Blog
Explainers and worked examples on financial due diligence, audit and controls, and valuation — and how finance teams turn raw data into defensible, fully sourced work.
Audit & assuranceBest AI tools for KYC and AML (2026)
KYC and AML isn't one job — it's identity verification, sanctions/PEP screening, transaction monitoring, risk scoring, and defensible write-up. An honest walk through the tools worth knowing in 2026 (Sumsub, Trulioo, World-Check, NICE Actimize, MacrosLM, and more), what each is for, and where each stops.
7 min readRead more
M&A & diligenceBest AI tools for equity research (2026)
The AI worth knowing for equity research in 2026, by the job it does — a deliverable-focused deep dive (MacrosLM), document search across filings and transcripts (AlphaSense), fundamentals extraction (Daloopa), and accessible chat-based research (Fiscal.ai) — plus what to look for and what AI still can't do.
8 min readRead more
M&A & diligenceWhat is DuPont analysis?
DuPont analysis breaks return on equity into the components that drive it — net profit margin, asset turnover, and leverage — so you can tell whether an ROE comes from fat margins or heavy debt. The 3-step and 5-step formulas, a worked Costco example, and where the method breaks down.
8 min readRead more
Finance operationsWhat is a 13-week cash flow forecast?
A 13-week cash flow forecast is a rolling, week-by-week view of cash in and out over the next quarter — the tool finance teams use when liquidity matters more than profit. How to build one step by step, where AI removes the weekly grind, and a live cash-runway example with scenario toggles.
10 min readRead more
Audit & assuranceWhat is a trial balance?
A trial balance lists every general-ledger account and its balance in debit and credit columns, to check that the two sides tie before financial statements are built on top. Why it exists, the unadjusted/adjusted/post-closing versions, where it sits in the accounting cycle, and a live ten-column worksheet.
7 min readRead more
Audit & assuranceWhat is segregation of duties?
Segregation of duties splits a process across more than one person so no single individual controls it end to end — why it's one of the cheapest, most effective anti-fraud controls, the conflicts auditors flag most, how SOX enforces it, and a live ERP access-conflict test.
6 min readRead more
M&A & diligenceWhat is precedent transaction analysis?
Precedent transaction analysis values a company by what buyers actually paid for similar businesses in past M&A deals — why the multiples run higher than trading comps (control premiums and synergies), how the analysis is built, where it breaks down, and a live cybersecurity M&A comps example.
11 min readRead more
Audit & assuranceBest AI tools for SOX compliance (2026)
SOX compliance spans running the program, collecting ITGC evidence, and the testing and workpaper. A 2026 roundup, led by the tool for the slowest part — the control testing and the defensible ICFR workpaper (MacrosLM) — plus the strongest program-of-record and evidence-automation options to build around it.
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M&A & diligenceBest AI tools for financial modeling (2026)
Financial modeling isn't the arithmetic — it's the historicals, the assumptions, the sensitivities, and a number you can defend. A 2026 roundup by which piece each tool attacks: a finished, source-traced valuation (MacrosLM), Excel-model generators (Shortcut, o11), data extraction (Daloopa), and in-spreadsheet assistants.
9 min readRead more
Finance operations10 AI tools to run an advisory firm solo
You don't need a team of ten to launch an advisory firm anymore — you need the right AI on each job, and one tool for the client work you can't get wrong. The stack a solo founder can run, stage by stage, from client deliverables to admin.
8 min readRead more
M&A & diligenceDLOM explained: what is a discount for lack of marketability?
A discount for lack of marketability (DLOM) reduces the value of a private or illiquid interest that can't be readily sold — how appraisers estimate it (restricted-stock, pre-IPO, and option-pricing models), why it's so heavily litigated, and a live calculator to explore it.
11 min readRead more
Finance operationsBest AI for month-end close in 2026: match the tool to your bottleneck
The month-end close is one workflow, but the thing slowing yours down is specific. A guide to finding your bottleneck — deliverables, reconciliation volume, coordination, or the ERP — and the AI built to clear each one (MacrosLM, BlackLine, FloQast, and more).
8 min readRead more
M&A & diligenceWhat is loan covenant compliance?
Meeting the conditions in a credit agreement — the affirmative, negative, and financial covenants a borrower must keep, the ratios lenders test, how compliance is certified quarterly, and what happens (from waiver to acceleration) when one is breached.
