The Research Analyst includes

The Accountant

4.4 STARS

Star Rating
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About

Quickly and confidently interpret financial data and statements, evaluate them and use the calculated information to build high-quality reports. Real company data and the latest rules are covered to ensure the methods used and skills developed are immediately applicable in the workplace.

Completion time

13 Hours

Level

Skills Certificate

About

Quickly and confidently interpret financial data and statements, evaluate them and use the calculated information to build high-quality reports. Real company data and the latest rules are covered to ensure the methods used and skills developed are immediately applicable in the workplace.

Completion time

13 Hours

Level

Skills Certificate

Module

Video Minutes

Excel Exercises

Financial Accounting Review

33

3

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Video minutes33

Excel Exercises3

  • Making entries and ensuring the balance sheet balances
  • Preparing a balance sheet
  • Preparing an income statement from the entries to retained earnings
  • Preparing a cash flow statement from the entries to the cash account
  • A review of the different categorizations on the income statement, balance sheet, and the cash flow statement

Income Statements

61

15

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Video minutes61

Excel Exercises15

  • Revenue recognition issues
  • Cost recognition issues
  • Identifying non-recurring items from the income statement, the MD&A, the notes to the accounts and the financial statement press release
  • Calculating EBIT and EBITDA for the historical year, and on an LTM basis

Earnings Per Share

27

11

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Video minutes27

Excel Exercises11

  • Basic EPS calculations including weighted average shares
  • Dilutive securities: options (treasury method) and convertibles (as if converted)
  • Calculating recurring EPS

Working Capital

56

12

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Video minutes56

Excel Exercises12

  • Inventory accounting including the impact on EBIT of LIFO and FIFO accounting choices (where relevant)
  • Accounts receivable and bad debts (identifying when companies are manipulating sales)
  • Accounts payable and accruals and the difference between them from a due diligence perspective
  • Other items including taxes payable, deferred revenue, and pre-paid items
  • Working capital and operating working capital and the cash impact of changes in operating working capital
  • Credit implications of working capital movements
  • Day ratios

Non-Current Assets

39

11

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Video minutes39

Excel Exercises11

  • Gross PP&E, accumulated depreciation, depreciation expense and net PP&E
  • Building a simple forecast of fixed assets
  • Establishing the age of a company’s fixed asset base
  • Finite, and infinite intangibles including goodwill
  • A review of key methods of accounting for financial investments
  • At fair value through the income statement
  • Available for sale
  • Associate (equity method) accounting

Capital Structure

50

14

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Video minutes50

Excel Exercises14

  • Debt issues and repurchases
  • Simple yield to maturity and all in cost calculations and understanding Original Issuer Discounts
  • Calculating net debt
  • Equity issuance and repurchases
  • The difference between authorized, issued and outstanding shares and multiple share classes
  • Other capital items: preference shares and convertible bonds
  • Leverage ratios
  • Debt liability maturity analysis

Accounting Ratios

41

5

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Video minutes41

Excel Exercises5

  • Profitability ratios, including margins
  • Liquidity ratios, including operating working capital
  • EBIT and EBITDA for the historical year, and on an LTM basis
  • Leverage ratios, including net debt and interest coverage
    Asset ratios

Cash Flow Statements

25

3

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Video minutes25

Excel Exercises3

  • Understanding how to categorize cash flows between operating, investing, and financing
  • Deriving a cash flow statement from two balance sheets and an income statement
  • Deriving a balance sheet from a cash flow statement and an income statement
  • Different cash flow statement presentations

Equity Method Investments

9

5

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Video minutes9

Excel Exercises5

  • What are equity method investments?
    • Equity affiliates/associates
    • Joint ventures
  • Equity method accounting
    • Income statement
    • Balance sheet
    • Cash flow statement
    • Financial statement integration

Intro to Full Consolidation

68

21

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Video minutes68

Excel Exercises21

  • M&A accounting overview
  • Balance sheet consolidation
  • Sources and uses of funds
  • Goodwill calculation
  • Income statement consolidation
  • Non controlling interests – NCI

Modeling for Research

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About

Learn how to build error-free models and robust financial forecasts, critical for investment decisions.

Completion time

4.5 Hours

Level

Skills Certificate

About

Learn how to build error-free models and robust financial forecasts, critical for investment decisions.

