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
b. Your slide presentation should 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 statemen
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:
o Data file
o Summary statistics
o P&L Statement Dashboard
o 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. (upload 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.
Sample Solution
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