Corporate Finance
Prepalyst has 20 strategic finance interview questions with model answers, covering project selection, returning capital and measuring per-share value. Every question is graded on technical accuracy, completeness and interview communication. Practice is free.
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?
A common planning-team question when an executive asks to annualise a strong or weak recent month.
Your CEO says, “April revenue was $12m, so we are on a $144m run rate.” How would you respond?
A first-round question on how corporate finance teams screen investment proposals.
What is a hurdle rate, and should every project at a company use the same one?
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 simple calculation question that reveals whether candidates understand a common but incomplete investment screen.
A project costs $100m and generates $25m of annual cash flow. Its payback period is four years. Is that enough to approve it?
Strategic finance analysts are asked to convert a strategy into a multi-year financial and operating plan.
How would you build a three-year long-range plan for a company entering two new product categories?
Strategic finance analysts use this reconciliation to explain a revenue variance to operating leaders and a CFO.
Last year a company sold 1.0m units at $100 each. This year it sold 1.1m units: 0.8m premium units at $110 and 0.3m standard units at $90. Build a revenue bridge and explain what management should investigate.
Standard in corporate finance and equity research interviews.
A board wants to return $1bn to shareholders. Compare a buyback with a special dividend. Which would you recommend and what determines the answer?
A common CFO-level case when a cash-generative company is deciding between reinvestment and a buyback.
Your company has $500m of excess cash and its share price has fallen 30%. Should it repurchase shares?
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?
The central question of corporate finance. Expect it in any strategic finance interview.
A company generates $500m of annual free cash flow. Rank the uses of that cash and explain the framework you'd apply.
A practical treasury and FP&A question with a clear quantitative component.
A company with $2bn of revenue and $1.4bn of COGS has DSO of 65 days, DIO of 90 days and DPO of 40 days. Calculate the cash conversion cycle, quantify the cash released by improving DSO to 50 days, and discuss the risks…
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 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.
An offer-level judgement question on protecting a business while selectively investing through a downturn.
Demand has fallen 20%, cash is tightening and the CEO wants to cut every discretionary project. How would you frame the capital-allocation decision?
A senior analyst case assessing whether a portfolio review recommendation considers cash, stranded costs and opportunity cost rather than headline multiples.
A conglomerate can sell a non-core division for $600m. The division generates $55m of annual EBITDA, requires $25m of capex and uses $80m of working capital. How would you decide whether to sell it?
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 recommend?
A CFO case in which a cost programme must improve near-term liquidity without impairing the recovery.
A company must improve cash flow by $80m this year after demand softens. The CEO proposes an across-the-board 10% operating-expense cut. How would you build a better plan?
Write your answer, get it graded on technical accuracy, completeness and communication, and see exactly which mechanic you missed.
Firm names indicate where a question type is commonly reported in interviews. They are not sourced from, endorsed by, or affiliated with the firms named.