The Private Equity Associate
If you’re considering a career in the buy-side, this upgraded private equity course will teach you everything you need to succeed.
Master the core technical skills, from in-depth financial statement analysis to structuring complex add-on acquisitions in a leveraged buyout.
Buy The Private Equity Associate
Get lifetime access to this course, plus expert instructor support through Felix.
£679 £407
Get all courses with a Felix Boost or Pro plan
Access every course we offer with a Felix plan. Over 275 hours of learning content across 3,793 videos and counting.
£449 £269
Single Course
Lifetime access to a single course
£679 £407
One-time payment.
All Courses Access
3,784 videos across 427 playlists in our Boost plan.
£449 £269
Billed annually.
All Courses & Company data
Advanced analytical tools for 7,000 firms in our Pro plan.
£699 £419
Billed annually.
30-Day Money-Back Guarantee T&C apply
3000+ students enrolled
72
Hours
61
Topics
371
Practical exercises
6
Exams
The Private Equity Associate includes
- Private equity versus other forms of private market assets
- Summary of the different types of private equity sub-asset classes
- The forms private equity firms take and their characteristics
- What are private equity funds
- The differences that exist between private equity funds
- Limited partnership agreements
- Carried interest calculation, promoted interest, or “promotes”, for real estate transactions
- Distribution waterfall
- IRR, MoM, and splits
- Structuring a fund and the different parties involved
- The life cycle of a PE firm and what the different stages are
- The incentive structure of PE funds including management fees and carry
- Who and how is a PE firm run and a review of what the respective functions are
- The purpose and different types of accounting (financial versus management accounting)
- Users of financial statements
- Introduction to the three main financial statements and explanation of key elements
- Overview of the contents of financial reports
- Introduction to accounting standards
- The accounting equation
- Explanation of accrual accounting, the matching principle, and capitalization
- 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
- 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
- Understand the difference between basic and diluted earnings per share and calculate recurring diluted earnings per share
- Review company profitability compared to its peer group
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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 - 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
- What are equity method investments?
- Equity affiliates/associates
- Joint ventures
- Equity method accounting
- Income statement
- Balance sheet
- Cash flow statement
- Financial statement integration
- M&A accounting overview
- Balance sheet consolidation
- Sources and uses of funds
- Goodwill calculation
- Income statement consolidation
- Non controlling interests – NCI
- Losses offset against profits
- Loss utilization
- Carry back
- Carry forward
- Loss utilization restrictions
- Taxes in the financial statements
- Tax expense, ETR, and MTR
- Tax authority numbers vs accounting numbers
- Permanent differences
- Temporary differences
- Deferred tax assets and liabilities
- Deferred tax over time
- Deferred tax footnote
- Issues in valuing losses
- Valuation impact
- Inside and outside basis
- Sale of shareholding
- Sale of assets followed by corporate liquidation
- Double taxation – vendor
- Stock vs asset deals
- What is an acquisition structure in private equity
- How is a structure put together with SPVs and which parties are involved
- Diagram of a simple private equity structure with equity and debt
- The main reasons for structures in private equity deals
- Completion accounts introduction
- Completion accounts calculations
- Issues with the completion accounts mechanism
- Locked box mechanism introduction
- Locked box mechanism calculations
- Comparing completion accounts and locked box mechanisms
- 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
- 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
- Steps before editing
- Inserting a new item
- Removing an old item
- After editing
- Relevant keyboard shortcut keys
- Why banks want to be repaid early
- Cash sweep mechanisms
- How to model cash sweeps
- Building a three statement model with a cash sweep
- Cleaning up the income statement and balance sheet and simplifying the line items
- Getting estimates for revenues and EBIT
- Building multiple scenarios into a model’s assumption
- Modeling a forecast debt repayment schedule from the notes
- Key ratios
