Cut the Cost of Your Financial Model Audit: Expert Tips You Need to Know
A financial model audit is often a formal due diligence requirement of investors in major infrastructure transactions. It is an essential part of the process, but it has the potential to come with a hefty price tag. Understanding how to streamline this process can lead to significant cost savings without compromising quality. In this guide, […]
How To Find The Right Financial Model Auditor For You
If you are in the market for a financial model auditor, here are some of the things you should know. Choosing a reputable model auditor You need to be sure that you are choosing a credible provider. Your board and investors will want confidence that you are working with someone who will do a thorough […]
What’s really going on at OpenAI?
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work” – Thomas Eddison If you have modelling or AI-related news, resources, or events that you’d like to share with 48,000+ of the world’s best modellers, please email cassandra.brightley@gridlines.com. AI // What’s really going on at OpenAI? Sam Altman returned as OpenAI’s CEO after […]
East Africa’s AI-Powered Agricultural Revolution
“Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness.” – Thomas Jefferson If you have modelling or AI-related news, resources, or events that you’d like to share with 48,000+ of the world’s best modellers, please email cassandra.brightley@gridlines.com. AI // Transforming East Africa’s agriculture industry […]
The inevitable AI financial crash
“Blaming speculators as a response to financial crises goes back at least to the Greeks. It’s almost always the wrong response.” – Lawrence Summers If you have modelling or AI-related news, resources, or events that you’d like to share with 48,000+ of the world’s best modellers, please email cassandra.brightley@gridlines.com. Finance // Is an AI-triggered financial […]
Financial Model Audit – Cell by Cell vs Shadow Modelling
Imagine a ‘Where’s Wally’ (or Waldo in the USA) picture, but rather than a few hundred people, you have many thousands. To make things worse, the variability of each individual person can be huge, and you don’t know what Wally is wearing! To make things worse again, there may be many Wallys, or none at […]
Can you trust the results of deep learning models?
“Marginlessness is the disease of the new millennium; margin is its cure.” – Richard Swenson If you have modelling or AI-related news, resources, or events that you’d like to share with 48,000+ of the world’s best modellers, please email cassandra.brightley@gridlines.com. AI // The fragility of deep learning models The Bank of England conducted an analysis […]
Are financial services models minimising key risks?
“We are the first generation to feel the impact of climate change and the last generation that can do something about it.” – Barack Obama If you have modelling or AI-related news, resources, or events that you’d like to share with 48,000+ of the world’s best modellers, please email cassandra.brightley@gridlines.com. Climate // Financial services models […]
The Key to Success: Understanding the ‘Why’ of Financial Modelling Standards
“For engineers, designers and other creative problem-solvers, a formal definition of the constraints within which they must work is essential to channel energies and expand creativity.” – Adam Morgan Welcome to the new look Miscellany. If you have modelling-related news, resourcesor events that you’d like to share with 48,000 of the world’s best modellers, pleaseemail […]
LinkedIn’s AI Innovations: Transforming Recruiting and Beyond
“Some people call this artificial intelligence, but the reality is this technology will enhance us. So instead of artificial intelligence, I think we’ll augment our intelligence” – Ginni Rometty Welcome to the new look Miscellany. If you have modelling-related news, resourcesor events that you’d like to share with 48,000 of the world’s best modellers, pleaseemail […]
Unlocking new possibilities – quantum computing and financial modelling
“Quantum technology turns ordinary reality upside down” – Michael Crichton Welcome to the new look Miscellany. If you have modelling-related news, resourcesor events that you’d like to share with 48,000 of the world’s best modellers, pleaseemail cassandra.brightley@gridlines.com Tech // How quantum computing could revolutionise financial modelling With all the recent focus on AI, you’d be […]
How Google taught Bard to doubt itself
“Knowledge is the antidote to fear” – Ralph Waldo Emerson Welcome to the new look Miscellany. If you have modelling-related news, resourcesor events that you’d like to share with 48,000 of the world’s best modellers, pleaseemail cassandra.brightley@gridlines.com. AI : How Google taught Bard to doubt itself AI chatbots do not draw on a database of […]
Financial Model Audit the Secrets of Pricing
Here’s a peek behind the curtain at how Gridlines goes about pricing for a financial model audit. Before providing a quote, we will typically request a call with the potential client to help us understand the following key factors that drive our pricing. To do this we have a baseline audit fee which we will […]
What is an Operational Model… and do I need one?
