What are Business Drivers? Business drivers are the key inputs and activities that drive the operational and financial results of a business. Common examples of business drivers are salespeople, number of stores, website traffic, number and price of products sold, units of production, etc. In order to make internal choices about business strategy or build…
How to Link the Three Financial Statements: Webinar In this webinar, we will perform a live demonstration of how to build a simple three-statement model in Excel, which will form the basis for all other levels of financial modeling. To learn more, launch our financial modeling courses. Download the Three Statement Model Template Linking the…
What is Valuation Modeling in Excel? Valuation modeling in Excel may refer to several different types of analysis, including discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis, comparable trading multiples, precedent transactions, and ratios such as vertical and horizontal analysis. The various types of analyses may be built from scratch in Excel or may use an existing template/model. This…
What is a Discount Factor? In financial modeling, a discount factor is a decimal number multiplied by a cash flow value to discount it back to its present value. The factor increases over time (meaning the decimal value gets smaller) as the effect of compounding the discount rate builds over time. Practically speaking, it is…
What is Accrued Revenue? Accrued revenue is revenue that has been earned by providing goods or services but the payment has yet to be received. In other words, cash collection will occur in a subsequent period after the goods or services have been provided. Since it comes with the customer’s future obligation to pay, an…
What is the Nordic Model? The Nordic model is an economic model that is practiced in Scandinavian countries, including Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland. The countries are characterized by high living standards and low income disparities and are seen as a model for economic equality and opportunity. Scandinavian countries implement a comprehensive welfare state…
What is a Sources and Uses of Cash Schedule? A Sources and Uses of Cash schedule gives a summary of where capital will come from (the “Sources”) and what the capital will be spent on (the “Uses”) in a corporate finance transaction. When computing their total amounts, the sources and uses accounts should equal each…
How to Build a Merger Model A merger model is an analysis representing the combination of two companies that come together through an M&A process. A merger is the “combination” of two companies, under a mutual agreement, to form a consolidated entity. An acquisition occurs when one company proposes to offer cash or its shares…
What is an Independent Variable? An independent variable is an input, assumption, or driver that is changed in order to assess its impact on a dependent variable (the outcome). Think of the independent variable as the input and the dependent variable as the output. In financial modeling and analysis, an analyst typically performs sensitivity analysis…
What is Scenario Analysis? Scenario analysis is a process of examining and evaluating possible events or scenarios that could take place in the future and predicting the various feasible results or possible outcomes. In financial modeling, the process is typically used to estimate changes in the value of a business or cash flow, especially when…
