THE BARATELLI INSTITUTE · Mentoring at Scale
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THE PRACTITIONER LIBRARY

22 reference guides. The depth behind every tool on this site.

The free tools at tools.baratelliinstitute.com are derived from this library. Each guide is a practitioner-grade reference written for the actual professionals who do the work — CFOs, CPA partners, estate attorneys, fund managers, search-fund operators. Every guide ships with a companion Excel workbook. Single-user license.

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PE Guide cover Flagship

The Practitioner's Guide to Private Equity

38 chapters + 9 deal-type models · Companion workbook included
Built forFounding GPs, senior partners, operating partners, LPs underwriting funds, CFOs and CPAs serving PE-backed portcos.

The end-to-end reference a PE practitioner actually uses. Fundraising, sourcing, IC process, valuation governance (ASC 820), portfolio operating cadence, exit, fund admin, and back-office. Includes 9 fully-built deal-type sample models (LBO, roll-up, add-on, dividend recap, take-private, growth equity, distressed, real estate, software/SaaS) plus a complete IC memo, populated full model, and IC presentation deck for a sample deal.

Sample chapter titles
Ch 4 Fund Structure & Capital Stack · Ch 7 Portfolio Construction · Ch 9 LP Capital Raising & Roadshow · Ch 11 Fund Admin & K-1 Timing · Ch 12 Insurance Float (the Berkshire model) · Ch 14 Sourcing & Origination · Ch 18 Valuation Governance · Ch 23 Operating Cadence with Portcos · Ch 31 Exit Strategy & Process · Apx C DD Service-Provider Directory · Apx H LP Directory

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CFO Guide cover Flagship

The CFO & Controller's Reference Guide

38 chapters + companion workbook · Persona-routed reading guide
Built forCFOs, controllers, fractional CFOs, finance directors at $5M-$500M companies. Useful for CEOs and PE operating partners who need to evaluate finance leaders.

The reference a sitting CFO actually keeps on the desk. Close calendars, three-statement modeling at PE-grade depth, capital allocation, working-capital management, debt covenants, KPI dashboards, FP&A cadence, treasury, audit prep, ERP/tech stack, AI integration, and the people-side topics (hiring, comp, board management, CEO partnership) that don't appear in textbooks. 15 chapters include inline AI-tool prompts.

Sample chapter titles
Ch 3 The CFO's First 90 Days · Ch 7 Three-Statement Modeling at PE Depth · Ch 11 Working Capital Management · Ch 14 Capital Allocation & CapEx Discipline · Ch 16 AI in the Finance Function · Ch 22 Debt Covenants & Lender Management · Ch 24 Inventory Operations · Ch 28 KPI Dashboards · Ch 30 Treasury & Banking · Ch 33 Hiring & Comp · Apx N AI Tool Prompts (50+)

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Family Office Guide cover Flagship

The Family Office Reference Guide

37 chapters + workflow playbook + workbook
Built forSFO/MFO principals, family-office CIOs, COOs, operations leads, and the RIAs / CPAs / law firms serving them.

How a single-family or multi-family office actually operates — from charter and governance, to investment policy, to bill-pay and cash management, to insurance and risk, to AI policy, to family-meeting facilitation. Includes 23 matter-workflow playbooks for the recurring operations a family office runs. Cyber, AI, vendor, and household-staff scorecards built in.

Sample chapter titles
Ch 4 Family-Office Structure (SFO/MFO/VFO) · Ch 7 Investment Policy Statement · Ch 11 Bill-Pay & Cash Management · Ch 13 Insurance & Risk · Ch 15 Tech Stack & Operations · Ch 16 AI in the Family Office · Ch 17 Death of a Principal · Ch 22 Household Staff & Property · Ch 28 Family-Meeting Facilitation · Apx F Matter Workflow Playbook (23 workflows)

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Liquidity Event Playbook cover Specialty

The Liquidity Event Playbook

12 chapters + 8 planning-mechanism walkthroughs + workbook
Built forFounders 6-36 months from a sale of their business. Companion read for the founder's M&A attorney, CPA, and wealth advisor.