Completion time

4.5 Hours

Level

Skills Certificate

Module

Video Minutes

Excel Exercises

Introduction to Modeling

66

10

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Video minutes66

Excel Exercises10

  • Key settings
  • Formatting and layout standards
  • Building a simple income statement and balance sheet model, on one sheet, then across sheets
  • Balancing the balance sheet using the cash flow statement
  • Preparing the model for handover
  • Key formatting and putting the output into a pitch book

Three Statement Modeling with Iterations

59

15

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Video minutes59

Excel Exercises15

  • Income statement construction and highlighting key numbers
  • Calculation schedules (PP&E, retained earnings, operating working capital, and debt)
  • Balancing the balance sheet with a cash sweep
  • Calculating interest using average balances
  • Circular references and iterations
  • Working with a circular reference switch
  • Preparing the model for handover
  • Key formatting and putting the output into a pitch book

Checking a Model for Integrity and Errors

36

11

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Video minutes36

Excel Exercises11

  • Top ten errors
  • Auditing and error checking toolkit
  • Checking your own model
  • Checking someone else’s model

Financial Forecasting

86

21

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Video minutes86

Excel Exercises21

  • Setting up a forecast template
  • Cleaning up historical numbers
  • Building top down and bottom up revenue forecasts
  • Revenue and margin drivers and scenario analysis
  • Capex and working capital forecasts
  • Detailed debt and equity modeling
  • Error and integrity checking

Quarterly Modeling

37

6

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Video minutes37

Excel Exercises6

  • Quarterly modeling mechanics
  • Including the effects of seasonality in quarterly assumptions
  • Updating models for quarterly and annual results
  • Including FX movements in revenue forecasts

Valuation for Research

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About

Get to grips with using relative and fundamental valuation to determine a target price and master critical analysis of peer company multiples to explore value drivers and critical analysis of DCF assumptions.

Completion time

5 Hours

Level

Skills Certificate

About

Get to grips with using relative and fundamental valuation to determine a target price and master critical analysis of peer company multiples to explore value drivers and critical analysis of DCF assumptions.

Completion time

5 Hours

Level

Skills Certificate

Module

Video Minutes

Excel Exercises

Equity to Enterprise Value Bridge to Modeling

32

8

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Video minutes32

Excel Exercises8

  • Calculating equity value
  • Calculating enterprise value
  • Non-core items, debt equivalent items, and non-controlling interests
  • Calculating simple multiples
  • Illustrating the impact of leverage
  • Understand how growth rates, returns and multiples interrelate

Trading Comparables

52

14

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Video minutes52

Excel Exercises14

  • Review choosing a comparable set of companies
  • Calculating enterprise value
  • Calculating LTM EBITDA and EBIT
  • Forward multiples and issues with consensus data
  • Understanding which operational ratios are important for the analysis

Trading Comps Analysis

59

3

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Video minutes59

Excel Exercises3

  • What drives multiples
  • How to calculate and use forward multiples
  • How to calculate and use EV/Sales multiples
  • Which multiples to use for different industries and situations

WACC Analysis

30

8

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Video minutes30

Excel Exercises8

  • Capital Asset Pricing Model
  • Calculating the WACC for the peer group
  • Interpreting the results
  • Establish a reasonable cost of capital for the target company

WACC approach

Discounted Cash Flow Valuation

50

14

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Video minutes50

Excel Exercises14

  • Calculating free cash flows
  • Understanding how the operational ratios should develop over the financial forecast
  • Calculating the steady state and making relevant adjustments to the steady state cash flows
  • Making reasonable assumptions for long-term growth rates
  • Discounting to a deal date
  • Converting the enterprise value into an implied share price, making relevant adjustments for share options and restricted stock units

Return on Capital

77

5

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Video minutes77

Excel Exercises5

  • Return on capital
    • ROE vs ROIC
    • The calculations in detail
    • ROIC in valuation analysis
  • Disaggregating multiples
    • P/E
    • EV/EBIT
    • Link to DCF
    • Understanding a company’s value drivers

Advanced Valuation Techniques

32

6

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Video minutes32

Excel Exercises6

  • The value driver formula for calculating terminal value
  • Discounting with a variable valuation date and partial year discounting
  • Extending the WACC formula to include cash and other forms of financing
  • Sum of the parts valuation for conglomerates and companies with finance operations

Markets & Investing

3.9 STARS

Star Rating
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About

Discover all aspects of capital markets including equity and credit market products, ESG analysis, and learn how to make investment recommendations.

Completion time

4 Hours

Level

Skills Certificate

About

Discover all aspects of capital markets including equity and credit market products, ESG analysis, and learn how to make investment recommendations.

Completion time

4 Hours

Level

Skills Certificate

Module

Video Minutes

Excel Exercises

Capital Markets Fundamentals

16

0

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Video minutes16

Excel Exercises0

  • Capital Markets – Value of the Market
  • Equity vs Debt
  • What is an IPO
  • Equity Capital Markets
  • Debt Capital Markets

Equity Investment Characteristics

14

0

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Video minutes14

Excel Exercises0

  • Common stock
  • Preferred securities
  • Convertible bonds
  • Indices
  • Exchange Traded Funds
  • Equity multiples
  • Enterprise multiples

Equity markets & products

34

8

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Video minutes34

Excel Exercises8

  • Cash Equities and Delta One
  • Stock Exchanges
  • The Order Book
  • Initial Public Offerings
  • Role of ECM versus Trading Desk
  • Trading Desk Functions
  • Convertible Securities
  • Exchange Traded Funds

