Financial modelling.

What the model has to do

A project financial model is a decision tool that will be read by people who did not build it. Sponsors use it to set a price. Lenders use it to size debt and test downside. Auditors open it to find what has been hidden inside a formula. A model that only its author can navigate fails at the point it matters most.

We build models for that audience, and we build them to a published standard rather than to house convention, so that a third party can follow the logic without rebuilding it.

The FAST Standard

GIA is a signatory to the FAST Standard, the published specification for flexible, appropriate, structured and transparent financial models. In practice that means inputs, calculations and outputs are separated, each row holds one calculation applied consistently across the whole time series, and no value is hard-coded inside a formula. Flags drive timing rather than nested conditions. Every input appears once and is referenced from there.

The discipline pays for itself during due diligence. A lender’s adviser can open the model, trace any output back to its inputs, and test it without reconstructing the logic. That turns a model audit from a rebuild into a review, which is usually the difference between weeks and months on the critical path to close.

Structure and documentation

Deliverables include a documented input register recording the source and basis of every assumption, a model map showing the calculation flow, and a change log where a model is maintained across several rounds. Where a model supports a transaction, we version it against the submissions it underpins, so it is always clear which build produced which number.

Debt sizing and cover ratios

Debt is sized to target cover ratios under the lender case rather than the sponsor case, with sculpting where the revenue profile supports it. The model separates the sponsor view from the bank view explicitly, so the gap between them is visible and can be discussed rather than discovered.

Scenarios and sensitivities

Scenario and sensitivity functionality is built in from the start, not added when someone asks. We identify the variables that genuinely move the outcome, typically resource or demand, fuel price, currency, construction cost and delay, and test them individually and in combination. Presenting forty sensitivities that move nothing obscures the three that do.

Model review and audit readiness

We also review models built by others, whether before a transaction or as part of diligence. Review covers structural integrity, formula consistency, the treatment of tax, debt and working capital, and whether the outputs actually follow from the stated assumptions. Financial model review sets out that work in more detail.

Specialist inputs

Resource yield, traffic and demand forecasts, geotechnical findings and process performance data come from appointed specialists. We define what the model needs from each, in what form and by when, so that technical outputs arrive as usable inputs rather than as reports someone then has to interpret under time pressure.

Handover

Models are handed over with documentation and a walkthrough with the team that will maintain them. A model nobody in the client organisation can operate reverts to a black box within a quarter.

Financial modelling: common questions

Is GIA certified under the FAST Standard?

GIA is a signatory to the FAST Standard, which means we build and maintain models to that specification. The FAST Standard Organisation operates separate certification for individuals and accreditation for training providers, and we do not claim either.

Can you work with an existing model rather than rebuilding?

Often, yes. Where the structure is sound, remediation is faster and cheaper than a rebuild and preserves the institutional knowledge in the file. Where inputs are scattered through formulas or the time series is inconsistent, remediation costs more than starting again, and we say so before the work begins.

What causes models to fail lender due diligence?

Hard-coded values inside calculations, inconsistent rows across the time series, circularity handled by macros nobody documented, and tax or working capital treatment that cannot be traced to a stated basis. All four are structural and all four are avoidable at build stage.

Do you model at corporate as well as project level?

Yes. Corporate and holding company models, portfolio consolidations and acquisition models all follow the same conventions as project finance models, with consolidation logic and intercompany treatment built to the same transparency requirement.

Related expertise

• Financial model review
• Feasibility studies
• Project finance advisory
• Transaction advisory
• Bid advisory