10 min readRead more
AI & agentsWhat is agentic AI for finance?
Autonomous agents that run whole financial workflows end to end — how agentic AI differs from RPA and chatbots, the architecture underneath (ReAct, tool use, memory, planning), what a multi-agent system is, where it's used, and what stays human.
12 min readRead more
Audit & assuranceBest AI tools for audit automation (2026)
The AI audit tools worth knowing in 2026, by category — agentic workspaces that build the deliverable (MacrosLM), document automation in Excel (DataSnipper), GRC platforms (AuditBoard), and anomaly detection (MindBridge) — plus how to pick for your bottleneck.
10 min readRead more
M&A & diligenceBest AI for financial due diligence (2026)
The AI worth knowing for financial due diligence in 2026, by layer — financial engines that produce the sourced analysis (MacrosLM), virtual data rooms (Datasite), contract review (Kira), and data extraction (Dili) — plus what AI can't do and how to choose.
10 min readRead more
M&A & diligenceBest AI tools for credit analysis (2026)
The AI worth knowing for commercial credit analysis in 2026, by layer — agentic workspaces that produce the analysis and memo (MacrosLM), end-to-end underwriting (Crediflow), institutional platforms (Moody's CreditLens), and credit intelligence (Hebbia) — plus how to choose.
10 min readRead more
Finance operationsBest AI for FP&A teams (2026)
The AI worth knowing for FP&A in 2026, by category — agentic workspaces that produce finished analysis and deliverables (MacrosLM), planning platforms (Anaplan, Planful), and Excel-native layers (Datarails) — plus a live 13-week cash-forecast example and how to choose.
9 min readRead more
Audit & assuranceWhat is KYC risk scoring?
How financial institutions rate each customer's money-laundering risk and sort them into tiers — the FATF factors that drive a score, how tiers map to due diligence, the risk-based regulatory basis, and how AI and the EU AI Act are reshaping it in 2026.
11 min readRead more
Audit & assuranceWhat is journal entry testing?
The audit procedure that hunts for financial-statement manipulation hidden in the general ledger — why AU-C 240 and AS 2401 require it, the red flags that trigger scrutiny, and how AI is shifting it toward full-population testing in 2026.
8 min readRead more
M&A & diligenceWhat is a DCF model?
A DCF values a company by projecting its future free cash flows and discounting them to present value — the formula, FCFF vs. FCFE, terminal value, the step-by-step build, and why the assumptions matter more than the arithmetic.
12 min readRead more
M&A & diligenceWhat is an EBITDA bridge?
A waterfall that explains how EBITDA moved from one number to another, driver by driver — and the second, easily-confused version that does the heavy lifting in M&A.
9 min readRead more
M&A & diligenceWhat is a Quality of Earnings (QoE) analysis?
The independent test of whether reported earnings are real and repeatable — what's inside a QoE report, how it differs from an audit, what it costs in 2026, and where the manual work hides.
12 min readRead more
Audit & assuranceWhat is a three-way match?
The AP control that checks the purchase order, the receiving report, and the invoice before a bill gets paid — and the same logic, applied to revenue, that proves each recognized dollar is real.
9 min readRead more
Audit & assuranceWhat is SOX control testing?
How a public company proves its financial-reporting controls are designed well and operating effectively under Section 404 — what gets tested, how failures are rated, and how AI is reshaping it in 2026.
12 min readRead more
M&A & diligenceWhat is net working capital normalization?
Working out the “normal” level of working capital a business needs to run — the peg a deal trues up against dollar-for-dollar, and where the definitions and documentation decide who wins.
10 min readRead more
M&A & diligenceWhat is the Altman Z-Score?
Five financial ratios rolled into one number that flags bankruptcy risk — the formula, how to read the safe/grey/distress zones, the private and non-manufacturing variants, and what it misses.
9 min readRead more
M&A & diligenceWhat is WACC and how is it calculated?
The blended rate a company pays to finance itself, and the discount rate behind every DCF — the formula, the cost of equity via CAPM, the after-tax cost of debt, and a worked example.
10 min readRead more
M&A & diligenceFinancial due diligence, explained
Financial due diligence is a toolkit, not one procedure. A map of the core concepts — earnings quality, the EBITDA bridge, working capital, WACC, the Altman Z-Score, and the controls underneath — each with a plain-English explainer.
5 min readRead more