DCF model builder

Turn your assumptions into a business valuation.

USD millionsEnter financial amounts and diluted shares in millions. Share prices are in dollars. For example, $1 billion revenue = 1,000.

01 Starting point

Use the latest full-year or trailing twelve-month figures.

Base-year revenue ($m)

Base-year operating NWC ($m)

Forecast years

Operating net working capital = non-cash operating current assets minus non-debt operating current liabilities. Negative NWC is supported.

02 Forecast assumptions

Set each year independently. All entries below are percentages.

Growth is year over year. All other assumptions are percentages of that year's revenue, except the tax rate.
Year	Revenue growth	EBIT margin	Tax rate	D&A / revenue	Capex / revenue	NWC / revenue
1	Year 1 revenue growth (%)	Year 1 EBIT margin (%)	Year 1 cash tax rate (%)	Year 1 depreciation and amortization as a share of revenue (%)	Year 1 capital expenditures as a share of revenue (%)	Year 1 net working capital as a share of revenue (%)
2	Year 2 revenue growth (%)	Year 2 EBIT margin (%)	Year 2 cash tax rate (%)	Year 2 depreciation and amortization as a share of revenue (%)	Year 2 capital expenditures as a share of revenue (%)	Year 2 net working capital as a share of revenue (%)
3	Year 3 revenue growth (%)	Year 3 EBIT margin (%)	Year 3 cash tax rate (%)	Year 3 depreciation and amortization as a share of revenue (%)	Year 3 capital expenditures as a share of revenue (%)	Year 3 net working capital as a share of revenue (%)
4	Year 4 revenue growth (%)	Year 4 EBIT margin (%)	Year 4 cash tax rate (%)	Year 4 depreciation and amortization as a share of revenue (%)	Year 4 capital expenditures as a share of revenue (%)	Year 4 net working capital as a share of revenue (%)
5	Year 5 revenue growth (%)	Year 5 EBIT margin (%)	Year 5 cash tax rate (%)	Year 5 depreciation and amortization as a share of revenue (%)	Year 5 capital expenditures as a share of revenue (%)	Year 5 net working capital as a share of revenue (%)
6	Year 6 revenue growth (%)	Year 6 EBIT margin (%)	Year 6 cash tax rate (%)	Year 6 depreciation and amortization as a share of revenue (%)	Year 6 capital expenditures as a share of revenue (%)	Year 6 net working capital as a share of revenue (%)
7	Year 7 revenue growth (%)	Year 7 EBIT margin (%)	Year 7 cash tax rate (%)	Year 7 depreciation and amortization as a share of revenue (%)	Year 7 capital expenditures as a share of revenue (%)	Year 7 net working capital as a share of revenue (%)
8	Year 8 revenue growth (%)	Year 8 EBIT margin (%)	Year 8 cash tax rate (%)	Year 8 depreciation and amortization as a share of revenue (%)	Year 8 capital expenditures as a share of revenue (%)	Year 8 net working capital as a share of revenue (%)
9	Year 9 revenue growth (%)	Year 9 EBIT margin (%)	Year 9 cash tax rate (%)	Year 9 depreciation and amortization as a share of revenue (%)	Year 9 capital expenditures as a share of revenue (%)	Year 9 net working capital as a share of revenue (%)
10	Year 10 revenue growth (%)	Year 10 EBIT margin (%)	Year 10 cash tax rate (%)	Year 10 depreciation and amortization as a share of revenue (%)	Year 10 capital expenditures as a share of revenue (%)	Year 10 net working capital as a share of revenue (%)

EBIT margin is after depreciation and amortization. Only the selected 1–10 forecast years are used. Cash taxes are charged on positive EBIT; losses do not generate a tax refund.

03 Discount rate

Cash flows are discounted at year-end using WACC.

Weighted average cost of capital

WACC (%) — direct entry

Used when “Calculate from cost of capital” is selected.

Risk-free rate (%)

Levered equity beta

Equity risk premium (%)

Pre-tax cost of debt (%)

Debt / total capital (%)

Tax rate for debt shield (%)

Use market-value capital weights and a risk-free rate in the same currency as the cash flows. Equity weight is 100% minus debt weight.

04 Terminal value

Estimate the business value beyond your forecast.

Terminal-value method

Long-term growth (%)

Must be below WACC. Year N+1 revenue grows at this rate, with the final forecast year's margin, tax, D&A, capex, and NWC percentages. The change in NWC is recalculated for the slower or faster growth rate.

