Industries We Serve

Accounting

Pillars was co-founded by a CPA who believes that traditional education models are not practical, leaving participants without any real takeaways. That is why Pillars works with accounting firms large and small to change the game. We are fully NASBA CPE credit compliant in areas such as:

• Financial statement analysis
• Valuation
• Excel modeling
• Advanced Excel
• Restructuring

Our CPE available live and on-demand courses are used by many accounting firms as an alternative to a traditional lecture-style course. We would be happy to put you in touch with our happy clients using our platform today!

Consulting

Problem solving and working with data is at the heart of every consultancy. This is where Pillars shines! We cut right to the heart of what you need your employees to know with new hire and continuing education courses. Having worked with some of the world’s largest consultancies, this is a mature market for Pillars.

Key topics of focus

• Intermediate Excel
• Advanced Excel
• PowerPoint Fundamentals
• Intermediate PowerPoint
• Working with data
• Professional presence and business writing
• Financial statement analysis

View our entire course catalog here.

Corporate Finance

Our corporate clients love the fact that we are a custom content-creating machine. While we have amazing programs that we have honed over the past decade in thousands of classrooms, that may not be right for you! That is why we work with each and every one of our clients to ensure the content that we deliver is right for their students. Let’s get in touch to discuss how we can bring our creative touch to your company.

Core content that is frequently utilized:

• Financial statement analysis
• Valuation fundamentals
• Excel fundamentals
• 3 statement modeling
• Advanced modeling

Investment Banking

Pillars was originally conceived by its founders as a replacement for inadequate corporate training. A lack of focus on the fundamentals and a lack of understanding the why’s behind the concepts led to a spiral of downward performance from newly hired junior bankers. As a result, Pillars was born, and over the years having taught tens of thousands of students and junior professionals, our original thesis of creating an effective learning environment that truly bridges the gap between the “academic” and the “practical” has panned out. Pillars now represents the industry standard in investment banking training. Pillars’ approach to training is to provide the best education possible from previous investment bankers who are amazing educators. Pillars offers a wide variety of training options for banks including both live and on-demand. Two popular offerings are:

On-boarding training

Before training

• Complete a pre-assessment to determine a baseline knowledge level
• Complete on-demand assigned pre-work to be day 1 ready

Live training

• 2-4 weeks of live training covering critical knowledge areas
  • FSA
  • Excel & modeling
  • Valuation
  • M&A and transaction structuring
  • PowerPoint and soft skills
• Provide weekly assessments to gauge progress with data-driven metrics

After training

• Submit a report on the students and their progress to HR, with both quantitative and qualitative feedback
• Provide access to on-demand resources for students to reference

Continuing education

Pillars provides continuing education for bulge bracket banks as well as targeted advisory clients. Our broad catalog of courses means that we have something for everyone. From fundamental courses such as FSA, M&A accounting, and Excel-based 3 statement modeling, to more complex classes around valuation, taxation, and corporate structuring, Pillars provides you with a trusted partner you can use to further your employees’ education.

Legal

Whether planning a career as a solo practitioner, working as a corporate attorney at a large law firm or going in-house, Pillars financial courses for attorneys will strengthen your skill sets and make you a more valuable advisor to your clients. We have worked as finance professionals in conjunction with attorneys on dozens of deals and know that attorneys that have strong “finance fundamentals” in conjunction with their legal expertise make the most sound advisors and play the most active roles in getting deals done.

Key topics of focus:

• Financial statement analysis
• Valuation fundamentals
• Excel fundamentals

On-Campus

Pillars seminars will help you obtain the edge you need in landing a top investment banking, private equity or corporate finance position. Be prepared for interviews, internships and hitting the desk full-time by getting a head start with Pillars Interview Prep, Financial Modeling and Valuation Workshops specifically designed for undergraduates and MBAs.

Key topics of focus

• Interview prep – financial statement analysis
• Interview prep – valuation fundamentals
• Interview prep – M&A and accretion/dilution
• Excel fundamentals
• 3 statement modeling
• Valuation modeling (DCF, LBO)
• M&A modeling

Private equity

Private equity training was a natural extension of investment banking training for Pillars. Whereas new hires at banks typically require fundamental coursework, most private equity hires have industry experience before joining. We realized that using recycled banking training materials for private equity clients simply would not work. As a result, Pillars has developed a cutting-edge curriculum that both ensures all participants are solid on the fundamentals, and bridges previous industry experience with the unique requirements of buy-side positions. The following is an example of what a private equity training program may look like:

On-boarding training:

Before training

• Complete a pre-assessment to determine a baseline knowledge level
• Complete on-demand assigned pre-work to be day 1 ready

Live training

• 2-4 weeks of live training utilizing a case-based methodology
  • Focus on cash flow forecasting
    • How to interpret instead of simply build a basic financial model
    • Build comprehensive revenue forecasts and operating models
    • Tie operating figures into returns-based valuation models
  • Emphasis placed on sponsor and investor-based returns through waterfall and LTIP modeling
• Provide weekly assessments to gauge progress with data-driven metrics as required

After training

• Submit a report on the students and their progress to HR, with both quantitative and qualitative feedback
• Provide access to on-demand resources for students to reference

Sales & Trading

The Pillars’ Sales and Trading curriculum was developed by a Pillars instructor with decades of experience trading equities and currencies. While the nature of the industry has evolved over the decades (for example, prop trading desks largely being removed and spun out from investment banks), the core products being traded and sold to clients have remained similar. Our sales and trading program starts with a focus on mastering the fundamentals of capital markets and progresses to learning about the various asset classes participants will be exposed to on the desk. In addition, our clients love our trading simulations offering, which showcases what it is like to actually be trading on the desk.

Key topics of focus

• Financial statement analysis
• Intro and advanced Excel
• Equity and debt capital markets
• Equities
• Fixed income
• Currencies
• Derivatives
• Trading simulations