Guides & learn

Twenty practical, finance-professional guides — organised around the four models we build. Start with a pillar, then go deeper. Every guide links to the tool that automates it.

Financial Modeling

Build the full linked model — assumptions, revenue, statements, valuation and checks. · Open the Financial Model tool →

• ★ How to Build a Financial Model in Excel — A practical guide to building a linked Excel financial model with assumptions, revenue, costs, statements, valuation and checks.
• Quarterly Financial Model: When to Use Quarterly Forecasts Instead of Annual Models — When quarterly financial models are better than annual forecasts for cash runway, lenders, seasonality and investor reporting.
• Industry Financial Model Templates: How to Choose the Right Revenue Drivers — How to choose relevant revenue streams, cost lines, WACC and CAPEX assumptions for industry-specific financial models.
• How to Build a Startup Financial Model for Investors — How to build a startup financial model investors trust — revenue drivers, burn, runway, the three linked statements and a defensible funding ask.
• The Three-Statement Financial Model Explained — What a three-statement financial model is, how the income statement, cash flow and balance sheet link together, and why it must reconcile every period.
• SaaS Financial Model: MRR, Churn, CAC & LTV Explained — How to build a SaaS financial model — MRR and churn, CAC, LTV and the LTV:CAC ratio, the Rule of 40 and CAC payback, in a linked Excel model.
• What Is EBITDA? EBITDA vs Net Income Explained — What EBITDA is, how it differs from net income, why analysts use it for valuation multiples, and where it misleads — plus the bridge to free cash flow.
• Sensitivity and Scenario Analysis in Financial Modeling — How sensitivity and scenario analysis stress-test a financial model — one-variable tables, base, upside and downside cases, and why investors expect both.
• Cohort and Retention Analysis for SaaS and Subscriptions — How to read a cohort retention table, the difference between logo and net revenue retention, and why NRR above 100% drives subscription valuations.
• Break-Even Analysis: Formula, Chart and Worked Example — The break-even formula and contribution margin, a worked example, and the break-even chart where total revenue meets total cost.
• Revenue Forecasting: Top-Down vs Bottom-Up Methods — The two ways to forecast revenue — top-down from market size (TAM/SAM/SOM) and bottom-up from your own drivers — and why investors trust bottom-up.
• Depreciation Schedules: Straight-Line vs Declining Balance — How to build a depreciation schedule — the straight-line and declining-balance formulas, and how depreciation flows through all three financial statements.
• ROIC and Value Creation: Why ROIC Must Beat WACC — What return on invested capital (ROIC) is, the formula, and why growth only creates value when ROIC exceeds WACC — with a worked example.
• Monte Carlo Simulation in Financial Modeling — What Monte Carlo simulation is, how it differs from scenario analysis, and how thousands of iterations turn a point forecast into a probability distribution.

Cash Flow Forecasting

Forecast cash, working-capital timing and runway — when cash peaks, dips or runs short. · Open the Cashflow Forecasting tool →

• ★ How to Forecast Cash Flow in Excel (Free Template + Steps) — Build a cash flow forecast in Excel step by step: operating, investing and financing flows, working-capital timing, and closing cash by period.
• Cash Forecasting Methods: Direct, Indirect, 13-Week & Driver-Based — The four cash forecasting methods — direct, indirect, 13-week and driver-based — explained, with the horizon and purpose each one fits best.
• 13-Week Cash Flow Forecast: A Practical Guide for Tight Cash — What a 13-week cash flow forecast is, why turnaround and finance teams rely on it, and how to build a rolling short-term liquidity view in Excel.
• Direct vs Indirect Cash Flow Forecasting: Which Method to Use — The difference between direct and indirect cash flow forecasting, when to use each, and how the indirect method links profit to cash.
• Cash Flow Forecasting for Startups: Runway, Burn Rate & When to Raise — How startups forecast cash flow to measure runway and burn rate, avoid running out of cash, and time their next funding round.
• Working Capital Days Explained: DSO, DIO & DPO and Why They Drive Cash — What DSO, DIO and DPO mean, how the cash conversion cycle works, and how working-capital days determine whether a profitable business runs out of cash.
• Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR): Formula & Meaning — What the debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) is, the CFADS ÷ debt service formula, the covenants lenders require, and how to model it over a loan's life.
• Project Finance Modeling: DSCR & Long-Life Assets — How a project finance model works — CFADS, DSCR and LLCR coverage ratios, debt sculpting, and modelling long-life infrastructure assets over 25 years.
• Debt Schedule & Loan Amortization: How to Build One — How to build a debt schedule in Excel — the amortization formula, splitting interest from principal, and why that split shifts across the life of a loan.
• Budget vs Forecast vs Actual: Variance Analysis — The difference between a budget, a forecast and actuals, how to run variance analysis, and why a favourable variance can still signal a problem.
• Deferred Revenue and Revenue Recognition Explained — What deferred revenue is, how revenue recognition works for prepaid contracts, and why it makes cash and revenue diverge — with a 12-month unwind example.

