The worst financial model I ever saw came from someone with Big 4 experience.
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I had to scroll to row 6,400 to change an input (seriously). Thought my PC would catch on fire.
I even brought in my coworker to show her my "rage scrolling" down this giant tab.
"Can you believe this?!" I'd said to her.
It was “complicated therefore good,” but the management team couldn’t stand it.
The truth is, it was just trying to do too much, and distracted from the big picture.
What happened? I ended up rebuilding the whole thing.
So here's what I’d suggest…
Keep your models simple. As simple as humanly possible.
Why?
I promise it will grow organically. Every Excel file does.
Which means?
The risk for error grows too.
Can someone open your file and roughly understand it? Will my dad open it and not curse at it? That’s a win.
If my PC fan sounds like a jet engine, the file is too complicated.
The true challenge is figuring out how to solve a problem in as few steps as possible in a way people can understand.
Challenge yourself to do less.
Keep. It. Simple.
About Me -- I'm Chris -- I help finance professionals build awesome FP&A and Private Equity Models in a simple and relatable style.
These are the exact models I use with FP&A and Private Equity teams around the world.
Whenever you're ready, you can check them out here.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Probably the best course on modeling I have taken."
Until next time.
—Chris