Financial Modeling Institute (FMI)

Financial Modeling Institute (FMI) is delighted to announce its partnership with BFI Insights, a leading provider of Project Finance, Financial Modeling, Investment Advisory, Data Analysis, and Business Intelligence services. BFI Insights is dedicated to preparing finance and data professionals for the future of work through best-in-class learning and development opportunities. In partnership with FMI, BFI Insights’ students, clients and network have the opportunity to sit for FMI’s Advanced Financial Modeler (AFM) accreditation exam, honing the practical financial modeling skills most valued by clients and stakeholders. FMI extends a warm welcome to the community of BFI Insights. We look forward to supporting your journey towards career excellence. #financialmodeling #bfiinsights

Advanced Financial Modeler (AFM) accreditation holders are able to build 3-statement financial models that includes seven supporting schedules. AFMs know the content so well that they can construct a financial model in under four hours. Completing a proctored exam under real-world time constraints is what validates the skills of AFM accreditation holders. The Advanced Financial Modeler program covers 10 topics that prepare candidates for the AFM accreditation exam. 1. Model Planning & Design - Financial modeling essentials and the AFM Exam, focusing on the development, planning, and design of effective financial models. 2. The Front End - The different sections in the "Front End" of financial models, showing how to create a cover page, executive summary, apply key formatting concepts, and build scenarios. 3. Revenue - How to forecast revenues and build a company’s revenue schedule, covering various methodologies, incorporating capacity constraints, and schedule construction. 4. Costs - Forecasting various types of costs and building a company's cost schedule, focusing on proper forecasting methods, understanding operating leverage, and efficient financial statement creation. 5. Depreciation - Building a company's depreciation schedule, covering methodologies for depreciating fixed assets, structuring schedules, utilizing Excel functions for Capex forecasts, and linking outputs to financial statements. 6. Income Tax - Building a company's income tax schedule, emphasizing its importance, causes of deferred tax, construction of the schedule, and linkage to financial statements. 7. Working Capital - Building a company’s working capital schedule, explaining the differences from other assets and liabilities, assumptions, and calculations needed for forecasting. 8. Capital Structure - The purpose, components, and construction of debt and equity schedules in a capital structure, highlighting various types, modeling cash, and key considerations for the revolver. 9. Financial Statements - Building the three financial statements: Income Statement, Cash Flow Statement, and Balance Sheet. 10. Outputs and Troubleshooting - Finalizing financial models, focusing on troubleshooting balance sheet errors, constructing the executive summary, and formatting for printing. #financialmodeling #financialmodel #excel #finance #skills

Repeating data and then using it in the formulas makes your formulas cleaner and easier to audit. For example, repeat key variables and assumptions on each relevant sheet instead of directly referencing another sheet. This practice ensures that all necessary information is available in one place, making your calculations more straightforward and transparent. Why? 1. Clarity: Reference cells are directly above the calculation cells, so formulas can be quickly understood while auditing the formula. 2. Flexibility: Updating data in one place updates all related formulas automatically. 3. Error Reduction: With data immediately before the formula, there is a lower chance of linking to an incorrect cell and a higher chance of catching an error. 4. Consistency: Maintain consistency across the entire model. Repeating data in financial modeling enhances reliability, transparency, and maintainability. Follow this practice to build robust and accurate models! #FinancialModeling #BestPractices #FinancialTips #ModelingAccuracy #DataTransparency

Congratulations to the new cohort of Advanced Financial Modeler (AFM) accreditation holders. Thank you for choosing Financial Modeling Institute and joining the world's leading community of accredited financial modelers. Advanced Financial Modeler (AFM) Accreditation Holders: Mojisola Adams Adegoke Adetoyinbo Bayan Albasri Abdulaziz Aljaber, AFM, Ahmed Almehza, Abdulaziz AlRushaidan, AFM Joscelin Amanna William Anderson Zainab Assiri, AFM Festus Audu Abdul Wahab Awa-Ibraheem Matthew Barker Esther Bassey, Alexandre Beauchet Tanvir Bhuiyan Apostolos Bouzanis Velikopoulos Laura Bradshaw Ovidiu Butuc Joseph Cavalier Panaishe Chibondo Celden Co João Paulo Coelho Alexandre Coste Leigh Croft Julia Maria Cunat Carbonell Miranda Daniels Mark Davidson Ahmed Elgohary,AFM,SOCPA Alyssa Ferreira James Forbes Derick Fourie Fang Gao Xiaoyan (April) Gao Dmitrii Gavlik Hameed Gbadebo Moses Gitonga José Manuel Gómez Martí Jorge Gonçalves Perez Amanda Goolcharan Anthony Haake Stephanie Han Christopher Harabas Chris Henneberry David Hiley Jon Huggins Giorgi Iremashvili Fatema Isa Ali Mohamad Jasem Alhammadi Ali Jawzi Parvathi Jimon Lydia Johnson Peter Kane Daniel Kemp Masato Kitaguchi Nathan Lang Richard Lešundák Linwei Li Tobias L. Yujun Liu Jack MacDonald Saurabh Maheshwari Sholpan Makhambetova Nazar Mashtaler, Giorgi Matcharashvili, AFM, Daniela Matei Jennifer McNeill Nandha Milan Prabhudas Manzur Mohammed Zysley Gem Morada Adedayo Morafa Pius Mulekano Andrei Nae Fergus Newton Satoe Noda Akin Omotesho Joshua Onwubiko Lateefah Oriola Omatozaye Oshemi Ethan Payne Merlyn Pereira Leonardo Pérez Sosa, Mihai Petcu, AFM Olha Pryimak Stuart Randell Anete Ribakova, AFM Laura Riveros Imran Sadiq Omar Saif Alketbi Sharifa Sanad, AFM Sudip Sarkar Aishling Scott Hans Selleslagh, Sana Shahid Jaimini Shukla Eugene Sim Norbert Skakala Ioannis Skarkalas Mark Smith Dmitrijs Suharevskis, AFM, Aishat Sulyman Aidyn Tanikenov Lisa Taylor Saskia-Alexandra ter Woort Amaury Terrazas Ferrer Galina Tolstova Ryo Tsukishiro Charlotte Tyler Akachukwu Udechukwu, AFM Can ULUDAG Györgyi Varga Tyler Warner, Lee White Spencer Wootten Ang Yik Ling Sayed Haider Yusuf Chase Zammit Renat Zhamaldinov *If you would like to be tagged in this post, please complete this form: https://lnkd.in/gbvP6cHR #Finance #Accounting #Business #Accreditation #Exam #Graduates

