# The Credit Rating Analyst: companion files

Julian R. Sterling

## What is here

- **Credit_Rating_Analyst_Model.xlsx**: the workbook that rebuilds the Thornvale case and reproduces the figures of the book with live formulas. Sheets: Read Me, Inputs, Metrics, Scorecard, Cases, Triggers, Checks.
- **Credit_Rating_Analyst_Toolkit.docx**: the checklists of Appendix B (new rating information request, management meeting agenda, adjusted metrics, base case and downside, committee package, press release, quarterly surveillance, event risk first week, independence and compliance), in editable form.

## Which sheet answers which chapter

- Chapters 5 and 6: Metrics (adjusted EBITDA, adjusted debt, FFO, FOCF, DCF, leverage, FFO to debt)
- Chapters 3, 7, 9, 12 and 13: Scorecard (weighted leverage, financial risk, anchor, modifiers, issuer and issue ratings)
- Chapters 6, 12 and 13: Cases (January 2025 and November 2025 base cases, management's plan, the downside)
- Chapter 13: Triggers (the surveillance dashboard)

## Two inputs to change first

1. On Inputs, add the 2025 restructuring and integration costs back to reported EBITDA: see how far the 2025 leverage moves.
2. On Scorecard, set the January 2025 modifier to zero: see where the rating would have stayed. Reset the inputs afterwards: the Checks sheet compares the workbook with the figures printed in the book.

Blue type on a light blue background is an input, black type a formula. No macro, no circular reference, no external link. The Checks sheet should read ALL CHECKS OK on the default inputs.

Kestrel Bay Ratings, Thornvale Packaging Group and every other name in the case are fictional; Kestrel Bay's methodology is a simplified teaching device, not the criteria of any real rating agency; all case figures are illustrative assumptions, not market data or forecasts. Provided as is, without warranty. Not investment, legal, regulatory or accounting advice.