IIM SKILLS Financial Modeling Training Program

Are you in search of a genuine IIM SKILLS Financial Modeling Training Program Review? You are at the right place because I will share detailed information about the program including the curriculum. It is understandable why many students like you invest their time in learning about an institute rather than directly applying for it. I will also share some information about financial modeling in general to give an idea of what you are getting into. Making an entry into a field without knowing about it can misguide you and give you false hopes.

IIM SKILLS Financial Modeling Training Program Detailed Analysis

Financial modeling

Financial modeling is a method used for the creation of a company’s expense and earnings summary in an Excel sheet for the calculation of the impact of a future decision. The financial executives of a company create financial models for many purposes. The most common reason to implement financial modeling in an organization is to forecast the performance of the company’s stock in connection with changes in executive decisions or events.

This is a numerical representation of a company’s aspects that are linked to its operations.
Financial analysts employ financial models to evaluate the worth of a business. Sometimes they also use financial models to find out the market position of a company by comparing it with the value of its competitors.
The creation of a financial model involves considerations of certain kinds of inputs and assumptions to produce accurate results.

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Benefits of financial modeling

Financial modeling promotes a better understanding of the business. This is being shared with you because the creation of a financial model requires an analyst to have an in-depth understanding of the business. A professional who has the responsibility to perform financial modeling will list down the drives that affect the different aspects of the business.
Helps in the curation of a funding strategy: Financial analysts will consider the cash flow of a company to create financial models. This means they will gain access to ascertain the borrowing capacity of the company along with its repayment abilities. These aspects allow financial data professionals to curate a funding strategy that will benefit the company and its investors.
Accurate valuation: Any company that has unemployed financial modeling knows the importance of it; they will not be able to find their true net worth without financial modeling. If there is one way that allows an analyst to find out the relationship between the expenses and revenues then that is financial modeling. One of the popular models is a discounted cash flow method. Models created by financial analysts help an organization see the exact free cash flow at various points in time.

Challenges of financial modeling

Time-consuming: Believe it or not the creation of a financial model is not an easy task; it requires the analyst to carry out a range of activities. Data collection from different sources, then the identifying of relevant factors that affect the business performance. Not only that, a financial analyst must also test the model to check its usability and accuracy before finalizing it.
Inaccurate: A few of the companies reported observing inaccurate results produced by a financial model. Not to forget that consideration of wrong inputs and assumptions can also contribute to inaccurate results. Some factors such as tax rates, market shares, and interest rates cannot be predicted and therefore lead to producing inaccurate outcomes.
Omission of soft factors: The integration of two companies’ cultures is one of the hardest parts of mergers. This integration is part of the soft factor here and it cannot be included in financial models. The assumption about the reduction in expenses is considered for the creation of financial models but the potential expenses due to cultural incompatibility are ignored.

Professional Courses from IIM SKILLS

IIM SKILLS Financial Modeling Training Program Review

Joining a course is a crucial step that can build or break one’s career. Even if one aspect of the program is not up to the mark, there is a high possibility that the student will lose his time, energy, effort, and close doors to opportunities. This is why it is mandatory to choose educational entities that offer the best in everything starting from enrollment to job support.

Now let us discuss the domain in which you are interested; financial modeling. This is a critical subject as it drives the management in making decisions for the company’s growth and expansion. Applying to a ransom college for admission for the same is not a great decision as it can limit your career and upskilling opportunities. A majority of the student groups are now considering IIM SKILLS for its Financial Modeling Training Program. But is it worth it? Do not worry, read the IIM SKILLS Financial Modeling Training Program Review shared below and take your call.

The seed to start IIM SKILLS was planted in the mind of its founder, VaibhavKakkar when his blog, Course Dekho gained over 1 million views for its educational content. VaibhavKakkar being a digital marketer has helped many brands grow, and took the opportunity to create a website to help learners upskill themselves and stand out among the rest.

