔗 www.yourcfoguy.com - Learn Finance & Accounting like you’ve never seen before

🔗 www.mightydigits.com - Get hands on support

CEO and Founder

Mighty Digits is a consulting firm specializing in Accounting and Finance services for early stage startups. Services include Financial modeling, Month end Close, AP / AR Management, Payroll, Compliance Filings and more.

8 Ways to Value a company

1. DISCOUNTED CASH FLOWS (DCF)
 
 • How it Works: Calculates the present value of an investment based on its expected future cash flows.
 
 • Formula: CF_1 / (1+r)^1 + CF_2 / (1+r)^2 + ... + CF_n / (1+r)^n (CF = Cash Flow, r = discount rate, n = number of periods)
 
 • Common Uses & Suitable Company Types: M&A, Corporate Finance, Investment Banking
 

2. MARKET CAP
 
 • How it Works: Values a company by multiplying its current share price by the total number of outstanding shares.
 
 • Formula: Share Price x Total Outstanding Shares
 
 • Common Uses & Suitable Company Types: Publicly traded companies
 

3. COMPARABLE COMPANY ANALYSIS (CCA)
 
 • How it Works: Compares the company's financial metrics to similar companies to determine value.
 
 • Formula: Based on multiples like P/E ratio, EBITDA, etc., specific to the industry.
 
 • Common Uses & Suitable Company Types: Useful for valuing both public and private companies, especially when comparable financial data is available.
 

4. PRECEDENT TRANSACTIONS
 
 • How it Works: Analyzes prices paid for similar companies in past transactions.
 
 • Formula: Valuation based on transaction multiples, adjusted for size, market, and timing.
 
 • Common Uses & Suitable Company Types: Used in M&A, particularly relevant for investment banking and private equity.
 

5. EBITDA MULTIPLE
 
 • How it Works: Applies a standard industry multiplier to a company's EBITDA.
 
 • Formula: EBITDA x Industry Multiplier
 
 • Common Uses & Suitable Company Types: Often used in industries where EBITDA is a key performance metric.
 

6. BOOK VALUE
 
 • How it Works: Based on the company's assets minus its liabilities as recorded on the balance sheet.
 
 • Formula: Total Assets - Total Liabilities
 
 • Common Uses & Suitable Company Types: Relevant for asset-heavy companies, like real estate or manufacturing.
 

7. 409A VALUATION
 
 • How it Works: Determines the fair market value of a private company's common stock.
 
 • Formula: Utilizes various valuation methods, often DCF or CCA, adjusted for private company specifics.
 
 • Common Uses & Suitable Company Types: Crucial for startups and private companies planning to offer stock options.
 

8. REVENUE MULTIPLIER (including ARR/MRR)
 
 • How it Works: Applies a multiplier to a company's total or recurring revenue.
 
 • Formula: Revenue x Revenue Multiplier
 
 • Common Uses & Suitable Company Types: Particularly relevant for SaaS and subscription-based business models.
 

===

Did you learn something? I know I sure did…

But there’s much more to it.

Got anything to add to the topic?

Join the discussion in the comments below 👇

The Guy Behind the Most Beautiful Dashboards in Finance & Accounting | 450K+ Followers | Founder @ Mighty Digits

10 Accounting Interview Questions 👇 
Answered by 10 Accounting Creators 👥 

1️⃣ What are the 3 financial statements, and how are they connected?

I’ll start off answering this one 🙋

“The 3 financial statements are the Profit and Loss, the Balance Sheet, and the Statement of Cash Flows. The P&L connects to the Balance sheet via an account called Retained Earnings, And the Cash flows pulls balances from both the P&L and Balance Sheet.”

2️⃣ What’s the difference between Cash vs Accrual accounting?

For this, I asked Bill Hanna, CPA

“Cash accounting for the most part means you classify money in as income, and money out as expenses. Accrual accounting means you classify income only when it’s earned, and expenses only when they are incurred”

3️⃣ What is Deferred Revenue?

Let’s ask Brian Feroldi about this one

”Deferred Revenue represents the $$ amount of goods or services you have yet to deliver to your customers who have paid you / owe you payment unconditionally”

4️⃣ How do journal entries work?

For this one, I asked Nathan Liao, CMA

“Journal entries help communicate which accounts on your general ledger are increasing or decreasing. They are denoted via Debits and Credits, and must always match one another”

5️⃣ What’s a bank reconciliation, and why is it important?

Let’s see what Ben Murray has to say about this one:

“Bank reconciliations allow you to compare & match the balance in your bank accounts to the amounts reported in your General Ledger.”

6️⃣ What is a accrued expense?

For this, I asked Nicolas Boucher:

”An accrued expense is an expense incurred, but not yet paid. It can also represent an expense incurred in which a bill has not been received, resulting in an estimate”

7️⃣ What are workpapers, and how should you organize them?

Let’s ask Anders Liu-Lindberg this one:

” Workpapers showcase the supporting calculations for entries recorded in your general ledger”

8️⃣ What are the chart of accounts, and how should they look?

Let’s see what Christian Wattig has to say about this:

”Your chart of accounts represent the line items that show up on your P&L and Balance Sheet, It’s important to aid the readers of the financial statements”

9️⃣ What’s a contra account and how does it work?

For this one, we’ll ask Pieter Slegers:

“A contra account is an account in a section that behaves in the opposite manner of the accounts in that section (eg: discount → contra revenue)”

🔟 How do you build a statement of cash flows?

