Modeling (DCF, LBO, and M&A) practice

Hi WSO community,

I have been watching tutorials on modeling but have recently taken the initiative to actually practice them. However, I have not been able to find many problems/cases for DCF, LBO or M&A.

Do you have any LBO, DCF, and/or M&A cases to practice? Basic or complex. Anything would be helpful.

 
wanderer:
Haha nice troll post.....unless it's not, in which case I hope you chill out. Enjoy your senior year please.

I'm actually serious... Wouldn't spending 80-150 hours to help get a job at a top tier PE firm (or any PE firm at all) be worthwhile (I mean, some people spend more time than that studying for the GMAT which is way less important than work experience)? My question is if all that practice would make any difference in getting a PE job.

 
goldman in da house:
IB2001:
skip the balance sheet and you should be able to spend an hour every week instead of two

I was planning 2 hours a week with the balance sheet skipped O_O;;

I'm going to need a lot of practice.

By your third week you should be able to do it in slightly more than an hour.

 

Hmm... that's actually a pretty smart idea. Why not. You probably would get pretty acquainted with the model after the 3rd go. Besides, from my understanding, PE recruiting happens within the first year of banking, so you can't always count on your workload to give you the necessary training.

 

goldman - bro, please take it easy. You'll get the experience you need for PE shop interviews during your banking stint. No point trying to jump ahead of the curve. I'd rather spend that time playing a sport or anything else you're really passionate about, because when IBD starts - you're gonna be hooking up and getting laid by so many 'LBO' models, you're gonna want to cry.

 

goldman - bro, please take it easy. You'll get the experience you need for PE shop interviews during your banking stint. No point trying to jump ahead of the curve. I'd rather spend that time playing a sport or anything else you're really passionate about, because when IBD starts - you're gonna be hooking up and getting laid by so many 'LBO' models, you're gonna want to cry.

 

Once a week would be overkill. Hell, once a month would be overkill. After the first few times, you'll find it becomes pretty easy. Do what you want. After 3x of doing it, you'll realize you only need to practice it as a refresher once every few months. If you come into your analyst stint with a good modelling skillset, you will find your learning curve that much steeper in the first few months as you can focus on understanding the dynamics of your industry.

As for the replies above, though I agree doing this weekly would be excessive, I fail to see how 2 hours a week detracts from anyone's social life.

 
Best Response
Awon Eleyi Awon Eleyi Won Bad Gan:
Once a week would be overkill. Hell, once a month would be overkill. After the first few times, you'll find it becomes pretty easy. Do what you want. After 3x of doing it, you'll realize you only need to practice it as a refresher once every few months. If you come into your analyst stint with a good modelling skillset, you will find your learning curve that much steeper in the first few months as you can focus on understanding the dynamics of your industry.

As for the replies above, though I agree doing this weekly would be excessive, I fail to see how 2 hours a week detracts from anyone's social life.

Agree, except that the learning curve would be less steep. Also, a lot of your "value add" if you can even call it that, as an analyst comes from your ability to explain or have a rationale for why numbers will trend the way they do (i.e. I noticed capex in 2014 starts ramping, why is that? oh they are looking to expand and purchase plants in x state where the assumption is they will save money on state taxes, etc.) The point is that if you aren't struggling with the mechanics of the model, you have more time to look into the drivers/destroyers of value and subsequently weigh in on rationale for certain results.

 

I'm currently a student however these are some of the resources I've been learning from recently;

http://research2.fidelity.com/fidelity/research/reports/release2/Resear… - Sign up for a free account there and you can search up a bunch of current reports

http://equity-research.com/reports/ - Reports from various banks

https://mega.co.nz/#!l10w0TiZ!Yam3hhs0oeXDzS3ikpGfUlifleugXc207BIx6Sj-f… - This is just a (very large) collection of assorted primers from a whole range of companies. Not sure how useful it will be but at the very least I find it interesting to look back at the forward-looking perspective from the early 2000s, now.

Aside from that, I'd recommend just start doing it. I initially spent some time- too much time looking for a proper "ER format," but there isn't one. Make some models and projections, articulate your reasoning behind the numbers and assumptions, repeat. VIC/SumZero/SA are decent-to-good as well.

 

Hey sullivandp1, I'm the WSO Monkey Bot...do any of these help:

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  • 3 statement financial model template have sent me an assignment to do. I was wondering if anyone had a dynamic 3 statement financial model ... href="https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/financial-modeling-training">Financial Statement Modeling ... that they would be so kind as to let me see. I want to make sure that I am doing everything right, and ...
  • Financial & Valuation Modeling Boot-Camp Financial modeling is a skill that any investment banking analyst will have to master. Although ... & Valuation Modeling * 27 CPE credits and 35 PD credits * Day 1: Financial Statement Modeling in ... Interview at a HF Consulting Case Interview Questions Financial Modeling Training WSO Resume Review Practice ...
  • Modeling Practice What is a good starting point for learning to model like a pro? It seems like the vast majority of ... templates/tutorials or is it better to start from scratch? Want to go from rookie to pro LBO 3 statement financial ... modeling is centered around LBO 's. Is that because it is the most comprehensive? What other models ...
  • Financial Modeling Case- looking for best practice- Change in Inventory on Income Statement Hi Simians, I am looking for best practice about Income Statement position "change in ... for my CEE English style inventory modeling income statement ... is impossible to relate COGS in current period to them. The question is, what are typical assumptions ...
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