Vaibhav Kakkar is an entrepreneur, mentor, and digital marketer who has played a major role in improving the sales numbers of various companies and individuals using his impeccable marketing and mentoring skills. He has a history of writing some of the most beneficial books to uplift the performance of entities. His most sold copy is “World Castle How To Start a Content Writing Business”. It is available on Amazon books

2015 was the year when IIM SKILLS was launched by its founder with a mission to educate all students at an affordable rate. Since his blog, whose purpose was to share knowledge with the world on educational courses, gained momentum through articles, he introduced content writing courses in the initial stages of IIM SKILLS’s life.

Later on, many other programs related to finance, data analytics, and digital marketing were given birth to allow aspiring employees to help themselves through comprehensive courses with the best training facilities. Speaking of training facilities, many additional features were offered to its learners to create a better learning experience and career opportunities. Master certification, faculty support, free study material, interest-free EMI option, experiential learning, instructor-led training, and placement guarantee are included in almost all the programs at IIM SKILLS.

Curriculum of the Online Financial Modeling Training Program

The easiest way to judge the efficiency of a program is by checking its curriculum. The topics covered in the IIM SKILLS Financial Modeling Training Program are shared below for the same.

Financial Statements and Accounting Concepts: Financial models are created using the financial statements. Therefore, it is necessary to learn about the income statement, cash flow statement, and any other financials considered for financial modeling. Not to forget the fact that these are part of accounting concepts, so these statements along with other crucial topics must be and are covered in the syllabus.

The curriculum at IIM SKILLS includes sessions on accounting fundamental concepts that include double entry book keeping, Money Measurement, Historical Cost Concept, Law of Prudence, Matching Principle, Accounting Period Concept, Law of Going Concern, Accrual vs Cash reporting, Business Entity Concept, and Full Disclosure Concept. The salient features of the financial statements will be explained to you by the instructors.

Key line concepts such as direct costs, revenue, EBITDA, Operating Costs, Depreciation & Amortization, Depletion, Impairment of Goodwill, Current Assets, Non-Current Assets, Current Liabilities, Non-Current Liabilities, Minority Interest, Shareholders’ Equity, Deferred Revenue, Other Equity, Capital Expenditures, and Cash flows from various activities are taught to the learners by the teachers as part of this module.

Comprehensive income, relationship between financial statements, interlinkages between financial statements, common size financial statements preparation, annual report, Management Discussion and analysis (MD&A), and connection between notes & accounts are also included in this section.

KPI Analysis: IIM SKILLS has included a session on helping students understand the value of key performance indicators in the business. The module that is dedicated to the same consists of various kinds of ratios such as Valuation, Profitability, Solvency, Liquidity, and Turnover ratio.

Activity ratios that are covered in this section are Inventory Turnover, Days of Sales Outstanding, Receivables Turnover, Payables Turnover, Days of Inventory on Hand, Total Asset Turnover, Number of Days Payables, Working Capital Turnover, and Fixed Asset Turnover. Liquidity ratios such as current ratio, Quick Ratio, Defensive Interval, Cash Ratio, and Cash Conversion Cycle are part of the course.

This module also contains classes on calculations of solvency ratios like Debt to Capital, Debt to Equity, Financial Leverage, Debt to Assets, Debt to EBITDA, Interest Coverage, and Fixed Charge Coverage. EBIT/Operating Profit Margin, Gross Margin, Profit Margin, Return on Assets, Pre-tax Margin, Return on Total Capital, Operating Return on Assets, Return on Common Equity, Return on Equity, and Return on Invested Capital are profitability ratios that the students will learn how to calculate them and use for financial modeling purposes.

Valuation ratios are calculated to find out the value of a company and help the potential taking-over entity to make an investment decision. Some of the ratios in this category are Price to Earnings, Price to Sales, Price to Cashflow, Price to Book Value, EV/Sales. and EV/EBITDA. Treasury Stock Method, Diluted EPS, and Basic EPS are the other kinds of ratios explained to the learners.

