We were brought in to build a 5-year financial forecasting model for this furnishing company which services the UK property market. Initially the mandate was to cover the initial development of the model, but it subsequently expanded to also cover helping to develop business plan assumptions by analysing existing financial data.
The model looked at the company’s three main workstreams which deliver products and services to estate agents, investors and relocation professionals throughout the UK. The model allowed the client to be able to predict working capital and financing requirements over the forecast period with accuracy based on best estimates. It also demonstrated the impact of investment in different product lines and potential business acquisitions.
We embedded ourselves in the finance team and often worked on the client site to be able to access key personnel and the client financial systems as and when we needed to. The resultant model was able to feed directly from management financial information to update monthly and reforecast. It also included a significant number of working capital assumptions to give comfort that the nuances of each product line were captured.
To date it is one of the more complex models we have developed, and was a rewarding mandate due to the opportunity to assist in developing the business plan and identifying the operating drivers behind the business.