- Checking the model for reasonableness
- Formatting and putting the output into a pitch book
- Top ten errors
- Auditing and error checking toolkit
- Checking your own model
- Checking someone else’s model
- Techniques for forecasting revenue growth
- Considerations for forecasts margins, working capital, PP&E and capital structure
- Incorporating scenario analysis into the model
- Benchmarking forecasts against consensus numbers
- Using check ratios to sense check the model outputs
- LBO – definition
- Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and Value Analysis
- LBO analysis models
- LBO analysis model map
- Assumptions
- Sources and uses of funds
- Sources of funds
- Operating forecasts and cash sweeps
- Model outputs
- Levered valuation
- Acquisition Financing and Debt Capacity Analysis
Participants understand how to structure an acquisition using debt financing. - Multiple based debt capacity analysis
- Dangers of using multiples
- Cash flow-based debt capacity analysis
- Calculating free cash flows
- Debt tranching
- Seniority and subordination
- Sources and uses of funds
- Original issuer discount
- Fees (arrangement and commitment)
- Pro-forma balance sheet
- Term loans and revolving credit facilities, including cash sweep switches
- Bond issues (senior and junior)
- Mezzanine financing and PIK interest
- Returns to mezzanine holders
- Leveraging the equity via preference shares
- Calculating pre and post money valuation
- Returns to common equity holders
- Sources and uses of funds
- Original issuer discount
- Fees (arrangement and commitment)
- Pro-forma balance sheet
- Term loans and revolving credit facilities, including cash sweep switches
- Bond issues (senior and junior)
- Mezzanine financing and PIK interest
- Returns to mezzanine holders
- Leveraging the equity via preference shares
- Returns to common equity holders
- 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
- 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
- Reviewing data sources
- Understanding different deal contexts
- Calculating enterprise value and LTM EBITDA
- Calculating premiums paid based on offer prices where appropriate
- Calculating the synergies from the transactions as a % of target sales
- 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
- 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
- Reviewing different valuation methods
- Preparing valuation ranges for each valuation method
- Summarizing the valuation ranges and interpreting the results
- The main legal documents that are needed in a private equity acquisition
- The format and content of an NDA
- The use of offer letters, including what they contain, in a private equity transaction
- What an SPA is, why it is used and what is included
- Important clauses in an SPA and what they contain
- Funding documentation including equity and debt commitment letters for a PE deal to close
- Contingent consideration – structures
- Accounting for deferred consideration
- Examples of earnouts
- What are the main equity documents needed to close
- What the main debt documents are for a PE deal to close
- What the Shareholder Agreement is and what it includes
- What the other closing documents are such as Articles of Incorporation, filing documents and regulatory paperwork
- Typical contracts
- Credit Agreement
- Indenture
- Regulatory Documents
- Collateral Contracts
- Typical Clauses:
- Cashsweep Clauses
- Cross Default Clauses: Triger Event
- Pari-passu
- Repayment / Redemption
- The various steps in a private equity acquisition process
- How sourcing and evaluation of potential PE deals happens
- How due diligence is done during the PE acquisition process
- A review of how to close a PE process and what is needed to do so
- An acquisition process
- The monitoring period of a PE deal
- The exit period for a private equity deal
- Who are the key people involved in each step of the internal PE process
- The format and content of the various different internal meetings and documents
- The reasons for due diligence in PE deals
- The different types of due diligence and what they include
- How due diligence is carried out included what needs to be prepared or looked for
- Who is involved in due diligence and their respective roles
- Types of Debt: Senior Debt – Revolving Credit Facility, Term Loan A-C / Subordinated Debt – 2nd Lien Term Loan, HY Bond, Mezzanine
- Preferred Stocks and Equity Injection
- Management Rachet
- Debt Providers / Holders: Banks, Insurance Corps, CLOs, Hedge Fund, Pension Fund
- Covenants
- Collateral: 1st vs 2nd, All assets or Bifucated
- Financing Fees: Upfront Fee, Commitment Fee, Interest Rate, PIK, OID, etc.
