Introducing
Financial Modeling Academy
(African Resident Scholarship)
Get WorldClass Financial Modeling Training & take an Internationally respected Certificate Exam from the Financial Modeling Institute.
Intensive 8 Weeks Online Program + Live Support Sessions + Exam Prep + Certificate Exam + Community Access + Primer Courses = Exceptional Modeling Skills + the AFM Designation + Huge Career enhancement and opportunities.
Click to explore Other RoutesBefore I tell you about this Academy, let’s explore who this is really for…
- This scholarship ONLY applies to African Residents (excluding South Africa). Our Sponsors have taken great lengths to provide this Academy to African Residents to promote international best practice capabilities across Africa.
- You are an expert in your field and have a burning desire to supercharge your career by showcasing the best you can offer at work. You know your stuff, but having little knowledge of finance, financial statements and forecasting skills and this limits your understanding of the pulse of your organisation.
- You are a Professional in the Finance & Accounting related field, but cannot confidently build robust budgeting and forecasting models that smartly incorporate scenarios, analysis and logic into the financial statement forecast you and your Bosses need to make informed decisions about the viability of the great ideas and plans you have for your organisations future.
- You are a Gig working in the finance industry and seek to start earning higher fees on financial modeling engagements, so you seek to earn an internationally recognised financial modeling accreditation like the Advanced Financial Modeler (AFM) designation issued by the Financial Modeling Institute (FMI) after learning the skills to become a competent financial modeling consultant.
- You are a Manager or C-Suite executive that wants to be able to confidently audit or review financial models to be sure that the decisions you make using those numbers are accurate.
If any of the above describes you, then you are in the right place and I am going to tell you exactly how Financial Modeling Academy (FMA) will give you the framework, tools, inspiration, validation and unparalleled support as you take a deep dive into learning the core skills of Excel, finance, accounting, logical thinking, financial statement analysis and more needed to become a world class and certified financial modeler.
By the end of this program, you will be able to...
- Identify, understand and apply the essential Excel functions, tools and operators that every modeler should know.
- Apply best practice techniques, structural designs & rules to build a 3 Statement Integrated Model from scratch.
- Master CVP (Cost, Volume, Price) analysis to appropriately and more accurately forecast costs for a company.
- Apply best practices in capital structure modeling, building debt & equity schedules, incorporating cash flow sweeps and waterfalls and more.
- Learn how to perform a detailed analysis of corporate financial statements to normalize (restructure) the Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet in a way that maximises the predictive power of your models.
- Perform detailed sensitivity and scenario analysis allowing you model multiple versions of your models in one model and better manage risk and uncertainty.
- Implementing intelligent techniques for building Audit checks into your models as you build them, significantly reducing error rates in your model.
- Apply the fundamentals of business valuation and plugin a DCF valuation module into your completed 3-statement model.
- Implement a unique way to self-document your model by being meticulous about styles, structure and visualisation best practices.
- Learn how to quickly update your completed model with a new set of financial statements and updated assumptions.
- Complete a step-by-step exam guide for writing the Financial Modeling Institute's examination for the Advanced Financial Modeler (AFM) Designation.
- Pass your FMI Certificate Exam and use the AFM Designation.
"The FMA scholarship from dbrownconsulting gave me the opportunity to learn from its hand on financial modeling training as well as writing the Advanced Financial Modeler accreditation exam from the Financial Modeling Institute (FMI).
"This is an amazing opportunity that I would always recommend for anyone looking at building their financial modeling skill.
"Thank you dbrownconsulting!"
Lukman Bello, AFM
Investment Banking Analyst
Coronation Merchant Bank.
"Three things that did it for me in the Financial Modeling Academy program was the Accountability Hub, the Live Q&A sessions and also the AFM Mock exams that was put together by dbrownconsulting. That helped.
"After my practicing and attempting the AFM Mock exams, I was able to finish building the model in the AFM Accreditation exam and get qualified. Thank you!"
Gboyinde Sodipo, AFM
Product Manager, DUO
Mixta Africa.
"I've worked with financial models in the past, but I knew I wasn't adequately equipped to build them from scratch, from the beginning to the summary page. This is why I joined the Academy and also to get better in Excel. I can say my expectations for joining were met because right after the exam I was able to build two (2) models from scratch!
"It was a great experience, and it was worth the time and effort put into it and the money spent."
