Corporate Financial Modeling

Catalog description

This course teaches the fundamentals, best practices, and advanced techniques of corporate financial modeling. We begin with operating models and integrated financial statements, then build transaction-focused analyses for major corporate events, including venture capital funding, mergers and acquisitions, and leveraged buyouts. Throughout, we connect modeling choices to ideas from the MBA core - especially accounting and finance - and take a hands-on approach to see how theory is applied in real decisions. The course emphasizes critical modeling skills, disciplined best practices, and the ability to identify common pitfalls. Students will complete a series of cases and develop tools for forecasting earnings and pro-forma financial statements, valuation, assessing financing needs, merger analysis, and LBO evaluation. Students will also practice presenting their work and critically evaluating others' models. By the end of the course, students will be able to construct, present, and critique complex models that inform corporate financial decision-making.