Modeloff – Guide to Competing

What is Modeloff?

Modeloff is a global financial modeling competition that requires contestants to use Excel to solve financial questions and case studies. Though it is referred to as a “financial modeling” competition, it doesn’t require participants to build a complete valuation model of a business; it mostly focuses on independent questions that require mini exercises in Excel. By comparison, the CFI Financial Modeling Competition requires competitors to build a full 3-statement and DCF model in Excel from scratch using a case study.

How to register for Modeloff?

It is not currently possible to register for Modeloff.

How to prepare for Modeloff

CFI has created a guide to what we believe are the best steps for preparing for Modeloff. It all comes down to practice, and here are the most important things to know.

Step #1 Master Excel shortcuts to save time

In any contest that has a time limit, time is of the essence. The best way to speed up your financial modeling is to put away the mouse and only use keyboard shortcuts.

We have created a list of the most important keyboard shortcuts, which you can review and memorize to speed up your Excel skills.

Even better, you can take our Free Excel Crash Course which teaches you all these shortcuts step by step.

Step #2 Know all the finance functions in Excel

There are over 50 functions in Excel listed under the “financial” category. If you really want to win the competition, you should probably memorize all 50 of those functions and know how and when to use them.

If you want to get started with the top 10 most important functions, check out CFI’s guide to Excel for finance.

Better yet, you can combine our Free Excel Crash Course with our Advanced Excel Formulas Course to master the important functions.

Step #3 Brush up on finance and accounting skills

Since the Modeloff competition requires a combination of Excel AND finance/accounting skills, it’s important to make sure you know your stuff.

In order to have strong technical skills, the focus when preparing should be on formulas and calculations – which typically relate to the time value of money, equities, fixed-income, and accounting schedules.

To be well prepared for these, the easiest way is to learn from experts in our video-based lessons. The most relevant ones include:

• Financial Math
• Fixed Income Fundamentals
• Financial Analysis Fundamentals

Step #4 Practice by looking at past questions

Modeloff publishes prior year competition questions and you can use them as an effective way to prepare for the contest.

As you go through them you will get a sense of what types of questions they ask, and hopefully, understand what their style and approach is.

Step #5 Combine the above steps and practice building financial models

Once you have the Excel skills, technical finance skills, and you’ve seen past questions, it’s time to combine all of the above into your own practice competition.

Being good at financial modeling requires extensive practice. One of the best ways of training is to take a company’s financial statements, put them into Excel, and build your own forecast model. This will allow you to take all the shortcuts, functions, and financial knowledge you have and tie it all together.

To learn financial modeling by example, check out our library of financial modeling courses.

CFI’s Financial Modeling Competition

In addition to Modeloff, you may wish to register for CFI’s annual Financial Modeling Competition, which in 2018 had cash prizes totaling USD $10,000. The competition is centered around a private equity case competition where participants must use the data in a Confidential Information Memorandum to build a model of a company from scratch.

Register today at www.financialmodeling.org to compete for $10,000 USD in prize money!

Additional financial modeling resources

We hope this has been a helpful guide to preparing for the Modeloff financial modeling championship and competition.

CFI is the official provider of the Financial Modeling & Valuation Analyst designation and on a mission to help you advance your career. For more learning and practice, we recommend the following CFI resources:

• Index Match Match function
• XIRR vs IRR Functions
• Go To Special
• Financial Model Code
• See all financial modeling resources