Master M&A Accounting & Purchase Price Allocation: A Comprehensive Course

Overview

M&A Accounting & Purchase Price Allocation Course Overview

An analyst must understand mergers and acquisition accounting, as it’s crucial when properly building an M&A model and evaluating whether the deal makes financial sense. In this course, we cover the M&A accounting process, including fair value adjustments, calculating goodwill, deferred taxes, and various related fees and expenses. We also cover how a deal can be structured as either a stock purchase or an asset purchase and the resulting accounting implications. We will practice adding transaction adjustments to calculate a pro forma balance sheet, but we will also look at the impact of a transaction on the income statement and cash flow statement.

Who Should Take This Course?

This class is designed for analysts to better understand the underlying accounting rules for an acquisition. Understanding the accounting helps an analyst better evaluate the merits of a proposed transaction. 

Courses we recommend you take in advance

These prerequisite courses are optional, but we recommend you complete the stated prep course(s) or possess the equivalent knowledge prior to enrolling in this course:

1.  Accounting Fundamentals 

M&A Accounting & Purchase Price Allocation Learning Objectives

• Learn the difference between mergers and acquisitions, as well as the reasons to engage in M&A
• Understand how an acquisition changes some of the core accounting principles
• Incorporate fair value adjustments and the impact on deferred taxes
• Calculate goodwill and what it represents
• Recognize how the deal structure may change the accounting for certain items
• Identify the treatment of debt issuance fees and transaction expenses

Prerequisite Skills

Recommended skills to have before taking this course.

• Financial accounting
• Excel

What You'll Learn

Course Introduction

Creating Pro Forma Balance Sheets

Purchase Price Allocation

Structuring the Deal

Debt Fees and M&A Expenses

Putting It All Together

Course Summary & Assessment

This Course is Part of the Following Programs

Why stop here? Expand your skills and show your expertise with the professional certifications, specializations, and CPE credits you’re already on your way to earning.

Accounting for Financial Analysts Specialization

• Skills learned Accounting, Financial Analysis, Reading Financial Statements and more
• Career prep Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Corporate Development, Investment Banking, Private Equity, Equity Research, and more.

Investment Banking & Private Equity Modeling Specialization

• Skills You’ll Gain Accounting, Advanced Financial Modeling, Excel, Financial Statement Analysis, Forecasting, Valuation, and more.
• Great For Investment Banking, Private Equity, Equity Research, and more

What Our Members Say

Succinct Purchase accounting models

Highly recommend this course for those who would like to see a very intuitive model and way to account for stock or asset deal purchases. Excellent course.

Patrick Resk

educationally fulfilling

Do not wait a single day more, join us at CFI

Lee Anselmo Blackman

Super great

M&A Accounting by Scott is super explicit...he made it so easy to understand.

Adewale Osho

Good primer into PPA work

Go introduction and knowledge for those doing valuation work. PPA engagements can be challenging and the general macro understanding can be confusing. This course is a good primer into the understanding of PPA work (ASC 805). Only thing I really wish was that this course had a CPE certificate since it went into fair enough depth...

Jayant Sharma

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All of our certification programs are open to students and professionals in various industries and levels of experience. Our curriculum is designed to teach what you need to know from basic fundamentals to advanced practical case studies. To take the courses and complete the exercises, students will only need access to a PC and/or Mac, Microsoft Suite (2016 or newer), and a stable internet connection. Click here to view the Technical Requirements

Can I download the Excel files and financial modeling templates for the course?

Absolutely! All the files and templates needed in a course are available for download. Just look for a module that shows Downloadable Files within the course dashboard. See here for a visual guide on how to do this.

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You will have yearly access to the courses as long as you maintain an active subscription. All the courses are self-paced as well so you can take your time in learning without worrying about any deadlines. Click here to compare our available enrollment options.

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Yes, CFI is accredited by the Better Business Bureau® (BBB) to maintain training standards, the CPA Institutions in Canada, and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) in the USA. Most of our courses qualify for verified CPE credits for CPA charter holders. Please refer to this page to view all available CPE credits.

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How are the exams conducted?

Students are required to complete an online assessment (Multiple choice questions, Fill-in-the-Blanks, and Excel Questions) at the end of each course. You can take the exams on your own schedule and will need to earn at least 80% to pass the course and earn your certificate of course completion. Please note that course exams can be repeated as many times as you need. Students are also required to complete the FMVA® final exam to earn their certification. How to Take a Qualified Assessment

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While the courses are designed mainly for self-study, we are happy to provide email assistance for general or technical support inquiries. The Full Immersion bundles include a premium email support function that allows you to communicate directly with in-house experts regarding course content. This is one of the key features that sets the Full Immersion bundle apart and makes it a worthwhile upgrade over the more affordable self-study bundle. You can compare more features in our bundles here.

Will these courses help me advance my career?

Based on hundreds of reviews from thousands of students we know how CFI courses have helped so many people advance their finance careers. Our courses are designed to be extremely practical and simulate the experience of being trained as a professional financial analyst…the ultimate way to advance your career. For real-world examples and to help delve even deeper into the course concepts, please look into our free career resources library.

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