Business and Financial Modelling Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Financial Analysts, FP&A Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-FM-102

Before you join: Participants should understand core financial statements, including the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement, and be comfortable with common finance terms such as revenue, gross margin, EBITDA, depreciation, working capital and debt.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Business plans, budgets, investment proposals and acquisition cases often fail because their numbers cannot be traced to operational drivers, their cash implications are unclear, or reviewers cannot test the assumptions. Finance professionals need models that connect revenue, costs, working capital, funding and valuation into a defensible decision tool. A well-built model allows managers to compare choices, identify downside exposure and explain why a recommendation changes under different conditions.

This course develops the methods used to build structured business and financial models in Microsoft Excel. Participants create driver-based forecasts, link the three financial statements, build rolling cash forecasts and debt schedules, and assess investments using NPV, IRR and discounted cash flow valuation. They also examine comparable-company multiples, WACC, scenario design, sensitivity analysis, project appraisal, acquisition modelling and model risk controls. Attention is given to formula design, input discipline, circularity, error checks, documentation and the communication of conclusions to decision-makers.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with worked finance cases, group analysis, spreadsheet modelling tasks, model-review discussions and structured application planning. Cases reflect decisions such as capital investment approval, liquidity planning, valuation of a business unit and assessment of an acquisition proposal. Participants receive a certificate of completion and leave with a reusable integrated financial model template, valuation framework, scenario analysis structure and model review checklist. The course is delivered over five days in a classroom in 50+ cities or live online, with approximately 6.5 contact hours per day.

The course suits finance professionals who already work with budgets, reports or spreadsheets and need stronger modelling discipline for planning, analysis and investment decisions.

What you will be able to do

  • Build an integrated three-statement financial model from operating assumptions
  • Construct driver-based revenue, cost and working capital forecasts
  • Prepare 13-week cash forecasts and debt schedules with liquidity controls
  • Calculate NPV, IRR, WACC and discounted cash flow valuations
  • Design scenario, sensitivity and break-even analyses for decision cases
  • Evaluate capital investments using incremental cash flow and appraisal methods
  • Audit spreadsheet models using formula checks, controls and documentation
  • Present model outputs through decision-focused dashboards and recommendation papers

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produce decision-ready financial models with traceable assumptions and controls
  • Explain cash, valuation and financing implications with greater confidence
  • Reduce spreadsheet errors through disciplined model architecture and review methods
  • Assess investment cases using recognised appraisal and valuation techniques
  • Create a reusable model portfolio for forecasting, valuation and business cases

For your organisation

  • Improve consistency between operational plans, financial forecasts and management reporting
  • Strengthen scrutiny of investment proposals, acquisitions and capital expenditure requests
  • Identify liquidity pressure and covenant risks earlier through structured cash forecasting
  • Reduce spreadsheet-control failures through documented checks and review procedures
  • Provide executives with clearer scenario-based evidence for resource allocation decisions

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can structure an Excel model with clear inputs, calculations, outputs and controls.

  • Model purpose, decision questions, stakeholders and material value drivers
  • Planning worksheet architecture: inputs, workings, outputs, checks and documentation
  • Excel naming conventions, colour coding and consistent time-series layouts
  • Relative, absolute and mixed references applied to repeatable formulas
  • Keyboard shortcuts and audit tools for efficient model construction
  • Version control, file paths and source-data traceability protocols

Participants can build operational forecasts from documented assumptions and historical evidence.

  • Driver-based revenue forecasts using volume, price, mix and retention assumptions
  • Cost build-ups separating fixed, variable, step and discretionary expenditure
  • Assumption registers linking sources, owners, rationale and update frequency
  • Historical trend analysis distinguishing recurring performance from one-off items
  • Seasonality profiles and calendar effects incorporated into monthly forecasts
  • Budget-versus-forecast bridges explaining changes in operational and financial drivers

Participants can link operating schedules into balanced income statement, balance sheet and cash flow forecasts.

  • Integrated income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement design
  • Revenue, cost and margin schedules feeding linked financial statements
  • Working capital schedules for receivables, inventory, payables and accruals
  • Depreciation, amortisation and capital expenditure schedules with useful-life assumptions
  • Retained earnings, share capital and reserve movements modelled correctly
  • Balance sheet balancing checks and circular-reference diagnosis techniques

Participants can model short-term liquidity, funding requirements and debt-service capacity.

  • 13-week rolling cash forecasts from receipts, payroll and supplier payment timing
  • Cash conversion cycle analysis using days sales, inventory and payables
  • Debt schedules covering drawdowns, amortisation, interest and covenant calculations
  • Revolver mechanics, minimum cash balances and liquidity headroom monitoring
  • Interest circularity resolved through iterative calculations and cash sweeps
  • IAS 7 cash flow classifications reconciled to model outputs

Participants can value a business using DCF and market-based valuation methods.

  • Free cash flow to firm derived from operating forecasts
  • Terminal value calculated using perpetuity growth and exit multiple methods
  • WACC estimated from capital structure, beta, risk-free rate and premiums
  • Enterprise value bridged to equity value through debt-like adjustments
  • Trading comparables normalised using EBITDA, earnings and revenue multiples
  • Valuation outputs reconciled across DCF, comparables and precedent transactions

Participants can test model outputs against uncertainty and identify material decision drivers.