- Key Considerations: Interest Rate (PIK, OID), Typical Term (1 year, 5 years, 7 years), Repayment (Bullet, Amortization)
- Financing Consideration: Process Overview
- Addressing Existing Debt
- Evaluating Debt Capacity
- Analyzing Collateral Base
- Considering Minimum Equity Contribution
- Simulating Expected Ratings Outcome
- Analyzing Financial Ratios
- What Is Credit Committee
- Composition of Credit Committee Materials
- Transaction Background / Deal Summary
- Company Overview
- Sponsor Company Overview
- Financial Analysis
- Risk Analysis and Mitigants
- Short term bank financing
- Revolving credit facilities
- Long term bank lending
- Asset backed lending
- Cash flow lending
- Relationship lending
- Syndicated loans and different tranches of term loans
- Cash flow based debt capacity analysis
- Multiple based debt capacity analysis
- Structuring a transaction
- Structuring a transaction with different debt tranches
- Add-on acquisition
- Dividend recapitalization
- Management ratchets
- Dividend recapitalization in an LBO transaction
- Steps needed to adjust the model to incorporate the effects
- Management equity rollover
- Role of preference shares
- Ratchet mechanisms
- Options
- Creating value in private equity investments
- Reporting requirements for portfolio companies
- Role of the private equity firm with regards to portfolio companies
- Process for exiting an investment
- Overview of the different ways of exiting a PE investment
- Meet the interviewer
- Investment Banking vs Private Equity
- Key Skills
- A day in the life
- Career Tips
- When is the right time to move to a fund
- How to find the right fund for you
- PE interview process
- What makes a standout PE candidate
- What to avoid in a PE interview
- The PE interview process
- How to prepare for a PE Interview
- Interview questions
- Example PE interview – questions, answers, and feedback
- Excel Efficiency – Menu and shortcut basics
- Excel Efficiency – Basic formatting
- Excel Efficiency – Basic formulas and calculations
- Excel Efficiency – More formulas and calculations
- Excel Efficiency – Naming cells and references
- Basics of financial math – Present and future value
- Basics of financial math – Annuities and Perpetuities
- Basics of financial math – Yields and internal rate of return
- Statistics – Basic concepts
- Statistics – Portfolio concepts
- Statistics – Analytic methods
The Private Equity Associate
| Micro-Degree
The PE Fund
1.5
Hours
4
Practical exercises
1
Exam
Gain a detailed understanding of how PE funds work and the core activities that take place inside these firms.
What is a PE Fund
9 video minutes
0 excel exercises
Video minutes 9
Excel Exercises 0
PE firm sources of income
75 video minutes
4 excel exercises
Video minutes 75
Excel Exercises 4
How does a PE Fund work
22 video minutes
0 excel exercises
Video minutes 22
Excel Exercises 0
The PE Accountant
21
Hours
111
Practical exercises
1
Exam
The PE Accountant provides a comprehensive understanding of the techniques required to accurately present a company’s financial results. Participants will be able to 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. You will also review how and why legal structures are set up in order for a private equity acquisition to take place in the most advantageous manner from a funding and tax perspective.
Accounting Foundations
72 video minutes
0 excel exercises
Video minutes 72
Excel Exercises 0
Financial Accounting Review
34 video minutes
11 excel exercises
Video minutes 34
Excel Exercises 11
Income Statements
59 video minutes
15 excel exercises
Video minutes 59
Excel Exercises 15
Working Capital
56 video minutes
12 excel exercises
Video minutes 56
Excel Exercises 12
Non-Current Assets
39 video minutes
11 excel exercises
Video minutes 39
Excel Exercises 11
Capital Structure
50 video minutes
14 excel exercises
Video minutes 50
Excel Exercises 14
Accounting Ratios
41 video minutes
5 excel exercises
Video minutes 41
Excel Exercises 5
Cash Flow Statements
25 video minutes
3 excel exercises
Video minutes 25
Excel Exercises 3
Equity Method Investments
9 video minutes
5 excel exercises
Video minutes 9
Excel Exercises 5
Intro to Full Consolidation
68 video minutes
21 excel exercises
Video minutes 68
Excel Exercises 21
Tax Losses
12 video minutes
1 excel exercises
Video minutes 12
Excel Exercises 1
Deferred Taxes
33 video minutes
4 excel exercises
Video minutes 33
Excel Exercises 4
Valuing Deferred Tax And Losses
6 video minutes
1 excel exercises
Video minutes 6
Excel Exercises 1
Tax In M&A
14 video minutes
0 excel exercises
Video minutes 14
Excel Exercises 0
Structuring an Acquisition
8 video minutes
0 excel exercises
Video minutes 8
Excel Exercises 0
Completion Mechanisms
49 video minutes
8 excel exercises
Video minutes 49
Excel Exercises 8
The PE Modeler
26.5
Hours
160
Practical exercises
1
Exam
Financial modeling is one of the most useful skills in the world of finance. Knowing how to build models quickly and error-free is critical for the decisions and recommendations that they underpin. The PE Modeler provides the perfect introduction to financial modeling, developing multiple techniques for a comprehensive and practical understanding of the topic. The course then builds simple, followed by more in-depth, LBO models that allow us to assess an initial view of cash flow performance, debt ratios, and returns to the private equity fund.