The eight planning mechanisms that capture $5M-$15M of value before a sale closes — and the procedural detail to implement each. QSBS qualification and stacking. F-reorg structure. State-residency change with audit defense. Charitable substitution (CRT, CLT, donor-advised funds). Working-capital methodology negotiation. R&W insurance procurement. ESOPs as alternative exit. Founder transition design. Each mechanism walked end-to-end with sample documents.

Sample chapter titles
Ch 2 The Eight Planning Mechanisms · Ch 4 QSBS Qualification & Stacking · Ch 5 F-Reorganization Structure · Ch 7 State Residency & Audit Defense · Ch 8 Charitable Substitution · Ch 9 Working Capital Methodology · Ch 10 R&W Insurance Procurement · Ch 11 ESOPs as Alternative Exit · Apx A Workflow Playbook · Apx C AI Prompts (16)

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Business Buyer's Guide cover Specialty

The Business Buyer's Guide

In editorial · expected ~200 pages
Built forSBA borrowers, search-fund / ETA buyers, owner-operators, and the M&A advisors and CPAs serving them.

The other side of the Liquidity Event Playbook — what a buyer needs to know to identify, value, structure, finance, and close on a small or lower-middle-market business acquisition. Search and sourcing, valuation under Bharara-grade scrutiny, SBA 7(a) underwriting and equity injection, asset vs. stock vs. §338(h)(10) structure tax math, working-capital peg negotiation from the buyer's seat, escrow and R&W, day-1 and day-100 operating cadence.

Sample chapter titles (in development)
Ch 2 Sourcing & the Brokerage Channel · Ch 4 Quality of Earnings & Valuation · Ch 6 SBA 7(a) Underwriting · Ch 8 Asset vs. Stock vs. §338(h)(10) · Ch 10 Working Capital Peg from the Buyer's Seat · Ch 12 Escrow, Holdback, R&W Insurance · Ch 14 Day-1 to Day-100 Operating Cadence

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Estate Planning Decoded cover Specialty

Estate Planning Decoded

Multi-volume · companion workbook
Built forEstate planning attorneys, estate-planning CPAs, family-office estate-planning leads, and the high-net-worth individuals navigating their own plans.

Federal $15M / $30M post-OBBBA permanent exemption, 22-state estate-tax overlay, the NY cliff trap, generation-skipping (GST) mechanics, qualified disclaimers, portability elections, and the practitioner judgment behind which trust does what. Includes AI inline sections in chapters and an AI Tool Prompts appendix.

Sample chapter titles
Federal exemption mechanics · State-by-state estate tax · GST allocation · Marital trusts (QTIP, A-B, A-B-C) · Dynasty / SLAT / GRAT / IDGT design · Portability elections · §645 election · 706 vs. 1041 · Disclaimers

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Trust Administration Guide cover Specialty

Trust Administration Guide

Companion to Estate Planning Decoded
Built forTrustees (individual and corporate), CTFAs, family-office trust ops leads, and the CPAs filing 1041s and beneficiaries' K-1s.

Once the trust is signed, somebody has to actually administer it. This is the operations manual — distribution accounting, fiduciary income vs. principal, the Uniform Principal & Income Act, beneficiary reporting, trustee fees, accounting standards (NICA), IRC §645 election, when to terminate, the Rockefeller Trust deep-dive case study, and the AI tools that speed up trust ops.

Sample chapter coverage
Distribution accounting · Fiduciary income vs. principal · UPIA · §645 election · Trustee fee structures (NICA) · 1041 prep cadence · Beneficiary K-1s · Termination & final accounting · Rockefeller Trust deep-dive

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Treasure Assets Reference Guide cover FO Companion

Treasure Assets Reference Guide

~12 chapters + Ferrari-dedicated chapter
Built forArt / classic-car / watch / wine / rare-book collectors, family offices managing collector clients, and the estate attorneys and insurance specialists serving them.

