Client Login

Forgot password?

Citigroup logo
Goldman Sachs logo
Bank of America Merrill Lynch logo
JPMorgan Chase logo
Oppenheimer logo
FTI Consulting logo
Lazard logo
Apollo Global Management logo
TIAA logo
Greenhill logo
TPG Capital logo

Take these courses if you want to...

distill that 400-page textbook down to the 20 useful pages.
cut through all the BS and industry jargon.
get up to speed in introductory finance quickly.
dip your toes into the world of financial analysis.

We'll mold you into a financial analyst in no time.

Start from Scratch

No experience required - all are welcome!

Comprehensive Guide

From broad concepts to quantitative techniques and actual Excel formulas.

Self-Paced

Video on demand, with prompt support from friendly experts.

Who needs this?

All aspiring:

Entrepreneurs Investors Finance Professionals

… basically, anyone who needs to get smart on accounting, finance, and Excel at the fraction of the cost/time of an academic degree.

  • Explore the world of finance, its various sub-industries, and their roles in the bigger picture
  • Learn the basics of financial accounting and the 3 standard financial statements
  • Build a company analysis spreadsheet and form your own valuation

Course Sections

Overview of Financial Markets

What’s the “buy side” and the “sell side”? Who does what on Wall Street?

You know what an investment is, and what banking is… but what about investment banking?

Basic & Fundamental Concepts

We’ve put together one canonical starting place for the basics of accounting/finance, regardless of your background.

Can’t name the 3 financial statements? No problem. We’ll walk you through them, seeing how they’re all intertwined.

Core Fundamental Concepts

With the basics out of the way, we progress to corporate valuation: how much is a company worth?

Here is where we begin getting our hands dirty in Excel!

Excel Crash Course

Fill your toolbox with only the most useful Excel functions and techniques.

These universal formulas and best practices will keep you zipping through Excel for years to come.

Training Methodology

Our approach is to teach you how to fish, rather than give you a fish.

We don't give a one-way lecture where you memorize every cell and formula.

We nudge you toward uncovering answers on your own by leading with the right questions.

The end result? Longer-term knowledge retention that will last an entire career.

I really felt that WST was world class and would recommend it to anyone starting a new career on Wall Street. In particular, the strength of the program is that it concentrates on how analytical work is actually conducted in real life rather than the academic approach of some other competitors.
You'll finish this program with a career-long understanding of financial analysis.
  • Understand accounting and finance concepts from the ground up
  • Apply your knowledge to actual companies
  • Get introduced to overall Excel best practices
Invest in yourself today and strengthen your analytical mind.

Ready to get started?

Our Self-Study platform lets you learn at your own pace via instructor-led videos.

Jump start your financial analysis skills and start learning today!

Note: Be sure to enter the discount code FF199 during checkout to receive the $199 rate.

All prices are in USD and denote six (6) months of access. Terms apply.

Detailed Curriculum

Finance Fundamentals

This program covers the basics of financial accounting including the major financial statements (Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow) and the most important components of each as it relates to financial analysis. Concentration is placed on the integration of the financial statements and provides a full integrated grasp of accounting from a finance perspective.

Financial Statement Analysis
  • Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Statement defined and importance explained
  • Components of each major financial statement
  • IS: Revenue and expense items, EBITDA defined and discussed
  • BS: Assets, Liabilities, and Shareholders' Equity
  • CF: Cash Flow from Operations, Investing Activities and Financing
  • Understand how financial statements are inter-related
  • Relationship between the Income Statement and Cash Flow Statement
  • Explanation of Accrued Expenses, Receivables and Payables and how they tie together
Key Ratios
  • Overview and explanation of major financial ratios, including liquidity, asset management, debt management, profitability, and market value ratios
Hands-On Exercise
  • Interactive group project break-out to analyze, compare and contrast financial statements of various companies; discussion and recommendation of which companies are more attractive
Prerequisites
  • Desire to learn accounting terminology, general business smarts and common sense
Video Length / Estimated Total Course Time

2.5 hours / 4 hours

“How to Analyze a 10-K” builds upon basic accounting and financial statements concepts to focus on the major components of a 10K SEC filing, including the Management Discussion & Analysis, Financial Condition and Results and how to analyze the myriad of footnotes.

