Best Practice Project Finance Modelling

Timetable for 'Best Practice Project Finance Modelling' courses

Duration: 2 days

If you are in investment banking or project finance at any level of seniority, knowing how to build, adapt or review financial models is crucial to the success of the transaction and ultimately your team.

Best Practice Project Finance Modelling will give you the tools you need to build and sensitise a robust and transparent cash flow-based financial model and dramatically increase Excel efficiency. During this two day financial modelling course you will, under personal coaching from our expert trainer, start building your own project finance model from scratch using SMART, our globally proven modelling methodology. You will be working on your own laptop which ensures that you will absorb all the key concepts and become more confident in using hyper-efficient Excel keyboard shortcuts saving you an amazing amount of time.

Best Practice Project Finance Modelling will help you and your team to

• Learn more efficient modelling techniques to deliver more analysis, faster and more accurately
• Achieve consistent and accurate outputs using SMART best practice modelling
• Master time saving techniques including scenario management and data tables
• Construct flexible debt repayment functionality and ratio analysis
• Learn from professional financial modellers and leading developments in transaction modelling

Who should attend this course?

Designed to appeal to project finance, corporate finance and investment banking professionals, this course is essential to improve your ability to build, review or analyse project finance models at all levels. Typical attendees include analysts, managers, senior managers and Associate Directors from investment banks. We regularly welcome Senior Management and CFOs from the industry, to give them a better understanding of how a solid financial model can assist their company in strategic decisions and negotiations.

Course outline

Day one

Introduction to project finance analysis

• Understand the key principles of project finance analysis
• Learn and discuss why getting the financial model right is so important
• Learn the characteristics of a model that will survive in a live deal environment

Develop a model layout and structure that is robust and scalable

• Understand how by using SMART, models are easily navigated and readily checked
• Master efficient use of range names
• Boost user confidence by building in checks to make it easier to review

Build in a flexible construction phase

• Learn how to allow rapidly dynamic construction calculations
• Construct an easy to understand sources and uses during construction table
• Discuss the different methods that can be used for construction calculations

Understand the cashflow waterfall

• Learn about the order of the cashflows and how to quickly sense check
• Discuss how to incorporate senior debt into the cashflow
• Understand what elements are important to different stakeholders

Day two

Build operational cashflows

• Model and discuss how escalation is modelled and impacts cashflows
• Build a re-usable structure of volume and price calculations to determine revenue
• Discuss and construct operational costs, both fixed and variable

Incorporate a typical project finance debt facility

• Learn about annuity repayment and how to incorporate it into the model
• Calculate and discuss typical project finance covenants
• Discuss alternative debt repayment methods

Calculate and discuss measures important to other stakeholders

• Understand and calculate project and equity returns (NPV and IRR)
• Know when to use a payback calculation to approximate a sweep
• Analyse the impact of gearing on returns

Build a powerful scenario manger

• Save critical time and deliver rapid analysis using our approach to scenario management
• Transform scenarios into yet another way to test the model in all scenarios all of the time
• Build confidence in your analysis through pre-programmed combinations of model inputs

Know and avoid the easy mistakes that you can make!

• Avoid the common errors made in calculating the key project finance ratios and cashflows
• Understand how to incorporate self-checks into all of your analysis
• Learn the tricks of the trade to rapidly identify a wide range of errors

Pre-course knowledge

While no pre-course modelling knowledge is strictly required, it is expected that participants have a good handle on Excel prior to attending the course. Upon registration you are entitled to our introductory material on Excel functions which will give you the confidence and skills to fully absorb the contents of this course.

Timetable for 'Best Practice Project Finance Modelling'

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