4 Day Project Financial Modelling Masterclass

Financial models are a pre-requisite to successfully identify risks, costs, opportunities and income streams. An Excel based financial model helps you to become profitable in a continuously changing business atmosphere. 100% of all CFOs agree that working without Excel is close to impossible. A thorough understanding of Excel makes your job easier, saves you massive time and will bring prosperity to your business. Not convinced yet? Here are 7 reasons why Excel is magic. 

1. Boost the bottom linIntegratee 
Will there be profit or loss? What will the future be like? What revenues, expenses and profits can be expected? A great Excel financial model bases future performance on data and educated assumptions. Surviving without modelling is pure luck.

2. Check your assumptions 
Are your assumptions based on reality or are they erroneous or based on historical truths? The process of developing a financial model helps to validates current decisions. Be smart. Be smarter. Win.

3. Will you be able to pay the bills? 
How would your business hold up against straining changes?  What happens if your sales drops 20 percent? Will you be able to pay the bills? A financial model is the perfect tool to test stresses upon a business.  

4. Deepest understanding 
Do all your colleagues realy know what works and matters? Probably not. One of the great benefits of having a financial model is the increased understanding by all participants. Team up for more succes.

5. From gut feelings to hard facts
Do you trust your intuition or "gut" feelings more than data? Than you probably miss out big. Off-the-cuff decisions mean disaster if not tempered with data. Both data and intuition have a place at the decision making table but intuition alone spells disaster.

6. Better and leaner than competitors 
Do you believe your ability to make better, quicker, data based decisions will lead to more profits and a competitive advantage? Spot on! The introduction of a financial model into a business will potentially turn into a sustainable competitive advantage for any business.

7. Discover hidden gems 
Would you like to save yourselve stress? Would you rather figure out things before or after your decisions? Exactly. Creating an Excel financial model will bring to the forefront strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. 

Save massive time and bring prosperity to your business: sign up today.

Please contact Sarah Chalmers if you need assistance: [email protected] or (mobile) +27 11 083 7515

About your trainers from Goalfix

Established in 1998 Goalfix Financial Modellers has grown into a highly specialized firm of financial modellers and model trainers.  As CEOs and CFOs of various public and private companies, Goalfix executives bring a wealth of business experience, financial expertise and wisdom to both the financial models we develop, and our highly acclaimed financial training courses. Combining 50 years of experience building smart financial models, with a further 25 years experience teaching masterclass financial modelling courses around the world, Goalfix is geared to build financial acumen for your company and employees.

Goalfix trainers are:
 

• Colin Human is one of South Africa’s leading financial modellers with extensive business experience. A chartered accountant, he has occupied various senior management positions in both public and private companies across a wide range of industries from Aluminum, Building, Ceramic Tiles and Engineering to Granite, Education, Hotel and Corporate Finance. He is currently a director of a number of companies, and CEO of GoalFix (Pty) Ltd. Colin started his modelling activities in the early 80s, and today is recognized as a Master Financial Modeller and dynamic Course Director.
• Dave Theron is a self-employed chartered accountant consulting and lecturing in the field of financial modelling. He served articles with KPMG. He has extensive experience in the building of financial models dating back to 1971. Dave currently presents public courses on corporate financial modelling in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Namibia and South Africa. He has also lectured at the Wits Business School, and acted as an external examiner in the Department of Commerce at the University of the Witwatersrand.
• Eelco Lodewijks is a specialist in financial analysis, Microsoft Excel, and business management. He has 25 years of corporate and investment finance, business consulting and management expertise, arising from specific experience in construction engineering, merchant banking and financial, marketing and production management
• Claire Bower set up an End-user Computer Training and Programming Centre in Ladysmith. This centre was the first in the area to become accredited with firstly the ITITB and then the ISETT Seta. She was heavily involved with the mapping of training material to the old and new Unit Standards in conjunction with the ISETT Seta. Based now in Gauteng, she currently trains on all levels of the MS Office Professional Suite, particularly preparing candidates for Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification.

Did you know over 50% of all JSE listed companies have sent staff to training offered by Goalfix and they keep coming back? So will you.

Please contact Sarah Chalmers if you need assistance: [email protected] or (mobile) +27 11 083 7515.

Did you know over 50% of all JSE listed companies have sent staff to this training and they keep coming back? So will you.
 

• Financial manager - FNB Africa: “Thank you for the financial modelling master class last week. I really found the course very interesting and it will definitely assist me in my work going forward.”
• Accountant - Tsogo Sun: “I am new to the Financial Modelling space but found the Masterclass to be very informative and comprehensive. I appreciate how the material complies with international standards and look forward to applying my new skill-set in the near future.” 
• Manager Standard Bank: “The Financial Modelling course is a must for anyone who wants to discover the power of financial models and excel and use it”
• Manager FNB: "I considered my self to be a savvy user but quess what, now i am saving hours each day by applying a bunch of easy tricks."
• CEO Brookwood Capital: "From the intermediate modeller to the seasoned spreadsheet guru, we recommend Goalfix’s advanced modelling course as an exceptional opportunity to refresh and renew modelling skills.  The course not only highlights the latest tweaks and turns of Excel but also gives you great insights into a wide range of ‘tried and tested’ modelling techniques and approaches essential to building any defensible business, financial or investment model.  A very good return on investment."
• Anonymous: "Even in the lessons that went over Excel functions that I use every day, there were tidbits of info that I didn’t know about but found very useful. The shortcuts, tips and tricks are so important to anyone who depends on excel to do all/part of their job."

Did you know over 50% of all JSE listed companies have sent staff to this training and they keep coming back? So will you.

Please contact Sarah Chalmers if you need assistance: [email protected] or (mobile) +27 11 083 7515

Course Content Day 1: Introduction

Modelling Overview

• Financial modelling defined
• Modelling observations
• Types of financial models
• Example of a deterministic model

Excel’s Modelling Functions

• Modelling with Excel
• Changing Excel’s default settings
• Installing the required add-ins
• Getting the Developer tab on the ribbon
• Setting up the Quick Access Toolbar
• Exercise: Inserting tools into the Quick Access Toolbar
• Tips to improve productivity
• Choose
• Exercise: Choose
• Conditional formats
• Exercise: Conditional formats
• Creating your own formats ¬
• formatting value cells with text
• Creating views
• Data validation techniques
• Date functions
• Drilling down
• Expanding Sum formula – using =SUM to accumulate data
• Grouping and outlining – collapsing rows and columns

Hyperlinks

• Logical tests – IF statements
• Exercise: Logical tests
• Demonstration: Logical tests – nested Ifs
• Masks
• Match, Index and Lookup
• Max and Min
• Exercise: Match, Max and Index
• Naming cells, ranges and formulas
• Offset function
• Row(s) and column(s) functions
• String functions
• Sumproduct function
• Exercise: Sumproduct – If, Index, Row, Columns, and Masks
• Trunc, Int, Round & Rounddown

Excel’s Database and Data Management Functions

• Searching (filtering a database)
• Exercise: Filtering and totalling the filtered data
• Advanced Filtering
• D-functions
• Pivot table reports
• Producing and manipulating a pivot table
• Exercise: Interpreting volumes of data
• Sumif, Countif & Averageif
• Sumifs, Countifs & Averageifs
• Exercise: Sumif
• Exercise: Countifs and Sumifs
• counting and summing between range

Course Content Day 2: 

Importing text files into Excel

• Indirect cell addresses
• Exercise: Indirect addressing
• Vlookup and Hlookup
• Exercise: Vlookup and Match
• Exercise: Using Data Validation and Hlookup
• Exercise: Importing share prices from the stock exchange
• Uses of the Ctrl key

Financial Modelling

• Designing the model structure
• Model development – steps in developing a financial model
• Modelling best practice and cardinal rules

Introduction to Modelling

• Auditing and testing spreadsheets
• Examples: Spreadsheet errors
• Essential testing and auditing techniques
• Exercise: Identifying model design errors
• Hard coding, formula auditing, using Excel’s Goal Seek function

Building the ValuMart Trading Model

• Model Specification
• Exercise: Creating the Input Sheet
• Exercise: ValuMart Trading
• Exercise: Defining support schedules

Course Content Day 3: 

Loan – Functions and Techniques

• Calculating Loan capital and interest payments
• Exercise: ValuMart Trading
• completing the schedules

Income Statement

• Designing the Income Statement
• Financial ratios
• Exercise: ValuMart Trading – the income statement

Cash Flow Statement

• Designing the cash flow statement
• Cash flow statement – accounting layout
• Starting your cash flow statement with EBITDA

Balance Sheet

• Designing the balance sheet
• Balancing the balance sheet – min and max
• Exercise: ValuMart Trading – cash flow statement and balance sheet

Course Content Day 4:

Creating scenarios

• Comparing Scenarios
• Scenario summary
• Exercise: Retail World – creating 3 scenarios

Data tables

• Exercise: Retail World – setting up data tables
• Finalising the model Protecting your model
• Protecting sheets
• Protecting workbook structures
• Hiding formulas
• Protecting files

Optimisation models using solver

• Exercise: A simple optimisation model
• Exercise: A routing problem

Forecasting model and time series analysis

• Review of forecasting methods
• Liner methods
• Smoothing and seasonality
• Exercise: Producing a forecast with time series analysis

Basic forecasting

• Probabilities
• Monte Carlo Simulation – Basics

Other modelling issues (time permitting)

• Multi-file models
• A sales model with links and overridden data
• Summing through the sheets
• Exercise: Summing up through the sheets
• Consolidating the branch files
• Consolidating via commands
• Converting the consolidated results to foreign currency
• Average growth or inflation rate
• Effective and nominal rates

All about loans (time permitting)

• Choosing between alternatives
• Exercise: Choosing between alternatives loans
• Example: Loan with delayed repayments
• Calculating the loan limit (based on the DSCR)
• Variable Loan – multiple drawdowns, interest rates and special payments
• Optional exercise: Lease or buy anticipating change

Uses of the Ctrl Keys


Please contact Sarah Chalmers if you need assistance: [email protected] or (mobile) +27 11 083 7515