Don't understand technicals
I'm a finance major and have taken financial and managerial accounting. I did well but I memorized for the test and didn't fully take in the material. Now I'm studying technicals by reading the Rosenbaum book. This is my first part of studying. I don't understand all of the minutiae in it and I'm only on chapter 1. It got to net share settlement, if-converted method, and I don't know what's going on. Do I need to go over accounting again? And if so, where? For the technicals I don't just want to memorize BIWS questions, I actually want to learn the material. Or is the IB book not a good place to start? What's the best way to go about learning from the beginning? Not looking to spend $500 on courses.
also interested.
I would say the Rosenbaum book is very in-depth, maybe too in-depth. If I were you I would consider buying the biws guide for ~$200. It starts from the basics of accounting, valuation, and also goes very in depth into merger models, lbos, etc. I like Rosenbaum but sometimes the application of the ideas in the book is a little complicated. Another thing about the biws guide is that it shows you how you will be questioned about each topic which is really helpful.
You are not likely to grasp everything 100% upon finishing your first read. So mentally, it's like working on in the gym, it's all about reps, rest, feedback, progression.
I'd suggest you go slow, and don't skip things you find difficult to understand, as you may not know enough yet to be able to form a big picture view and connect everything. Jot down those bits you don't fully understand, and get them resolved within the same day. Leverage free resources online like investopedia, etc.
And you don't stop there. Depending on the amount of exposure in real work you get to certain parts of the book (e.g. M&A guys prob less on LevFin related stuff), always go back to the book as a reference to refresh parts that have become rusty. I still read the book prob 1 - 2 times a year.
The Rosenbaum book is great, but instead of just doing the reading try doing some of the calculations as well and potentially change up a few things. I find that repetition helped me understand. If you do that at the same time as using the BIWS 400 interview questions you should be in a good spot for self learning.
The Rosenbaum book is by the way a great book, but I don't think it is too in depth - you will see some simplifications in there which are very practical but may not be 100% what you will be taught as you progress further in your finance courses, so I do think it is a good benchmark to what you need to understand without requiring a Phd in Finance.
For classes Managerial accounting was not really helpful for this, it is a great class and I really enjoyed it, but for valuation purposes I did not find it very helpful. Also the first finance classes you have, typically focuses very much on the basics and theory around CAPM, bond pricing, time value of money, yields etc and not as much on building DCF models or multiples valuation (at least my first finance classes did)
The classes that really helped me were: ( I know classes will have different names at different schools - also I am not an undergrad finance/business major so my comments on classes are from MBA level, but can probably be applied to undergrad courses as well)
Financial Accounting (Not fun, but it is the language of business, you just need to understand it to be able to actually do the work)
Corporate Finance/ Adv corporate finance - these classes were much more in depth that the entry level finance classes I did, and much better applied to valuation.
Financial Statement analysis (also often called fundamental analysis and in some places Valuation)
Corporate Restructuring (This class also has many names) but gives a solid foundation of how M&A works not just with valuation but incorporates a lot of the supporting topics that goes into M&A, LBO's etc from both a financial and non financial standpoint.
I don't know which classes are offered at your school, but those were some of the best and most practical classes I have had through my undergrad, masters and MBA.
In addition - if Training the street comes by your school I would highly encourage taking their classes. If you buy them of the website they are fairly expensive, but I think I ended up paying around 65 USD when they were offered through the schools finance club, and they are very good at starting from the basics and giving a good foundation.
lots of good resources out there! it just takes a lot of work.
The first time I tried reading the Rosenbaum book was challenging and went over my head a little bit. I would therefore advise you to do the BIWS course first. If you do the first 2 modules on there (Introduction, and 3 financial statements), you will understand the Rosenbaum book that MUCH better. Also, if you ever feel like splashing the cash, then get the WSP guide as well, as it has some very good flash cards that are good for going over the material in a very condensed manner.
Rosenbaum is on an advanced level.
If you are a beginner, you should start off with the BIWS guide. Afterwards, you can still go for the Rosenbaum.
What is important though, that you truly try to understand it and don't memorize it. I can't say how often I interviewed guys who clearly just memorized, even if it were basic things. Q: What happens with cash when calculating EV? -We substract that. Q: "OK, so when I'm the owner and sell the company, and get the equity value, what happens with my cash? Will I not get anything in return for that? -No, because it's substracted and the owner could basically use it to finance EV...
-> Next.
What's the answer to the 2nd question? It's that cash is implicitly accounted for in equity value, right?
I personally liked the Wall Street Prep material. You used to be able to find their courses on Udemy for $10 occasionally - don't know if that still exists, but it's worth checking out.
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