Financial models

Last modified: 2025-11-25

Manage financial models that are the base for your forecasts.

A financial model is a mathematical tool that consists of formulas and assumptions to represent a company's operations in the past, present, and forecasted future. Financial models are used for decision-making and financial analysis.

In mc Assetpilot you create all of your organization’s financial models on the organization level. In the administration settings you can view, create, and maintain the financial models for your entire organization.

Financial models and financial forecasts

A financial model is some sort of a basic framework for the financial forecasts you create at the asset levels. It does not contain any specific values, but only variables and placeholder parameters. The real data – which is individually different depending on your asset – is only entered later when you create financial forecasts. This eliminates the need for multiple spreadsheets for each asset.

The basic workflow for financial models and forecasts is as follows:

Views of the financial models domain

Enter the financial models domain by navigating to the administration settings: In platform view, select Manage [organization] > Financial models. Display your financial models in two different views: overview and expanded view.

Overview

In the overview, you see a list of all your organization’s financial models.

Expanded view

Select a financial model in the overview to display an expanded view of its details in a side panel.

In the area Asset connections you find the assets and their financial forecasts which use this particular financial model.

Create a financial model

Prerequisites for the whole process

• You are the organization owner or an admin.

0) Enter basic data

Steps

1. In platform view, select Manage [organization] > Financial models.

2. Select + New financial model.

3. Give the model a Name. You can also add a Description if desired.

4. Enter a Currency.

Caution

Be aware of any secondary currencies that are assigned to the asset levels the financial model should be used at. See also Currencies.

6. Select Proceed to parameters.

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Example

Create the financial model:

• Energy sales financial model with the currency EUR

1) Define types of project phases

To build your financial model, you must specify types of project phases that represent the phases of a project's financial lifetime. Create phases specific to your company's standards. You only add specific dates to the phase at a later stage when you create financial forecasts. See Financial forecasts.

Steps

1. In the Phases area, select +New phase.

2. Enter a phase Name and add a Description if desired.

3. Select Add. The phase will be added to your list of phases.

Further actions

• Add additional phases in the same manner if needed.

• Delete or Edit your phases with the respective icons.

Note

You can not delete and just partially edit a phase with the badge In use. This indicates that this phase is in use in a calculation. Remove the phase from the calculation first, to delete and fully edit it.

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Example

Create the phases:

• Construction phase

• Operation phase

2) Define types of parameters

The next step in creating a financial model is to create the parameters you will need. Each parameter you create must have a unique name. The type, parameter group, and unit are also mandatory. You only add specific values to each parameter at a later stage when you create financial forecasts. See Financial forecasts.

Learn more about the different parameter types you can choose from

The parameter type you choose here, will affect the input field(s) that appear later when entering specific values to the parameters while creating a financial forecast.

Parameter type	Description	📗 Examples
Number	When your financial forecast is created, the parameter values will be represented by a single value for the asset's entire lifetime.	Asset size in MW: will not change from month to month or year to year Construction costs per MW: only needed once
Monthly values for one year	When your financial forecast is created, the parameter values will be represented in months over one year. For changes that take place over a year and which you want to view in months.	Annual energy generation forecast in MWh: higher in summer, lower in winter
Monthly values for lifetime	When your fiinancial forecast is created, the parameter values will be represented in months throughout the entire lifetime (the default value is 30 years). For changes that take place throughout an entire lifetime and which you want to view in months.	For a PV system that operates for 30 years, you can predict energy costs per month
Annual values for lifetime	When your financial forecast is created, the parameter values will be represented in years throughout the entire lifetime (the default value is 30 years). For changes that take place throughout an entire lifetime and which you want to view in years.	For a PV system that runs for 30 years, you can predict energy costs per year

Steps

1. In the Parameters area, select +New parameter. 

2. Enter a parameter Name and add a Description if desired.

3. Select parameter Type, Input group, and enter a Unit. To learn more about these data fields, see descriptions above.

4. Select Add. The parameter will be added to your list of parameters.

Further actions

• Add additional parameters in the same manner if needed.

• Delete or Edit your parameters with the respective icons.

Note

You can not delete and just partially edit a parameter with the badge In use. This indicates that this parameter is in use in a calculation. Remove the parameter from the calculation first, to delete and fully edit it.

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Example

Create the parameters:

• Surface area: m2

• Generated energy per square meter: MWh/m2

• Power purchase agreement (PPA): €/MWh

3) Define intermediate calculation formulas

An intermediate calculation is a formula that may be used as a basis for the other calculations, but is not assigned to a cashflow category, and as such is not part of the forecast results on its own. It is an optional step in creating a calculation formula and can be later used as a variable in the latter.

Steps

1. In the Intermediate calculations area, select +New intermediate calculation. 

2. Enter an intermediate calculation Name and add a Description if desired.

3. For the Calculation rule, enter a formula.

   • Type a Hashtag # to display the available parameters you created before.

   • Use the following standard operators:

     • Plus +

     • Minus -

     • Multiplication *

     • Division /

     • Round parentheses ( ) may also be used

4. Select Add. The intermediate calculation will be added to your list of intermediate calculations.

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Example

Define the intermediate calculation formula:

• System size in MW =
  Surface area * Generated energy per square meter

Further actions

• Add additional intermediate calculations in the same manner if needed.

• Delete or Edit your intermediate calculations with the respective icons.

4) Define calculation formulas

Calculations are the final formulas that will be used to create the financial model and financial forecasts. They are assigned to a cashflow category and can be carried out in different project phases.

Steps

1. In the Calculations area, select +New calculation. 

2. Enter a calculation Name and add a Description if desired.

3. For the Calculation rule, enter a formula.

   • Type a Hashtag # to display the available parameters and intermediate calculations you created before.

   • Use the following standard operators:

     • Plus +

     • Minus -

     • Multiplication *

     • Division /

     • Round parentheses ( ) may also be used

4. Select a cashflow Category. The dropdown lists the categories to which bank transactions have been mapped, for example energy sales, capital expenditures (CAPEX), etc.

5. For the Frequency select an interval at which the calculation should be performed.

   • This will depend on the type of calculation you are creating. In the example, we are calculating monthly revenue.

   • If you carry out a calculation Once, it will be executed at the start date of the selected project phase.

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Example

Define the calculation formula:

• Revenue in € in the cashflow category Energy sales with a monthly calculation frequency while in operation phase

6. Select the phase in which you want the calculation to be Active in. The calculation will only consider the period between the start and end dates of the phase. In the example, it is active in the operation phase, in other words, when the asset is up and running and generating revenue.

7. Select Add. The calculation will be added to your list of calculations.

Further actions

• Add additional calculations in the same manner if needed.

• Delete or Edit your calculations with the respective icons.

5) Finish financial modelling

Steps

When you are done with defining all of the above, select Finish in the upper right corner to finish your financial model.

The financial model will be added to your list of financial models.

Further actions

• You can now create financial forecasts for your asset using the model you created. See Financial forecasts.

Duplicate a financial model

You can duplicate a financial model if you want to change specific parameters.

Steps

1. In platform view, select Manage [organization] > Financial models.

2. For the respective model, select More options > Duplicate.

3. The financial model is duplicated in the list.

4. For the duplicated financial model, select More options > Edit parameters and edit the necessary parameters. Or select Edit basic information.

You have duplicated a financial model now and only adjusted parts of it.

Delete a financial model

Steps

1. In platform view, select Manage [organization] > Financial models.

2. For the respective model, select More options > Delete.

The financial model and all its data is now deleted.