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The Financial Modeller
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Drinks and tobacco

Distillery financial model, built free.

A three-statement Excel model for a spirits distiller, 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

Distils and matures whisky, rum, gin, vodka and liqueurs (or buys bulk spirit), bottles them and sells through distributors, retailers, on-premise and export, paying excise per litre of alcohol and tying up years of maturing stock in casks.

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
Distillery sample model.xlsx
The How It Works sheet of the sample distillery 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 distillery.

  1. How it earns revenue2 formulas
    Product-range sales · All product ranges
    Gross salesVolume soldPrice to retailer per unit
    Trade spend (gross to net) · All product ranges
    Trade spendGross salesfrom product-range salesTrade spend (% of gross sales)
  2. What drives its costs3 formulas
    Product cost of goods and gross profit · All product ranges
    Standard cost per unitMaterials and ingredientsPackagingConversion labourPlant overheadInbound freight
    Product cost of goods and gross profit · All product ranges
    Cost of goods soldVolume soldfrom product-range salesStandard cost per unit
    Product cost of goods and gross profit · All product ranges
    Net salesGross sales (product-range sales)from product-range salesTrade spend (trade spend (gross to net))from gross to net
  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

23 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
  • Exchange rate (US dollar)Exchange rate by financial year
  • 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
  • Equity raisingDistribution reinvestment plan
  • Discounted cash flow valuationDCF on free cash flow to the firm
  • Multiples valuationEV / EBITDA multiple
  • Seasonal and maturing stockInventory days
  • Key-metric summaryLast-twelve-month and run-rate metrics
  • Covenant tests and headroomLVR, gearing and ICR for property
  • Borrowing base and security coverReceivables and inventory borrowing base
  • Sources and uses of fundsBalanced sources and uses
  • Discount rate (WACC)CAPM at target gearing
  • Burn and runwayRunway to the forecast cash-out date
  • Distribution and logisticsLogistics % of salesDistribution-centre, warehousing and outbound freight costs of moving goods to stores, customers or retail accounts.
  • Product-range salesDistribution × rate of saleGross sales of a brand, category or SKU family to retailers, wholesale accounts and export markets.
  • Trade spend (gross to net)Trade spend % of gross salesPayments and discounts to retail customers — promotional allowances, rebates, listing fees and co-operative marketing — deducted from gross sales to reach net revenue.
  • Product cost of goods and gross profitUnit cost buildCost of making or buying each product range — materials, packaging, conversion and inbound freight.
  • Advertising and promotion (A&P)A&P % of net salesBrand investment in media, sponsorship and consumer promotion (separate from trade spend paid to retailers).
Key numbers

The numbers it tracks.

  1. 019-litre cases
  2. 02net sales per case
  3. 03gross margin %
  4. 04maturing stock (litres of alcohol)
  5. 05cask stock value
  6. 06EBIT 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.