Build Financial Models That Actually Work
Most people think spreadsheets are just for tracking expenses. But when you learn to build proper financial models, you're creating decision-making tools that can shape business outcomes. We teach the kind of modelling that analysts, investors, and finance teams rely on every day.
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Common Modelling Problems We Help You Solve
Building financial models isn't just about formulas. It's about understanding what goes wrong and knowing how to fix it before stakeholders start asking questions.
Circular References Breaking Everything
You've built what seems like a solid model, but Excel keeps throwing errors about circular references. The whole thing crashes when you update one assumption.
Scenario Analysis That Takes Hours
Every time someone asks "what if we changed the growth rate?" you're manually copying cells and losing track of which version is which. Testing scenarios shouldn't be this painful.
Models Nobody Else Can Follow
You understand your model perfectly, but when a colleague opens it, they have no idea where to start. Hard-coded numbers are mixed with formulas, and there's no clear logic to the layout.
How to Build a Three-Statement Model From Scratch
Start With Historical Data Structure
Pull the last three years of financial statements. Set up your sheets with income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow in separate tabs. Create a summary page that links to all three.
Pro tip: Always work left to right, oldest to newest data. This makes spotting trends easier and keeps your formulas consistent.
Build the Income Statement Drivers
Revenue doesn't just happen. Break it down into units sold, price per unit, or whatever drives your specific business. Calculate cost of goods sold as a percentage of revenue, then work through operating expenses line by line.
Common mistake: Don't hard-code growth rates into formulas. Put them in a separate assumptions section so you can adjust them easily.
Link Balance Sheet Items Properly
Accounts receivable ties to revenue through days sales outstanding. Inventory connects to cost of goods sold. Every balance sheet line should have a clear relationship to something on the income statement or cash flow.
This is where most models break. Check your balances frequently. Assets must equal liabilities plus equity, always.
Complete the Cash Flow Statement
Start with net income from your income statement. Add back depreciation and other non-cash charges. Calculate changes in working capital from balance sheet movements. This statement ties everything together.
Your ending cash balance from the cash flow statement should match the cash line on your balance sheet. If it doesn't, you've got an error somewhere.
Test With Sanity Checks
Change one assumption and watch what happens. Does revenue double when you double units sold? Do margins behave logically? Add check cells that flag when something looks wrong.
Build in automatic warnings. If debt-to-equity goes above certain thresholds or margins turn negative, you want to know immediately.
Why Our Approach Works for Australian Finance Professionals
We've trained people working in Melbourne investment firms, Sydney corporate finance teams, and businesses across regional Australia. The models they build after our program aren't academic exercises. They're tools that get used in actual financial decisions.
Our next cohort starts in September 2025. Classes run for twelve weeks with a mix of live sessions and independent work. You'll build five complete models during the program, each one more complex than the last.
