Creating a Revenue Model
February 12, 2025
In the previous article we learned that free cash flow to the firm is closely related to the concept of cash flow from operations. The major difference was in the way free cash flow to the firm (FCFF) treats long term capital expenditures versus how they get treated in the regular cash flow statement. The […]
In an ideal world, investors are supposed to look only at cold hard facts and analyze them while making an investment decision. However, till now, we know the fact that any of these decisions are not 100% rational. There is always an iota of emotions mixed in decision making, even for the most rational investors. […]
In the previous article we studied that there are two types of deposits that banks use to fund their lending operations. We studied in detail about the different types of demand deposits. However, demand deposits are considered to be vulnerable sources of finance. Depositors are likely to pull out the funds that form a part […]
The previous article was an introduction about the two basic decisions that corporate finance helps a corporation in making. Prima-facie, these two decisions may look pretty simple. After all everyone raises money in their daily lives and puts it to productive use. Simple accounting can tell us whether or not we should make those financing […]
What is Single Entry System ? Single entry accounting systems record only one side of every transaction. This happens because they use one entry to record every transaction. Therefore single entry system does not use nominal and real accounts. The emphasis is on cash and accounts receivable. Single entry accounting system can be described as […]
Making assumptions is an integral part of every financial calculation. It is a known fact that if the assumptions are modified even slightly, the numbers on the model tend to change dramatically. The problem is that financial modeler is forced to make several assumptions while creating the model. When several of these assumptions are being made, it is important to create a mechanism which allows these assumptions to be managed in a coherent and easy to understand manner.
Financial modelers often do not pay attention to the management of assumptions. Since it does not involve any calculations, this is often thought to be an administrative task and is often delegated to the newest member of the team. However, the reality is that managing the assumptions is probably the most crucial task in the financial modeling process. In this article, we will explain why this task is important and also explain the mechanism which is used to manage this process.
There are several assumptions which have to be made during the process of financial modeling. If these assumptions are not properly documented, then they will remain in the mind of the modeler. As a result, people using the model and interpreting its results will have no idea where the results came from.
Several things can go wrong while documenting the assumptions related to a financial modeling project.
The reality is that financial modeling is about predicting the future. Everyone’s beliefs about the future are bound to be different. These beliefs are presented to the end-user using the assumptions database. If the user does not agree with the assumptions, they can change the calculation themselves.
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