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. 086What are the formulas for net revenue retention, gross retention and churn?Case and estimationIntermediatetechnicalPiper SandlerInvestment Banking · Burlingame · 2026

   Say this

   All three measure the same cohort a year later. Gross retention counts only what you kept, capped at 100 percent. Net retention adds expansion, so it can exceed 100. Churn is the revenue you lost as a percentage of what you started with.

   Then walk it

   1. Gross revenue retention: starting recurring revenue from a cohort, less churn and downgrades, divided by starting revenue. Expansion is excluded, so it can never exceed 100 percent.
   2. Net revenue retention: starting revenue, less churn and downgrades, plus upsell and expansion, divided by starting revenue. Above 100 percent means the base grows by itself.
   3. Gross churn: revenue lost divided by starting revenue. It is one minus gross retention. Logo churn counts customers rather than revenue, and the two can diverge sharply if you lose many small accounts or one large one.
   4. The critical rule: neither retention metric includes revenue from new customers. Mixing new business into retention is the most common error and it flatters the number badly.
   5. Benchmarks worth knowing: best-in-class enterprise SaaS runs gross retention above 90 percent and net above 120. SMB software runs materially lower on both because small customers fail.
   6. Why it matters for valuation: net retention above 110 percent means the business compounds without selling, which is exactly what justifies a high revenue multiple.

   Where candidates lose it

   Including new customer revenue in the retention calculation. It is a cohort metric. And not knowing which one can exceed 100 percent, which immediately reveals whether you have actually used these numbers.

   Expect next

   • What is the rule of forty?
   • Which matters more for valuation, growth or retention?
   • Why can logo churn and revenue churn diverge?

   Reported by candidates at Piper Sandler (Investment Banking, Burlingame, 2026). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

2. 089Given a 20x P/E, 10x EV/EBITDA, $20 of interest at a 5 percent rate, $200 of market cap and $20 of depreciation, calculate the tax rate.Case and estimationHardsuperdayEvercoreMergers and Acquisitions · San Francisco · 2026

   Say this

   Work backwards from the multiples to build the income statement. Net income is $10, debt is $400, so enterprise value is $600 and EBITDA is $60. EBIT is $40, pre-tax income is $20, so tax is $10 on $20 — a 50 percent rate. That is above any statutory rate, so I would flag that the inputs are inconsistent rather than just hand you the number.

   Then walk it

   1. Net income: market cap $200 at a 20 times P/E means net income of $10.
   2. Debt: $20 of interest at a 5 percent rate implies $400 of debt.
   3. Enterprise value: $200 equity plus $400 debt is $600, assuming no cash. At 10 times EV/EBITDA, EBITDA is $60.
   4. Then EBIT is EBITDA less depreciation, so $60 less $20 is $40. Pre-tax income is EBIT less interest, so $40 less $20 is $20. Net income is $10, so tax is $10 on $20, which is a 50 percent rate.
   5. I would then flag it: 50 percent is above any statutory rate, which usually means the question contains rounded or inconsistent inputs, or there is a non-operating item I am not being told about.
   6. The way to handle this live is to lay out the chain clearly, state the answer the arithmetic gives, and then say what would make it plausible: cash on the balance sheet would lower enterprise value and therefore EBITDA, and minority interest or a one-off charge below the line would change the bridge.

   Where candidates lose it

   Either freezing on the arithmetic or reporting an absurd tax rate with a straight face. The test is whether you can chain multiples backwards into an income statement, and whether you have the judgement to flag an implausible output rather than just handing it over.

   Expect next

   • What if there were cash on the balance sheet?
   • Which assumption are you least comfortable with?
   • Redo it with $100 of cash.

   Reported by candidates at Evercore (Mergers and Acquisitions, San Francisco, 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.