Training Courses
Advanced Project Finance Modelling
Extend your debt modelling capabilities to drive the transaction process through to financial close. Build powerful techniques for debt sizing, covenant monitoring and fully integrated three-way financial statements, applicable across mining, oil & gas, power, renewable energy, real estate and infrastructure.
See dates & pricesSend enquiry- 2 daysPractitioner-led
- Hands-onYou build the model,
not watch one being built - In person or digitalDelivered in person
and worldwide online - Take awayThe completed model files
and templates
See what you build
A transparent, fully built model, not just a template
The scenario analysis below is a real extract from a completed course model, built on the advanced sensitivity techniques this course covers. This is the working structure you build in this course, layering refinancing, debt sculpting and fully integrated financial statements on top of the foundation from Best Practice Project Finance Modelling.
Who this is for
For participants ready to extend a working model
Advanced Project Finance Modelling is built for bankers, sponsors and investors who already build project finance models and now need to drive the transaction process itself: sizing debt, monitoring covenants, and taking a model all the way to fully integrated financial statements.
This course assumes working project finance modelling experience. If you have not built a project finance model before, start with Best Practice Project Finance Modelling. Participants who complete this course often continue to the half-day Further Advanced Project Finance Modelling modules.
You will get the most from this course if
- You have already built a project finance model, or completed Best Practice Project Finance Modelling
- You need to develop advanced debt structures: refinancing, debt sculpting and debt service reserve accounts
- You want to finalise a fully integrated three-way financial statement model
- You work with bankers, sponsors or investors driving a transaction to financial close
What you will learn
Extend a working model into a transaction-ready one
Eight modules build on core project finance modelling technique to take a model from a working structure to financial close.
Re-examine the modelling methodology
- Refresh the core principles underpinning our financial modelling methodology before extending it into advanced technique
Refinancing analysis
- Discuss the mechanics of a refinancing: amount, timing, fees and repayment
- Learn different ways to treat the refinance fee
- Discuss the concept of sequential refinancing
Alternative repayment methods and debt sculpting
- Understand how to effectively model debt sculpting
- Build in switches to allow different structures to be rapidly analysed
- Develop a debt service reserve account (DSRA) from first principles
- Integrate the DSRA into the financial statements and reinforce the purpose of the cashflow waterfall
Working capital forecasting
- Model debtor and creditor accounts
- Discuss common errors and pitfalls, and integrate the forecast into a developed model
Comprehensive depreciation calculations
- Remove the need for cumbersome tables, and incorporate switches for multiple depreciation methods
- Replicate calculations for accounting and tax depreciation
- Build a maintenance capital expenditure programme into depreciation calculations
- Produce replicable tax calculations for geared and ungeared taxation and incorporate tax losses into taxable income
Financial statement construction
- Master the structure of completed three-way financial statements
- Continuously test and debug the integrated statements, and incorporate all debt components
- Develop checks to automate error checking, and discuss why this matters in complex financial models
Debt sizing for structuring discussions
- Single factor optimisation via maximum gearing or minimum DSCR to vary debt size against target cover ratios
- Discuss dual factor optimisation to achieve target cover ratios and returns
Advanced Excel for multi-dimensional sensitivities
- Develop simple macros to avoid the circularities common in project finance calculations
- Become familiar with the VBA environment and its core functionality
- Discuss common errors when starting to develop macros, and how to make macros more efficient
- Use VBA to control data tables so they do not adversely affect calculation speed
Next available dates
Upcoming courses
How the course runs
You learn modelling by modelling
Interactive, instructor-led and built on a single modelling standard that has been taught to more than 20,000 people. You build the model yourself with individual coaching through every exercise, and you keep the completed files.
This course also runs privately: see in-house training for delivery built around your team and sector, or browse the full course portfolio.
Our trainers
Learn from a practitioner
Our courses are led by experienced members of our financial modelling and model audit teams. The trainers below run this course frequently, but your session could be led by any member of our team.
Joshua Grimm
Director, Singapore
Joshua leads the development and delivery of financial modelling training courses for Forvis Mazars in Asia. His expertise covers areas such as project finance modelling for large-scale renewable energy, utilities and infrastructure projects, as well as corporate finance modelling for M&A transactions and internal FP&A. He has supported clients with their projects from feasibility through financial close, all the way to operations.
Hitansh Doda
Director, Sydney
Hitansh is a professional model builder for Forvis Mazars, with extensive experience in financial model building and development across infrastructure finance and other diverse sectors. He focuses on financial modelling and analysis of renewable energy assets and infrastructure projects.
Leigh Tomlinson
Director, London
Leigh is an ACA chartered accountant with over 16 years of financial modelling experience. He has a wide range of sector and international deal experience, and is responsible for leading the development of financial models across the energy, infrastructure and environment sectors.
Book this course
Dates, prices and online booking are on the course schedule. Not sure it is the right course? Ask us.
See dates & pricesSend enquiry