The process of analyzing financial statements is involved in virtually every business decision. As corporate managers and bankers rely more on the advice of their inside and outside counsel, it is now imperative that an attorney better understand basic business decision making tools. This Continuing Legal Education (CLE) course serves as a follow up to our Understanding Financial Statements course and builds on its components. Specifically, this Continuing Legal Education (CLE/MCLE) course will allow you to understand different methods of analyzing financial statements, what they are used for, and who uses them.

Click here to download Chapter 1 of The Wall Street MBA by Telestrat President Reuben Advani

1. Introduction
   • Why Financial Analysis
   • Financial Analysis and the User
2. Financial Analysis Techniques
   1. Activity Analysis
      • Inventory Turnover
      • Accounts Receivable Turnover
      • Accounts Payable Turnover
      • Cash Conversion Cycle
   2. Liquidity Analysis
      • Current Ratio
      • Quick Ratio
      • Cash Ratio
   3. Solvency Analysis
      • Debt to Cap Ratio
      • Debt to Equity Ratio
      • Interest Coverage Ratio
   4. Profitability Analysis
      • Gross Margin
      • EBITDA Margin
      • Profit Margin
   5. Market Analysis
      • PE Ratio
      • Dividend Yield
      • Price to Book Ratio
3. Financial Analysis and Fraud
   • Trouble Spots
   • Prevention
4. Conclusion

Reuben Advani

Former Investment Banker, Author, Professor

Reuben Advani is president of Telestrat Consulting, Inc., a financial advisory boutique which specializes in corporate valuation. Mr. Advani began his career with the Wall Street bank, Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc. where he worked in the firm’s corporate finance division. At Morgan Stanley, he performed detailed valuation analysis on acquisition targets for Fortune 500 companies and oversaw the coordination of several debt and equity issuances. After Morgan Stanley, Mr. Advani joined Sony Corporation of America where he was active in the development of Sony's online initiatives. Mr. Advani has provided consulting services to companies throughout the U.S. and Latin America and has held interim positions with several of them including CFO and COO. He is a frequent speaker on topics ranging from corporate valuation to financial reporting and is the author of The Wall Street MBA (McGraw-Hill).

Mr. Advani holds a BA from Yale University and an MBA from the Wharton School, and serves as an adjunct professor of finance at Drexel University.