Level I Knowledge Base Curriculum

The Level I Knowledge Base is good for 47.5 CPE credit hours, culminating in DealMaven's Certification in Applied Financial Modeling. The course curriculum is outlined below.

  Part One: Understanding the Basics
  Chapter 1: Financial Analysis Concepts
  • Corporate Accounting: Annual and Quarterly Reports
  • The Core Accounting Statements (Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Statement)
  • The Role of Accounting in Finance
    •   Chapter 2: Introduction to Financial Modeling
  • Types of Financial Models (Forecasting, Transaction)
  • The Parts of a Model
    •   Chapter 3: The Flow of a Model
  • How the Core Financial Statements Are Related
  • Breaking Down the Income Statement (Operating vs. Non-Operating Items)
  • Calculating EBITDA
    •   Part Two: Building the Operating Assumptions
      Chapter 4: Excel Basics
  • Color-Coding Spreadsheet Cells
  • Using Keystroke Shortcuts
  • Working with Formulas
  • Creating Row Headers
    •   Chapter 5: Historical Operating Assumptions
  • Revenue and Growth Rates
  • Cost Line Items (e.g., as % of Sales)
  • Gross Profit, EBIT, and EBITDA
    •   Chapter 6: Projected Operating Assumptions
  • Forecasting Revenue Growth
  • Forecasting COGS, Depreciation, and SG&A
  • Projected Operating Results
    •   Part Three: The Three Financial Statements
      Chapter 7: The Historical Balance Sheet
  • Using Dates in Formulas
  • Creating Sum Formulas
  • Calculating Total Assets and Liabilities
    •   Chapter 8: The Income Statement
  • Linking the Income Statement to the Operating Assumptions
  • Avoiding Circular References
  • Tracing Precedent/Dependent Formulas
  • Relative vs. Absolute References
  • Calculating Interest Expense, Net Income, and Earnings per Share
    •   Chapter 9: Forecasting the Balance Sheet
  • Working Capital Assumptions
  • Linking the Balance Sheet to the Income Statement
  • Days Receivable and Inventory Turns
  • Balancing Assets Against Liabilities and Equity
    •   Chapter 10: The Cash Flow Statement
  • Changes in Working Capital
  • Cash Available for Debt Repayment (CADR)
  • Types of Debt: Revolver, Term Loan, Senior Subordinated Debt
  • Building a Debt Schedule
  • Required and Optional Debt Retirement
  • Extending Excel Formulas: MAX/MIN Functions, Triggers, If-->Then-->Else Formulas
  • Linking the Cash Flow Statement to the Debt Schedule
  • Linking the Balance Sheet to the Cash Flow Statement
    •   Part Four: Valuation Methodologies
      Chapter 11: Discounted Cash Flow Concepts
  • Calculating Enterprise Value
  • Future and Present Value Equations
  • Terminal Value
  • Levered and Unlevered Free Cash Flows
  • Discount Rate
  • Beta
  • Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC)
    •   Chapter 12: Building a DCF Analysis
  • Calculating Unlevered Free Cash Flow
  • DCF Enterprise Value / Value per Share
  • Building a Sensitivity Analysis
  • Present Value of Terminal Value
  • Equity Value
    •   Chapter 13: Understanding Multiples Valuation
  • Price/Earnings Ratios
  • Enterprise Value / EBITDA Multiples
  • Sources of Operating Risk
    •   Chapter 14: Finding Data in Financial Reports
  • Where to Find Depreciation/Amortization
  • Getting the Latest Twelve Months' (LTM) Data
  • Spotting Unusual and Non-Recurring Items
  • Latest Twelve Months (LTM) vs. Run-Rate
  • Unusual & Non-Recurring Items
  • Purchase Accounting Adjustments
  • Shares Outstanding: Preferred, Common, Stock Options
    •   Part Five: Scenario and Transaction Analysis
      Chapter 15: Scenario Analysis
  • Building Lookup Tables
  • Using Triggers
    •   Chapter 16: Transaction Analysis
  • Sources and Uses of Funds
  • Transaction Scenarios
  • The Closing Balance Sheet
    •   Part Six: Finishing Touches
      Chapter 17: Average Interest
  • The Average Interest Formula
  • The Average Interest Trigger
    •   Chapter 18: The Cover Page
  • Linking to Sources and Uses of Funds
  • Summary Market Valuation
  • Summary DCF Valuation
  • Summary Financial Results
  • Instituting Checks in Your Model
    •   Chapter 19: Operating Buildup
  • Price/Volume, Fixed vs. Variable Cost, and Business Segment Buildups