Revenue build
Where the top line comes from.
By Surojit Chakraverti, founder of L3VLUP and an investor running a long-short healthcare and technology equities strategy.
On this subject: revenue build.Updated 30 September 2026
What it does
The top of every operating forecast. A growth rate or a volume-times-price build turns last year’s revenue into next year’s, and every cost, working-capital balance and capex line is driven from the result. The scenario switch usually lives here, because growth is the assumption a case is most often run on.
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.
- Assumptions, rows 9–12: Base case growth, Upside case growth, Downside case growth, Revenue growth (live)
- Income Statement, rows 6–10: Revenue, Growth, Cost of goods sold, Gross profit…
- Assumptions, rows 6–8: Revenue, last reported year, Revenue growth, EBITDA margin
- Forecast, rows 6–12: Revenue, Growth, EBITDA, EBIT…
- Assumptions, rows 31–36: Revenue growth, base, Revenue growth, downside, Revenue growth (live), EBITDA margin, base…
- Operating Model, rows 6–11: Year number, Revenue, EBITDA, EBITDA margin…
- Operating Model, rows 15–17: Profit before tax, Net income
What a reviewer looks for
- Growth typed into the revenue row itself, so the scenario switch does nothing.
- A single growth rate for every year when the case is about deceleration.
- A percentage in the driver row stored as a whole number.
Learn it, then build it
Build · Lab · ~8 min
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