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Education and childcare

School operator financial model, built free.

A three-statement Excel model for a school operator, built from your own figures and checked to balance.

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  • 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

Operates private, independent, international or charter schools earning tuition fees and government per-student funding from enrolments across year levels.

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, on illustrative figures: every sheet as Excel draws it, or live.

Annual · 10 years · Low detail
School operator sample model.xlsx
The Summary sheet of the sample school operator model

Illustrative figures: the sample describes no real business. The live preview shows values; your model’s Excel file has every formula.

How it works

How the model works for a school operator.

  1. How it earns revenue1 formula
    Tuition fees and per-student funding · All campuses
    Fee revenueFees at the daily feeLess discounts and fee relief
  2. What drives its costs3 formulas
    Teaching and educator staff · All campuses
    Teaching staff costTeaching salariesOn-costs
    Operating expenses · Across the business
    Total FTEsOperations and deliverySales and marketingTechnologyFinance, HR and administration
    Operating expenses · Across the business
    Total average FTEsOperations and deliverySales and marketingTechnologyFinance, HR and administration
  3. What it invests in3 formulas
    Campus capacity, capex and depreciation · All campuses
    Campus capexExpansion capexMaintenance capex
    Campus capacity, capex and depreciation · All campuses
    Campus depreciationDepreciation of existing buildings and equipmentDepreciation of new buildings and capex
    Campus capacity, capex and depreciation · All campuses
    Campus assets (net book value)Opening net book valueCampus capexCampus depreciation
  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

17 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
  • Operating expensesHeadcount build by function
  • Corporate costsFixed cost base indexed to CPI
  • Working capitalFull working capital
  • Income taxCorporate rate with tax losses
  • 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
  • EnrolmentsEnrolments × growthStudents or children enrolled at an education site, as headcount or full-time equivalents.
  • Tuition fees and per-student fundingDaily fee × attendance daysTuition and childcare fees and government per-student funding earned from enrolments, and fees received in advance.
  • Teaching and educator staffStudent to staff ratioTeachers, academics or educators required for enrolments, and their cost.
  • Campus capacity, capex and depreciationCapex per new placeCapital spending on buildings and capacity for an education site, with depreciation and net book value.
Key numbers

The numbers it tracks.

  1. 01enrolments
  2. 02capacity utilisation
  3. 03average fee per student
  4. 04student to teacher ratio
  5. 05EBITDA per campus
Used for

What it is used for.

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Looking for a school operator financial model template? Ours arrives built for your business, with your figures in it.

Running a small business? Read what goes into a small business financial model.

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.