Apart from the above-mentioned ratios, the faculty has also determined to pass on their knowledge related to financial summary and benchmarking a company’s performance to allow the students to figure out the position of the selected company and assist management in decision-making.

Financial Modeling Technicals: An individual who has the potential to learn all concepts to become a financial analyst, must and should acquire information on financial modeling basics. This is why IIM SKILLS’s learners have prospered in their chosen field. The structure of a financial model, usage of different ways to create scenarios, projection of the financial statements, and development of cost and revenue drivers for various business types are taught to the learners in this section of the course.

Speaking of ways to create scenarios, the instructors will help the students use Choose, Index, Scenario manager for the same. The financial statements that are discussed in this part of the program are the balance sheet, cash flow statement, and income statement. As mentioned earlier, this module allows the learners to grasp ways to build cost and revenue drivers for businesses which could belong to e-commerce, real estate, business services, utility, automobiles, subscription-based firms, MNC businesses, or food aggregators.

The students who were participants in the IIM SKILLS’s Financial Modeling Training Program have learned the skill to prepare different schedules like depreciation equity, working capital, debt, and fixed assets. The instructors have chosen the best financial modeling practices along with error-tracking tricks to allow aspiring financial analysts to absorb important content. Not only these, but key formatting tips, and approaches to add a financial summary, index, and cover page are presented in the classes that are conducted in this module. The best part is that students are given an opportunity to acquire the skill to use Python in financial modeling activities.

Financial models: Most individuals assume that financial models are used for valuation alone, but this is not true. A financial analyst creates a model for various purposes out of which business valuation is one. Project appraisal, debt issuance, acquisition decisions, and credit ratings are some of the reasons for the introduction of financial modeling into the business environment. That being said, there is no one-size-fits-all financial model; different types of models are employed by financial analysts to perform their tasks and suit business requirements. The popular financial models in the market are LBO, M&A, and three statement projection models. Ways to use these methods are taught by IIM SKILLS instructors to their students.

Under the LBO category, the learner will be exposed to leveraged buyout deals, relevant assumptions, Pro-forma financial statements, goodwill calculation, debt calculation, sources & uses table, cash waterfall, return calculation, and exit analysis. The topics in the M&A model are mergers & acquisition basics, dilution, accretion, operating synergies, financing synergies, and sensitivity analysis carried out for EPS.

The private equity return model is another kind of model used for business purposes. This and related concepts such as capital structure, private debt assumptions, private equity assumptions, roll-over equity, revolver, sponsor capital, committed capital, dry powder, Assets Under Management (AUM(, Loan To Value (LTV), returns calculations, and investment cash flow are part of this module.

The 13-week cash flow model is a unique method used to determine liquidity visibility. Financial distress, chapter 7 liquidation, restructuring, operating cash payments, operating cash receipts, revolver facility plug-in, non-operating cash payments, working capital projections, and Cash to EBITDA Reconciliation have been taught to individuals who were students of IIM SKILLS.

Business Valuation: The major purpose of financial modeling is to ascertain the value of a company. This means business valuation is an important subject that has to be learned by you. The business valuation module includes a range of topics for learners to help them achieve their dream job. The relative valuation section includes screen peers, valuation multiples, enterprise value calculation, Next Twelve Months (NTM), Last Twelve Months (LTM), projected years, and historical ears. This part of the program also involves discussions on the difference between offer value, transaction value, and deal value. The difference between GTM and GPC is also covered as part of the relative valuation segment.

DCF is one of the important valuation methods. This concept is explained along with related topics such as FCFE, FCFF, NOPAT, Capex adjustments, working capital, WACC, CRP, ERP, IRP, DLOC, DLOM, SSRP, ways to calculate Beta, Unlevered Beta, Levered Beta, Exit Multiple Method, Perpetuity Growth Model, H-Model, Mid-Period valuations, and Sensitivity Tables.