  • Base, upside and downside cases structured through assumption switches
  • One-way and two-way data tables testing key value drivers
  • Scenario narratives linking commercial events to model input changes
  • Break-even analysis identifying volumes, prices and costs required
  • Monte Carlo simulation concepts for probabilistic ranges and decision thresholds
  • Chart selection communicating sensitivities without obscuring material assumptions

Participants can assess capital investments using incremental cash flows and return measures.

  • Incremental cash flows distinguished from sunk costs and financing effects
  • Net present value and internal rate of return calculated
  • Payback, discounted payback and profitability index compared for capital allocation
  • Project timelines modelled with construction, ramp-up and operating phases
  • Inflation, tax, residual value and working capital treated consistently
  • Investment committee papers supported by transparent appraisal assumptions

Participants can analyse acquisition, outsourcing and strategic option decisions through financial models.

  • Acquisition models combining purchase price, financing and synergy assumptions
  • Accretion-dilution analysis using pro forma earnings and share counts
  • Merger synergies phased by timing, cost and execution risk
  • Lease-versus-buy decisions compared through after-tax cash flow analysis
  • Make-or-buy models identifying relevant costs and capacity implications
  • Strategic options assessed through financial outcomes and critical assumptions

Participants can review financial models systematically and establish practical spreadsheet controls.

  • Formula consistency checks detect hardcodes, broken links and omissions
  • Error flags, control totals and reasonableness tests built into outputs
  • Model review procedures trace precedents, dependencies and calculation logic
  • Spreadsheet risk assessed through change logs, access controls and approvals
  • Documentation records assumptions, limitations, sources and model ownership
  • Output review challenges implied margins, growth rates and balance movements

Participants can present model conclusions clearly and plan implementation of improved modelling practices.

  • Executive dashboards present drivers, outcomes, risks and decision requests
  • Waterfall charts explain forecast variance, value bridges and financing movements
  • Model outputs translated into investment recommendations and management actions
  • Decision papers distinguish facts, assumptions, judgements and unresolved uncertainties
  • Model handover packs define refresh steps, data sources and controls
  • Personal application plans identify a priority model and implementation milestones

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Integrated three-statement model template
  2. Driver-based forecasting assumption register
  3. 13-week cash forecast template
  4. DCF valuation and WACC worksheet
  5. Scenario and sensitivity analysis framework
  6. Financial model review checklist

Who should attend

  • Financial Analysts — build defensible forecasts, valuations and management decision models
  • FP&A Managers — improve budgets, rolling forecasts and performance-driver analysis
  • Finance Managers — test business cases, cash requirements and investment assumptions
  • Corporate Development Analysts — assess acquisition economics, synergies and deal funding
  • Commercial Finance Business Partners — translate operational plans into financial outcomes
  • Investment and Credit Analysts — evaluate cash generation, valuation and downside cases

Skills and tools covered

Three-statement modellingCash flow forecastingDCF valuationScenario analysisInvestment appraisalModel assurance

Tools and standards

Microsoft Excel, Discounted cash flow (DCF), Weighted average cost of capital (WACC), IAS 7 Statement of Cash Flows

How the course runs

Training methodology

The programme uses short technical briefings followed by worked spreadsheet cases, group analysis and individual model-building tasks. Participants construct linked schedules, forecast statements, cash models and valuation outputs from realistic business assumptions. Model-review sessions examine common formula errors, circularity, inconsistent assumptions and presentation weaknesses. Simulations require participants to respond to changed prices, volumes, funding terms or investment assumptions. Each participant completes application planning to identify a model, process or decision paper to improve after the course.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should understand core financial statements, including the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement, and be comfortable with common finance terms such as revenue, gross margin, EBITDA, depreciation, working capital and debt. They should have regular experience using Microsoft Excel, including formulas, cell references, sorting and basic charts. Prior exposure to budgeting, forecasting, reporting, investment analysis or business cases is helpful. Advanced Excel functions, programming, formal valuation training and prior transaction experience are not required.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should understand the three financial statements and common finance measures, and should be comfortable with standard Excel formulas and references. Advanced Excel, VBA, programming and prior formal valuation training are not required.

Bring a laptop with Microsoft Excel installed and access to your usual spreadsheet environment where possible. You may also bring a non-confidential budget, forecast or business-case example to inform your application plan.

It is designed for finance analysts, FP&A staff, finance managers, commercial finance partners, corporate development analysts and investment or credit analysts. It also suits professionals who prepare or review financially significant business cases.

The course uses accounting and Excel as foundations, but focuses on building connected decision models. It goes beyond budget preparation by covering cash, financing, valuation, investment appraisal, scenario testing and spreadsheet model assurance.

Participants can use the templates and methods for annual plans, rolling forecasts, liquidity reports, capital expenditure requests, business-unit valuations and acquisition assessments. The final application plan identifies a priority model or decision process for improvement.

The programme provides approximately 32.5 contact hours, running 08:30-16:30 each day. Modules progress from model architecture and forecasting through cash, valuation, scenarios, investment decisions, review controls and executive communication.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

More courses in Financial Management

Financial Management Budgeting and Cost Control Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Financial Management Budgeting and Forecasting Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Financial Management Budgeting for Managers Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Financial Management Budgeting, Forecasting and Business Planning Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Financial Management Business Turnaround and Cost Optimisation Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Financial Management Capital Budgeting and Investment Analysis Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Financial Management Cash Cycle Management Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Financial Management Certificate Course in Advanced Budgeting and Forecasting 10 days · from USD 2,200 · next 16 Nov