It’s simply not enough to merely analyze the financial statements, but especially critical to plow through and understand the footnotes and the management discussion & analysis, where the most of the qualitative information is contained. The challenge is that there are a myriad of footnotes and figuring out which are the important and relevant ones is no small feat. This course provides the overview and analysis for most major common footnotes and gives you a starting point to plow in deeper when we build our financial models. The irony is that in the process of crunching numbers and building numbers, reading comprehension, particularly on the 10K is probably even more important in terms of getting the right inputs.

Overview & Analysis
  • What is a 10K and how is it different from an Annual Report?
  • Major components of a 10K filing
  • Detailed discussion on the MD&A section (Management Discussion & Analysis)
  • Detailed discussion of all major footnotes and how to analyze and interpret major categories of footnotes: general footnotes, Balance Sheet footnotes, contingencies footnotes, Income Statement footnotes, Capital Structure footnotes, many other footnotes
  • Brief discussion of Proxy statement and its utility
  • Brief discussion and introduction to differences between US and International GAAP
Hands-On Exercise
  • Interactive group project break-out to analyze, compare and contrast 10K's of various companies
  • Concentration on: revenue terminology differences, balance sheet analysis, cash flow analysis, analysis and comparison of footnotes, MD&A / segment breakdown and discussion
Prerequisites
  • Desire to learn accounting terminology, general business smarts and common sense
Video Length / Estimated Total Course Time

2 hours / 3 hours

Learn the basic finance concepts that are the backbone of any financial analysis. An understanding of these basic core tools is absolutely critical to mastering any Wall Street analysis. Topics covered include risk / return trade-offs, time value of money, cost of capital, Gordon growth model and basic valuation theories.

Moving beyond the accounting and 10K analysis, this course provides an introduction to the major concepts in finance that many people take for granted. Understanding financial modeling, valuation, and the capital markets in general would be difficult without a full grasp of these fundamental concepts.

Finance 101
  • Risk / Return: Calculating returns and measuring risk, benefits of diversification (systematic and unsystematic risk, total risk, market risk and firm-specific risk), security market line, capital asset pricing model, beta
  • Time Value of Money: present and future values, net present value, internal rate of return, compounding, discounting, uneven cash flow streams, simple vs. effective rates, periodic rates, CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rates)
  • Basic Valuation Theories: value of any asset, dividend discount model (theory only!), Gordon growth model, growing perpetuity
  • Cost of Capital: sources of capital, component costs, weighted average cost of capital
Prerequisites
  • Desire to learn finance terminology, general business smarts and common sense
Video Length / Estimated Total Course Time

1.5 hours / 2 hours

Company profiles are the most basic overview and descriptions of a company being analyzed. Profiles supply the most basic and fundamental, yet probably the most important aspects of a company. Gain an introduction and explanation of the major components of a profile for a publicly traded company.

Company Profiles
  • Summary business description and financial summary and trading analysis
  • Stock price charts: price / volume graphs, indexed stock price history, moving averages, shares traded at various prices, forward PE history, historical EBITDA multiple valuation trends, beta and volatility, management and Board of Directors biographies, ownership analysis
Prerequisites
  • Desire to learn finance terminology, general business smarts and common sense
Video Length / Estimated Total Course Time

1 hour / 1 hour

Build very quick financial summary and trading statistics exhibit using historical results, analyst estimates & basic assumptions in Excel. This course will allow you to understand basic structure of building an analysis in Excel and navigating through and becoming efficient in Excel.

