Investment Banking Manual

Download CFI's free investment banking book

Investment Banking Manual

Covering accounting fundamentals, valuation, financial modeling, & Excel skills, this 400+ page guide to investment banking is a must-have for new analysts & associates.

Welcome to the official investment banking eBook from the Corporate Finance Institute. In this 466-page analyst manual, we walk through all the important skills and the body of knowledge required for a new hire at a bank. From accounting fundamentals to valuation, financial modeling, and Excel skills, this eBook cover all the major topics in investment banking for a new analyst or associate.  We hope you find this book useful in reaching your future goals.

CFI’s investment banking book is divided into three chapters: accounting, valuation, and financial modeling.  Below is a detailed breakdown of what’s included in each chapter.

Investment Banking Book - Cover Page

Investment Banking Book – Accounting (Chapter 1)

The accounting section of CFI’s investment banking book includes:

Accounting and analysis fundamentals

  • Accounting framework
  • Balance sheet issues
  • Income statement issues
  • Cash flow statements

Accounting and analysis for mergers and acquisitions

  • Acquisition accounting
  • Accounting for associates and joint ventures
  • Considerations for investment banking
  • Comprehensive examples
  • New M&A accounting rules

Valuation (Chapter 2)

The investment banking book includes:

Discounted cash flow techniques

  • Discounting fundamentals
  • Estimating free cash flow for valuation purposes
  • The key value drivers of cash flow
  • Calculating the terminal value
  • Putting it all together – DCF with terminal value calculation

Cost of capital

  • An introduction to risk
  • Capital asset pricing model (CAPM)
  • The Cost of Debt and WACC

Comparable company analysis

  • Why do we do comps?
  • Comparable universe
  • Sources of information
  • From Equity Value to Enterprise Value
  • Which multiple?
  • Using comps
  • Special Situations
  • Keys to success

Precedent transaction analysis

  • Introduction
  • Mechanics
  • Valuing the target
  • Control premia
  • Problems with precedent transactions

Financial Modeling (Chapter 3)

The financial modeling section of the investment banking book includes:

Best practices financial modeling

  • Introduction
  • Introducing the Ribbon
  • Quick Access Toolbar
  • Page Layout menu
  • View menu
  • Model set up
  • Model structure
  • Referencing
  • Formatting
  • IF and some other logical functions
  • Data retrieval – the LOOKUP school
  • Volatile functions
  • Consolidating data
  • Arrays
  • Dates
  • Switches
  • Sensitivity
  • Validating data
  • Pivot tables
  • Model completion
  • Charts
  • Historic financials
  • Forecast financials
  • Debt modeling
  • Formatting Continued
  • Formulas
  • Names
  • Data functionality
  • Auditing and error detection tools
  • Auditing a model – a process

Appendix

  • Excel tricks
  • Excel function keys
  • Other shortcuts

Book Review

Below is one of many reviews CFI received from satisfied readers:

“The investment banking manual book covers just about everything you need to know to jump in as a new analyst or associate.  For anyone who wants a crash course or refresher on a wide body of knowledge, this is the ebook for you.”

Additional Resources

This Investment Banking Analyst book is a great way to jumpstart your banking knowledge.  Whether you are going for an interview, or just started on the job, this book is a great way to get a lot of information in one highly organized format.  And the best part is…it’s 100% free!

To learn more and advance your career, check out these additional CFI resources:

Analyst Certification FMVA® Program

Below is a break down of subject weightings in the FMVA® financial analyst program. As you can see there is a heavy focus on financial modeling, finance, Excel, business valuation, budgeting/forecasting, PowerPoint presentations, accounting and business strategy.

 

Financial Analyst certification curriculum

 

A well rounded financial analyst possesses all of the above skills!

 

Additional Questions & Answers

CFI is the global institution behind the financial modeling and valuation analyst FMVA® Designation. CFI is on a mission to enable anyone to be a great financial analyst and have a great career path. In order to help you advance your career, CFI has compiled many resources to assist you along the path.

In order to become a great financial analyst, here are some more questions and answers for you to discover:

 

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