Insights

Financial Projections: A Hands-On Approach

In a financial model it is common to see measures of profitability averaged historically and projected forward. This is, after all, the manner in which building a five-year projection is presented in Integrating Financial Statements on this website. As an introduction to financial modeling this is a suitable approach, but as you graduate from projections built off of fictional historical data to real-world modeling exercises, attention should be paid to the detail that comprises expenses.

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How do You Determine the Minimum Cash Balance?

Note: I thought it would be a good idea to start posting answers to questions I receive via email. I try to answer all of them but occasionally my job gets in the way…

This question refers to the video titled “Integrating Financial Statements.”

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What Exactly is Capital?

I can no longer help but post simple descriptions when I stumble upon them in periodicals I read regularly. This explanation of capital and the helpful image “How to Make a Capital Cushion” (above) come from Bloomberg Business week:

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Damodaran Keeps it Simple: Stock Buybacks Explained

Professor Aswath Damodaran recently posted an article titled “Stock Buybacks: They are big, they are back and they scare some people!”. Per his comments:

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From BI Video: How to Create Custom Functions in Excel

Follow this LINK for a great short video produced by Sara Silverstein at Business Insider explaining how to create custom Excel functions. 

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