Financial Summary
  • Build a very simple financial overview exhibit by inputting historical results, analyst estimates and basic projections
Trading Statistics
  • Build trading statistics exhibit displaying standard market valuation multiples
Prerequisites
  • Accounting & Financial Statements Integration
  • Finance 101: Introduction to Finance
  • Corporate Valuation Methodologies
  • Prior experience with Excel, decent ability to type and follow instructions
Video Length / Estimated Total Course Time

1.5 hours / 2 hours

This course builds upon, and implements in Excel, the fundamental financial analysis and valuation topics. Create a top-down, five year income statement projection model and then construct a basic discounted cash flow analysis on top of your projection model.

** Don’t get thrown off by the word “basic” - this Basic Financial Modeling serves as the fundamental basis for all of our additional Excel-based courses. Before you “graduate” onto our advanced modeling courses, we HIGHLY recommend you take this course for the full background on working efficiently in Excel the way we want you to, otherwise you may have a much steeper learning curve in our other classes. **

Income Statement Projection
  • Input historical financial results and recast as necessary
  • Calculate historical growth rates and margins which serve as the basis for your projection assumptions
  • Calculate your projected profitability from revenue down to EPS
  • Learn the correct way to calculate diluted shares outstanding
  • Brief discussion and introduction to differences between U.S. and International GAAP
Discounted Cash Flow Analysis
  • How is a discounted cash flow analysis actually constructed?
  • What is the difference between the terminal value and perpetuity growth approaches and what are the implications on value?
  • Learn subtle nuances including the proper figure for "cash flow" in perpetuity growth models
Prerequisites
  • Accounting & Financial Statements Integration
  • Finance 101: Introduction to Finance
  • Corporate Valuation Methodologies
  • Company Overview
Video Length / Estimated Total Course Time

4 hours / 5 hours

Build upon Corporate Valuation Methodologies with a short, hands-on exercise to hone in the core concepts in practice before diving into the more advanced valuation modeling topics. Translate the valuation concepts into real-life case study that demonstrates and shows the valuation principles.

  • Calculate current trading and valuation statistics of industry competitors
  • Project value of a company and stock based on estimated industry average valuation multiples
  • Construct a sample DDM and DCF valuation analysis
  • Estimate WACC, component costs of capital and CAPM and incorporate into valuation analysis
Prerequisites
  • Accounting & Financial Statements Integration
  • Finance 101: Introduction to Finance
  • Corporate Valuation Methodologies
Video Length / Estimated Total Course Time

1.5 hours / 2 hours

Learn how corporations are valued and the major analytical tools that are used. Go beyond academic theory to real-world methods as used by professionals; includes a crucial primer to Corporate Finance and its non-theoretical application. Apply learning objectives and goals immediately by analyzing a $6 billion+ transaction. Topics covered include: (i) how to value a company (trading comps, deal comps, DCF, LBO, break-up and asset valuation); (ii) importance of Enterprise Value, EBITDA, capital structure, leverage and WACC; (iii) analyze valuation multiples and ratios; why are PE ratios sub-optimal as a valuation metric?; (iv) practical, non-theoretical application of introduction to corporate finance.

Valuation Methodologies
  • How much is a company worth? Why is the current stock price not an accurate indication of value?
  • How do you tell if a company is under-valued or over-valued?
  • Why would one company command a higher or lower premium than its direct competitor?
  • What is the importance between enterprise value and equity value?
  • Why do we include minority interest and exclude capital leases?
  • What is the relevance of capital structure and leverage on a companys value?
  • Why and how is corporate finance so critical to managing a firm's profitability?
  • What exactly does a multiple tell us? Learn the correct way to use P/E ratios and other multiples
  • Why are P/E ratios misunderstood and what other profitability-related ratios are more important?
  • What is EBITDA and why is it so important?
  • Utilizing the correct numerator for multiples analysis
  • Calculating implied value based on multiples analysis
  • What is a leveraged buyout and what are the main motives for LBOs?
Case Study Discussion
  • Analysis of "football field" and reference ranges
  • Detailed discussion of the major valuation methodologies, their nuances and application in the real-world
  • Analyzing, comparing and contrasting trading comps, deal comps and premiums paid
  • Detailed explanation of Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) valuation, its theory and application
  • Discussion of why the DCF is arguably one of the most important analyses while simultaneously one of the most academic and least practical of them all
  • Review of WACC (weighted average cost of capital), CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model)
  • How do you approach valuing a company with completely disparate businesses?
Hands-On Exercise
  • Interactive group project break-out to analyze, compare and contrast financial statements of various companies; discussion and recommendation of which companies are more attractive
Prerequisites
  • Accounting & Financial Statements Integration
  • How to Analyze a 10K
  • Finance 101: Introduction to Finance
Video Length / Estimated Total Course Time