Rates markets & products Analysis

39

5

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Video minutes39

Excel Exercises5

  • Interest rate terminology and yield calculations
  • US government bond markets including TIPS and zero coupons
  • European government bond markets including index linked Gilts, Gilt strips, and other inflation-linked bonds (e.g. Germany)
  • Asian government bond market including JGBi
  • Yield curve
  • Central bank activity and impact to capital markets

Credit markets & product

41

10

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Video minutes41

Excel Exercises10

  • Credit ratings
  • Credit spreads and implied risk premia
  • US corporate bond market
  • European corporate bond market
  • Specialist bonds including puttable, callable, contingent capital (coco), CLOs, CDOs, convertibles, and exchangeable

Investment Recommendations

33

3

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Video minutes33

Excel Exercises3

  • Establishing a target price and rating
  • Rating systems
  • Consensus forecasts
  • Identifying ‘what is new’ in your analysis
  • Catalysts for stock re-pricing
  • Risks to your thesis

ESG Investing

47

4

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Video minutes47

Excel Exercises4

  • The spectrum of ESG integration approaches
  • Understanding the different risk types:
    • Environmental risks
    • Social risks
    • Governance risks
  • Concept of materiality
  • Key techniques in ESG analysis

Equity Analyst Expert Interview

3.9 STARS

Star Rating
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About

Curious to know what it’s really like to work as a research analyst? Get the answers to this and more in this expert interview with Victoria Collin, ex-Dresdner Kleinwort Equity Analyst.

Completion time

0.5

Level

Completion Certificate

About

Curious to know what it’s really like to work as a research analyst? Get the answers to this and more in this expert interview with Victoria Collin, ex-Dresdner Kleinwort Equity Analyst.

Completion time

0.5

Level

Completion Certificate

Module

Video Minutes

Excel Exercises

Equity Analyst Expert Interview

25

2

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Video minutes25

Excel Exercises2

  • Meet the Equity Analyst
  • Industry insights
  • Top tips for success
  • How to break into the industry

Get a Wall Street Recognized Certification

Upgrade your résumé with the same certification we use at the world’s top 4 investment banks.

Our exams are similar to assessments at the top firms. This means they are going to challenge you. Our online courses will teach you everything you need to know to succeed.

The Research Analyst is made up of 4 skills certificates and 1 completion certificate. Pass each one to unlock your micro- degree. Certification can easily be added to LinkedIn, demonstrating your achievement which will be recognized by the most prestigious firms on Wall Street.

Our Alumni

DEMONSTRATE YOU'RE AS GOOD AS THE BEST

By completing this course, you will be able to join our prestigious alumni on LinkedIn alongside hires at the top 4 investment banks. After becoming a member of this elite community, you can unlock exclusive benefits such as course discounts and more.

Authored by Industry Experts

Meet Deborah Taylor, the voice of The Research Analyst

Deborah Taylor is a chartered accountant with over 15 years of industry experience. Before moving into training, she worked as a director at Barclays Investment bank where she specialized in sustainable and thematic research.

 

 

THIS MICRO-DEGREE HAS BEEN REVIEWED BY

Colin Evans

Managing Director at J.P. Morgan

Colin Evans is a Managing Director at J.P. Morgan and leads the financial institutions coverage team globally for Corporate Banking

Dr. Bridget Lyons

Professor of Finance

Professor of Finance at the Jack Welch College of Business at Sacred Heart University and Associate Instructor

Chris Bishko

CFO

CFO with over 25 years experience as an operator, investor and investment banker in technology and financial services.

Frequently Asked Questions

What tech do I need?

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Access your course across desktop, laptop, tablet or phone; either via our web portal or the dedicated mobile app. While we have optimized our video quality and size, we recommend a broadband connection to enable uninterrupted video playback. A PDF reader and spreadsheet application are required to open the supporting resources.

Is it right for me?

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This online program reflects the training we provide to sell-side and buy-side research firms, if you want to demonstrate you are as good as the best in the industry then this is the course for you. The top investment banks will recognize our certification, making this perfect for graduates looking to land a job as a research analyst or a professional preparing for a new role.

Are Financial Edge's courses credible?

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The 4 leading investment banks, as rated by the FT, hire us to train their incoming analysts. If you are looking to join the best analysts in the world, challenge yourself with the same content, certification, and Wall Street instructors ready to answer your questions.

Will this course help me get a job at as a Research Analyst?

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Absolutely. Develop practical skills you can use to impress at interviews, whether you’re looking to break into equity research or change roles.

How long do I have to complete the courses?

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We offer lifetime access on all online courses! Fit studying around your schedule. Learn at your own pace with on-demand video, practical examples to download and expert instructor support.

Are there any hidden costs?

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No. Everything you need to earn your micro-degree is included, from instructor-led videos and Excel exercises to the exam.

What is CPD?

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All Financial Edge online courses are CPD accredited. CPD stands for Continuing Professional Development and makes demonstrating your commitment to learning easy. Your institution or accrediting body may track CDP points through activities, units or hours. Check with the relevant party to find out how you should be monitoring your progress.