Wert-Berater, Inc. — Independent Feasibility Study Consultants
Feasibility Study Blog · Methodology

Why Lender-Grade Models Have Zero Hardcoded Numbers

An underwriter who cannot trace a number cannot rely on it. Model architecture is credibility infrastructure.

Harvest equipment working a crop field
Why Lender-Grade Models Have Zero Hardcoded Numbers

Open a weak feasibility model and the tell is immediate: numbers typed into formula cells, the same rate entered eleven places, a pro forma that cannot be flexed without breaking. The lender-grade alternative is architectural: every input lives once, on an Assumptions tab; every other cell is a formula or a link; and the visual convention announces which is which — in Wert-Berater models, blue font for inputs, black for formulas, green for links. An underwriter can flex any assumption and watch the entire model respond, which is the whole point of giving them a model.

The standard Wert-Berater package runs thirty-seven or more linked tabs covering the complete analytical battery: ten-year pro forma, sensitivity at ±5/10/15 percent, rate stress to +3.0 percent, Monte Carlo, discounted cash flow, ratio tables benchmarked to RMA data, and an Altman Z-Score trajectory — each ratio table carrying its own narrative so the reviewer understands the figure without reconstructing it.

Auditability Is a Deliverable

Model audit is part of production, not an afterthought: a multi-point check covering formula integrity, link continuity, circularity, and cross-tab reconciliation, run before any model ships. The discipline pays for itself the first time a committee member changes one assumption and the determination’s arithmetic holds visibly together.

Borrower-built spreadsheets, whatever their arithmetic, fail the independence requirement — and usually the architecture test in the same hour. The model is not paperwork around the study; for the financial dimension, the model is the study.

Sources & further reading. SBA SOP 50 10 (official)  ·  7 CFR Part 5001 (eCFR)
Donald Safranek, MSc — President and feasibility study consultant, Wert-Berater, Inc.
Donald Safranek, MSc

President, Wert-Berater, Inc. — independent feasibility study consultants since 1998. More than 4,000 feasibility studies completed across all 50 states and internationally, evaluating $40.2 billion in project value for SBA, USDA, EB-5, conventional, and institutional financing decisions. Fiduciary duty runs to the lender and agency in every engagement.

+1 310-857-2443 ext. 800  ·  email  ·  1968 South Coast Hwy, Ste 2382, Laguna Beach, CA 92651 · 111 Town Square Pl Ste 1238 PMB 657834, Jersey City, NJ 07310 · 539 W. Commerce St #8486, Dallas, TX 75208

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