Introduction to Modeling
63 video minutes
13 excel exercises
Video minutes 63
Excel Exercises 13
Three Statement Modeling with Iterations
67 video minutes
10 excel exercises
Video minutes 67
Excel Exercises 10
Three Statement Model Editing
35 video minutes
5 excel exercises
Video minutes 35
Excel Exercises 5
Building a Model with Cash Sweep
71 video minutes
18 excel exercises
Video minutes 71
Excel Exercises 18
Three Statement Model with Estimates
70 video minutes
12 excel exercises
Video minutes 70
Excel Exercises 12
Checking a Model for Integrity and Errors
36 video minutes
11 excel exercises
Video minutes 36
Excel Exercises 11
Financial Forecasting
86 video minutes
21 excel exercises
Video minutes 86
Excel Exercises 21
LBO
75 video minutes
18 excel exercises
Video minutes 75
Excel Exercises 18
Advanced LBO Modeling
120 video minutes
26 excel exercises
Video minutes 120
Excel Exercises 26
LBO Modeling Complexities
147 video minutes
26 excel exercises
Video minutes 147
Excel Exercises 26
The Valuer
12
Hours
6
Topics
71
Practical exercises
1
Exam
Learn how and when to utilize key valuation methodologies and their supporting calculations.
Equity to Enterprise Value Bridge
33 video minutes
8 excel exercises
Video minutes 33
Excel Exercises 8
Trading Comparables
69 video minutes
17 excel exercises
Video minutes 69
Excel Exercises 17
Transaction Comparables
30 video minutes
11 excel exercises
Video minutes 30
Excel Exercises 11
WACC Analysis
27 video minutes
8 excel exercises
Video minutes 27
Excel Exercises 8
Discounted Cash Flow Valuation
50 video minutes
14 excel exercises
Video minutes 50
Excel Exercises 14
Pulling the Analysis Together
43 video minutes
13 excel exercises
Video minutes 43
Excel Exercises 13
The Lawyer
1
Hour
2
Practical exercises
Get to grips with the main legal documents that are needed in a private equity acquisition.
PE Deal Process Documents
27 video minutes
1 excel exercises
Video minutes 27
Excel Exercises 1
Earnouts
15 video minutes
1 excel exercises
Video minutes 15
Excel Exercises 1
Closing Documentation
13 video minutes
0 excel exercises
Video minutes 13
Excel Exercises 0
Debt Products - Documentation
20 video minutes
0 excel exercises
Video minutes 20
Excel Exercises 0
The PE Deal
5.5
Hours
31
Practical exercises
Master everything you need to complete a private equity deal from start to finish, including due diligence, debt products, and post-acquisition.
