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

It has become apparent to us that our website assumes a level of knowledge which may make it difficult for people newly interested in investment banking to jump into our interview section. So before someone goes from 0 to 60 and is asked about more advanced valuation concepts, we are going

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,

In the last article, we talked extensively about supply and demand. We will now focus in on how supply and demand is related to costs and revenue, specifically marginal costs and marginal revenue. By understanding these important concepts, we can gain a better insight on how profit maximizing firms  behave

In the last article, we discussed the importance of understanding the three financial statements. In this article, we will make use of the numbers from the financial statements to analyze the underlying company. Vertical and Horizontal Analysis One important aspect of financial statements is that it allows analysts and management to compare

A robust understanding the three financial statements is important for banking and asset management interviews. This post is meant to be a quick review for an interview, or a complement to your introduction to financial accounting course, which covers this material in much greater detail. The three financial statements that all