In order for a financial model to be a powerful communication tool, certain criteria must be met. This ePaper offers a detailed breakdown of the key attributes needed for financial models as well as guidance on how to effectively plan and design a financial model. #epaper #financialmodeling #finance #tips

Effective financial modeling requires a solid grasp of various depreciation methods to accurately forecast asset values and expenses. Here are key types of depreciation calculations you should know: 1. Straight-Line: Easiest and most common, spreading the cost evenly over the asset’s useful life. 2. Declining Balance: Applies a constant rate to the declining book value, with higher expenses in the early years. 3. Double Declining Balance: A more aggressive form of the declining balance, using double the declining balance rate. 4. Sum of the Year’s Digits: An accelerated method to calculate depreciation expense based on the asset’s expected life. 5. Units of Production: Ties depreciation to actual usage or production levels, ideal for assets with wear tied to activity. Mastering these methods is crucial for creating dynamic and accurate financial models that drive informed decision-making. 📊💡 #FinancialModeling #Depreciation #Finance #Accounting #Excel #ModelingTips #AssetManagement #Forecasting #BusinessFinance

Are you looking to enhance your financial modeling skills? The CONCATENATE function in Excel is a game-changer for combining text strings into one seamless entry. You can also combine text strings into a cell using the CONCAT function, the TEXTJOIN function or simply the “&”. Why Use CONCATENATE in Financial Modeling? 1. Descriptive Labels: Create dynamic headers like "Revenue 2024" by combining "Revenue" with a year reference. 2. Dynamic Reports: Build sentences like "Net profit for 2024 is $X" by joining fixed text with cell values. 3. Date Management: Combine day, month, and year into one date string. 4. Unique Identifiers: Generate unique keys by merging various cell values. Example: Combine multiple text strings with ease! The syntax is simple: =CONCATENATE(text1, [text2], [text3], ...). For example, generate a report title with company name and period: =CONCATENATE("Financial Report for ", A1, " - ", B1) If A1 = "ABC Corp" and B1 = "Q1 2024", the result is "Financial Report for ABC Corp - Q1 2024". Benefits: • Clarity: Creates clear, descriptive labels. • Automation: Automates text creation for dynamic inputs. • Consistency: Ensures consistent labeling and reduces errors. Enhance your modeling with CONCATENATE and see the difference in your Excel workbooks. Happy modeling! Let us know in the comments below how you combine text strings into a single cell. #FinancialModeling #ExcelTips #Concatenate #ExcelFunctions #Finance

When building a strong financial model, you need to have a good understanding of best practices to ensure accuracy, transparency, and efficacy. By learning from common pitfalls and integrating essential tips into your methodology, you can construct a powerful decision-making tool that facilitates informed business decisions. Here are 16 important tips to adhere to when creating a financial model. #financialmodeling #excel #tips #function #financialmodel #design #bestpractices

Many people forecast revenue using an annual growth multiplier against the previous year’s revenue. While simple, this method doesn’t help explain what’s driving the change in revenues. For any company, revenue is derived from a mix of price and volume, while considering the growth in each variable. Seeing the revenue deconstructed by price and volume enables critical thinking and helps the modeler articulate and defend what might happen in the future. To estimate sales price for a company, you may have to start with a gross sales price and then deduct items like freight, warehousing, discounts and commissions in order to arrive at a net sales price. To project sales volume, you may have to consider capacity constraints. It may even be useful to break down revenue by product, service and/or segment to make the model easier to understand and provide more explanatory power. However, you should limit this to the most significant revenue contributors to avoid too much detail. A price multiplied by volume relationship can be established for any business. Here are a few examples to consider: - Coffee Shop: Expected price x Daily units - Mining Company: Commodity price x Volume (ounces, barrels) - Retailer: Square feet x Avg revenue per square foot - Airline: Seat miles x Avg. revenue per seat mile - Service provider: Hourly rate x Billable Hours

🚫 Myth: Hardcoding values into formulas is acceptable if it speeds up the modeling process. ✅ Fact: Hardcoding values can lead to errors and reduces the model’s flexibility and transparency. 🔍 Explanation: • Lack of Transparency: Hardcoded values within formulas obscure the source, reducing clarity. • Reduced Flexibility: Hardcoded models are harder to update and less adaptable for scenario analysis. • Error Prone: Hardcoding increases the risk of errors, especially when a value is hardcoded multiple times throughout the model. • Best Practices: Separate inputs from calculations. Use cell references for assumptions and input values. • Ease of Review: Non-hardcoded models are easier to review, leading to greater confidence in the outputs. 💡Example: ❌ Instead of: = Price * 1.05 - 1000 ✅ Use: = Price * GrowthRate - Freight&Warehousing 🔑 Conclusion: Avoiding hardcoding values enhances accuracy, transparency, and usability in financial models, ensuring robust decision-making. #FinancialModeling #BestPractices #Transparency #Flexibility #Accuracy #FinancialAnalysis