What are the basic financial analysis models?

Asked by: Tyler Rempel MD  |  Last update: June 26, 2026
Score: 4.9/5 (4 votes)

Basic financial analysis models are tools used to assess a company's financial health, performance, and valuation. Key models include the 3-Statement Model (integrating income statement, balance sheet, cash flow), Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) for valuation, Ratio Analysis (liquidity, profitability, leverage), and Horizontal/Vertical Analysis for trend and percentage-based assessment.

What are the 4 types of financial analysis?

Common types of financial analysis include vertical and horizontal analysis, leverage analysis, liquidity analysis, and profitability analysis.

What are the three basic financial models?

Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Model. Merger Model (M&A) Initial Public Offering (IPO) Model.

What are the 5 methods of financial statement analysis?

There are five commonplace approaches to financial statement analysis: horizontal analysis, vertical analysis, ratio analysis, trend analysis and cost-volume profit analysis. Each technique allows the building of a more detailed and nuanced financial profile.

What are FP&A models?

Financial planning and analysis (FP&A) refers to the processes designed to help organizations accurately plan, forecast, and budget to support the company's major business decisions and future financial health. These processes include planning, budgeting, forecasting, scenario modeling, and performance reporting.

What is Financial Modeling? (Full Beginner’s Guide)

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What are the 4 components of financial modeling?

The four major components of financial modeling are assumptions, financial statement analysis, valuation, and sensitivity analysis. Assumptions involve making educated guesses about the future performance of a business. Financial statements include income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements.

What are DCF and LBO?

Published Jul 29, 2024. A Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model for a Leveraged Buyout (LBO) is a sophisticated financial model used to value a business based on the present value of its expected future cash flows.

What are the 4 basic financial statements?

The income statement records all revenues and expenses. The balance sheet provides information about assets and liabilities. The cash flow statement shows how cash moves in and out of business. The statement of shareholders' equity (also called the statement of retained earnings) measures company ownership changes.

What are the 7 types of ratio analysis?

Financial ratio analysis is often broken into six different types: profitability, solvency, liquidity, turnover, coverage, and market prospects ratios. Other non-financial metrics (managerial metrics) may be scattered across various departments and industries.

What is the DuPont analysis?

The basic DuPont Analysis model is a method of breaking down the original equation for ROE into three components: operating efficiency, asset efficiency, and leverage. Operating efficiency is measured by Net Profit Margin and indicates the amount of net income generated per dollar of sales.

What is the difference between FP&A and FC?

Financial Reporting and Analysis

The Financial Controller is primarily responsible for ensuring the accuracy and compliance of financial statements, while the FP&A Lead focuses on analyzing these reports to provide insights for strategic decision-making.

What are the 7 types of financial markets?

In this article, the seven types of financial markets and their relation to trading will be explained.

  • Stock Markets. Stocks, globally, are likely the most well-known financial market. ...
  • Over-the-counter (OTC) markets. ...
  • Bonds markets. ...
  • Money markets. ...
  • Derivatives markets. ...
  • Forex markets. ...
  • Commodities markets.

What are key financial indicators?

Financial indicators generally fall into four areas that cover key aspects of a company's financial health. Growth—how quickly sales are increasing (or not) Profitability—how much money the business is making. Liquidity—how much cash the company generates and has on hand.

What are common mistakes in financial analysis?

Misclassified assets and liabilities can distort a company's financial position. This error often occurs when items are not properly sequenced based on liquidity or when current and non-current items are not separated accurately.

What are the 5 basic financial ratios?

Learn how these five financial ratios—price-to-earnings, PEG, return on equity, price-to-book, and debt-to-equity—can help investors understand a stock's true value. Researching a stock's value can be quite simple or incredibly complex, depending on how much the depth of perspective is.

What is the golden ratio?

The golden ratio, also known as the golden number, golden proportion, or the divine proportion, is a ratio between two numbers that equals approximately 1.618. Usually written as the Greek letter phi, it is strongly associated with the Fibonacci sequence, a series of numbers wherein each number is added to the last.

What are the five types of financial statements?

The five key types of financial statements are the Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Cash Flow Statement, Statement of Changes in Equity, and Notes to Financial Statements, providing a comprehensive view of a company's financial health by showing assets/liabilities, profitability, cash movements, equity changes, and crucial context, respectively. 

What are the 4 pillars of the financial statements?

To see the whole picture, you need to consider all four statements: income, balance, cash flow and retained earnings.

What are the 4 GAAP financial statements?

According to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) (GAAP), the four primary financial statements a company must prepare are the Income Statement (showing performance), the Balance Sheet (showing financial position at a point in time), the Cash Flow Statement (tracking cash movements), and the Statement of Shareholders' Equity (detailing changes in equity), often presented with accompanying notes. 

How to analyze a balance sheet?

As with the income statement, the easiest way to analyze a balance sheet is to look at ratios. The first ratio we are going to look at is called the current ratio, and sometimes is referred to as the working capital ratio. It is very easy to calculate. It is simply current assets divided by current liabilities.

When to use DCF vs NPV?

Key Differences Between DCF and NPV. Purpose: DCF: Primarily used to determine the intrinsic value of an investment based on its expected cash flows. NPV: Used to assess the profitability of a project or investment by comparing the present value of cash inflows and outflows.