Investment Banking interview preparation

Questions

100

Traced to a firm

100

Firms

46

Updated

September 2026

Asked at

All firmsTSTruist Securities10Rothschild & Co8Centerview Partners7CSCredit Suisse7HWHarris Williams6Houlihan Lokey6Lazard6Mizuho6Barclays5Citi5Deutsche Bank5Evercore5Moelis & Company5MSMorgan Stanley5Piper Sandler5RCRBC Capital Markets5Goldman Sachs4Nomura4TD Securities4Bank of America3GSGuggenheim Securities3J.P. Morgan3Jefferies3Moody's3Perella Weinberg Partners3WPWarburg Pincus3WBWilliam Blair3HSBC2Lincoln International2Scotiabank2TPTPG2UBS2Wells Fargo Securities2Advent International1Apollo Global Management1Bain Capital1Balyasny Asset Management1BLBlackRock1BPBNP Paribas1General Atlantic1Invesco1Morningstar1PIMCO1STSociété Générale1SSState Street1WMWellington Management1

Topic

All topicsAccounting14Valuation21M&A10Markets and deals10Capital markets3LBO8Leveraged finance3Restructuring2Credit3Debt capital markets2Capital structure2Case and estimation11Brainteasers6Fit5

Level

AnyCoreIntermediateHard

Type

AnyTechnicalCaseBrainteaserFitMarket view

1. 002Tell me how $10 of depreciation flows through the three statements.AccountingCoretechnicalCSCredit SuisseData Modeling · Chicago · 2023BarclaysInvestment Banking · New York · 2025MizuhoInvestment Banking · New York · 2026Houlihan LokeyDebt Capital Markets · Los Angeles · 2025

   Say this

   Assume a 25% tax rate. Pre-tax income falls by $10, taxes fall by $2.50, so net income falls by $7.50. Cash actually goes up by $2.50, because depreciation is non-cash and the only real effect is the tax saving.

   Then walk it

   1. Income statement: $10 of depreciation hits EBIT, so pre-tax income is down $10 and net income is down $7.50 at a 25% rate.
   2. Cash flow statement: start from net income at minus $7.50, add back the $10 non-cash depreciation, so cash from operations is up $2.50.
   3. Balance sheet: cash is up $2.50, net PP&E is down $10, so assets are down $7.50 net. Retained earnings are down $7.50. It balances.
   4. The whole point is the depreciation tax shield. Ten dollars of a non-cash charge bought you two-fifty of real cash.

   Where candidates lose it

   Saying cash goes down. It does not. Depreciation is non-cash, so the only cash effect is the tax you no longer pay. State your tax rate before you start so the interviewer can follow your arithmetic, and say the words 'tax shield'.

   Expect next

   • Now do the same for $10 of CapEx instead.
   • What if the company had no taxable income that year?
   • How does this change if the depreciation is not tax-deductible in that jurisdiction?

   Reported by candidates at Credit Suisse (Data Modeling, Chicago, 2023); Barclays (Investment Banking, New York, 2025); Mizuho (Investment Banking, New York, 2026); Houlihan Lokey (Debt Capital Markets, Los Angeles, 2025). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

2. 011What is the difference between a finance lease and an operating lease, and which one affects valuation?AccountingIntermediatetechnicalMizuhoInvestment Banking · New York · 2026

   Say this

   Under current standards both sit on the balance sheet as a right-of-use asset and a lease liability. The difference is the income statement: a finance lease splits into depreciation and interest, while an operating lease stays as a single operating expense.

   Then walk it

   1. Finance lease treats you as the economic owner. Depreciation sits in EBITDA, interest sits below it, so EBITDA is higher.
   2. Operating lease keeps the full rent inside operating expenses, so EBITDA is lower.
   3. That means two companies with identical economics can show very different EBITDA depending on classification. It directly distorts EV/EBITDA comps.
   4. For valuation, the practical answer is that you have to be consistent. Either capitalise leases for everyone and treat the lease liability as debt in the bridge, or treat rent as an operating cost for everyone.
   5. The mistake that actually costs money is adding the lease liability to net debt while also leaving rent in EBITDA. You have then charged the company twice.

   Where candidates lose it

   Answering with the pre-IFRS 16 world where operating leases were off balance sheet. That has not been true since 2019. Get the current treatment right, then make the comparability point.

   Expect next

   • So do you include the lease liability in net debt?
   • How would you compare an airline that leases its fleet with one that owns it?
   • Which industries does this distort most?

   Reported by candidates at Mizuho (Investment Banking, 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.