In our other accounting estimates articles, we talked about the discretion that management has in the income statement and the balance sheet. In this article, we will dive deeper into the incentives that management may have to manage these estimates. What is Earnings Management? Despite the discretionary nature of some of the

M&A Transaction Case Studies are commonly seen in case competitions, and sometimes in actual investment banking work. They are a quick analysis of an M&A transaction, summarized in a few PowerPoint slides. They can be a great way to prepare for interviews, while learning about the details of a transaction. Slide

In our previous articles, we discussed the impact that accounting estimates have on the income statement. However, it is not just the income statement that is subject to estimates, the balance sheet is as well. Balance sheet items will affect efficiency ratios (asset turnover), solvency ratios (debt to equity), and

In the last article, we discussed revenue recognition, and its implication on financial statement analysis. We will follow up that discussion by going over the other half of the income statement: expenses. We will go over what the accounting standards are and what discretion management has, and how they could

We discussed financial statements and the importance of financial statement analysis in our previous articles.  We will follow those discussions with a more detailed look at each statement. Public financial statements are governed by accounting standards, usually under IFRS or US GAAP, and audited by an external firm for fairness.

In the last article, we talked about how firms make decisions based on their marginal costs and marginal revenue. In this article, we will further that discussion by breaking down the different market structures that firms operate in, and how that affects decision making. These market structures, perfect competition, monopoly,