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. 001Walk me through the three financial statements and how they connect.AccountingCorephone / HireVueGoldman SachsInvestment Banking · New York · 2026GSGuggenheim SecuritiesHealthcare · Glen Allen · 2026Piper SandlerInvestment Banking · New York · 2026TSTruist 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

   1. Net income is the bottom of the income statement. It becomes the top line of the cash flow statement.
   2. On the cash flow statement you add back non-cash charges like depreciation, adjust for working capital changes, then run through investing and financing.
   3. The ending cash number flows to the top of the balance sheet as the cash balance.
   4. Net income also flows into retained earnings in shareholders' equity, less any dividends. That is the second link.
   5. 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.

2. 003Walk me through the three statements at the point of purchase and then after year one, given $100 of deferred revenue over two years.AccountingHardsuperdayCenterview PartnersInvestment Banking · New York · 2026Piper SandlerInvestment Banking · Houston · 2026

   Say this

   At the moment of sale, cash goes up $100 and deferred revenue, a liability, goes up $100. Nothing touches the income statement yet. After year one, $50 is recognised as revenue, so the liability halves and earnings finally show up.

   Then walk it

   1. Day one: cash up $100 on the asset side, deferred revenue up $100 on the liability side. Income statement untouched, because you have been paid but have not delivered.
   2. Year one: recognise $50 of revenue. At a 25% tax rate that is $37.50 of net income, assuming no costs for simplicity.
   3. Cash flow: net income up $37.50, then a working capital adjustment of minus $50 as deferred revenue unwinds. So cash from operations is minus $12.50 for the year, which is just the tax you paid.
   4. Balance sheet: cash down $12.50 from the year-one peak, deferred revenue down to $50, retained earnings up $37.50.
   5. The economic story is that a subscription business collects cash long before it books profit. That is why deferred revenue growth is a leading indicator.

   Where candidates lose it

   Recognising the revenue on day one. Cash received is not revenue earned. Also, candidates forget the working capital drag in year one and end up with a balance sheet that does not balance. Do the liability and the revenue in the same breath.

   Expect next

   • Would you rather own a business with growing or shrinking deferred revenue, and why?
   • How does deferred revenue affect a DCF?
   • What happens to deferred revenue in an acquisition?

   Reported by candidates at Centerview Partners (Investment Banking, New York, 2026); Piper Sandler (Investment Banking, Houston, 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.