What Does a Professional DCF Model Look Like?
I’m currently looking to enhance my understanding of professional-level DCF models as they’re used in the industry. I've built a few during my internships and studies, but I'm curious to see how they stack up against those created by professionals in investment banking, private equity, or corporate finance.
Would anyone be willing to share actual DCF models they've worked on (with any sensitive or proprietary information removed, of course)? I’m particularly interested in seeing the structure, level of detail, and any unique approaches that make your models stand out. Please feel free to DM me and we can exchange DCF models!
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here's what you need to know about professional DCF models:
Structure of a Professional DCF Model:
Assumptions and Drivers:
Financial Statements:
Free Cash Flow Calculation:
Discount Rate:
Terminal Value:
Sensitivity Analysis:
Output and Valuation Summary:
Key Features of Professional DCF Models:
Unique Approaches:
For more detailed examples and templates, you can refer to the DCF Modeling Training - Free Guide available on Wall Street Oasis. This guide provides comprehensive insights into building and refining DCF models to professional standards.
If you're looking to exchange actual DCF models, it's best to connect with professionals directly through networking or forums, ensuring any shared models have sensitive information removed.
Sources: Interview DCF example, How various professionals see the world, What does a model look like at a L/S hedge fund? What is the diligence process like?, How professional should your LinkedIn profile pic be, PE professional, what's your process while judging an investment?
Can’t share a file because the sharing on its own would be a breach of contract and largely liable to one’s own clients. Hence why you see barely any real models out there.
However I can tell you this:
The real models are completely different than the models you will see in college and financial modeling courses. Completely. different. It’s actually a little embarrassing to pay 60k for college and see the models they provide you in advanced financial modeling classes.
The real models will have the following main ‘modules’ or ‘excel tabs’. Don’t like the name tabs m bc technically one could structure the model differently by consolidating and separating more or less tabs, but the general structure will be:
Base info / raw historical inputs tab
A control panel / assumptions tab, which will also have switch control features for different scenarios
A projections tab that will pull from the base info tab for historical years (or not, this is optional) and pull the control panel assumptions to project the future years
An operating model / statements tab which will pull everything in a formatted / neat-looking way either from the projections tab (if you included the historicals there) or pull from both the historicas and the projections tab (in case you only included the projections in the projections tab)
DCF tab which will pull from the operating model tab
WACC tab which will feed the DCF tab
Comps tab which will feed the WACC and DCF tab
Some people (I say people because the model is done by a person, not a bank, and people have control over their own models, and models can change within a bank) will break the projections tab into general projections and other schedules such as Capex / D&A schedules, WC Roll-Forwards, and Debt Schedules.
And it is all mistake-free and 1000% better formatted, organized and color-coded than you will ever see outside of the professional environment.
Oh and on the level of detail, it’s obscene, but it’s all concentrated in the projections tab, the rest is consolidated / cleaned up so that it can be well digested by potential buyers.
My models do not have less than 1000 rows in the projections tab and some will go up to 2-3000 rows.
what industry are you in, if you don't mind me asking, and do certain industries lend themselves to more in depth modeling than others?
Finally, a great response. Everyone I spoke to on Reddit keeps saying it’s almost exactly the same as the templates we see online but I knew that wasn’t true.
Thank you boss!
This is the most absurd thing I've ever seen.
Can't tell if this is satire or some intern fantasizing of what they think IB is like.
The math that matters can be distilled into like 10 numbers keyed into excel. Any of the fancy models analysts pull together will never get opened by anyone who matters on the client side and it's just not how bankers add value.
The operating models you keep going on and on about are almost always put together by the client and are generally filled with mistakes.
Agree with you that only few numbers matter but depends on the client / MD if they want a full fledged model built by the deal team. Personally experienced and have seen instances where if we do not like the management’s operating model or the sellside model (in buyside case), we just do a in-depth bottom up build up with scenarios and sensitivities as we cannot trust their figures.
You’re mising the point. It’s not about the valuation broadie. In fact, bankers NEVER share the DCF tab with potential buyers, we REMOVE it, so that they can derive their own valuation.
Its about presenting a solid model that PEs and strategics can play around with the assumptions and see what affects what. And they can see how every piece of line is interconnected.
(For instance, how an increase in capex will influence the level of revenue increase for an equipment rental company, or how optimizing product mix in a fertilizer company will increase margins, so you know which products to focus most on).
It’s not just about the value of the company, that’s why you need a thorough model.
Yeah, not really true. Maybe in some places they have smaller models, but where I work they are pretty much like what above poster described.
You can have super in depth models that focus on the key figures, BTW. The extra level of depth comes from complexities in the companies product lines / legal structure, asset schedule, debt schedule, etc., all of which cannot be forecasted with a simple aggregate growth rate - each business segment has its own business plan and assumptions. The key numbers are still the focus, though - those are where the bulk of the intellectual effort goes
It's 3 tabs:
- Consolidated financials and projections from the company, copy pasted
- DCF output
- WACC
It's largely a template. 90% of the time bankers just use the forecast management provided.
I can pump out a client ready DCF in less than 10 mins.
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