Peter Cundill inspired net-net template

I just finished reading the book "There's Always Something to Do" which is an excellent story of Peter Cundill a net-net value investor.  I'm not going to review the book because there are some excellent reviews on the internet already like the one Richard Beddard did here.

What I found fascinating is that Peter created a net-net template in the 1970s and continued to use it until he retired in 2009.  The book doesn't discuss his template much but they do include a sample of one as an appendix.  I took the liberty of creating what I consider a Peter Cundill inspired net-net template in Excel.  I used a lot of things in his template but made a few modifications as well.

I have my own template that I've been using on this blog for a while that I might consider some modifications to after examining the one Peter used.  When I research a stock I have an Excel spreadsheet that has different worksheets for income statement, balance sheet, cash flow, net-net worksheet.  What I like about the Cundill template is that all of that information is on one worksheet which makes it easy to glance back and forth at different aspects of financial statements.

I am posting a link to the template as a free download for anyone interested.  The file was uploaded to Google Docs, you can view it from there, and if you want a copy on your own PC select File->Download as.

Here is the link to the net-net template file

3 comments:

  1. I have just taken a look at the spreadsheet you compiled. There are a lot of variables to consider which can get confusing - is there a ranking system?
    The previous system you were using seems uncluttered and simple to use by comparison.

    Thanks for linking to the book review. Definitely on my 'to read' list.

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  2. Thanks for the comment, this spreadsheet is actually a derivative of one that investor Peter Cundill used, I wanted to make it available online.

    I think the advantage this one has is the historical view which I appreciate. Going forward I still plan on using my old spreadsheet and adapting a few ideas from this one such as the historical look at the financial statements.

    I think the best use of this spreadsheet is to categorize research, working through all the variables helps make sure nothing is missed.

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  3. Thank you for sharing the spreadsheet!

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