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The Financial Modeller
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Media, marketing and information

Marketing agency financial model, built free.

A three-statement Excel model for an advertising and marketing agency, built from your own figures and checked to balance.

  • Free account
  • No card
  • Usually ready within the hour

We use generative AI in parts of our process, so mistakes can occur. Every model should be checked by a person before it is relied on. Read more

The business

Creative, media, PR and digital agencies earning retainers, project fees and commissions from client accounts, with production and media costs passed through.

See the sampleHow the model works

In short

  • 01

    Three linked statements

    Income statement, balance sheet and cash flow, linked in every period.

  • 02

    Valued two ways

    Discounted cash flow and trading multiples, side by side.

  • 03

    Monthly to annual

    Monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or annual periods, for up to 30 years.

  • 04

    Checked every period

    A Checks sheet shows the balance sheet balances and the cash reconciles.

The sample

The sample, as Excel draws it.

Built by the same system and checks as yours: its structure and its inputs, ready for your own figures.

Annual · 10 years · Low detail
Marketing agency sample model.xlsx
The How It Works sheet of the sample marketing agency model

The sample describes no real business. Yours is calibrated to your own figures, so its results are your business’s.

How it works

How the model works for a marketing agency.

  1. How it earns revenue1 formula
    Revenue (top-down) · Across the business
    RevenueUnits soldAverage price
  2. What drives its costs3 formulas
    Fee-earner headcount and staff cost · All practice groups
    Fee-earner salaries and on-costsAnnual salary bill at current ratesOn-costs (superannuation, payroll tax, leave)share of the year
    Fee-earner headcount and staff cost · All practice groups
    Directors and senior managersPartners and principalsDirectors per partner
    Fee-earner headcount and staff cost · All practice groups
    ManagersPartners and principalsManagers per partner
  3. What it invests in3 formulas
    Corporate fixed assets
    Capital expenditureRevenuefrom statementsCapex as % of revenueAdditional planned capex
    Corporate fixed assets
    DepreciationDepreciation of the opening asset baseDepreciation of new capex
    Corporate fixed assets
    Closing net book valueOpening net book valueCapital expenditureDepreciation
  4. How it is funded3 formulas
    Debt
    RepaymentsScheduled repaymentsPrepayments from an equity raise and the cash sweep
    Debt
    Closing balanceOpening balanceDrawdownsRepayments
    Debt
    Interest expenseOpening balanceAll-in interest rateshare of the year
  5. How profit becomes cash3 formulas
    Working capital
    Trade receivablesRevenuefrom statementsDebtor daysDays in period
    Working capital
    InventoryDirect costs (positive)from statementsInventory daysDays in period
    Working capital
    Trade payablesCash operating costs (positive)from statementsCreditor daysDays in period
What it covers

18 parts, each one tested.

Every part is a tested building block with its own checks: yours is put together from the ones your business needs.

  • CPI forecastConsensus curve with long-run anchor
  • Revenue (top-down)Price × volume
  • Direct costs (top-down)Gross margin %
  • Operating expensesHeadcount build by function
  • Corporate costsFixed cost base indexed to CPI
  • Working capitalFull working capital
  • Income taxCorporate rate with tax losses
  • Corporate fixed assetsStraight-line over remaining life
  • DebtAmortising term loan
  • Dividends and distributionsPayout of net profit
  • Discounted cash flow valuationDCF on free cash flow to the firm
  • Multiples valuationEV / EBITDA multiple
  • LeasesLease register
  • Key-metric summaryLast-twelve-month and run-rate metrics
  • Discount rate (WACC)CAPM at target gearing
  • Terminal valuePerpetuity growth on normalised cash flow
  • Fee-earner headcount and staff costLeverage pyramidFee earners by grade (the headcount pyramid) and their salary cost.
  • Chargeable hours and utilisationStandard hours × utilisationChargeable hours from available hours × utilisation.
Key numbers

The numbers it tracks.

  1. 01net revenue
  2. 02organic growth
  3. 03client retention
  4. 04staff costs to net revenue
  5. 05headline operating margin
Used for

What it is used for.

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See a finished model, sheet by sheet

The sample is built on illustrative figures and describes no real business. Models are calculations prepared from the information you provide. They are not financial advice and must be independently verified. See our terms.