How Do You Complete this Project?

This project is connected with the Introduction to the Data part of the course, but depending on your background knowledge, you may not need to take this module to complete this project.

Introduction

For the final project, you will conduct three tasks: 1) complete your own data analysis and create a presentation to share your findings, 2) develop a dashboard for a Profit and Loss Statement, and 3) create a Financial Forecasting Model using three scenarios. You should start by taking a look at your dataset and brainstorming which sub-category and company you want to focus your data analysis on – the questions leading to this page should have assisted in this process! Then you should use spreadsheets or another Excel-like software to conduct your analysis and choose a sub-category and company you are most interested in. This project is open-ended in that there is no one right answer.

Project Goals:

Here are the three tasks that you will complete in the final project.

Task 1:
a. Identify the question about the data that you will answer based on your data analysis, and include this in your slide presentation.

  • Your question should include at least one categorical variable (GICS Sector or GICS Sub Industry) and one quantitative variable (one of the financial metrics) and require the use of at least one of the summary statistics.
  • A tab within the Excel spreadsheet that you submit should include the summary statistics [measures of central tendency (e.g., mean, median) and measures of spread (standard deviation and range)] you used to answer your question.
  • Deliverable: Slide presentation, Spreadsheet with tab for Summary statistics
  1. Your slide presentationshould provide at least one visualization to help with your answer.
  • This visualization might be a bar chart, histogram, scatterplot, box-plot or other visual that you learned to make. Include your insights from the measures of center and spread and at least one numeric summary statistic in the description.
  • Deliverable: Slide presentation (includes visualization)

Task 2:

  • Create a dashboard for a Profit and Loss Statement that calculates the Gross Profit, Operating Profit or EBIT for a company selected from a drop-down list.
  • Your drop-down list should pull historical fundamentals data to create the P&L Statement.
  • The P&L statement should include the Gross Profit, Operating Profit or EBIT values for all the years there is historical data available for that company in the dataset.
  • Deliverable: Spreadsheet with tab for Dynamic P&L statement

Task 3:

  • Create a financial model for a company (different from Task 2) of your choice that forecasts out the Gross Profit, Operating Profit or EBIT for two more years using three scenarios (Best case, Weak case and Base case).
  • Your assumptions for revenue growth, gross margin and operating margin should change for each scenario.
  • The forecasting model should be dynamic for the selection of the case (Weak, Base, Strong). However, the forecasting model can be static for the chosen company sticker symbol.
  • Deliverable: Spreadsheet with tab for Forecasting Model

Step One – Get Organized
When you complete your analysis and presentation you’ll want to submit your project. Get organized before you begin. I recommend creating a single folder that will eventually contain:

  • The presentation with the visual and summary
  • The original data set
  • A copy of the spreadsheet workbook you will use to do the analysis for your report that contains at least the following tabs:
    1. Data file
    2. Summary statistics
    3. P&L Statement Dashboard
    4. Forecast scenarios

Step Two – Analyze Your Data
Look through the Tasks described above and select the qualitative variable and quantitative variable you want to focus your analysis on for the various tasks. Then use the .csv file to conduct your data analysis.

Step Three – Create Your Presentation
Once you have finished analyzing the data, create a presentation that shares the visual and summary paragraph. The summary paragraph should clearly communicate your findings based on your analysis, and provide visual or numeric values associated with your summary.

SUBMISSION TEMPLATE

The submission template is a Google Slides file. Make a copy of the submission template to complete your project. We suggest you use the layout provided, though it is not a requirement.

Step Four – Assemble your Worksheet You will need to include the Excel file with the summary statistics, dashboard and financial model scenarios.

Put your presentation and spreadsheet workbook you used to do the analysis in a folder and zip it. Then submit the zipped folder for your project.

Step Five – Check the Rubric
Use the Project Rubric located here. If you see room for improvement, keep working to improve your project.

Step Six – Assemble your folder ready for submission
If you are happy with your submission, then you’re ready to submit your project. Put your presentation and spreadsheet workbook in a folder and zip it. Then submit the zipped folder for your project.