Model Project Cashflows with Confidence

Overview

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This intermediate course is designed for finance and business professionals who want to master the critical skill of project finance modeling in Excel. You will learn to construct and analyze a complete cash flow waterfall—an essential tool for assessing the financial viability of large-scale projects. The course moves beyond theory, guiding you through the distinct financial lifecycle of a project, from the initial capital-intensive construction phase to the revenue-generating operating period and subsequent debt repayment. Through hands-on learning and instruction grounded in real-world case studies, such as the Channel Tunnel and the Dogger Bank Wind Farm, you will build a robust model from the ground up. You will learn to project cash inflows, prioritize payments to cover operating expenses and debt service, and determine the cash flow available for equity distributions. By the end of this course, you will have the practical Excel toolkit needed to forecast cash balances, prove a project's solvency, and make confident, data-driven investment decisions, preparing you for demanding financial analysis roles.

Syllabus

Foundations of Project Finance and Model Structure

This module lays the essential groundwork for project finance modeling. Learners will explore why structured modeling is critical by examining real-world projects like the Channel Tunnel. Learners will also define the key phases of a project's financial life and deconstruct the anatomy of a cash flow waterfall. You will then move into Excel for a hands-on learning activity to build the foundational structure of a professional-grade financial model, setting you up for the detailed calculations in the next module.

Building and Analyzing the Cash Flow Waterfall

In this module, you will dive deep into the practical application of building and analyzing a cash flow waterfall in Excel. Through a series of screencasts and hands-on activities, you will model cash flows from revenue down to equity distributions. You will then learn to analyze the model's output to determine project solvency and practice defending your model's assumptions in a simulated scenario. The module culminates in a graded assignment where you will build a complete model for a mini solar project.