Building your first model - P&L – Runway Help Center

Understanding models

A model is a simulation of your business. It’s a group of drivers that create a picture of how your business actually works.

You can create multiple model pages in Runway to track different groups of data. For example: top line, revenue, and headcount can all be tracked separately, just like you would in a spreadsheet. These pages or views let you look at distinct parts that make up your business.

Unlike a spreadsheet, though, all your model pages are connected and feed into a single, unified business model in Runway. This unified model is the sum of the parts—a simulation of your entire business.

Working with models

Let’s build a P&L model that uses historical financial data.

Adding a new model

Click + Create model under the ‘Models’ section in the main nav in Runway. You can also click the + button that appears next to ‘Models’ on hovering your cursor over it in the main nav.

Enter a name for your model. You can also click the icon to change it. Then click Create.

Next, add drivers and formulas to your new model.

You can create driver groups by clicking + Create group, and then dragging and dropping your drivers to organize them. Alternatively, you can select multiple drivers, right click, and select “Group” from the drop down menu.

Connecting a model to a database

Say you have an Income Statement database connected to your accounting data. Let’s use that to populate actuals in the P&L.

To connect the database and build out your model, enter actuals formulas that pull data from the Income Statement database to populate driver values. Here’s an example for the ‘Revenue’ driver:

From there, you can copy (Cmd/Ctrl + c) and paste (Cmd/Ctrl + v) the formula to other drivers, changing the filters as needed.

Next, write actuals formulas for drivers that are derived from other drivers. For example: Gross Profit, Total Opex, Net Income, etc.

Build remaining drivers that are formulaic (Revenue growth, Margins, etc.) to get a P&L based on your historical / integration data.

Next, enter forecast formulas that calculate future values.

The default forecast formula for drivers is driver (last month). Double-click a formula to update it.

For each driver, all values after last close are calculated using forecast formulas and the ones before last close are calculated using actuals formulas.

Using advanced model options

To access advanced options, click the three-dot-menu at the top right corner of a model page. Let’s take a look at the options:

Import via paste

Use this to add multiple drivers at once.

Copy (Cmd/Ctrl + C) and paste (Cmd/Ctrl + V) data from your spreadsheet.

Once you paste your drivers in the modal, you’ll see these options:

Name lets you name your drivers and assign dimensions to them.

Time Series Value lets you select a month and year to add the column data to the time series.

Columns labeled Exclude will not be imported.

You can also unmark the checkbox next to a driver so it’s not included.

Click Paste drivers to add your drivers to a new group, or click Insert drivers below to add them below a selected driver.

Export to CSV

This option helps you export your entire model to a CSV file, so you can easily share and transfer data across different platforms and tools.

Delete model

When you click this option, a confirmation message will appear. If you’re sure you want to delete the model, click Delete.

Another way to delete a model is by hovering your cursor over the model name in the main nav, clicking on the three-dot-menu next to it, and selecting Delete model.

Customizing your model view

On the top right corner of your model page, you’ll find a Customize button. Click it to access these options:

Properties

Choose which properties are shown in the model.

Rollup

Set up the fiscal year start month, and choose whether to display the data monthly, quarterly, or annually.

Date range

Select the start date and the end date to be displayed in the model’s time series.

Forecast comparisons

Choose the scenarios and the comparison columns shown in the model.

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