DCF & Valuation

Value a business from its cash flows — WACC, terminal value, enterprise and equity value. · Open the DCF Valuation tool →

• ★ How to Build a DCF Model in Excel (Step-by-Step Guide) — Build a discounted cash flow (DCF) model in Excel step by step — unlevered free cash flow, WACC, terminal value, enterprise and equity value.
• Hurdle Rate Explained: How to Set the Minimum Return (and Use It with NPV & IRR) — What a hurdle rate is, how to set one from WACC, and how it works with NPV and IRR to accept or reject a project. With worked examples and charts.
• DCF Valuation Explained for Founders and Analysts — Understand how a DCF valuation works — free cash flow, WACC, terminal value and the bridge from enterprise value to equity value, explained simply for founders.
• How to Calculate WACC and Cost of Equity (CAPM Formula) — Calculate WACC from financial statements and cost of equity with CAPM: beta, the risk-free rate and the equity risk premium, with a worked example.
• How to Calculate Terminal Value in a DCF (Gordon Growth & Exit Multiple) — How to calculate terminal value in a DCF using the Gordon-Growth and exit-multiple methods, why it dominates valuation, and how to keep it realistic.
• Enterprise Value vs Equity Value: The Difference Explained — What enterprise value and equity value mean, how the bridge between them works with net debt, and why a DCF computes both.
• DCF for Startups: How to Value a Company With Little or No Profit — How to run a DCF valuation for a startup with negative or minimal cash flow — discount rate, forecast horizon, terminal value and sensitivity — done credibly.
• DCF vs EV/EBITDA Multiple: Which Valuation Method Should You Use? — The difference between DCF and EV/EBITDA multiple valuation, the strengths and weaknesses of each, and why professionals triangulate with both.
• Multi-Currency DCF Valuation: How to Value Foreign Cash Flows — How to value a business with foreign-currency cash flows in a DCF — the two accepted approaches, and how to match the discount rate to the currency.
• NPV vs IRR: What's the Difference and When to Use Each — NPV and IRR both come from discounted cash flow but express value differently. What each measures, why they sometimes disagree, and which one to trust.
• LBO Model Basics: How Leveraged Buyouts Create Returns — How a leveraged buyout works — sources and uses, the three levers of LBO returns (deleveraging, EBITDA growth and multiple change), and how to model one.
• Comparable Company Analysis: Valuing With Trading Comps — How to run a comparable company analysis — selecting the peer set, calculating EV/EBITDA and EV/Revenue, and applying the median multiple to value a business.
• Levered vs Unlevered Beta: Unlever and Relever (Hamada) — How to unlever and relever beta with the Hamada formula, why leverage distorts a raw beta, and how to build a defensible beta for your WACC from peers.
• Precedent Transaction Analysis: Valuing With M&A Comps — How to run a precedent transaction analysis — building the deal set, calculating deal multiples, and why precedents carry a control premium over trading comps.

Free Cash Flow

Understand the cash a business truly frees up — unlevered vs levered FCF and conversion. · Open the Free Cash Flow tool →

• ★ What Is Free Cash Flow? UFCF vs LFCF Explained Simply — What free cash flow is, how unlevered (UFCF) and levered (LFCF) free cash flow differ, and why investors trust it more than profit. With both formulas.
• EBITDA to FCF: How to Calculate Free Cash Flow (Formula) — Get from EBITDA to FCF in three adjustments: cash tax, CAPEX and the working-capital movement. Includes the FCFF formula and a worked example.
• Unlevered vs Levered Free Cash Flow: The Difference and When to Use Each — Unlevered vs levered free cash flow explained — the formulas, the bridge between them, and which one to use for valuation versus equity returns.
• Why Free Cash Flow Matters More Than Profit — Why a profitable company can still run out of cash, how free cash flow differs from net income, and what the gap tells you about a business.
• Free Cash Flow Conversion: What It Is and What's a Good Rate — What free cash flow conversion means, how to calculate it from EBITDA, what a good conversion rate looks like by industry, and how to improve it.
• How to Model Tax-Loss Carryforwards (NOLs) in a Financial Model — How net operating loss (NOL) carryforwards shelter future taxable profit, and how to build the tax-loss schedule so your cash tax and free cash flow are right.
• Maintenance vs Growth CAPEX: How to Forecast Capital Expenditure — The difference between maintenance and growth CAPEX, why the split drives free cash flow, and how to forecast each with the right depreciation treatment.
• Free Cash Flow Yield: How to Value a Business on FCF — What free cash flow yield is, the unlevered and levered versions, what a good yield looks like against growth, and why the highest yield can be a value trap.