Description
This book is written from the perspective of a financial modeler and, even though the concepts may seem rather basic to the seasoned modeler, most of these concepts are the building foundations for any financial modeler.
It has been becoming increasingly evident in recent years that the demands—and therefore the requirements—of the financial modeler have been greatly expanded from the typical spreadsheet jockeys of yesteryear. The playing field has changed, and modelers are now seasoned professionals in their own right and come from areas such as accounting, engineering, and legal.
Modelers are expected to be commercially savvy as well as analytical. In addition, while modeling requires a certain amount of hands-on development, the modern-day financial modeler should also be comfortable with presenting and communicating to all levels of business. Your typical modeler today is not just someone who has a strong command of IT but also has other skills such as project management, change control, financial and commercial acumen, stakeholder management, and communication skills.
Finally, there is a presumption that modelers are highly skilled with Excel (and to some extent Microsoft Access, particularly for data analytics). Though touted as a spreadsheet application, Microsoft Excel is so much more. In the right hands, it’s a serious development tool with very powerful analysis features. As the versions of Excel have improved since Excel 2000, it has become a respected development platform in its own right. Applications written using Excel are now often found alongside those written using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) code, C++, .NET, and so on, as part of many corporations’ core suite of business-critical applications. Indeed, Excel is sometimes used for the client end of web-based applications, made particularly easy with Excel XML import/export features.
If I had to select just one key takeaway to impart to financial modelers for your futures, it would be the indispensability of your acquiring the ability to work with and understand your co-workers and the wider public. There is a shift happening such that pure modeling is no longer enough. With all the information you gain from this book, you must realize that all your technical skill will mean very little unless you can combine it with engaging people. Do that and your career in modeling will take you to the higher echelons in a relatively short time.
My hope for you as you read this book is that you acquire an inside understanding of some of the aspects of modeling that will make you come back for more. I also hope that you become more aware of the numerous possibilities of how to model and don’t feel restricted to following one methodology. Maybe along the way, as you read this book, you will begin to feel comfortable with starting to call yourself a financial modeler.