The reference for managing collections as actual financial assets. Acquisition due diligence, basis tracking, total cost of ownership (insurance + storage + service + opportunity cost), auction-house economics, freeport storage with FBAR/8938 implications, agreed-value vs. ACV insurance settlement gap, the four exit paths (sell now / sell later / pass to heirs / charitable donation) with tax math for each, and the collector lifecycle from novice to estate disposition. Real-world named examples throughout (Sotheby's, Christie's, RM Sotheby's, Heritage, Octavian wine vaults, UOVO, Hagerty).

Sample chapter coverage
Acquisition DD · Basis & provenance · TCO · Auction-house economics · Specialty insurance (Chubb / Berkley One / AIG PCS / Cincinnati / Hagerty / Lloyd's) · Freeport storage & FBAR · Estate exit paths · Ferrari deep-dive · Wine specifics · Collector lifecycle

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Athletes' Wealth Playbook cover Specialty

Athletes' Wealth Playbook

Three companion editions (College / High-School / Coach-Parent / Veteran)
Built forPro athletes, NIL-era college athletes, the parents and coaches advising them, and the RIAs / CPAs serving athlete clients.

The financial playbook for an athlete's career window — the 3-15 year period when income is enormous and decisions made are nearly impossible to undo. Career-window economics, post-career strategy, NIL deal structure (Schedule C vs. E routing), reasonable comp for S-corp NIL, agent and advisor selection, mental-health resources, NCAA compliance, and the four free editions for College / HS / Coach-Parent / Veteran second-contract audiences.

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Wealth Psychology Guide cover Specialty

Wealth Psychology Guide

Companion workbook · Therapist-reviewed
Built forRIAs, family-office principals, multi-generation wealth families, and the therapists working with HNW client families.

The behavioral and family-systems work that determines whether wealth survives a generation. Money scripts, intergenerational money trauma, the "shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves" pattern, identity formation post-liquidity-event, partner conversations about money, and the practitioner-grade frameworks for facilitating family-wealth conversations as an advisor without becoming a therapist. Reviewed by a clinical psychologist specializing in wealth psychology.

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Gentrifying Small Towns cover Specialty

Gentrifying Small Towns

Multi-stakeholder reference
Built forSmall-town mayors, civic CFOs, real estate developers, community-development practitioners, and the CFOs / lawyers serving them.

The five-stage gentrification arc, written from five stakeholder perspectives (mayor, developer, civic CFO, long-term resident, newcomer) so a practitioner working in any of those seats can understand the mechanics, the tax-increment-financing math, the construction-productivity gap, the NIMBY-by-newcomers dynamic, and the policy levers available at each stage. Includes a workbook of the financial models.

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First Principles of Master Investing cover Founders' Synthesis

First Principles of Master Investing

Synthesis volume · $99
Built forCFOs evaluating capital allocation, allocators sizing concentrated positions, founders thinking about durable compounding, and serious DIY investors who want the underlying framework rather than another stock-picking newsletter.

The synthesis volume that distills Buffett, Munger, the Outsiders CEOs (Henry Singleton, Tom Murphy, Katharine Graham, John Malone), Philip Fisher, and a global cast — Li Lu, Wang Chuanfu (BYD), 3G Capital / Jorge Paulo Lemann, Japanese sogo shosha — into the first principles that travel across decades and continents. Every chapter pairs the principle with a named case study, a "show the math" intrinsic-value walk, and a buyback / capital-allocation example. International by design.

Sample chapter titles
Owner-mindset capital allocation · Intrinsic value & the margin of safety · Concentration discipline · Buybacks as the Outsiders did them (Teledyne, Apple, BYD) · The Berkshire model of float · The 15 questions (Fisher) · Reverse-DCF as a sanity check · Lollapalooza biases · The Brazilian Outsider (3G / AmBev / AB InBev) · Japanese sogo shosha · The succession bench

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AI Integration Decoded cover Specialty

AI Integration Decoded

The regulated-professional liability-seat AI guide · $99
Built forCPAs, RIAs, attorneys, and family-office practitioners whose state board, partner committee, regulator, or malpractice carrier will eventually ask: which AI did you use, what did it produce, who reviewed it, and how do you know the output was right?

