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Blair Cook, Director of Clarke Inc
Many time CFO of both public and private companies, three current corporate director roles, CPA and Chartered Accountant. Provides professional development services to "big 4" public accounting firms.
This instructor has 29 courses »To Access This Course:
In this course we learn how to financially model a business using Excel. Financial models underpin strategic and business planning, solicitations for financing, budgeting and forecasting, business valuations, cash budgeting, capital budgeting, and so many other corporate finance purposes.
We concentrate on the preparation of a financial projection of the income statement, balance sheet and statement of cash flow. We use an approach that keeps model integrity and credibility top of mind throughout development.
Course Series
This course is included in the following series:
3 CoursesFundamental Skills for Finance Professionals
- Accounting 101: How To Do Basic Accounting In One Hour
- Learn Finance Principles in 1 Hour
- Financial Modeling Using Excel
10 CoursesFinance for Entrepreneurs
- Start-up Equity and Cap Table Basics
- Understanding Performance-Based Equity Awards
- Accounting 101: How To Do Basic Accounting In One Hour
- Learn Finance Principles in 1 Hour
- Financial Modeling Using Excel
- The Evolution of a Great Spreadsheet Report - How to Effectively Present Numbers in the Business World
- Creating a Winning Pitch for Venture Capital Investors
- Venture Capital Valuation Analysis Method
- Enterprise Risk Management 101
- The IPO Preparation Process - Preparing a Company to Access the Public Markets
Learning Objectives
- Identify a disciplined approach for using Excel to develop financial analysis
- Discover how to prepare financial projections of the income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows
Last updated/reviewed: May 26, 2022
156 Reviews (534 ratings)Reviews
Steve Meyers
(solo at none)
This course was great. Before and after spreadsheets were provided for each different lesson, allowing for hands on practice. The instructor was very knowledgeable, enthusiastic and I enjoyed listening to him. I would definitely seek out more courses with him as the instructor.
The only downside of this course is it could've been a little bit longer. So much great material and learning, but it only counts for 1.5 CPA CPE credits. Based on a 50 minute hour, an additional 8 minutes would've made it 2.0 hours. The instructor could've have elaborated more on some content, especially the NPV and IRR in the bonus lesson. Still one of the best online CPEs.
Yassir Osman
(Collector at World Fuel Services)
Financial modeling in Excel is the process of building a financial model to represent a transaction, operation & financial information to analyze how a change in one variable can affect the final return so as to make a decision on one or more of the aforementioned financial transactions. This course was presented in way that is easy to follow with the help of provided Excel workbook
Homer Hernandez
(Owner at Homer Hernandez CPA)
I am new to modelling so much of the information is very useful. The course could have used more technical Excel instruction. I now realize that the Balance Sheet, Income Statement, and Cash Flow Statement should be modeled together.The people who would get the most out of this course are management accountants and any company management team member.
Anonymous
(Associate Financial Analyst)
Kind of challenging, but well structured and clear. Be prepared to pause a lot while you work alongside the course with your own worksheets. Heavy emphasis on keeping data, calculations and reports segregated for the purpose if integrity and troubleshooting. Overall a good guide to producing reliable, intelligible and useful reports.
Chuen Lam
(CFO at Timberbrook Investment Group)
This is a great course. I recently start doing budget forecast for my company. I can see a lot of the similarity between this course and actual real life work. This course definitely help me to improve my understanding and the concept behind my work. I also like the few tricks that Blair shares at the end of the course.
Eric Ball
View Instructor Profile
Many courses move too slowly, this one moves at a good speed. This works well for those who already have exposure to the underlying concepts, it ties them together to show how to build forecasting spreadsheets in a very time-efficient way. For newcomers, they may want to pause frequently.
Jonathan Nelson
(Director at Nelson Consulting)
The instructor does a great job of keeping things moving along at a good pace. This course has a lot of good information, not only about using Excel, but also about the relationship between the financial statements and the various lines within the financial statements. A great course!
Munyaradzi Kadzinga
(Treasury Analyst at Yarra Valley Water)
Simple but very effective presentation. I loved how brief the financial model was with enough information useful for reporting. Very useful and practical tips for both seasoned professional and those who are just beginning. Another excellent presentation from Blair Cook.
Anonymous
(Consultant)
Great Course!! This course gave an excellent overview of Financial modeling using Excel. The separation of the the assumptions at the bottom of the model or on a separate tab is a fundamental step that if overlooked makes for an unruly and often error ridden model.
