SaaS financial modeling

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Financial modeling is a critical skill for SaaS investors, both on-the-job as well as in interviews. To this point in our case study walkthrough, we’ve focused on backward-looking or historical analysis. However, in this chapter, we turn our attention to building out a full 3-statement projection model, similar to what private equity or venture capital

FAQ: Should LTM FCF / Share be multiplied by 1,000 to account for proper units? In this case, there’s no definite “right” or “wrong”. But for clarity, it is recommended to adjust the units, especially since we did not specify what the units were for the metric. LTM FCF is in thousand units, but shares

Lesson note In this lesson, we build a basic cash flow statement projection. However, note that in the advanced lessons to come later we’ll add more detail and sophistication to this buildout with items like Stock-Based Compensation and Amortization schedules. Further, note that cash flow collection is an important driver of returns for many kinds

Lesson note For now, we’re building out a basic balance sheet using rough assumptions. However, note that in later sections of the course we’ll be building more sophisticated schedules for certain balance sheet items like Deferred Compensation and Capitalized Software Costs.

Why does PP&E go negative in the later periods? You may notice that PP&E goes negative in the “out years” of our model. This is because we’ve used a shortcut by deducting Depreciation & Amortization (D&A) from PP&E, rather than just Depreciation. This means we’re deducting “too much” from PP&E, which results in the negative