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Financial Due Diligence for Acquisitions and Investments
Dates
Highlights
Live Online
3 CPD Units | 3 Hours
The EIMF Live Online Learning Experience
Participants will receive access to the recorded sessions of the course.
EIMF subject-matter experts deliver engaging and interactive courses across a broad spectrum of areas, that can be enjoyed in the comfort of your own chosen environment. Read more
Course Overview
Financial due diligence is not a check that historical financial statements reconcile. It is an assessment of whether the financial reality of a target business supports the investment thesis, valuation, funding plan and proposed transaction terms.
This practical workshop equips participants to identify the financial issues that can materially affect sustainable earnings, cash generation, equity value, purchase-price adjustments, deal protections and the decision to proceed, reprice, defer, seek conditions or withdraw.
Participants learn to move from:
Reported results → sustainable earnings → cash and working-capital reality → liabilities and exposures → transaction implications → informed investment judgement
Training Objectives
By the end of the programme, participants will be able to:
Acknowledge the purpose and limits of financial due diligence, and how it differs from audit, valuation, legal due diligence, tax diligence, forensic investigation and post-deal integration review.
Identify how enterprise value may convert into equity value through transaction-specific treatment of cash, debt, debt-like items, working capital, leakage and other agreed adjustments.
Describe how quality of earnings, cash conversion, working capital, net debt, tax exposures, contingent liabilities, forecasts and data quality affect transaction value and risk.
Acknowledge the difference between confirmed findings, normalisation adjustments, evidence-supported concerns, data gaps, specialist-review matters and potential deal-breakers.
Identify how financial-due-diligence findings may affect price, completion mechanisms, funding, conditions, warranties, indemnities, holdbacks, escrow, integration planning and the authorised investment decision.
Define a preliminary financial due-diligence scope and prioritised data request based on the deal thesis, target profile and investment criteria.
Assess the reliability and limitations of financial information using a structured evidence hierarchy.
Perform and interpret a simplified quality-of-earnings bridge, including the assessment of proposed EBITDA adjustments.
Analyse basic cash conversion, working-capital trends, seasonality, net debt and debt-like-item information.
Identify matters requiring further evidence, specialist diligence, pricing adjustment, protection, escalation or reconsideration of the deal.
Distinguish historical target performance, sustainable run-rate performance, buyer-specific synergies, standalone costs and unapproved management initiatives.
Assess a target’s business plan at a preliminary level by testing key assumptions, funding needs, downside exposure and execution dependencies.
Prepare a concise, evidence-led due-diligence summary and preliminary recommendation for an investment committee, board or transaction team.
Training Outline
Financial Due Diligence Beyond Headline Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA)
Purpose, deal thesis, evidence discipline, scope limits and transaction judgement.
Diagnostic poll: identify common financial blind spots in acquisitions.
Scope, Transaction Mechanics and Information Reliability
Buy-side context, transaction types, enterprise value versus equity value, cash-free/debt-free basis, completion accounts, locked-box, leakage and evidence hierarchy.
Scope-and-evidence exercise: prepare priority diligence questions and data requests.
Quality of Earnings and Sustainable EBITDA
Revenue quality, recurring versus non-recurring items, owner-related costs, buyer synergies, standalone costs and adjustment discipline.
Calculation-led quality-of-earnings bridge, including one ambiguous “exceptional” item.
Cash Conversion, Working Capital and Closing Adjustment Risk
Multi-period debtor, inventory and creditor analysis; seasonality; normalisation; closing shortfall; seller actions affecting cash conversion.
Working-capital calculation: determine normalised working capital and potential target shortfall.
Net Debt, Debt-Like Items, Tax and Contingent Liabilities
Classification decision tree, receivables financing, shareholder loans, restricted cash, leases, tax indicators and specialist review.
Net-debt and exposure challenge: classify items and identify evidence or specialist-review needs.
Forecasts, Carve-Out Risks, Deal-Breakers and Deal Responses
Business-plan credibility, downside scenarios, standalone costs, transaction tax escalation, protections, conditions and investment criteria.
Deal-response matrix: connect findings to price, structure, protection, further diligence or withdrawal.
Progressive Integrated Transaction Case Study
Meridian Components Group: growth, adjusted EBITDA, weak cash conversion, customer concentration, receivables financing, restricted cash, tax exposure and forecast risk.