EV / EBITDA exit multiple (×)

Used when the exit-multiple method is selected. Applied to the final forecast year's EBITDA, which must be positive.

05 From business value to equity

Use values as of the valuation date. Keep cash separate from other non-operating assets.

Excess cash & equivalents ($m)

Debt & debt-like claims ($m)

Other non-operating assets ($m)

Preferred equity ($m)

Minority interest ($m)

Diluted shares outstanding (millions)

Current share price ($, optional)

For consolidated cash flows, include the value attributable to minority shareholders. Treat leases and other debt-like claims consistently with your operating forecasts.

Reset to example

Your entries are used for this calculation and are not saved. CSV export recalculates the model from the current inputs.

Illustrative example — replace the assumptions with your own.

Your valuation

Based on your inputs · USD millions, except per-share figures

Enterprise value

$2,347.88m

Present value of operating cash flows

Common equity value

$2,247.88m

After cash, debt, and other claims

WACC: 10%Perpetual growthPV of terminal value / EV: 74.3%

Projected cash flows

USD millions, except discount factor. Calculations retain full precision; displayed figures are rounded.
Financial line	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4	Year 5
Revenue	1,100	1,210	1,331	1,464.1	1,610.51
EBITDA	264	290.4	319.44	351.38	386.52
EBIT	220	242	266.2	292.82	322.1
Cash taxes	55	60.5	66.55	73.21	80.53
NOPAT	165	181.5	199.65	219.62	241.58
Add: D&A	44	48.4	53.24	58.56	64.42
Less: capital expenditures	66	72.6	79.86	87.85	96.63
Net working capital	110	121	133.1	146.41	161.05
Less: change in NWC	10	11	12.1	13.31	14.64
Unlevered free cash flow	133	146.3	160.93	177.02	194.73
Discount factor	0.9091	0.8264	0.7513	0.6830	0.6209
PV of free cash flow	120.91	120.91	120.91	120.91	120.91

Valuation bridge

PV of forecast cash flows	$604.55m
PV of terminal value	$1,743.33m
Enterprise value	$2,347.88m
Add: excess cash	$100.00m
Add: non-operating assets	$0.00m
Less: debt	$200.00m
Less: preferred equity	$0.00m
Less: minority interest	$0.00m
Common equity value	$2,247.88m
Diluted shares (millions)	100

Terminal value at the end of the forecast: $2,807.66m. Year N+1 FCFF: $210.57m.

Sensitivity analysis

Implied value per share as WACC and terminal growth change. The outlined cell is your base case.

Columns: terminal growth. Rows: WACC.
WACC	1.5%	2%	2.5%	3%	3.5%
8%	$27.39	$29.25	$31.45	$34.09	$37.31
9%	$23.42	$24.74	$26.27	$28.05	$30.15
10%	$20.39	$21.37	$22.48 (base case)	$23.75	$25.21
11%	$18.01	$18.75	$19.59	$20.52	$21.58
12%	$16.08	$16.66	$17.31	$18.02	$18.82

A dash indicates an invalid combination, such as WACC at or below perpetual growth, nonpositive terminal cash flow, or a calculation beyond the model's limits.

How this model works

Unlevered free cash flow = EBIT − cash taxes + depreciation & amortization − capital expenditures − change in operating net working capital. Cash flows are discounted at year-end. Interest payments are not subtracted from FCFF; financing costs are reflected in WACC.

Cost of equity = risk-free rate + beta × equity risk premium. WACC = cost of equity × equity weight + pre-tax cost of debt × (1 − tax rate) × debt weight.

Perpetual-growth terminal value = Year N+1 FCFF ÷ (WACC − growth). Exit-multiple terminal value = Year N EBITDA × exit multiple. Terminal value is discounted from the end of the forecast horizon. Common equity value = enterprise value + excess cash + non-operating assets − debt − preferred equity − minority interest.

The final year's operating percentages must be sustainable in the terminal period, including enough reinvestment to support growth. Taxes use positive EBIT without loss carryforwards. This is an operating-company model; it does not separately model financial institutions, stock-based compensation, future dilution, or changing capital structures. Use diluted shares and consistent assumptions where applicable.

Reference: CFA Institute — Free Cash Flow Valuation and Aswath Damodaran — Valuation. This is a scenario based on your assumptions, not a forecast of market prices.