Investment Banking interview preparation
Every question below is either traced to a named firm from a public candidate report, or tagged at desk level when we could not trace it. Answers are written the way you would actually say them out loud — answer first, then the mechanism, then the limitation.
100 questions, mapped to the firms that asked them
- Questions
- 100
- Traced to a firm
- 100
- Firms
- 46
- Updated
- September 2026
001Walk me through the three financial statements and how they connect.Goldman SachsInvestment Banking · New York · 2026Guggenheim SecuritiesHealthcare · Glen Allen · 2026Piper SandlerInvestment Banking · New York · 2026Truist SecuritiesReal Estate · Atlanta · 2026Moody'sCorporate · New York · 2022
Say this
The income statement shows profitability over a period, the balance sheet is a snapshot of what the company owns and owes at a point in time, and the cash flow statement reconciles the two by tracking the actual cash that moved. They link through net income and cash.
Then walk it
- Net income is the bottom of the income statement. It becomes the top line of the cash flow statement.
- On the cash flow statement you add back non-cash charges like depreciation, adjust for working capital changes, then run through investing and financing.
- The ending cash number flows to the top of the balance sheet as the cash balance.
- Net income also flows into retained earnings in shareholders' equity, less any dividends. That is the second link.
- So the balance sheet balances because both sides of net income land in it: the cash it generated on the asset side, the earnings it retained on the equity side.
Where candidates lose it
Reciting the three statements as three separate definitions and stopping. The question is entirely about the linkage. Say the two connection points out loud, net income into retained earnings and ending cash onto the balance sheet, or you have not answered it.
Expect next
- Which statement would you look at first if you could only pick one, and why?
- A company is profitable but running out of cash. Where do you look?
- Why does the balance sheet actually balance?
Reported by candidates at Goldman Sachs (Investment Banking, New York, 2026); Guggenheim Securities (Healthcare, Glen Allen, 2026); Piper Sandler (Investment Banking, New York, 2026); Truist Securities (Real Estate, Atlanta, 2026); Moody's (Corporate, New York, 2022). Source: Wall Street Oasis.
007What are some non-cash items you would find on the cash flow statement?Moody'sProject Finance · New York · 2018LazardInvestment Banking · New York · 2026
Say this
Depreciation and amortisation, stock-based compensation, deferred taxes, impairments and write-downs, unrealised gains or losses on investments, and equity income from unconsolidated affiliates.
Then walk it
- D&A is the big one and the one everyone names.
- Stock-based compensation is the one that matters most in practice, especially in tech, because it is a real cost to shareholders that never touches cash.
- Deferred tax movements, impairments and goodwill write-downs are all added back.
- Equity method income gets reversed out and replaced with the actual dividend received, because you only book cash you were paid.
- The judgement call is SBC. Adding it back and calling the result free cash flow overstates what shareholders actually keep, because the dilution is real.
Where candidates lose it
Listing D&A and stopping. Naming stock-based compensation, and then saying why treating it as a pure add-back is dishonest, is what separates a memoriser from someone who has actually thought about earnings quality.
Expect next
- Should stock-based compensation be added back in a DCF?
- How do you handle it when you are comparing a tech company to an industrial?
- What is the difference between deferred tax assets and liabilities?
Reported by candidates at Moody's (Project Finance, New York, 2018); Lazard (Investment Banking, New York, 2026). Source: Wall Street Oasis.
066If you were in a meeting with the CFO as the lead analyst, what would you ask?Moody'sCorporate Finance · New York · 2018
Say this
I would ask about the durability of revenue, the operating leverage in the cost base, and what could stop them paying the debt. Three areas: quality of revenue, quality of cost, and capital allocation intent.
Then walk it
- Revenue quality: how much is contracted or recurring, what is the retention rate of last year's customers, what is the concentration in the top five, and how is pricing holding.
- Cost and margin: how much of the cost base is fixed against variable, so I know what happens to margin if volume drops 15 percent. That is the operating leverage question and it drives the downside case.
- One-time costs: what charges hit this year that will not recur, and equally, what recurring costs have been classified as one-time. That is the quality-of-earnings question and CFOs answer it carefully.
- Capital allocation: what is the intent on dividends, buybacks and acquisitions, and where does leverage sit in their priorities. A CFO who will defend the rating behaves very differently from one who will lever up for a buyback.
- And the direct question: what keeps you up at night about the next 18 months? The answer, and the hesitation before it, is usually the most informative thing in the meeting.
Where candidates lose it
Asking for information you could get from the filings. A CFO meeting is for intent, judgement and things not disclosed. Asking 'what was revenue last year' wastes the access and signals you did not read the 10-K.
Expect next
- How would you qualitatively assess an entity?
- What would you do if their answers contradicted the filings?
- Which single answer would most change your rating?
Reported by candidates at Moody's (Corporate Finance, New York, 2018). 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.