Jibola Oyedele, AFM
Corporate & Investment Analyst,
Rand Merchant Bank.
"The FMA self-paced classes provided clear explanations of basic principles, featuring the AFM Step-by-Step Guides for passing the Advanced Financial Modeler Exam and practical sessions on building real-life financial models."
Samuel George, ACA, AFM
Finance Manager,
CyberSOC Africa.
Other Routes to the FMA Academy
If you a student residing in Africa excluding South Africa, then you may be eligible for a special Scholarship from our Sponsors as well. If You are not resident in Africa, then you need to navigate to the Non-African Resident Page.
African Student Scholarship
Special scholarship by our sponsors for eligible African Students
Non-African Resident
If you are not a resident of Africa, please click here instead.
let's tell you what’s inside The
Financial Modeling Academy
This course gives you a detailed grounding in 3-statement modeling and prepares you to take the Advanced Financial Modeler Examinations offered by the Financial Modeling Institute which offers the worlds leading accreditations in Financial Modeling. Successful completion of this academy will give you the privilege of earning the AFM Designation from the FMI.
We will start with two Primer courses: Microsoft Excel Fundamentals for Analysts & Fundamental skills for Financial Modeling, then you complete the core program, the 6-week intensive Financial Modeling Academy, You participate in weekly live Q&A's and community activity, once you complete the Academy, we will enrol you in our Financial Modeling Exam Preparatory course which includes hours of video, Live Mock exams, Live Mock exam review sessions and a lot more. You will then re-confirm your preferred exam date and write the FMI exam to earn the AFM Designation.
Primer Courses
Microsoft Excel & Fundamental Skills for Financial Modeling
To start you off you will gain immediate access to some courses that will give you a the foundational skills you need to be fully engaged in the core program. Here you will learn Microsoft Excel, Accounting, finance and the basic elements of financial modeling to prep you for the main course.
Modules covered
- Working with Excel Functions: Text, Date & Time, Rounding and Lookup functions
- Mastering Time Value of Money Calculations with Excel
- Mastering Scenario & Sensitivity Analysis in Excel: from Scenario Manager to custom solutions with Form Controls
- Mastering Logical Calculations in Excel: AND, OR, XOR, NOT, IF, IFS, SWITCH, Masks, Flags and more
- Introduction to Financial Modeling & its components
- Understanding the concept of Drivers and Predictive Power in Financial Modeling
- All about Schedules and forecasting techniques in Financial Modeling
- Building a Quick Financial Model from Scratch
Module 1
Building your Model Structure & Framework
In this module, you will learn how to plan the layout and structure of your model like a professional. The structure you build at the end of this module can be used for all your future financial models. Taking the time to do things properly will pay serious dividends. This module will also give you a great overview of the work that goes into building real-world financial models.
Lessons covered:
- Preparing the Model Guide Sheet
- Building Model Details Section
- Documenting Model Timings
- Listing the Model Sheet Structure
- Building the Styles Section
- Names & Glossary Sections
- Building Audit Check Section
- Building Version Control Section
- Documenting with Outlines
- Implementing a Row & Column Structure for the Model Sheets
- Automating Sheet Structure Timing
- Inserting Actual and Forecast Flags
- Setting up the Sheets for Printing
- Finalising your Model Sheet Structure Framework
Module 2
Restructuring the Historical Financials: Profit or Loss Account
When building financial models for an existing corporate, you need to thoroughly review and analyse the audited financial statements and then normalize the financials. By normalizing, we mean removing the accounting noise inherent in the financials to enable you to build financial statements tied to drivers that have predictive power. This module takes you through the steps to normalize (aka Restructure) the Profit or Loss Account. A bit like financial engineering, you will have fun with this one!
Lessons covered:
- Defining a Preferred PorL Structure
- Creating a Template for accurate Restructuring
- Restructuring Process for the Profit or Loss account
- Extracting the Depreciation and Impairment Values
- Dealing with incomplete information
- Normalizing the cost of sales & extracting associated depreciation
- Normalizing the SG&A & extracting associated depreciation
- Normalizing Net Finance Cost
- Normalizing Current and Deferred Tax Expenses
- Reconciling the normalized Profit or Loss to the Audited Accounts
Module 3
Restructuring the Historical Financials: Balance Sheet
In this module, we continue the work of restructuring (normalising) the financial statements by restructuring the balance sheet. Like the previous module, your goal is to build a model that forecasts the company's financials as accurately as possible. Accountants use IFRS or US GAAP rules to build the financials, you need to use Predictive financial drivers, thus the need to restructure. See why you need a bit of accounting knowledge! but not to worry; we got you covered in this module.