Gary Becker
(Director of Finance at Sno-Isle Libraries)
Great course! Practical and engaging. Mr. Cook took many challenging concepts and boiled them down to be easily understandable. I also benefited from the the bonus lesson - Top 5 Excel features for modelers. Well done! I will look for other courses by Mr. Cook
Anonymous
()
Thanks for Mr.Blair great work. He is one of my most favor instructors in CPE education. His opinions are insightful and her demonstration is so logical and attractive, although sometimes I did not get his idea, I still enjoyed his interesting presentation.
Anonymous
(Finance Manager)
I have an accounting background, but was struggling to follow the instructor. He talked and navigated through Excel files so quickly, that I had a hard time keeping up. Luckily one can repeat the video and read the text as often as one wishes.
Anonymous
(CFO)
Great content. Explains concepts of modeling very thoroughly, and also includes several useful tips and tricks for modeling specific scenarios. The Excel tips at the end also included some useful functionality I wasn't previously aware of.
Jeff Klein
(Director of budgeting and financial plan.. at Vss-southern theatres)
Sometimes it went a little fast and I had to pause the video. I spent about 50% more time on the lesson than the CPE indicated. Very useful for the first time modeler or for someone who hasnt been taught modeling in a classroom setting
Sheilah Brown
(Controller at SMB LTC)
Great templates. Must have a good accounting background to understand where the assumptions come from and how they are inter-related or you would not get much out of this course. Took much more than 1.5 hour to really do the exercises.
Anonymous
(Financial Analyst)
As a financial analyst for a public corporation, I have started working on financial models for new products and potential acquisitions. This lesson was very useful in giving me some best practices when completing models.
Anonymous
(Senior Financial Analyst)
Good course to introduce aspects of financial modeling. It moves a little fast to follow along with excel in the moment, but as someone with previous experience modeling, I found it more beneficial to just watch through.
Anonymous
(Director)
The presenter is very engaging and very effective. The examples provided are very helpful. There are various useful tips provided that are easy to apply.
The time allotted for the course is about right.
Raveendran Madappattu
View Instructor Profile
Wonderful course!!! The course provided a lot of insights into the complexities and challenges of preparing financial models. The instructor has made many complex items look simple. Well done.
Anonymous
(Controller)
Some really good content on the set-up of a financial model. Good tips on structure and and financial statement set-up. Bonus lesson had some cool tidbits. Final exam questions were obtuse.
Anonymous
(Owner)
Great tips for modeling financials within excel. Instructor provides both tips to improve assumptions as well as pitfalls to avoid in order to improve accuracy of financial modeling.
Anonymous
()
I like that this was a hands-on course but with that I think this should've been at least a 2CPE credit because you'll spend much more than the 1.5hr video finishing up the course.
Justin Upp
(FP&A Supervisor at The Boston Beer Company)
The pace of the course was good. I thought it was a solid intro to financial modeling. Would definitely recommend this course to anyone new to the world of financial modeling
Jordann Hoo Jiun Horng
(Senior Internal Auditor at OCLARO INC)
This course is great in the sense that it clearly separates all the assumptions, formulas and reports to demonstrates how a forecast can be made. It is very easy to follow.
Vickie Jackson
(Accounting Manager at NewStar Sourcing and Service)
The instructor did an excellent job pointing out common mistakes made when modeling and showing ways to avoid these mistakes. A lot of material to absorb in 1.5 hours.
Anonymous
(Director, Financial Reporting)
Instructor was knowledgeable and engaging. I would recommend this course for anyone involved in balance sheet, cash flow, working capital, P&L budgeting and forecasting.
Ara Toroyan
(Director - Financial Planning & Proc.. at NCCI Holdings, Inc.)
A really solid class on financial modeling. Clearly the presenter knows the content based on years of experience. Well worth the 1.5 hours at the intermediate level.
Anonymous
(CPA/Investment Advisor)
Good course - lots of good information I wish others would incorporate in their models to make them more useful to others. However, too long for the content included
Brian Meister
(- at International Hillel)
Great course. Really enjoyed the bonus lesson...i look forward to using the hints...thank you!
Also, great presenter...can really tell that he likes what he does!
Anonymous
(CFO)
Good course. Provides a nice overview and example. The key for this lesson is the walkthrough and handouts to help the user visualize what the speaker intends.