2 hours / 2.5 hours

This course focuses on how learning the fundamental building blocks of Excel so you can begin to take advantage and leverage all of Excel’s true capabilities. In order to efficiently build models and crunch large data dumps in Excel, one must master the basics before the advanced content. Learn relevant financial formulas, proper navigation, formatting of files and worksheets, creating calculations in cells, and linking between worksheets/tabs. Functions and tools covered in this course include: mathematical, financial, logic, date/time formulas; data manipulation; anchoring; data tables; and building a capstone model. Emphasis will be on using shortcut keys, simplifying steps, and manipulating data. You will leave with techniques you can use immediately, allowing you to work faster and with less effort.

  • Mathematical functions: SUM, MAX, AVERAGE, MEDIAN, MIN
  • Financial functions: PV, FV, RATE, NPV, IRR
  • Logic Functions: IF, nested IF, CHOOSE, AND, OR
  • Date Functions: MONTH, DAY, YEAR, WEEKDAY, EO MONTH
  • Time Functions: HOUR ,MINUTE, SECOND, TODAY, NOW
  • Formatting: fills, copy formulas, paste special
Prerequisites
  • Data Manipulation: TEXT, CONCATENATE, ROUND
  • Anchoring and locking cell references
  • Build simple capstone financial model that encompasses efficiencies, shortcuts and sensitivity analysis
  • Shortcuts and working with Add-ins
Video Length / Estimated Total Course Time

3 hours / 5 hours

Introduction to the major jargon and finance terminology in finance. What exactly is the sell-side and the buy-side and do they affect the capital markets and why do they have a symbiotic relationship? What exactly is investment banking, sales & trading and research? How is it that asset management is the flip opposite and yet very similar at the same time? Put those questions to rest with this Overview of Financial Markets overview.

Overview of the Sell-Side Process
  • Investment banking (products / services, deal process, role of professional, industry trends, buzzwords, bulge bracket vs. boutique middle market), equity research, commercial banking, sales & trading (prime brokerage, proprietary trading)
Overview of the Buy-Side Process
  • Asset management (products / services, role of professional, industry trends, buzzwords, private client services, private wealth management, portfolio management), alternatives (hedge funds, private equity, fund of funds)
Prerequisites
  • Desire to learn finance terminology, general business smarts and common sense
Video Length / Estimated Total Course Time

1 hour / 1 hour

Treasury Options
  • Explanation of how to account for diluted shares outstanding using the treasury method of adjustment
D&A and Working Capital
  • Full tutorial on the concepts of depreciation vs. capital expenditures in the long run
  • Full explanation on the concepts working capital and importance of
Share Repurchase
  • Explanation of how to account for diluted shares outstanding using the treasury method of adjustment
Circular Reference
  • Explanation of how and why circular references are created in a financial model
  • Our various financial modeling courses explain how to avoid circular references
Excel Iterations
  • Detailed explanation of how Excel's iterations function works when you cannot avoid circular reference
Gray Background
  • Tutorial of how to change your background to gray when using white cells and white shading
WST Macros Add-In Instructions
  • How to properly install WST Macros & toolbars
Increase / Decrease Decimal Instructions
  • How to automate increase and decrease decimals without the mouse and really customize Excel to the next level
Prerequisites
  • None
Video Length / Estimated Total Course Time

1 hour / 1.5 hours

Have more questions?

Text or email us – we're here to help.