Groups synthesise earlier work into an investment-committee conclusion.
Reporting Financial Due-Diligence Conclusions
Executive findings, limitations, evidence confidence, value implications, conditions, protections and required decision.
Draft a concise investment-committee opening and recommendation.
Individual Deal-Judgement Assessment
Individual technical and commercial application.
Calculate a simplified adjustment and recommend: proceed, proceed subject to conditions, reprice, defer or withdraw.
Who should attend
This course is designed for professionals involved in reviewing, financing, advising on, approving or managing acquisitions, investments and strategic transactions, including:
CFOs, finance directors, financial controllers and senior finance managers.
Corporate-finance, M&A, transaction-services and business-development professionals.
Investment managers, private-equity professionals, family-office teams and corporate investors.
FP&A, treasury, commercial-finance and strategic-finance professionals.
Accountants, auditors, internal auditors and risk professionals supporting transaction reviews.
Business owners, directors and senior executives considering acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures or external investment.
Consultants and advisers involved in transaction support, financial review, investment appraisal or post-deal planning.
Recommended prior knowledge: Participants should be comfortable reading financial statements, management accounts, cash-flow information, EBITDA analyses, forecasts and balance-sheet schedules. No prior transaction-execution experience is required.
Training Style
The programme is designed to equip participants with practical knowledge and strengthen their professional capabilities through a highly interactive and application-focused learning approach. Delivery combines short, targeted lectures with case studies, practical examples, facilitated discussions, and realistic workplace simulations.
Through structured discussion, peer exchange, and facilitator feedback, participants will apply the concepts, tools, and techniques introduced throughout the programme while strengthening their analytical thinking, problem-solving, professional judgement, and decision-making skills. By the end of the programme, they will be better equipped to respond confidently and effectively to comparable workplace challenges.
CPD Recognition
This programme may be approved for up to 3 CPD units in Accounting & Auditing. Eligibility criteria and CPD Units are verified directly by your association, regulator or other bodies which you hold membership.
In-house Training
For groups within the same organisation, this course may be customized to meet any specific needs and delivered in-house.
Facilitators
Marios Mortis
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Marios Mortis holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration with a focus on Accounting, as well as a Master's degree in Banking and Finance. He is a qualified member of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA). Marios has accumulated valuable experience working in various positions and companies within Cyprus's accounting, audit, advisory, assurance, and banking sectors. In the past seven years, Marios has embarked on a new and fulfilling career path in the field of education, which he finds both challenging and fascinating. He served as a Visitor Academic at a local university in Cyprus, where he taught several courses, including corporate governance and business ethics, corporate finance, corporate risk management, and audit and assurance. Currently, Marios holds the position of Trainer and Accountancy Programmes Leader at EIMF (European Institute of Management and Finance). In this role, he oversees the management of both professional and academic accounting and finance programmes. Marios has successfully designed and delivered professional training courses covering topics such as corporate reporting, tax, AML (Anti-Money Laundering), funds, forensic accounting, financial analysis, auditing, and financial workshops. Furthermore, Marios is entrusted with leading the Department of Accounting & Finance within EIMF's Academic School. He actively engages in research within the domains of finance and accounting, contributing to both academic and professional endeavors in these fields.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will I receive my invoice?
The invoice is issued on the day the course starts.
What payment methods are accepted?
Payments can be made by bank transfer, cheque, or credit card.
When will my certificate be issued?
Certificates are issued within 7–10 days after the course has been completed, provided that the invoice has been paid.
How can I access my certificate?
Once your certificate has been issued, you will receive an automated email from Cademy notifying you that it is available.
Click the Get Your Certificate button in the email to download your certificate.
You can also access it from your Cademy account:
- Log in to your Cademy account from https://cademy.io
- Click on My Account from the top-right corner.
- From the drop-down menu select My Courses and Bookings.
- Choose the relevant course.
- Under Participants, click the three dots located next to your name.
- Select Get Certificate.
Where can I access the course material?
To access the course materials, such as presentations and recordings:
- Log in to your Cademy account from https://cademy.io
- Click on My Account from the top-right corner.
- From the drop-down menu select My Courses and Bookings.
- Choose the relevant course.
- Under Extra Details, you will find all the available course materials.