A strong financial model is more than a spreadsheet, it is the story of the business told in numbers. This course helps founders, CFOs, finance leaders, and advisors build investor-ready forecasts that communicate strategy, test assumptions, support funding conversations, and drive better business decisions. Learn how to build financial models that do more than satisfy investors, they become strategic tools for running and growing your business. This practical course teaches founders and finance professionals how to create investor-ready forecasts, communicate their financial strategy, evaluate different growth scenarios, and use financial modelling to make better business decisions. Participants will leave with practical techniques that can be immediately applied to improve fundraising readiness and financial planning.
Course ID: FSBF
Financial Storytelling: Building Forecasts That Tell the Story in Numbers
Learning Objectives
- Recall why financial modeling and forecasting are critical for fundraising, strategic planning, and business growth.
- Indicate how to build an investor-ready financial model that communicates a clear financial story.
- Recognize how to develop realistic revenue, cost, cash flow, and funding forecasts using key business drivers.
- Select scenario planning and sensitivity analysis to evaluate risks and support better business decisions.
- Identify the assumptions that have the greatest impact on financial performance and forecast accuracy.
- Recall how to present financial forecasts with confidence to investors, lenders, and other stakeholders.
- Estimate how to use financial models as practical decision-making tools to support growth, improve performance, and secure funding.
Major Topics
- Why financial modelling matters for fundraising and business planning
- What investors really want to see in financial forecasts
- How to build a clear “story in numbers”
- Key questions a financial model should answer: how much to raise, revenue targets, cash runway, hiring capacity, profitability, and cost control
- Core components of a financial model: revenue forecast, cost forecast, financing forecast, assumptions, growth drivers, financial statements, KPIs, dashboards, and visualisations Sales and revenue planning, including products, pricing, customers, ARR, churn, renewals, cash receipts, and gross margins
- Cost planning, including startup costs, direct costs, staffing, R&D, marketing, sales, general admin, and payment timing Scenario planning and assumption stress-testing
- Using financial models for investor confidence, investor reporting, and better strategic decisions
Who Should Attend
Startup and scale-up finance leaders, Founders, CFOs, finance managers, FP&A professionals, accountants, advisors, consultants, and business leaders who want to build or review financial forecasts for fundraising, investor reporting, and strategic decision-making.
Fields of Study
FinancePrerequisites
None. No prior financial modelling course is required. A basic familiarity with business planning, financial statements, or startup fundraising may be helpful but is not required.