The PE Process
13 video minutes
0 excel exercises
Video minutes 13
Excel Exercises 0
Internal Requirements
10 video minutes
0 excel exercises
Video minutes 10
Excel Exercises 0
Memos, meetings and internal steps during:
Due Diligence
13 video minutes
0 excel exercises
Video minutes 13
Excel Exercises 0
Debt Products - Financing Instruments
13 video minutes
0 excel exercises
Video minutes 13
Excel Exercises 0
Debt Products - Financing Consideration Process
11 video minutes
0 excel exercises
Video minutes 11
Excel Exercises 0
Debt Products - Credit Committee in Banking
10 video minutes
0 excel exercises
Video minutes 10
Excel Exercises 0
Private Bank Debt Markets
37 video minutes
5 excel exercises
Video minutes 37
Excel Exercises 5
Acquisition Finance Debt Capacity
30 video minutes
5 excel exercises
Video minutes 30
Excel Exercises 5
LBO Add-On Acquisitions
27 video minutes
8 excel exercises
Video minutes 27
Excel Exercises 8
LBO Dividend-Recap
35 video minutes
4 excel exercises
Video minutes 35
Excel Exercises 4
LBO Mangement Incentives
51 video minutes
9 excel exercises
Video minutes 51
Excel Exercises 9
Post Acquisition
8 video minutes
0 excel exercises
Video minutes 8
Excel Exercises 0
The PE Interview
29
Minutes
Learn what to expect in the interview process, how to tackle tough questions and more. Plus, this course features example videos of successful answers.
Expert Interview - Private Equity Partner
4 video minutes
0 excel exercises
Video minutes 4
Excel Exercises 0
Expert Interview - Private Equity Recruiter
8 video minutes
0 excel exercises
Video minutes 8
Excel Exercises 0
Private Equity Interview
17 video minutes
0 excel exercises
Video minutes 17
Excel Exercises 0
Foundation Skills
5
Hours
16
Practical exercises
Increase your Excel efficiency and master the mathematical fundamentals that future courses rely upon.
Foundation Skills
166 video minutes
16 excel exercises
Video minutes 166
Excel Exercises 16
Skills & Learning Objectives in The Private Equity Associate Micro-Degree
Learn from our expert instructors
Learn more about our full facultyRecognized by industry experts
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 the 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.
Wall Street Recognized Certification
Established on Wall Street, Financial Edge has taught at the biggest bulge-bracket firms since 2016, and now we offer that very same training online for you. It’s no secret that banking is fiercely competitive, which is why our Wall Street recognized certification is designed to let your employers know you have the skills to succeed.
Complete a Micro‑degree to join our exclusive alumni
Sit beside the world’s best investment bankers on LinkedIn, and take advantage of exclusive must-have benefits for new and experienced analysts.
What Our Students Say
Get The Private Equity Associate Micro-Degree
Single Course
- Lifetime access
- Expert instructor support
Boost Plan
ON SALE
Includes full access to all certified courses.
- 184+ hours of instructor-led learning
- Search across 350+ playlists, 3000+ videos and Q&As
- Role-focused pathways
- Expert instructor support
Pro Plan
ON SALE
Full Felix access including all learning content and data features.
- Everything in the Boost plan
- Streamlined company data
- Current and historic filings for over 7000 companies
- Market and industry data
- Ready-to-use sector and transaction models
Compare plans
| Single Course | Boost Plan | Pro Plan | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Completion certificates | 1 | 38 | 38 |
| Skills certificates | 7 | 51 | 51 |
| Micro-degrees | 1 | 12 | 12 |
| Lifetime access to course | |||
| Expert instructor support | |||
| Practical exercises to work alongside videos and quick quizzes to test your understanding | |||
| Searchable library of 370+ playlists, 3500+ videos and Q&As | |||
| 10 role-based learning pathways, including Investment Banking, Equity Research, Sales and Trading and more | |||
| Weekly live webinars | |||
| Streamlined company data (WACC. & EV bridge calculator, custom comparables) | |||
| Current and historic filings for over 7,500 firms globally | |||
| Current and historic filings for over 4,000 US firms | |||
| Link to, label and share data points in filings (limited to 10 for Free and Boost users, unlimited for Pro) | |||
| Regional and industry data sets | |||
| Ready-to-use sector and transaction models | |||
Frequently Asked Questions
What tech do I need?
Is it right for me?
Are Financial Edge's courses credible?
Will the Private Equity Associate help me get a job?
How long do I have to complete the Private Equity Associate ?
Are there any hidden costs?
What support will I get along the way?
What is the difference between a Felix subscription and buying a single course?
Start earning your Private Equity Associate Micro‑degree certificate today.
