Several people contacted me telling me that they like my content and they want to know how they can step into the world of project finance and project finance modeling.

My answer comes from my own experience switching from a career in academia and trainer to one in project finance modeling. If you want to know more about me and my background, please check this link:

How financial modeling shaped my personality

First of all, if you are already working in a company or organization which does project finance transactions, then just apply for a position within the project finance department and be confident that you can learn by doing. You can even go to someone superior to you within the company and tell them that you are interested in working on project finance deals. Be direct and honest and say that you are aware that there’s a learning curve but you are confident that you can learn by doing.

If however, you are working as a freelancer or consultant then you can not allow the learning curve to be on the job. You need to get some level of expertise and then once you are comfortable with the concepts you can get a contract and start working on a deal. You will still have to learn things because every project is different so don’t panic if there are bullet points in the terms of reference that you are not familiar with.

Some practical advice:

Step 1: Get yourself these two books:

📌Principles of Project Finance by Professor E.R. Yescombe

📌 Corporate and Project Finance Modeling: Theory and Practice (Wiley Finance)

📌 Financial Model Detective: Hints and tricks for review of financial models By Hedieh Kianyfard

Step 2: Check other people’s materials and financial models to learn and get inspired

At this stage, you are learning, so just throw away everything that you know and allow yourself time to understand the concepts and how people are doing things. In Step 4, i will list a number of resources and people that I recommend for you to check.

Step 3: Starting building a Project finance model from scratch.

Now you have learned the concepts, it’s time to put your knowledge into application. If you already have a project then, use it as a case study and build a project finance model for your project. If you don’t have real project then you need to come up with a hypothetical one yourself or from other source.

In this step, I want to be creative and question everything that you can learned so far. You still can stick to the basic principles of project finance modeling but give yourself liberty to do things as you find appropriate. When it comes to Excel, there’s not one way of doing things. Formulate things your way. In terms of formating as well, use your own taste for designing your spreadsheet while applying the principles of project finance modeling (mainly flexibility, and transparency).

While building the model, always imagine how the model and what you are building is going to be useful for negotiation of different contracts.

Suggested Resources:


Companies, books, and materials are made by people and Instead of mentioning company names, I rather refer you to people behind these useful
resources.
This way you can also follow them on social media and learn from their expertise and become a member of their communities.

📌Professor Edward Bodmer

  •  You can find a wealth of information on financial Excel Modeling from Ed’s website: https://edbodmer.com/
  • A most have book on both Corporate and Project Finance modeling: https://www.amazon.com/Corporate-Project-Finance-Modeling-Practice-ebook/dp/B00OETIYXI
  • Courses offered by Edward: https://edbodmer.com/11869-2/

📌Professor E.R. Yescombe

  • Website: http://www.yescombe.com/homeframe.htm
  • Must have book: https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Project-Finance-R-Yescombe/dp/0127708510

📌 Danielle Stein Fairhurst

  • Website: https://plumsolutions.com.au/about-plum-solutions/
  • Recommended book: https://www.wiley.com/enus/Using+Excel+for+Business+and+Financial+Modelling:+A+Practical+Guide,+3rd+Edition-p-9781119520351
  • Also make sure you subscribe to Danielle’s brilliant webinars.

📌Kenny Whitelaw-Jones · Partner at Gridlines

  •  Website: https://www.gridlines.com/
  • Also make sure you join the Project Finance Institute platform: https://www.projectfinanceinstitute.com

📌Tim Demoures

  • Eloquens: https://www.eloquens.com/

📌Rickard Wärnelid

  • Website Corality/Mazar: : https://financialmodelling.mazars.com/

📌Leila Gharani

  • Website: https://www.xelplus.com/

📌Chandoo

  • Website: https://chandoo.org French speaking professionals and resources:

📌Boris Noro

  • Livres: https://www.amazon.com/Boris-Noro/e/B07BFVW4Z2%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share
  • Youtbe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfKlAQp4wC_pRpYt7clm70Q
  • Site: https://wisecat.tv/

📌Sophie Marchand

  • Site: https://www.lecfomasque.com/