Lessons covered:
- Purpose of normalizing the Balance Sheet
- Restructuring non-Current Assets
- Restructuring of Trade and Other Receivables
- Some peculiar Accounting Treatments and how to resolve them
- Treating allowances for credit losses and other payables
- Reconciling restructured values with audited account values
- Restructuring all other Assets
- Restructured Trade and Other Payables
- Treating loans and borrowings
- Extracting Equity Values
- Smart & Efficient Technique for building out the Restructured Balance Sheet
- Finalizing your Financial Statement Normalization
- Adjusting for potential unbalanced Audited balance sheet
- Building the reconcile check tool for the balance sheet
- Creating an outline for a good interface and navigation
Module 4
Extracting Financial Drivers & Base Assumptions
In this Module, we will determine the best drivers for each line item of restructured financial statements. We will then use the historical financial values to compute base assumptions for the model. We will then build a scenario tool around assumptions that pose the greatest risk to the accuracy of our forecasts e.g. Revenue growth rate, inflation rates etc. The great work you did in restructuring the financials in the previous modules will begin to make a lot of sense now.
Lessons covered:
- Build out the Balance Sheet and Profit or Loss Sheets Linking to the Restated Financials
- Build out the Structure/sections of the assumptions sheet
- Identify Drivers for each line item of the Financial Statements
- Compute the historical trends based on identified drivers
- Propagate base assumptions for the forecast period based on historical trends
- Build out all Financing Assumptions & determine cash sweep accounts
- Carry out a risk analysis of drivers and determine assumptions that require multiple scenarios
- Build out the Scenario Analysis Template
Module 5
Financial Modeling Computation Mechanics
In this module you will build out the computations sheets containing all the schedules you need to build out your Financial Statements (Profit or Loss, Balance Sheet & Cash Flow Statements). Lots and lots of computations here, we will leverage on your Excel, Accounting and Analysis knowledge here, so if you haven't done the Primer courses, you may need to take another look at them. Fasten your seat belts and learn the Mechanics of Financial modeling computations in this module.
Lessons covered:
- Build out the structure for Profit or Loss Computations
- Complete all profit or loss computations
- Build all the schedule templates for Balance Sheet computations
- Build out all Linked Assumption tables in preparation for model mechanics
- Compute all schedules for the balance sheet
- Build a smart schedule for all financial calculations
- Link all computations to the Profit or Loss and Balance Sheet
- Build out the Cashflow statement
- Carry out steps to balance the Balance Sheet
- Build in circularity switches and complete the model build
Module 6
Finalizing your Model, Analysis & Visualisations
You have made it to the Financial Module for building 3-statement financial models. Here you will stress test your model, correct for circular reference errors and build out a robust analysis sheet with DuPont Analysis and analysis Charts. Also, we will simulate the updating of historical values, with the latest audited accounts and insert a DCF Valuation module to the Model.
Lessons covered:
- Detailed debt computations with Cash Flow Waterfalls & cash sweeps
- Perform the 1 Check for Model Accuracy
- Build out the Analysis Sheet Structure
- Compute DuPont Analysis, Efficiency, Profitability, and Leverage ratios
- Insert a DCF Valuation Module
- Build out Sensitivity analysis Tables
- Build useful charts and visualisations
- Complete the Summary Sheet with useful information and Scenario Links
- Download the Latest Audited Accounts of the Company and Update the Historical Financials
- Compare the share price of the Company with your Valuation Analysis
- Do a final review of the assumptions and drivers sense check the model
Plus You Will be Backed by a Risk-Free 21 -Day Guarantee
Financial Modeling Academy has been designed to train and upskill you with highly sought-after skills in the Financial Modeling Industry. You get this gem and access to a team of experts to guide you through and help you achieve your dreams of being a certified Financial Modeling Pro.
Now, here is how the guarantee works.
