Amazon interview questions

A common first-round FP&A question testing whether candidates understand the planning cadence.

What is the difference between a budget and a forecast? If revenue is tracking below plan in April, which number should management use to run the business?

A core planning exercise because people costs are the largest controllable expense at many companies.

Walk me through how you would build a headcount and compensation plan for the next fiscal year. What errors would make the plan unreliable?

A standard FP&A follow-up when revenue may be on plan but profitability is not.

Revenue is on budget, but gross margin falls from 60% to 55%. How would you investigate and explain the decline to the CFO?

A foundational question for explaining operating leverage and building downside scenarios.

Explain fixed, variable and semi-variable costs. Why does the distinction matter when revenue falls below plan?

Central to FP&A interviews. They want process, not spreadsheet skills.

Compare top-down and bottom-up forecasting. How would you build a revenue forecast for a business with 40% recurring and 60% transactional revenue, and how do you handle the fact that forecasts are…

The recurring deliverable of an FP&A team, and interviewers ask for the method.

Revenue came in $4m below budget for the month. How do you explain it, and what does a useful explanation contain?

Used in FP&A and strategic finance interviews to test decision-support judgement.

A team wants to outsource a process. The vendor charges $900,000 per year. Keeping it in-house costs $1.2m, but $500,000 of that is unavoidable fixed cost for the next two years. Should the company…

An FP&A inbox simulation turning an overnight miss into an executive recommendation.

At 7:30am the CFO forwards preliminary monthly results: “Revenue is fine, EBITDA missed by $4m. I need the cause, full-year impact and action before the 8:00 call.” Work through the files and draft…

A rolling-forecast engine checking the linked outputs affected by new actuals and operating assumptions.

The first quarter closes and two operating drivers change. Update only the affected full-year outputs, then explain the revised outlook to the CFO.

A judgement-heavy FP&A question for candidates expected to influence senior operators.

Sales leaders consistently submit conservative forecasts so they can beat plan, while product leaders submit optimistic cost estimates to secure funding. How would you redesign the process without…

A CFO review case testing whether the candidate can connect operating performance, working capital, and an immediate liquidity response.

A company beats its quarterly EBITDA plan by $4m but generates $9m less operating cash flow than forecast. Revenue is on plan. Inventory is $7m above plan, receivables are $5m above plan, and payables…

An FP&A forecast update testing whether an analyst locks actuals, changes only affected drivers, and carries the revision through linked P&L and cash outputs.

You own the rolling forecast after Q1 close. Update the linked revenue, EBITDA and operating-cash outputs as new actuals and operating assumptions arrive, then write the CFO note that distinguishes a…

A business-partnering case for an FP&A candidate asked to preserve a cash target while making real capacity trade-offs across functions.

Mid-year, the CFO needs $12m of incremental cash savings while preserving the product launch scheduled for the fourth quarter. Sales asks to keep all planned hires, product asks to protect…

Strategy teams use this to test whether candidates can turn an uncertain growth idea into a disciplined experiment.

Management wants to spend $20m rolling out a new service nationally. You believe demand is uncertain. What learning agenda would you propose before approving the full spend?

A common first-round case for corporate strategy roles.

Your company is considering entering an adjacent market. How would you evaluate whether to enter?

A core strategy decision when a company needs a capability it does not yet own.

Your company needs a new capability to compete. How do you decide whether to build it, buy it, or partner?

A strategy-team case when a company has identified several gaps but cannot solve all of them at once.

A retailer wants to launch a marketplace, personalised pricing and same-day delivery. Each initiative looks attractive in isolation, but management can fund only two over the next 18 months. How would…

Used to test whether an entry-level candidate understands why rapid growth alone is not a financial objective.

A business can grow revenue at 25% but earn a 6% return on invested capital. Is that good growth?

A first-round question for an analyst expected to explain why a small revenue miss can create a much larger earnings miss.

What is operating leverage, and why does it matter when you build a strategic plan?

Foundational capital budgeting question across corporate finance interviews.

Two mutually exclusive projects: Project A has an NPV of $10m and an IRR of 15%. Project B has an NPV of $8m and an IRR of 25%. Which do you choose, and why do the two metrics disagree?

A practical case for finance teams supporting a plant, fulfilment centre or data-centre investment.

Operations proposes a $120m capacity expansion that is NPV-positive in the base case. What would you test before recommending approval?

A foundational treasury interview question because weekly liquidity is managed through a short-term forecast.

Walk me through how you would build a 13-week cash forecast for a company with seasonal sales. What makes it useful rather than merely accurate-looking?

A corporate treasury analyst is asked for a same-day liquidity recommendation before a potentially disruptive weekend.

It is 4:30pm Friday. Your treasurer asks whether to draw the revolver before the weekend after a customer payment slips. Work through the inbox updates and draft the recommendation for the CFO.