Anonymous
(Sr. Accountant)
Course was well structured with plenty of examples. However, at times, the overview of the models skipped how some calculations were added to the template.
Anonymous
(None)
This is a great class to introduce you to financial modeling. It is pretty fast pace but if you slow down and use the material it's easier to pick it up
Samuel Narotsky
(Corporate Accounting Consultant at Self Employed)
Very good course. It's a lot of material, and considering the time to work on the files, it should be more than 1.5 CPE, at least 2.0 or even 2.5.
Anonymous
(Accountant)
There was a lot in this course that I will use in the future. I am sure I will return to this lesson the next time I am building a financial model.
Anonymous
(Finance Director)
Very interesting and valuable information but I believe it could have been condensed somehow. The quality of audio made it easier to follow along.
Nancy Dodd
(CPA / Owner at Nancy V Dodd CPA)
Very useful overview of the "structure" of a financial modeling workbook that insures assumptions remain apparent and not buried in formulas.
Chris Fameree
( at Diligence Solutions Group, LLC)
Its a good course for the basics. Was hoping for a bit more in terms of excel efficiencies and tricks, etc. Didn't really provide that.
Daniel Bryant
(Senior Financial Analyst at Google)
Great course - very informative. A very good review for anyone who has either a little or a lot of experience building financial models.
Sean Flynn
(Accounting Manager at Rosemawr Management)
Great instructional video on how to build your own excel models, very informative, great instructor. Will follow more of Blair's courses.
Anonymous
(VP of Finance)
Great course to learn about financial modelling using excel specially for CPA's! Appreciate all the excel tips given during the session.
Lawrence Hirsch
(Controller at Builders design)
Blair may have just unseated my previous favorite presenter. He knows more about excel in his finger than I do in my Head. Well done.
Anonymous
(Board Member)
There is a lot of information in this course that is very valuable--you just might have to review it more than one time to get it all!
Quinn Bonta
(Associate Consultant at RSM)
this course does a good job of simplifying a complicated topic and provides a good baseline knowledge to building forecasting models.
Really enjoyed this course. The instructor did a great job breaking down the material and explaining. Highly recommend this course.
Anonymous
(Director of Financial Systems)
Interesting and informative course. Good examples and spreadsheets to try hands-on, but doing that takes longer than stated time.
Laura Munson
(CFO at Cathedral Capital)
Good instructor. I was glad I already have experience with models or as the pace and volume of material was fairly significant.
Anonymous
(CFO)
Challenging course; good presenter. Would be more helpful if there were extended periods of time to work through the examples.
Andrew Anderson, CPA
(Principal Financial Analyst at Rio Tinto)
The course was very good overall. I was hoping it would cover discounting, nominal vs. real, and other valuation model items.
Alex Ristevski CTP, CRC
(VP, Portfolio Manager at SunTrust Bank)
I was impressed with how much content was covered in the allotted time. Good overview on how to build a basic financial model.
Anonymous
(Consultant - Process Specialist)
This is a great course for those new to accounting concepts, or for those who have forgotten what they learned in college.
A bit confusing considering I took a financial modeling course, some material contradicted. However, overall, well done.
Ted Feher
(Owner at Feher, PC (CPA))
Very good basic course in modeling without getting too caught up in Excel functions and shortcuts or accounting jargon.
Anonymous
()
Overall a good course - some of the Excel functions used assume a version of Excel that not all participants may have.
Anonymous
()
Enjoyed the course. Will take a bit longer than the allotted time if you follow along in excel but was worth it.
Brian Bell
(Director, Assistant Controller at Cymer)
Simply the best instructor I have found on Illumeo. Extremely thorough, technical and practical.
Anonymous
(Senior Internal Auditor)
This course was very challenging. However, it was educational. The time allotted was appropriate.
Sharon Vincent
(CFO at MJC Electronics Corporation)
Fast moving and easy to follow. The worksheets were great to follow and makes a great template.
Zachary Lockhart
( at Private Business)
A good review blending coverage of excel and financial modeling. My thanks to the presenter.
Anonymous
(Assistant Accounting Manager)
It is not easy course, but certainly improve your knowledge of financial modeling and excel.
Anonymous
(Accounting Manager)
Very informative. Approach was logical and instructor very easy to listen to and understand
Anonymous
(Principal)
I am not a financial analyst, but I earned a lot from this course that I can use every day.
