Project finance schedules · in 1 model
CFADS
Cash flow available for debt service.
By Surojit Chakraverti, founder of L3VLUP and an investor running a long-short healthcare and technology equities strategy.
On this subject: cfads.Updated 30 September 2026
What it does
The cash the project generates before anyone is paid: revenue under the offtake contract with its indexation, less operating costs, less tax. It is the numerator of every coverage ratio and the line the debt is sculpted to, so the base case CFADS and the sensitised CFADS are kept side by side: one sizes the loan, the other tests it.
Where it lives
The same schedule in each model that carries it, with the rows to open. Open a model in the browser, go to the sheet, and click the lines.
Project finance model
- Assumptions, rows 24–30: Capacity (MW), Hours in a half-year (thousands), Net capacity factor, Availability…
- Assumptions, rows 33–38: Fixed operations and maintenance per half-year, at O1 prices, Variable cost ($m per GWh), Major maintenance, each event, Maintenance reserve: periods to fund each event over…
- Operations, rows 6–11: Operating period (1), Operating period number, Indexation factor, Energy sold (GWh)…
- Operations, rows 14–18: Fixed operations and maintenance, Variable cost, EBITDA, base case, EBITDA, this case…
- Operations, rows 21–25: Tax depreciation of the construction cost, straight line, Tax, base case, Tax, this case, CFADS, base case (what the debt is sized on)…
What a reviewer looks for
- Tax computed after interest inside the case that sizes the debt, without saying the model iterates.
- Indexation applied to revenue but not to costs.
- Major maintenance netted out of CFADS and also funded from a reserve.
Learn it, then build it
Vocabulary: CFADS (Cash Flow Available for Debt Service).