Building Investment-Grade Models: Certificate in Advanced Financial Modeling Course
1Summary
A financial model is only as useful as the decision it supports – and a model built on weak assumptions or clumsy Excel work can send a deal, a budget, or an investment case in the wrong direction. This Certificate in Advanced Financial Modeling course from the Arab British Fellowship Training Academy is built around getting that right: mastering the Excel techniques and financial logic that go into models professionals can actually trust and defend.
The course moves through the fundamentals – time value of money, amortisation, enterprise and equity value, CAGR – before applying them to valuation: discounted cash flow (DCF), comparable company analysis, precedent transactions, and M&A modeling, tested through sensitivity and scenario analysis across different economic conditions.
On the technical side, attendees build advanced Excel fluency – dynamic charts, macros, pivot tables, and data validation – and apply it to risk assessment, stress testing, budgeting and forecasting, and project finance modeling for large-scale capital projects, closing with the documentation and error-checking standards that make a model auditable and built to last.
2Objectives and target group
Knowledge and Benefits
By the end of the course, attendees will be able to:
- Build fast, accurate financial models using advanced Excel functions and core modeling techniques.
- Forecast investments and calculate project and company valuations effectively.
- Construct a professional 3-statement financial model to support investment decisions.
- Recognise the special modeling and valuation considerations that best practice requires.
Who Should Attend?
- Corporate finance and investment professionals, CFOs, financial controllers, finance managers, and financial analysts.
- Corporate bankers and business development analysts working with financial institutions.
- Professionals who can use core Microsoft Excel features and have a basic accounting background.
Target Competencies
- Advanced Excel, capital budgeting analysis, and cash flow forecasting.
- Cost of capital, scenario analysis, and free cash flow calculation.
- Practical financial modeling techniques.
3Course Content
Module 1: Financial Modeling Fundamentals
- Time value of money: PV, FV, NPV, IRR, MIRR, equity IRR vs. project IRR, and using XNPV/XIRR (with a look at where NPV and IRR can disagree).
- Amortisation of loan schedules, effective interest rate, and Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR).
- Enterprise value, market capitalisation, firm value, and equity value.
- Structuring investment assumptions and cash flows: what to include, and forecasting revenues, costs, and expenses.
Module 2: Advanced Excel for Modeling
- Speeding up spreadsheet work: logical tests, data protection, and database activities.
- Pivot tables, data grouping, and vertical/horizontal lookup tables.
- The CHOOSE function, interactive formulas, string functions, data tables, and interactive graphs.
Module 3: Valuation Techniques
- Analysing historical information to build a projection basis, and using ratio analysis for projected financial statements.
- Debt capacity and credit analysis for acquisitions, and sensitivity analysis on cash flows.
- WACC, Adjusted Present Value (APV), and using CAPM or the Gordon model to determine cost of equity.
- Implied risk premium in the current PE multiple, accrual accounting valuation, and valuation using multiples and transaction multiples.
Module 4: Building Models for Real Businesses
- How financial models actually work, and modeling income statements and balance sheets.
- Running sensitivity analysis on a live model.
- Developing an integrated financial model across sectors – automotive, hospitality, real estate, and education.
Module 5: Special Considerations and Investment Structures
- Structured valuations and financial modeling best practices.
- Measuring Return on Investment (ROI) and Return on Equity (ROE).
- Choosing between investment structures: direct ownership, partnerships/joint ventures, and Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT).