I will build a financial model, forecast or scenario analysis in excel

Do you need a model you can defend in a budget meeting, not just a spreadsheet that adds up?

I spent twenty years building the financial models that technology finance and revenue teams worked from: budget allocation across 25 ledger accounts for a global business unit, cash-flow projection and scenario planning for small and mid-sized businesses, and the forecasting behind the quote-to-cash process. I also owned a USD 350K/month operating budget and worked through an HPECSC merger integration, so I know what auditors and controllers ask for.

What you get:

- A driver-based model, not a hard-coded sheet: inputs, assumptions and outputs kept separate

- Scenarios (base / upside / downside) and sensitivity on the two or three assumptions that actually move the answer

- A one-page assumptions sheet so anyone can audit the logic

- Excel-native: no add-ins required

I will ask what decision the model is for before I build it. A model that answers the wrong question is the expensive kind.