And finally, let’s see what Jason Hershman has to say about this:

” You can create a statement of cash flows via the direct method, or the indirect method. Most companies opt for the Indirect method as it is easy to prepare.”

===

What other questions have you seen in a finance & accounting interview? 

Let us know in the comments below 👇

13 Cash Formulas
Cuz It’s all about the cash monnayy 🤑

1. Operating Cash Flow (OCF):
 
 • Formula: OCF = Net Income + Depreciation + Amortization + Other Non-Cash Items - Changes in Working Capital
 
 • What it tells you: Measures the cash generated or used by a company in its core business operations.
 
 • Why it matters: More operating cash flow means better liquidity for day-to-day operations, investments, and paying off debts.
 
2. Free Cash Flow (FCF):
 
 • Formula: FCF = Operating Cash Flow - Capital Expenditures
 
 • What it tells you: Tracks cash that's available for distribution to stakeholders or for reinvestment.
 
 • Why it matters: Positive FCF shows a firm's ability to generate cash and fund expansions, pay dividends, or lower liabilities.
 
3. Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC):
 
 • Formula: CCC = Days of Inventory Outstanding + Days of Sales Outstanding - Days of Payables Outstanding
 
 • What it tells you: Calculates the time taken to turn investments in inventory and receivables into cash, less the time to pay off suppliers.
 
 • Why it matters: A shorter CCC implies effective working capital management and sufficient cash for meeting obligations and growth.
 
4. Net Cash Flow:
 
 • Formula: Net Cash Flow = Operating Cash Flow + Investing Cash Flow + Financing Cash Flow
 
 • What it tells you: Represents total cash inflows and outflows from operating, investing, and financing activities.
 
 • Why it matters: Positive net cash flow means a firm is generating more cash than it's spending.
 
5. Discounted Cash Flow (DCF):
 
 • Formula: DCF = CF1 / (1+r)1 + CF2 / (1+r)2 + ... + CFn / (1+r)n
 
 • What it tells you: Values an investment or a company by projecting its future cash flows to the present.
 
 • Why it matters: Higher DCF suggests greater future cash generation and increased value.
 
6. Present Value:
 
 • Formula: PV = CF / (1+r)t
 
 • What it tells you: Determines today's worth of a future cash flow.
 
 • Why it matters: A greater present value indicates a more valuable future cash flow.
 
7. Cash Burn

 • Formula: Cash from Operating Activities + Cash from Investing Activities
 
 • What it tells you: How much cash you are consuming, without factoring in financing activities
 
 • Why it matters: This helps you understand how much your business actually needs to support operations
 

===

There are even more cash formulas than the ones listed above, but I’m limited to only 3k characters.

Which ones would you add?

Let us know by joining in on the discussion in the comments below 👇

Excel Formula vs Function Syntax 📊

Most people use these terms interchangeably...but they're completely different things.

And understanding the difference will make you SO much better at troubleshooting when things go wrong.

Let me break this down for you 👇 

➡️ FORMULA SYNTAX

This is how Excel reads your ENTIRE expression.

When you type =A1 + B1 * C1, Excel sees three distinct parts:

- Cell references (A1, B1, C1)
- Operators (+ and *)
- Constants (like typing 100 or "Text")

Excel processes this from left to right, following order of operations just like math class.

The formula syntax is basically Excel's way of understanding what you want to calculate across multiple elements.

I love how Excel breaks this down...it's like having a conversation with your spreadsheet.

➡️ FUNCTION SYNTAX

Now this is where it gets interesting.

Functions have their own internal structure that follows a specific pattern:

=FunctionName(argument1, argument2, argument3...)

Take the IF function: =IF(A1>100, "High", "Low")

Excel reads this as:

- Function Name: IF
- The condition to check: A1>100
- Value if True: "High"
- Value if False: "Low"

Each function has its own rules for how many arguments it needs and what types of data it accepts.

And here's a pro tip that saves me hours: hit F4 to toggle between different reference types when building formulas.

Absolute references ($C$6), mixed references ($C6 or C$6), relative references (C6)...this little shortcut is a lifesaver.

➡️ HOW TO GET HELP IN EXCEL

When you're stuck (and we all get stuck), Excel has built-in help that most people ignore:

1️⃣ Function Wizard - Click the fx icon next to the formula bar. It explains each argument and gives examples. I use this more than I care to admit.

2️⃣ Hover for Tooltips - When typing a function, Excel shows a helpful tooltip that breaks down its structure. Pay attention to this...it's like having a mini tutorial right there.

3️⃣ Ask ChatGPT - Type your formula question into ChatGPT: "What does this Excel formula do?" Works incredibly well for complex formulas that make your head spin.

===

I've been working with Excel for years, and I still learn new things about formula and function syntax regularly.

The key is understanding that formulas are the big picture, while functions are the specialized tools within that picture.

What Excel syntax trips you up the most?

Drop your questions in the comments below 👇

Revenue growth means nothing if margins are shrinking.

I need to see all the margins at once. Operating margin shows if the business model works. Gross margin shows if pricing works. Net margin shows what you actually keep.

This dashboard tracks all four together. Revenue with a 12 month trend on the left. Then operating, gross, and net margins, each with their own chart showing movement over time.

Toggle between any month. Compare to prior period or last year. Everything's color coded so you see immediately if margins are expanding or getting squeezed.

Model Wiz connects to QuickBooks Online. Excel plugin. One click and the whole dashboard builds with your data. Updates automatically when you roll forward your books instead of spending two hours rebuilding charts every month.

Get it at modelwiz.com

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