Interview prep

Finance interview questions

The technical questions that actually come up — with answers, explanations, and a drill on every page so you can find out whether you really know it. Free, no account needed.

Reading an answer and being able to give one are different skills. Most candidates who fail a technical interview could have picked the right option from a list; what they could not do was produce it, out loud, with a structure, while someone watched. That gap is what practice closes.

Each page below gives you the model answer and what the interviewer is listening for, then hands you real questions from the Basis curriculum to answer yourself.

Valuation Walk me through a DCF The question you will almost certainly be asked. The three-minute answer, and what the interviewer is actually listening for. 19 practice questions Accounting Accounting interview questions The three statements, how they link, and the depreciation walk-through that separates prepared candidates from the rest. 37 practice questions Valuation Valuation interview questions The three methodologies, which gives the highest value and why, and the enterprise-versus-equity trap. 27 practice questions Private equity LBO and private equity questions How a leveraged buyout actually makes money, the three levers of return, and why sponsors use debt at all. 20 practice questions Markets Markets and macro questions Where the 10-year is, what moved last week, and how to pitch a stock without sounding like a press release. 34 practice questions

Mixed drill

Six questions pulled from across accounting, valuation and markets. No account, no download.

How to use these pages

Work in this order, because each layer rests on the one before it. Accounting first — if you cannot link the three statements, nothing downstream will hold up. Then valuation, which is mostly a question of knowing which tool fits which situation. Then the DCF specifically, since it is the one walk-through you are almost certain to be asked for. LBO mechanics matter for private equity and for any banking role that touches leveraged finance. Markets questions are their own discipline: less about mechanics, more about whether you actually follow what is happening.

Do not try to learn all five in a week. A candidate who can answer accounting and valuation cleanly reads better than one with shaky coverage of everything.

Common follow-ups

What technical questions come up in a finance interview?
For investment banking: the three financial statements and how they link, how to walk through a DCF, the main valuation methodologies and when each applies, enterprise versus equity value, and basic LBO mechanics. For markets roles the emphasis shifts to where rates and major indices are, what moved them recently, and a stock or trade idea you can defend.
How do I prepare for a finance interview technically?
Drilling beats reading. Most candidates can recognise the right answer in an article and still freeze when asked out loud, because recognition and recall are different skills. Work through questions until you can answer without prompts, then practise saying the answer aloud in under two minutes.
How long should a technical answer be?
Ninety seconds to two minutes for a structured question like a DCF walk-through. Give the skeleton first, then offer detail: “project unlevered free cash flow, discount it at WACC, add a terminal value, bridge to equity value — want me to go deeper on any step?” Interviewers are testing structure as much as knowledge.
Are these questions free?
Yes. Every drill on these pages is free and needs no account. They come from the Basis curriculum — 98 lessons and 449 questions — which you can work through free in your browser or in the iOS app.

449 questions, 98 lessons, free

These drills are a slice of the Basis curriculum. Work through the whole thing in your browser, or take it with you — the app adds streaks, spaced repetition and a daily market game built on real financial history.

Start free in your browser