By the end of 21 days after the course launch, you would have received access to all the primer courses, resources, our introductory chapter and our first two modules,
Meaning you would have gotten access to
- Fundamentals of Financial Modeling
- Microsoft Excel Fundamentals for Modelers
- Module 1: Building your Model Structure & Framework and
- Module 2: Restructuring the Historical Financials: Profit or Loss Account
BEFORE making a final commitment.
If you don't feel totally confident about your ability to grasp and understand the concept of Financial Modeling then simply reach out, show us you have actually put in the work, and we will refund your investment in the course.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will I be able to build a Financial model after taking the training?
Will I have access to study materials and case studies to practice with?
What skills do I require to PASS the AFM exam?
How will the lectures be delivered?
Will I have access to mentors during the porgram?
Can I pay in installments?
What is the conversion in Naira for African Residents?
Can I use a MacBook?
Who is eligible for the scholarship?
How can I access the Academy if I’m not an African Resident or Student?
Will I have any issues accessing the content or following the course if you use a MacBook?
How long do we have access to the training materials?
How will the lectures be delivered?
How many Cohorts are available for the Academy?
What is Exam re-enrollment fee?
How do I know if I have been registered for the FMI AFM exam?
How do I defer my exam date?
Who do I contact when I have FMI AFM exam related issues?
What do I do when I don't get a prompt response from the FMI to my email?
How long will I have access to the course resources
How many times am I eligible to write/sit for the AFM Exam by the Financial Modeling Institute
Still thinking about it?
You know you should give the Financial Modeling Academy a shot if you are motivated by any of the following:
You are working in the Financial Sector and are looking to supercharge your career, you are currently unsatisfied with your knowledge gap or would like to earn more by acquiring a globally relevant accreditation by showcasing the best you have to offer at work. This Academy is best for you.
On a day to day, you do a lot of forecasting and budgeting and want to build intelligent and predictive models that can help your organization make smarter financial decisions.
You are a Modeler looking for a standardized process for building models for any industry and you also want access to a community of like-minded modelers and professionals that nurture, engage, and share their experiences.
This Academy is an opportunity to deal with these pain points and gives you a step-by-step guide to achieving all your goals.
I can’t wait to guide you over these 8 weeks on the Financial Modeling Academy.
I created this course because I wished I had it starting my career, I started out learning the hard way attending conferences all over the world, making mistakes, learning by doing and having nobody to support me in my modeling journey. Bu helping solve modelling issues for the last 10 years has built up a great desire in me to give back. I codified all my learnings in Excel, Accounting, Finance, Modeling, Critical thinking and more into a system, a system that I am teaching you now in this course.
I am also extremely honoured to be able partner with the Financial Modeling Institute to bring you an independent way to verify your skills as a financial modeler with their Advanced Financial Modeler Accreditation Exams. This is the icing on the cake for me and why we are so happy at dbrown to significantly discount our course so you are able to take the FMi Exams as part of our package.
So over the years that followed, I saw my same story play out for many professionals, and I thought, this shouldn't be, I can reduce 10 years of wilderness journeys in Financial modeling to less than a year; this is actually the major reason for starting my business over 16+ years ago and training the brilliant team at dbrownconsulting who have lovely put this academy together for you.
We have polished the process a great deal over the years but it still stays true to the fundamentals: You and no one else has the power and responsibility to change how you work with financial data, but it does help to have expert guidance. I am also lucky to have a passion for training and instructional design so I was able to craft our methods into a step-by-step process that anyone can follow. This process has changed thousands of lives and I am confident it will change yours too.
That is why I can confidently tell you that if you run this program for 21 days and don't see value after putting in the work, you will be refunded in full.
So, join me and let's transform how you give strategic financial guidance to your executives about the future prospects of your organisation. Since you will be doing this far more efficiently, an added benefit of completing this course is, more time to do more of what you do best.
David Brown
Explore these webinars to gain valuable knowledge on becoming a skilled Financial Modeler.
In this webinar, we will discuss the best practices that every Financial Modeler should adopt to become a top talent in the Finance Industry.
The focus of this Webinar is to guide you on how to apply for the Financial Modeling Scholarship and help you identify which scholarship route - the African Resident or African Student Route - is most suitable for you
Attention all aspiring financial modelers! Are you looking for guidance on which career path to pursue in this in-demand field? Look no further! Join our upcoming webinar where David Brown will share his invaluable insights on the various career paths available to you.
