Learn financial modeling by building it

A complete, hands-on course that takes you from a blank slate to a Wall Street-quality three-statement model. It covers every unit of the CFA Institute Financial Modeling curriculum — and goes beyond it, because here you build on live SEC data instead of an empty spreadsheet.

10 units · 10.3 hrs self-paced · Free · no Excel required

  1. 1. Getting Started · 55 min
    What a financial model really is, the three-statement core, and the discipline that separates a Wall Street model from a spreadsheet.
  2. 2. The Front End · 65 min
    The control panel of a model: a clean assumptions tab, a sharp executive summary, and scenarios you flip with a single switch.
  3. 3. Revenues · 65 min
    The top line drives everything below it. Learn to build revenue bottom-up, top-down, or by growth rates — and to fade it honestly to a rate that can last forever.
  4. 4. Costs & Margins · 60 min
    Forecast the cost base beneath revenue, turn it into gross and operating margins, and watch operating leverage magnify every move.
  5. 5. Depreciation & PP&E · 60 min
    Capex builds the asset base, depreciation grinds it down, and a non-cash expense quietly ties the income statement, cash flow, and balance sheet together.
  6. 6. Income Tax · 60 min
    The line that turns pre-tax profit into net income — and the difference between the tax a company books and the cash it actually pays.
  7. 7. Working Capital · 60 min
    The gap between profit and cash: forecast receivables, inventory, and payables with the days method, and learn why growth eats cash.
  8. 8. Capital Structure & Returns · 65 min
    How the model finances itself: a clean debt schedule, a revolver that plugs cash, capital returned to shareholders, and the circular loop that ties them together.
  9. 9. Linking the Statements · 65 min
    Where the three statements stop being separate reports and become one connected machine — and why a correctly linked model balances on its own.
  10. 10. Outputs & Troubleshooting · 65 min
    Turn a finished model into a decision: read the outputs that matter, stress-test the answer, and find the bug before someone else does.