Financial Analysis interview preparation

Questions

100

Traced to a firm

42

Firms

28

Updated

September 2026

Asked at

All firmsMoody's7Bain Capital3SSState Street3AMAres Management2BLBlackRock2DED.E. Shaw2MSMorgan Stanley2Oaktree Capital Management2S&P Global2Bridgewater Associates1Citadel1FTFranklin Templeton1Golub Capital1HWHarris Williams1Houlihan Lokey1J.P. Morgan1Jane Street1MWMarshall Wace1Millennium Management1Morningstar1PIMCO1Sycamore Partners1TSTruist Securities1Two Sigma1Vanguard1WMWellington Management1Wells Fargo Securities1Wolverine Trading1

Topic

All topicsThree statements9Accounting policy and standards5Working capital and cash7Ratio analysis8Forecasting and budgeting9Variance and management reporting7Unit economics and costing8Capital budgeting7Cost of capital and valuation7Markets and rates5Modelling, Excel and data8Business partnering6Brainteasers and estimation4Fit and career10

Level

AnyCoreIntermediateHard

Type

AnyTechnicalCaseBrainteaserMarket viewFit

1. 059What is better: a one rupee increase in EBITDA or a one rupee decrease in debt?Capital budgetingIntermediatetechnicalAMAres ManagementPrivate Equity · New York · 2026

   Say this

   The EBITDA rupee, as long as it is recurring, because it is capitalised at the multiple. At eight times EBITDA, one rupee of extra EBITDA adds eight rupees of enterprise value and therefore eight of equity value. One rupee less debt adds exactly one rupee of equity value.

   Then walk it

   1. The arithmetic: equity value equals EBITDA times the multiple, less net debt. Differentiate on each term. A rupee of EBITDA is worth the multiple; a rupee of debt repayment is worth one, rupee for rupee.
   2. So at any multiple above one times, which is every real business, EBITDA wins on value. At eight times it wins eight to one.
   3. But the answer depends on the word recurring. A one-off rupee of EBITDA is worth one rupee, not eight, and the whole question is whether a buyer will capitalise it. That is why sponsors fight over which addbacks are run-rate.
   4. Then the cases where debt reduction wins. If you are close to a covenant breach, the rupee that keeps you compliant is worth far more than its face value, because a breach can cost you the company. Same if you are facing a refinancing wall in a shut credit market.
   5. There is also a second-order effect in favour of EBITDA: higher EBITDA lowers leverage on the same debt, which can reduce the interest margin on a ratchet and improve the rating. So EBITDA improves both terms and debt repayment improves only one.
   6. So my answer is EBITDA, by the multiple, with the caveat that it has to be recurring and that liquidity risk trumps value arithmetic when you are near a covenant.

   Where candidates lose it

   Answering 'they are the same, one rupee is one rupee'. The point is that EBITDA is capitalised and debt repayment is not. But an answer with no caveat is also weak: near a covenant breach, deleveraging genuinely wins.

   Expect next

   • At what multiple would you be indifferent?
   • What if the EBITDA improvement is a one-off?
   • How does a leverage ratchet change your answer?

   Reported by candidates at Ares Management (Private Equity, New York, 2026). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

2. 097How do you stay motivated when you are working on the same thing for months?Fit and careerIntermediatetechnicalAMAres ManagementGeneralist · New York · 2026

   Say this

   By changing the question rather than waiting for the work to change. Month-end close is the same twelve times a year, so I set an improvement goal each cycle: a day off the timeline, a manual step removed, one variance explained better than last month. The repetition becomes the raw material.

   Then walk it

   1. Acknowledge the premise honestly. Finance is cyclical by design, close, forecast, budget, audit, and pretending you find every cycle thrilling is not credible. What is credible is having a method.
   2. Method one, improvement targets. Something specific each cycle: this quarter I want the flux commentary drafted before day four, and the intercompany reconciliation automated. Mastery is motivating in a way that novelty is not.
   3. Method two, connect the task to the outcome. The reason I care about the receivables report is that it changed the collection incentive and took nine days out of DSO. Knowing what your work causes is the most durable motivation there is.
   4. Method three, go and see. Visiting the plant, sitting in a sales review, listening to a customer call. Three hours out of the office makes the next three months of reporting feel different, because you know who the numbers are about.
   5. Method four, the boring but true one: structure. A clear close calendar and a defined finish line for each cycle means you get a sense of completion twelve times a year rather than once.
   6. Then give a real example with duration. 'I spent five months on a single standardisation project across four entities, and what kept it going was a weekly milestone and the fact that each entity we finished removed a genuine pain point for someone.' A named long project answers the question better than any philosophy.

   Where candidates lose it

   Claiming you never lose motivation. Nobody believes it and it dodges the question. Give a concrete method plus one long project you actually saw through, and be specific about the duration.

   Expect next

   • Tell me about a time you had to humble yourself and change.
   • What is the most tedious work you have done, and how did you handle it?
   • What would make you disengage from a job?

   Reported by candidates at Ares Management (Generalist, New York, 2026). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

Firm tags come from public, anonymous candidate reports on Wall Street Oasis: strong signal, not sworn testimony. Firms are named as the places a question was reported, not as partners of Fin Maverick. Answers are written for this page to show how to think out loud; they are not scripts to recite.