Transaction Advisory Service - Resources/Concepts

Hi All

Prior to the end of the year I will be starting a new role within a Transaction Advisory Service department - which I believe will be mainly buy-side financial due diligence.

In order to hit the ground running - are there any useful resources I can get hold of or specific concepts I should look into prior to joining?

As it may impact some of the suggestions - I am a qualified accountant and have recently passed CFA level 1.

Thanks

5 Comments
 

Some topics that come to mind are: 1. Quality of Earnings, i.e. adjustments to EBITDA for non-recurring or one-off items 2. Net debt: fully understand it, how you identify a cash- and debt-like items and what it is used for 3. Working capital analysis, adjustments to working capital, how it links to net debt and, again, what it is used for 4. Understand how to dissect revenue by various industries, i.e. understand the drivers

 

I think you will have a hard time finding specific resources on these topics. Usually if you look in a corporate finance or accounting books they will only cover these topics on a rudimentary level. Best would be if you could get your hands on a report from one of the big4 or maybe some of their training material. To be honest, the CFA wont do much for you. Having a really solid understanding of accounting will be key (being a qualified accountant does not equal solid understanding).

From googling, I found the following sources that may be a good start:

http://www.claconnect.com/-/media/files/presentations/value-of-sellside…

https://www.divestopedia.com/2/834/maximize-value/financial-metrics/the…

http://rsmus.com/pdf/wp_working_capital.pdf

 

Dolorem vitae deserunt adipisci sint consequuntur quidem molestias. Id voluptatem sint dicta recusandae quia quibusdam.

Career Advancement Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 99.0%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (29) $183
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”