ERICA CARPER
( at a)
These are fantastic models - very comprehensive of how and why to build them like he does.
Monte Smith, CMA
(Chief Executive Officer at Gerding Companies, Inc)
Well organized and a thorough presentation. Enjoyed working along with the examples.
Anonymous
(Sr. Director, FP&A)
Was pretty confusing if you don't do a lot of balance sheet and cash flow budgeting.
Anonymous
(Bonding Manager)
This course is a good, basic overview of modeling. Some surprising new information.
Inna Shmukler
(Controller at Fornetix LLC)
Lot's of good information and very useful tips. Very well organized and presented.
Lawrence DeParis
(Founder & CEO at C-Level Solutions LLC)
Excellent introduction to preparing a comprehensive integrated financial model.
Craig Scanlon
(Owner at BST)
Reinforces a lot of what I have been doing for 30+ years and adds a few shortcuts
Eric Cox
(Senior Accountant at Mondo)
Highly recommend this course before diving into the budgeting process next year!
Personally, I do not think this was a good learning tool for financial modeling.
Anonymous
(Financial Analyst)
Very practical and useful. Need some accounting background to understand it.
Marc Ostroff
(Production Finance Executive at Netflix)
Really enjoyed this course. Very detailed and informative. Highly recommend.
Anonymous
(President)
I have watched several of Blair's courses. Always informative and well done.
Tyler Whitlock
( at Christensenarms)
This was a really good, but basic introduction to forecasting and modeling.
Anonymous
()
This course was beneficial to my understanding of complex financial models.
Yoshihiro Nishimura
(Director of Finance, Coporate Business F.. at WACOM Co., Ltd.)
Very helpful to confirm the principls i need to keep in mind when modeling
Anonymous
(Finance Director)
Good approach for those newer to modeling. Some handy excel tips included.
Dixie Gutwald
(retired financial analyst at retired)
Useful ideas about good planning in the beginning to save headaches later.
Anonymous
(Controller)
A lot of information, valuable guidance to establishing structured models.
John Watkins
( at GSMS Inc)
Good course and reminder of how to set-up a model to allow for changes..
Alex Bonn
(Student at Fairfield University)
it was a long course but I would suggest it for a college finance student
Alfred Hampton
(Senior Director of Finance at LashCo Holding)
The course was very informative and will be useful in my day to day role.
Karin Williams
(None at self)
The instructor made an otherwise dry subject, interesting. Kudos to him!
Anonymous
()
Another solid course from Blair Cook. I will refer to this in practice.
Chris Grimes
(Rules Master at Cisco)
Good calss for modeling tips and how to design an integrated workbook
Anonymous
(Owner)
This was a great course to grasp the concepts of financial modeling.
Amber Deadrick
(Assistant Controller at Trimble Navigation)
Many helpful tips that I will incorporate into my existing methods
Pamela LaPlaca, CPA
(Controller at EG USA)
This was an excellent prep for a job interview- Thank you, Blair!
Anonymous
(Senior Accountant)
should be broken down between statement or more time allotted
John Russell
( at The Master's University and Seminar..)
Good concepts, but he goes very fast when working in excel.
Ryan O'Donnell
( at Maiden Holdings, Ltd)
Great course, very happy with the length of content and exam.
Heather DiLorenzo
( at Fairfield University)
There was a lot of information that was sometimes confusing.
Jimmy Hall
( at Consultant)
The was a very good session on Excel and formulas, very nice
Bryan Chamberlain
(Controller at N/A)
Excellent course. Very informative and very well presented!
Anonymous
()
This was a really great and in depth overview of modeling.
Jeff Ratcliffe
(Chief Financial Officer at United Hunter Oil & Gas Corp.)
This is a great course for those new to financial modeling
Anonymous
()
Liked the course. Nice pace. Very useful insights gained.
Anonymous
(Sr Accountant)
Instructor moves at a perfect speed. An excellent course.
Nicole Johnson
(Staff Consultant at EKS&H)
The instructor was easy to follow and clear to listen to!
Anonymous
(Accountant)
Good tips with added bonus features available in Excel.
Anonymous
(VP of Finance and Accounting)
Good overview of using Excel to create financial models.
Jennifer Bor
(Sole Practitioner at Accounting and Business Management Consu..)
works for what i need to renew my cpa and cia licenses.
Janine Korovesis
(Controller at Google)
This course was fairly basic in the beginning lessons.
