Microsoft interview questions

A first-round corporate development question testing whether a candidate starts with strategy rather than a database filter.

Your CEO asks for a list of acquisition targets to strengthen the company's enterprise software offering. How would you build an initial target screen, and what would you avoid treating as a hard…

A first-round corporate development question testing whether a candidate understands where analyst work fits in a live acquisition.

Walk me through a corporate acquisition from the first strategic idea to post-close integration. Where does corporate development add value at each stage?

A practical first-round question for candidates who may support early-stage deal execution.

What is a letter of intent in an acquisition, and what key points would you expect it to cover?

Asked to test whether you understand the role you're applying to.

You've done M&A at a bank. How is corporate development different, and what would you have to do differently?

The discipline that separates serial acquirers from companies that repeat mistakes.

Two years after an acquisition, how do you assess whether it worked? What do you do with the answer?

Tests operational judgement: integration plans fail more often from unclear ownership than from an insufficient spreadsheet.

How would you set up governance for a mid-sized acquisition that has 20 synergy initiatives across five functions?

Asked in regulated-industry corp dev interviews to test awareness of conduct risk during the gap between signing and closing.

Why might an acquirer use a clean team between signing and closing? What information can it analyse, and what must the buyer avoid doing before close?

An offer-ready integration case testing how a candidate makes a recommendation with incomplete information and competing priorities.

You are acquiring a software company. Finance wants to migrate billing on day one to capture synergies, while the target's sales leader says any billing disruption could jeopardise its ten largest…

A corporate-development analyst must protect deal value and clean-team discipline when new customer information arrives before signing.

You are supporting the acquisition of a workflow-software company. A confidential customer call creates both valuation and antitrust-process issues. Work through the updates and send the CEO a…

A branching corporate-development negotiation covering price, certainty and integration risk.

You lead corporate development for a strategic buyer. Two weeks before signing, the target misses earnings and its largest customer delays renewal. Choose the response at each negotiation turn and…

Corp dev interviews probe this because saying no is a large part of the job.

Your CEO is enthusiastic about an acquisition. Your analysis says the price destroys value. How do you handle it?

Tests whether you understand that valuation depends on who is doing the owning.

A banker values a target at $500m. Your internal analysis says $380m. Both are defensible. Why do they differ?

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?

Asked to assess whether a candidate can design a useful forecasting process rather than simply update a template.

What is a rolling forecast, and how would you run a monthly forecasting cadence without creating a burdensome process for the business?

FP&A interviews test influence without authority as much as modelling.

A business unit leader wants to hire 20 people. Your analysis says the business case doesn't support it. You have no authority over them. What do you do?

A practical case for FP&A teams supporting sales-led businesses.

Sales leadership proposes hiring 20 account executives. Each costs $180,000 fully loaded, takes six months to ramp, and reaches $800,000 of annual quota at 75% attainment. How would you assess the…

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…

A basic FX-risk distinction expected in multinational corporate treasury interviews.

Explain transaction, translation and economic FX exposure. Which should a corporate treasury team hedge?

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.

The core treasury question, and it has no single right answer.

A company has $3bn of revenue and holds $800m of cash. Is that too much? How would you determine the right level?

A corporate treasury inbox escalation requiring prioritisation of cash, funding, and stakeholder actions.

You are the treasury analyst for an acquisitive public company after a delayed receivables cycle and an upcoming debt maturity tighten liquidity. Rank the actions as new information arrives, then send…

Tests whether a treasury candidate prioritises capital preservation and access over a marginal yield pickup.

Your company has $400m of surplus cash that it does not expect to need for nine months. How would you set the short-term investment policy?

A treasury scenario lab combining exposure math, hedge sizing and policy judgement.

Your company expects a EUR receivable in three months. Calculate the exposure and budget risk as certainty changes, then recommend a hedge that protects margin without over-hedging.

Treasury candidates are expected to understand why an economically sensible hedge can create reported earnings volatility.

Why does hedge accounting matter to a treasury team? Explain the basic difference between a cash flow hedge and a fair value hedge.

A treasury case question that tests funding execution, rating protection and contingency planning at once.

Your company is signing a $2bn cash acquisition that closes in six months. How would you build the treasury funding plan before announcement?

A senior treasury judgement question on turning a large reported cash balance into usable capital without ignoring legal-entity constraints.

A group reports $1.0bn of cash, but $600m sits in foreign subsidiaries. The parent has a $250m maturity in eight months and is considering a share repurchase. How would you determine how much cash is…

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?

Used in corporate strategy roles where uncertainty is high and point forecasts are misleading.

How would you build scenarios for a three-year strategic plan?

A senior strategy case that tests capital discipline when an initiative has visible sponsorship but weak evidence.

A three-year growth initiative has consumed $30m. It has $8m of annual revenue, negative $6m of annual contribution profit, and management says the next $15m will unlock scale. How would you recommend…

A foundational interview question for corporate finance candidates who will support executive capital decisions.

What are the main ways a profitable company can use cash, and how would you frame the choice to a CFO?

A hard strategic finance case where the analyst must compare a corporate development opportunity with an internal investment plan.

A company can build a capability internally for $60m over three years or acquire it today for $180m. How would you decide?

Corporate development and strategic finance interviews use this as a structured case.

Your company wants to enter an adjacent market. Should you build the capability internally, acquire a company, or partner? Structure the analysis.

Core to treasury, corporate development and strategic finance interviews.

You're the treasurer of a mid-cap company currently at 1.0x net debt / EBITDA. The CFO asks whether you should lever up to 3.0x and buy back stock. How would you analyse this, and what would you…