Companies of all sizes hire financial modeling experts to help with budgets, financial analysis, business plans, and future projections, so explore these sites to find consultants with the experience and knowledge your firm needs to thrive.
What Are Financial Modeling Consultants?
Financial modeling consultants provide businesses with the data analysis they need to effectively plan for future growth. Some of their key duties include budgeting, financial reporting, capital fundraising, pricing stock shares and options, and projecting future earnings. Financial modeling specialists use software such as Microsoft Excel, Oracle, Hyperion, Quantrix, and IBM Cognos to process and evaluate financial data.
Because it's so specialized and valuable, financial modeling is indeed an in-demand skill for employers. You'll have more success hiring the right freelance candidate if you develop detailed project objectives in advance. By using online sites like the ones in this list to hire financial modeling consultants, you can quickly find freelance experts in this field from all over the world, often contracting with a professional within 48 hours.
How To Hire a Financial Modeling Consultant
Hiring freelance, remote financial modeling consultants lets your business save substantially over the cost of hiring someone on a full-time or part-time basis. When you pay only for the services you need, you can free up funds for other key growth areas. This approach also reduces associated employment expenses, such as benefits and office space.
How Much Does It Cost To Hire a Financial Modeling Consultant
According to the Corporate Finance Institute, most financial modeling consultants actually use the job title of financial analyst. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that financial analysts earn an average of more than $81,000 per year and about $39 per hour. You can use these numbers as a guide to determine the project-based or salary rate you need to hire someone in this field.
Salary tends to increase with experience and skills. BLS data found that the highest 10% of financial analysts earn nearly $165,000 annually, another reason it might make sense to go with a freelance expert rather than an employee. The corresponding hourly rate for someone with this level of experience would be about $80, providing more control over this budget line.
Where To Hire a Financial Modeling Consultant
A qualified financial modeling consultant should have at least a bachelor's degree in business, finance, or a related field; many candidates also have a master's degree or even a doctorate. You can also look for industry certifications from organizations such as the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Before becoming freelance consultants, most financial analysts gain work experience at large accounting firms or departments within existing businesses.
These are some of the most important questions to ask before you hire financial modeling experts:
- What approach do you take to building a financial model?
- Can you walk me through the process of creating a model to demonstrate your knowledge?
- What best practices and tools do you use to fine-tune and test a model?
- How do you personally define a good financial model?
- What experience do you have working with businesses in industries like ours?
- How do you stay informed about new developments in the field?
When you hire financial modeling consultants, you may want to give candidates a test assignment, such as creating a template financial model for a startup. Deliverables typically include a three-year, five-year, or 10-year financial statement forecast, with updated balance, cash flow, and profit and loss sheets for each year. You should also expect data that speaks to your key performance indicators, along with a year of operational cash flow projections.
Why Should Businesses Hire Financial Modeling Consultants?
Deciding why you want to hire financial modeling consultants will improve the results of working with this type of expert. Make sure to clearly define the project's KPIs and how you will measure these metrics, the objectives of the model, how you plan to use the information, whether you need a top-down or bottom-up projection, and what type of data you currently have about your company's financial status. Carefully evaluate the opportunities and risks of making this investment.
Businesses of all sizes can benefit from the stability created by a strong financial model. The expertise of a seasoned modeling consultant informs choices that support long-term sustainability, allowing the company to become profitable and even prepare to seek external funding. Other common reasons to hire financial modeling consultants include:
- Creating financial forecasts for leadership, shareholders, and other stakeholders
- Gathering and compiling the necessary data to apply and pitch for funding
- Modeling various possible scenarios, such as an economic downturn, to see how they affect the company's profit and cash flow
- Calculating the return on your company's investment in marketing and promotional strategies
- Testing the impact of variables such as prices, salaries, and hoursIf these needs sound familiar, start your search for a smart, capable financial modeling consultant at any of these 15 highly-regarded hiring sites. Having the right data will improve the ability of your company's leaders to make critical business decisions.