Apart from these components of business valuation, the learner will also be exposed to the NAV approach, football field analysis, valuation output presentation, valuation report preparation, post-money valuation, and pre-money valuation.

Excel: Excel is a tool used for financial modeling. This aspect makes it mandatory to get hands-on practice in using spreadsheets. IIM SKILLS has a module for teaching Excel skills to students This section contains classes on MS Excel basics, keyboard shortcuts, conditional formatting, font formatting, number formatting, freezing columns, freezing cells, freezing rows, data sorting, data validation, data filters, dynamic arrays, table functions, Macros, Sparkliness, sensitivity analysis, dynamic dashboards, circular referencing, Iterative calculations, and “What If Analysis”.

Some of the other important functions like the below are also covered in the module.

Regular use functions: Hlookup, Vlookup, Match, Sumifs, Index, Paste Special, Offset, Concatenate, and related functions.
Data presentation options: Slicers, Pivot Charts, and Pivot Tables
Time value functions: RATE, NPER, FV, PV, and PMT
Text functions: Proper, Find, Substitute, Replace, Mid, Right, Left, and many more.
Text to Column functions: Flash Fill, Delimit, and related functions.
Return functions: XNPV, NPV, XIRR, and IRR.

The visual elements used for data presentations such as football field, bar graphs, combo charts, line charts, histograms, scatter plots, waterfall, pie charts, stacked and column charts are also taught to learners like you.

This course is inclusive of practical assignment hours to allow students to gain confidence to enter the stream. More than 10 templates and case studies are made available for the learners’s benefit. Lecturers at IIM SKILLS dedicate around 90 hours to interacting with students about doubts and knowledge transfer. The presence of a 2-month internship makes the course most attractive to individuals aspiring to peep into the corporate culture that deals with financial modeling techniques. If you become a student of IIM SKILLS, you will be trained on facing interviews and given job support. Master certification, anytime faculty support, free access to study material, experiential learning, and placement assistance make IIM SKILLS stand out among its competitors.

If you are still skeptical about joining IIM SKILLS’s Financial Modeling Training Program, you can check out the student testimonials to find out the quality of training, facilities, and benefits of completing the program. Another way to approach the ex-learners of IIM SKILLS is to use LinkedIn to connect with interns and know their experience of availing of the program.

Conclusion

Financial modeling is a booming aspect of the current industry. It is implemented by almost all organizations to determine various elements in a business and make fruitful decisions. There are many benefits of creating financial models for a company. In the same way, there are a few challenges to the concept. Nevertheless, many students are interested in pursuing financial modeling as their career.

Many individuals seek effective crash courses to brush up on their financial skills. Whereas others join a program to acquire the necessary skills to become financial analysts. Whatever the reason is, there is an increasing number of learners for Financial Modeling Training Programs. Applying to a reliable program is crucial in this regard and this is why several aspiring financial professionals consider the program offered by IIM SKILLS. If you are one of them, take time to read about the above-mentioned IIM SKILLS Financial Modeling Training Program Review.

FAQs

What are the topics covered in the IIM SKILLS’s Financial Modeling Training Program?

There are many topics included in the IIM SKILLS’s Financial Modeling Training Program. There are separate modules to cover important elements of creating financial models and they are Excel, business valuation, accounting system & financial statements, financial modeling technicals, KPI analysis, and financial models.

Is it worth investing money in IIM SKILLS’s Financial Modeling Training Program?

Yes, it is definitely worth your money. The course has a comprehensive curriculum that is designed for everyone to help them acquire mandatory financial modeling skills and information. The master certification included as a part of the program will give you an edge over others.

Is it okay to join a Financial Modeling Training Program provided by IIM SKILLS without having a foundation in Excel?

Yes, the module dedicated to Excel focuses on teaching the basics and advanced versions of Excel to students. This will enable any layman to enter the Financial Modeling Training Program without the fear of being an outsider in regard to Excel knowledge.

IIM SKILLS Financial Modeling Training Program – A Detailed Analysis