Corporate Finance
23 strategic finance questions of the kind asked in corporate finance interviews. Each carries a model answer, the concepts a complete response must hit, and graded feedback on your own attempt.
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 filter?
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 common first-round case for corporate strategy roles.
Your company is considering entering an adjacent market. How would you evaluate whether to enter?
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 value-creation case in private equity portfolio operations interviews.
How would you identify and execute a pricing opportunity at a portfolio company?
A practical commercial strategy case for product-led or consumer companies.
A business with 40% gross margin wants to raise price by 10%. What would you analyse before recommending it?
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?
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?
Distinguishes a proactive corp dev function from one that reacts to banker calls.
How would you build an acquisition pipeline for a company that has done two deals in five years and wants to do two a year?
Asked when a new product may hurt the existing business.
A company can launch a lower-priced product that may cannibalise its premium product. How should management decide?
A commercial-excellence case in portfolio operations recruiting.
Revenue is flat despite a larger sales team. How would you diagnose sales force productivity?
Asked in technology and marketplace strategy interviews.
What is the difference between a product strategy and a platform strategy?
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…
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?
Asked in global strategy cases where a successful home-market product is being adapted for new regions.
A consumer platform is expanding into five countries. Should it offer one standard product globally or localise market by market?
The step most strategy analyses skip, and the one that determines the outcome.
Your company is considering cutting prices 10% to gain share. How do you assess whether it will work?
The core corporate strategy question, and it appears in case form.
Your company wants to enter an adjacent market. How do you assess whether you have a right to win?
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 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 turning FP&A into a…
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 you sequence the…
Operating partners are hired to answer this, and the ordering is the answer.
A portfolio company has $300m revenue and a 12% EBITDA margin. The plan requires 18%. Where do you find 600bp?
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.