How do you conceptually understand technicals

Mr Incredible

I was a finance student, so I learned corporate finance in a very academic manner. Most of the technicals you are given in interviews are academic, not real world, so the answers usually aren't too nuanced. 

Let's say they can ask you like 1,000 questions, but in reality, there are only a fraction of that number in actual concepts they can ask you. Many questions are just variations on the same concepts. I studied the concepts super deeply like how all the line-items in the statements work and other corp fin topics. This helped me answer all the non-math technicals as every question they asked was some variation of the concepts I'd learned. 

My failure though was that I neglected real world, math-utilizing problems, so I got fucked in my interview when asked to do a full-fledged paper LBO with numbers. They loved my conceptual walkthrough though. 

This is exactly where my above comment about how some technicals will behave differently comes from depending on industry. AKA - you mentioned line items (supposing off a GL and not SL hopefully, because f*** JE's). But knowing that difference alone is a big step forward technically. Then what about PP&E amortization schedules on a company like Bristow vs Sysco or throw in a curveball of a REIT like CBRE? Not to mention if we're talking PP&E, OGI has their own rules for wells and leases you have to deal with.

Same general concepts, but applied quite differently. We're talking helicopters carrying stalwarts of modern life like Mark Wahlburg (Bristow) vs trucks carrying perishables (all those friggin Advocadoes the millenials seem to need on their toast: Sysco) , an apartment complex  (please don't tell me you don't have/live in a CBRE or AMLI complex next door?) and lastly vs a handful of WTI pumps out in the Permian. All gotta be addressed, but they get their own rules. So never hesitate, just ask a fellow monkey for help if the YT video isn't clearing it up.