Julian Shocron · The Bakery Casebook

Most finance explainers jump from topic to topic. This casebook does the opposite. It follows a single invented bakery from its first line of sales to a rough idea of what the whole business might be worth, and it never swaps the figures halfway through. Every chapter builds on the one before it.

I am Julian Shocron, and I enjoy finance the way some people enjoy chess puzzles. The bakery is a sandbox: 1,000 in yearly sales, a few ovens, a loan, and a handful of customers who do not always pay on time. None of it is real, which is the point. With fake numbers, there is nothing to sell and nothing to hide, only arithmetic to check.

Read the chapters in order if you are new, or jump to the one that matches your question. The glossary keeps every term in one sentence or two, and the FAQ covers the basics about this site.

The chapters

1. Reading the income statement: sales, three margins and EBITDA.
2. From profit to cash: why 100 of profit turns into 35 of spare cash.
3. Debt and safety: net debt, leverage and interest coverage.
4. What the bakery is worth: discounting, multiples and the slice left for owners.

Also here

• Glossary: the terms used in the casebook.
• FAQ: who writes this and what it is not.
• About.

My shorter, standalone notes live at julianshocron.com.