Once a project finance transaction is finalised and the asset is constructed, it becomes crucial to monitor and report its continuous performance. The way the model is used and what it does before financial close changes significantly once the deal is agreed. Complex parts of the model that were extensively used to work out the […]
Openbox AI – Just describe the model you want
Unless you’ve been having a total digital detox, you’ll have seen articles about AI being used in all sorts of ways. And one of those ways – since the current AI wave is all about language – is to write things. Need some code for your website? Ask ChatGPT. Need a summary of some complex […]
Building a robust and flexible financial model
Building a robust and flexible financial model is a critical task for businesses. Whether you’re trying to secure funding for your startup, track your company finances, or plan for your company’s future, having a solid model is essential.
What Does the UK Spring Budget Mean for Tax?
The UK Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, delivered his Spring Statement today (23 March 2022). In terms of measures relating to companies involved in the project finance arena, one of the main items of note was the announcement of the government’s Tax Plan for the remainder of this parliament. Tax Plan At the Autumn Budget 2022, the […]
5 Perspectives over 5 years at Gridlines
Paul Myers I’ve been working with Gridlines for just over two years. It has flown by. Let me tell you why. Gridlines is a small-but-growing business. We had a little fewer than 20 people when I got involved in late 2020; two years later about twice that many faces are on the weekly zoom calls. […]
What is a Merger Model?
A merger model represents the financial position arising on the combination of two companies. Companies can combine in a number of ways including a merger under a mutual agreement to form a consolidated entity or an acquisition. An M&A model is an advanced model used to evaluate the pro forma accretion/dilution of earnings per share […]
Openbox | A matter of perspective
When we started building Openbox, we thought we were building a tool to create spreadsheet models. But as anyone who has started a business will tell you, customers and the market have a way of surprising you with what they really want! And one thing they want is help understanding what their model is doing. […]
What is a Three Statement Model?
A Three statement model is a basic setup for financial modelling. This type of model includes three different statements: Income statement Balance sheet Cash flow These are all linked with Excel formulas. The objective is to set it up so all the accounts are connected and a set of assumptions can drive changes in the […]
Financial Modellers are Changing the World
Whilst staring at a financial model, it is really easy to get lost in the numbers. It’s all rows and columns of excel, abstracted from the real world. It’s just another Infrastructure project……..Or is it? It is worth taking a step back once in a while to reflect on what the numbers on the screen […]
Financial Modelling – Survival of the fittest
In Financial Modelling it is often the business with the best model that survives the future I was chatting to a new client the other day and I was taken aback by his passion and energy relating to financial modelling. He said something that really summed up what I have been trying to say in […]
Openbox V1.0
The last year has been quite a journey for Openbox. The pace of change really picked up over the last couple of months as 500 beta users have tested Openbox and given us unbelievably valuable feedback. We are now nearly ready to take the big step to version 1.0. We’ll be releasing this in early […]
Openbox Public Beta – Key updates and bug fixes since the private beta closed
The Openbox private beta closed late last year, and since then we’ve been concentrating on delivering the improvements that beta users asked for. We’re grateful to the dedicated users who have continued to send us additional suggestions, and we’ve been working to include those as well. So, as we launch the public beta, here is […]
The Multi-Billion Dollar Excel Error that didn’t happen today
Excel is involved in every major transaction, every capital investment, every business sale, large or small and most financial forecasts. Decisions worth billions of dollars every single day are based on Excel models. Recent weeks have seen multiple headlines about Excel errors. Excel has been blamed for major losses, and in the case of UK […]
Public Health England’s COVID-19 Excel Error
Here at Gridlines, we are always banging on about spreadsheet risk and the risk of errors in Excel. Usually, we keep it light: “The world’s largest legal weed business had its accounts go up in smoke after a spreadsheet error caused it to underreport its losses.” Or perhaps even….. “Bargain Booze’s spreadsheet hell sinks the […]
Openbox Beta: Round 1 Retrospective
Round 1 Retrospective It feels like only last week that we kicked off the beta process, and here we at the end of Round 2. There has been a huge amount of input from our beta users, and we’re incredibly grateful for their time – particularly during the current crisis – in making Openbox more […]
Can we build a Project Finance Model in 20 minutes?
Thanks to everybody who attended the Financial Modelling meet up to watch me put my reputation on the line. If you didn’t manage to get into the zoom call you can watch the recording of the live stream on YouTube below. We are looking for professional modellers to join a closed beta which will start […]
The Business Analysis Lifecycle
As modellers it’s easy to focus on the technical details within a model and to lose sight of the bigger picture. The business analysis lifecycle is a framework which is useful in putting into context what we are doing as modellers, and more importantly, why we are doing it. Kenny explains the framework in this […]
