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◆ Models I · drill · Financial Modeling Keyboard Mastery track

Discount the cash flows

Each year ÷ (1+r)^n — discounting is a fill; then add the terminal value.
The operating model closed this morning and the committee sits at four. Five years of unlevered free cash flow are on the page, WACC and long-term growth are agreed — the discounting is what is missing. Present-value the forecast years, put a Gordon terminal value on the back of year five, and land the enterprise value. Discounting is end of year here, no mid-year convention, and the year-5 factor you build is the one the terminal value discounts at — never retype a discount factor.
train this drill → par 85s · optimal 81 keys · keyboard only · free
The shortcuts in this drill
Alt walks: tap Alt, release, then the letters in sequence — each key steps one ribbon menu. On a Mac, tap and use the same letters (KeyTips, Excel 2024+).
Shift+→⇧→ on macExtend selection one cell
Nudge a selection one cell at a time when the block you need doesn’t end at a data edge.
Ctrl+R⌘R on macFill right from the cell to the left
Same as fill down, but across — one quarter’s formula becomes the whole year in two keystrokes.
Ctrl+B⌘B on macBold
Bold marks structure: titles, total rows, anything the reviewer’s eye should land on first.
Alt h b p⌥ h b p on macTop border
Top border above a total row — the accounting ruling that says “this line sums the ones above.”
Ctrl+S⌘S on macSave
functions you'll type: SUM()
The optimal line
the par-setting sequence, straight through:
C7 factor =1/(1+$C$11)^C5 · fill C7:G7 → · C8 =C6*C7 · fill → · C14 =G6*(1+C12)/(C11-C12) · C15 =C14*G7 · C16 =SUM(C8:G8)+C15 · ctrl+b alt h b p · ctrl+s
More Models I drills
Build the discount rate
Unlever a five-comp beta set, relever at your own structure, weight both sides
Build the unlevered FCF
EBIT → less taxes → NOPAT → plus D&A, less capex and the NWC build: the row every DCF disc
Run the comps
Build both enterprise-value multiples across the peer set, read the median, high and low,
Run precedent transactions
A six-deal precedent tape, the median multiple paid, and the implied equity value
← uFCF Comps → all 74 drills
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