Financial Modelling & Analyst 6-Month Roadmap
Financial Modelling & Financial Analyst 6-Month Roadmap
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Month 1: Foundations of Finance & Excel
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Topics:
- Basic Accounting Principles (Assets, Liabilities, Equity, Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash
Flow Statement)
- Corporate Finance Basics
- Time Value of Money (NPV, IRR, Discounting, Compounding)
- Excel Basics (Formulas, Formatting, Charts)
- Data Cleaning & Organization
Subtopics:
- Double-entry bookkeeping
- Reading annual reports
- Excel shortcuts & productivity tips
Portfolio Project Idea:
- Create a simple company financial statement in Excel using public company data.
Month 2: Intermediate Excel & Financial Statement Analysis
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Topics:
- Advanced Excel Functions (INDEX, MATCH, XLOOKUP, IFERROR, TEXT functions)
- Pivot Tables & Conditional Formatting
- Financial Ratio Analysis
- Common Size Statements
Subtopics:
- Profitability, Liquidity, Efficiency Ratios
- Trend Analysis
Portfolio Project Idea:
- Perform ratio analysis on a real company's last 5 years of data.
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Financial Modelling & Analyst 6-Month Roadmap
Month 3: Introduction to Financial Modelling
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Topics:
- What is Financial Modelling?
- Model Structure & Best Practices
- Building a Simple Forecast Model
- Linking Financial Statements
Subtopics:
- Assumption sheets
- Error checks & circularity
Portfolio Project Idea:
- Create a 3-statement linked model for a small business.
Month 4: Valuation Methods & Sensitivity Analysis
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Topics:
- Valuation Approaches (DCF, Comparable Company Analysis, Precedent Transactions)
- Sensitivity & Scenario Analysis
- Goal Seek & Data Tables in Excel
Subtopics:
- WACC calculation
- Terminal value estimation
Portfolio Project Idea:
- Build a DCF model for a listed company and test different scenarios.
Month 5: Advanced Modelling & Dashboard Creation
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Topics:
- Leveraged Buyout (LBO) basics
- M&A Modelling Introduction
- Building Interactive Dashboards in Excel
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Financial Modelling & Analyst 6-Month Roadmap
Subtopics:
- Dynamic charts
- Slicers & timelines
Portfolio Project Idea:
- Create a financial dashboard summarizing KPIs & trends for an industry.
Month 6: FP&A Skills & Final Project
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Topics:
- Budgeting & Forecasting
- Variance Analysis
- Management Reporting
- PowerPoint for Finance Professionals
Subtopics:
- Rolling forecasts
- Communicating insights effectively
Portfolio Project Idea:
- Complete an end-to-end FP&A project: budget creation, forecast update, variance analysis, and
board presentation.
Recommended Tutorials & Resources
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- YouTube Channels: Mergers & Inquisitions, Corporate Finance Institute, ExcelIsFun
- Books: "Financial Modeling" by Simon Benninga, "Principles of Corporate Finance" by Brealey &
Myers
- Practice: Download annual reports from SEC or MCA websites for practice data.
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