Forrest Savage
( at Fairfield University)
Good explanations and content. Effective instructor.
Anonymous
(Senior Associate)
The sample excels and solutions were very helpful.
Anonymous
(SVP, Finance)
Great review of both financial and modeling basics
Anonymous
(Salaried Consultant)
The tips and tricks at the end were very helpful.
Anonymous
(CPA, CFE, CGMA)
Great presentation & illustration with examples.
Hicham Jawhar
(Financial controller at Basement Systems Quebec)
This courses delivered in a very effective way.
Anonymous
(Senior Financial Analyst)
Complex issues explained in detail. Informative
Bruce Reed
(Chief Financial Officer at PracticeLink)
One of the best modeling lessons I've taken!
Saba Kazi
(Manager- Accounting & Finance at Finex Management Consulting)
Excellent course for finance professionals.
Anonymous
(Vice President of Finance)
The exam answer choices should be rephrased
Joyce Holiday
(Consultant at DLC)
Nice overview and some very helpful tips
John Noble
(Controller at eComEngine)
A thrill for finance Excel enthusiasts.
Stephen Hall
( at Systems Alliance)
Good combination of use and application
Anonymous
()
Difficult material, but very helpful.
Lorna Fisher
(Retired Finance Professional with active.. at Retired and enjoying time to pursue pers..)
Excellent class as usual from Blair.
Scott Berlinguet
(student at Fairfield U)
EXCELLENT AND INFORMATIVE LESSON!
Anonymous
(Senior Associate)
Great instructor, great overview!
Anonymous
(Associate with Two Degrees)
Very informative and organized!
Kelley Allen
(Staff Accountant at Phoenix Textile Corp)
Liked the Start and Solutions.
Corinne Adams
(President at CBA)
This is tougher than I thought
Anonymous
(Insurance Broker)
Good step-by-step presentation
Anonymous
(Financial Analyst)
Challenging, but informative.
Anonymous
(student)
interesting, lot of material
Lawrence Ward
(Not Provided at RJB Contracting Inc.)
Well organized and presented.
Gayle Christopher
(Not Provided at Midasco)
I enjoyed taking this course!
Qingkui Qiu
(Finance supervisor at Wanli New energy corporation LTD.)
Great! great! great course!
Michael McGee
( at Fairfield University)
Tough, but very informative
Andrew Wilding
(Head of Finance at Sequence, Inc.)
Great course on modeling!
Sabine D\'amico
(Exec, Controller at Kaiser Permanente)
Convenience interesting
Samantha Hollibone
(Consultant at DLC Group)
useful and relevant!
Mohammad Ali, CTP
(Revenue Analyst at Energy & Utilities)
Very Professional.
Terry Hartmann
(Trustee at GEVA Theatre Center)
some good ideas
Michael Maffucci
(student at Fairfield University)
Hard, but like.
Joseph Murphy
(None at Fairfield University)
very informaive
Anonymous
(Sr Financial Analyst)
great overview
Anonymous
(Director of Finance)
Great overview
Siva Vinay
(Interim Controller at Navona)
great details
Hong Zhu
(Manager of Financial Reporting at CornerStone Home Lending)
good lecture.
Henry Guo
(Analyst at Fairfield University)
great lesson!
Anonymous
(NONE)
Great course!
Fred Neftin
(student at Fairfield University)
Great Course
John Daniels
(Sutdent at Fairfield University)
Great Course
Frank Perillo
(Not Provided at Frank Perillo CPA)
Good course!
Zarksis Italia
(Director Finance at Ensco)
Great Class
Anonymous
(RECENT GRADUATE)
good course
Richard Dandan
(Senior Accounting Specialist at National Food Authority)
Excellent!
Anonymous
(Senior Accountant)
Very good.
Anonymous
()
great!
Andrew Eidenshink
( at Fairfield University)
its ok
Anonymous
(Contracts Manager)
Great!
Anonymous
()
Great
Anonymous
(Financial Representative Intern)
A+
Anonymous
(Controller for Americas BU)
ok
Prerequisites
Course Complexity: Intermediate
Prerequisite: Basic proficiency with accounting and Excel
Advanced Preparation: None
Education Provider Information
Company:
Illumeo, Inc., 75 East Santa Clara St., Suite 1215, San Jose, CA 95113
Contact:
For more information regarding this course, including complaint and cancellation policies, please contact our offices at (408) 400- 3993 or send an e-mail to .