The only AI guide written from the regulated-professional liability seat - what your state board, the SEC, and your partner committee will allow you to do with AI, and what they will not. PCAOB AS 1215 documentation for AI-assisted workpapers. AICPA SQMS No. 1 firm-level quality-management mapping. AICPA ET sec. 1.295 independence treatment. ABA Model Rule 1.1 Comment [8], Rule 5.3, and ABA Formal Opinion 512 for attorneys. The 14-field audit-trail worksheet, the engagement-letter clause, and the bar-counsel-defensible parallel - the artifacts your partner committee, state board, regulator, and carrier will look for when they look.

What's in the guide
PCAOB AS 1215 workpaper template · AICPA SQMS No. 1 mapping · AICPA ET sec. 1.295 independence · PCAOB AS 1220 EQR for AI work · 14-field audit-trail worksheet · Engagement-letter clause · ABA Rule 1.1 Cmt [8] + Rule 5.3 + Opinion 512 · Mata v. Avianca case discipline · Tool stack and prompt patterns for each professional role · Inline AI prompts in every chapter

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Money Reality High School Edition cover Money Reality

Money Reality — High School Edition

14 chapters + workbook · $39
Built forParents buying for a high-schooler, teachers using it as a course supplement, and high-school students reading it themselves. International edition available for readers outside the US.

Financial literacy written for the student, not at the student. Compound interest as the most powerful force in finance, the "Hidden Balance Sheet" of activity-derived intangibles (sports, music, friend groups, alumni networks, social media, AI skills, optimism + confidence), nominal vs. real returns, housing and car creep, the Roth as a tax-free lottery, sales-as-skill, the rejection cascade. Phil-attributed quotes throughout. Designed to travel with the student.

Sample chapter titles
The most powerful force in finance · Your Hidden Balance Sheet · Nominal vs. real returns (the housing / car creep) · The Roth as a tax-free lottery · Activity-derived intangibles (15 activities) · Optimism + confidence as compounding assets · Sales as an undertaught skill · The rejection cascade · No-parental-health-insurance pathway

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Money Reality College Edition cover Money Reality

Money Reality — College Edition

Volume II of IV · $59
Built forThe college student living the financial reality the HS edition warned about. Parents and career-services counselors are the secondary buyers.

Volume II of the Money Reality series. First apartment, first real paycheck, first 1099, the Hidden Balance Sheet of campus activities and alumni networks, the no-parental-health-insurance pathway, the Roth as the tax-free lottery the freshman should max out, and the rejection cascade as the actual skill of every career. Direct voice. Real math. College-life examples.

Sample chapter titles
The most powerful force in finance · Your Hidden Balance Sheet (campus edition) · First apartment, first real paycheck, first 1099 · The Roth as a tax-free lottery (max it freshman year) · No-parental-health-insurance pathway · Alumni networks & career capital · Sales as the skill of every career · The rejection cascade

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Money Reality First Job Edition cover Money Reality

Money Reality — First Job Edition

Volume III of IV · $59
Built forThe year after secondary school for both paths — recent college grad and recent HS grad who went straight to work. First apartment, first 1099, first health insurance, first credit card, first paycheck, first compounding. Different starting points, same compounding battle.

The merged Vol III of the Money Reality series. Phil’s call: the post-secondary financial reality is the same regardless of which path the reader took, so one volume serves both audiences with branching where the paths diverge (student loans for the college grad; trade-school ROI and earlier paychecks for the post-HS worker).

Sample chapter titles
Compound interest, late-start edition · Your Hidden Balance Sheet (career edition) · First salaried paycheck (or first 1099) · College vs trade-school NPV · First trade certification ROI · First apartment budget · The Roth at 25, 28, 30 · Employer 401(k) match capture · First health insurance enrollment · The credit-card trap, undone · The student loan you now own (college path) · Sales as the skill of every career · The rejection cascade