Blog
I often post on LinkedIn about FP&A
I often post on LinkedIn about FP&A.But did you know I've never held an FP&A job?I'm not "classically trained" as they say.How I learned is... more ยป
Your Adjusted EBITDA cheat sheet
Your Adjusted EBITDA cheat sheet ↓๐ข First, what is EBITDA?An ๐ผ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ผ๐๐๐๐ of the free cash flow of a business.๐ข What's EBITDA (mostly) used fo... more ยป
Want to see the coolest Excel trick I've learned this year?
Want to see the coolest Excel trick I've learned this year?Check this out...Open a new spreadsheet.Highlight the entire sheet (top-left corner).Then go... more ยป
A simple guide to ROI and IRR
๐ข ROI shows my return in DOLLARS๐ข IRR shows my ROI adjusted for TIMEYou need both to understand the return of an investment.I’ll explain...๐ข... more ยป
Here's Why I Think Excel Is Here To Stay
Here's why I think Excel is here to stay. (And if you disagree I want to hear from you)So the other day I'm working on a "roll-up" model...๐ข Btw...โช๏ธa... more ยป
My Best Advice For A Career In Finance?
My best advice for a career in Finance?Try to get some Operations experience.Finance is often thought of as behind-closed-doors "scorekeepers."We just... more ยป
Thinking Of Starting An Online Business?
Thinking of starting an online business?Try my "4 self-promises" before you take the plunge...๐ข ๐ญ. ๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต "๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐" ๐ฎ... more ยป
10 Qualities I Would Look for in a Private Equity Associate
Intro I spent several years working in middle-market private equity: starting out as a very “green” Associate and ultimately leaving as a Vice... more ยป
Why Would A Company Partner With A Private Equity Firm?
Why would a company partner with a private equity firm?Let's say two brothers start a business in their garage...They make shoes by hand.Every week, they... more ยป
The Stages of a Private Equityย Deal
Early Stage โ๏ธ Usually investment bankers represent companies for sale โ๏ธ The bankers prepare a “teaser”โ—โone-pager that gives you an... more ยป
Private Equity isn't just about cranking out LBO models...
There are a bunch of soft skills you need too.Here they are:Empathy A new PE firm can be a HUGE culture shock for a management team. A willingness to... more ยป
5 Tips To Get Started With FP&A
Lately, tons of ppl have asked me how to get into FP&A.โฌ๏ธHere's my two cents:๐ญ. ๐๐ณ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ, ๐๐ฟ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝI know this is way easier said t... more ยป
Simple Trick To Make an Excel Cell Say "Yes" or "No"
Ever wonder how to make a cell say "Yes" / "No" when you enter 1 or 0?Here's how ↓First off, Excel formats numbers like this:positive number ;... more ยป
Interview with Paul Barnhurst (aka the FP&A Guy)!
Interview with Paul Barnhurst One of my favorite parts of this blog series is providing access to other business owners in Finance. Everyone is building a... more ยป
My Secret Weapon For High-Quality Backlinks
What's a "Backlink" ? In the world of SEO, a "backlink" signifies when one website points to another using a link. Let's pretend this email series was a... more ยป
That model you just sent out... did you check it for errors?
That model you just sent out... did you check it for errors?...how closely?I hate to break it to you, but 90% of all spreadsheets contain errors.That's an... more ยป
I'll never forget when a VP told me this in my early Private Equity days...
I'll never forget when a VP told me this in my early Private Equity days... I was so focused on getting my model right that I didn't see a MASSIVE... more ยป
A ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ for the Sources & Uses:
A ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ for the Sources & Uses ↓ Step 1: value the company (usually a multiple of EBITDA).Step 2: pull EBITDA from the financialsStep 3... more ยป
5 Little Excel Shortcuts I Didn't Know Existed...
5 Little Excel Shortcuts I Didn't Know Existed... 1. Apply the General number format.Ctrl+Shift+Tilde sign (~)2. Apply the Time format with the hour... more ยป
How Passive Income Changes the Game
The Year was 2020... I remember when I first started this business I was just cranking out a bunch of Excel models, working hourly. Even though I was... more ยป
What's With These EBITDA Adjustments?
Let's Get Right To ItIn this blog post we are going to walk through (and defend, maybe?) all the different EBITDA adjustments in the schedule below:The... more ยป
I Know What EBITDA is... But Why Is It Built That Way?
I see a ton of posts on what EBITDA ๐ช๐ด, but how about ๐ธ๐ฉ๐บ??Start with, it's an approximation of the operating cash flow of a business.This cash flow... more ยป
How I build Private Equity "roll-up" models...
Big Picture A Private Equity firm's first investment is typically called a "platform." From there, more companies are acquired and are usually called... more ยป
5 Must-Have Skills for Success if You're A New Financial Analyst
1. ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ง๐๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐จ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฌ & ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐๐ข๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ I learned about 5% of my accounting skills in the classroom and 95%... more ยป
Interview with Josh Aharonoff!
Interview with Josh Aharonoff One of the things I'm most excited about for this email series is providing access to other business owners in Finance. Everyone... more ยป