Analysing and valuing a business
From self-financing capacity to peer ratios and valuation by multiples: what accounts reveal about a business once you stop looking at it in isolation. Three worked modules. Expert level of the management accounting series.
Advanced3 modules52 minModule 1 free to read
2026 rules — verified on September 6, 2026
Figures are tied to dated, sourced tax constants. A module whose rules have changed is flagged for review, and is unpublished automatically beyond 90 days.
This content is part of the path: Selling my shares in a company· Step 2 of 6· Next step: Valuation by multiples
By the end of this course, you can…
These outcomes are the modules' own: the promise cannot say anything the course does not teach.
- Compute self-financing capacity by both methods and reconcile them
- Distinguish what the measure captures from what it ignores
- Move from self-financing capacity to operating cash flow
- Express a company's repayment capacity in years
- Build the six ratios that are enough to diagnose a business
- Understand what a sector statistic measures, and on what population
- Compare against the right reference: quartiles, median, mean
- Tell a structural gap from a performance gap
- Tell enterprise value from equity value, and move from one to the other
- Apply a multiple of gross operating surplus and know what it assumes
- Identify the discounts specific to small companies
- Defend a reasoned range rather than a single figure
The programme, module by module
Each module has its own page. Durations are derived from the actual text, never announced by hand.
- Module 117 minFree — no accountSelf-financing capacity and operating cash flowWhat you will be able to do
- Compute self-financing capacity by both methods and reconcile them
- Distinguish what the measure captures from what it ignores
- Move from self-financing capacity to operating cash flow
- Express a company's repayment capacity in years
- Module 218 minIncluded in the full courseAnalysis ratios and peer comparisonWhat you will be able to do
- Build the six ratios that are enough to diagnose a business
- Understand what a sector statistic measures, and on what population
- Compare against the right reference: quartiles, median, mean
- Tell a structural gap from a performance gap
- Module 317 minIncluded in the full courseValuation by multiplesWhat you will be able to do
- Tell enterprise value from equity value, and move from one to the other
- Apply a multiple of gross operating surplus and know what it assumes
- Identify the discounts specific to small companies
- Defend a reasoned range rather than a single figure
What you take away
A handout you keep, not just a page you read. The sections are derived from the course itself: what is announced here is exactly what gets generated.
Participant handout (PDF)
PDF
- Learning objectives (3)
- Key figures (3)
- Mistakes to avoid (3)
- Official sources (3)
Exercise workbook (Word)
Word
- Learning objectives (3)
- Key figures (3)
- Mistakes to avoid (3)
- Official sources (3)
Answers live in a separate appendix: the participant handout and the workbook stay distributable before the exercise.
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Where this course leads
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Educational content, current with the sources cited. It does not replace advice tailored to your situation. These courses are neither certifying nor CPF-eligible: they prepare for no certification registered with the French RNCP or specific register.