How Would A $10 Increase In Depreciation Expense Affect The Three Financial Statements
Sample Answer:In the income statement, the depreciation increase of $10 is set off by a reduction of $4 on taxes as depreciation is a tax-deductible expense for the net reduction in net income of $6. In the cash flow statement, net income is reduced by $6, depreciation is increased by $10, net cash from operations and total cash is increased by $4. This increase in cash is because depreciation is a non-cash expense that has no impact on cash while the reduction in taxes affects the cash flow. In the balance sheet, property, plant, and equipment balances reduce by $10, cash balance increases by $4, and retained earnings reduce by $6 due to the reduction in net income.
The following points summarize this:
On the income statement
- $10 depreciation expense, 40% tax rate
- Reduction in net income of $10 x = $6
Reduction in net income flows to cash from operations
- Net income reduced by $6
- Depreciation increases by $10
- Net increase in cash from operations of $4
- Ending cash increases by $4
Ending cash flows onto the balance sheet
- Cash increases by $4
- Property, plant, and equipment lose $10 in value
- Net decrease in assets of $6, matches the net drop in shareholder equity due to the reduction of retained earnings from the $6 is net income
What Do You Do When A Client Is Struggling To Understand The Financial Situation You Are Explaining To Them To Help Them Comprehend It
For average customers who are not familiar with financial rules and regulations, you may need to explain offers or account decisions in more simple terms. The ability to translate financial talk into easily-understood language is highly important as a banking professional. Use this question to demonstrate how you believe in speaking to the customer in relatable ways to help them make sense of what you’re explaining.
Example:”Whenever I am dealing with a customer, I always explain things as simply as possible unless I know they have a higher level of financial literacy. When this approach is still not enough and it becomes clear that the customer is not understanding, I will try to find a new way to make it more relatable to them. I try to get to know customers when they come in and get service at the desk so that I have more to base conversations like this on when needed.”
Build Up Your Personality
Dont be like every other person that goes for the interview. The interviewers will have seen lots of such people throughout the day and it can very well work against you. You need to make a good impression and stand out. Be unique and someone admirable. Dont be generic and ordinary. When answering questions or making statements, dont use the answers you found on the internet. Make up your own answers because the interviewers will have met people that use the same answers and say the same statements. They will not like monotony.
Get Free Mock Tests on the Entri App
Also Check: Mailscoop Io
Ib Interview First Impressions
We’ve all heard about it at one point or another. Forbes has on it.“First impressions are the best impressions.”
Within just a few seconds of meeting, people will form a solid opinion of who you are. Perfecting your first impression while carrying yourself with a healthy balance of confidence and humility lays the foundation and tone for the rest of the interview. The following section has been written by Patrick Curtis, CEO of WallStreetOasis, based on his vast experience of interviewing candidates for investment banking positions.
Read it over, perfect your entry and learn how to leave a lasting impression on your interviewer from the get-go.
If You Could Use Only One Financial Statement To Evaluate The Financial State Of A Company Which Would You Choose

Sample Answer:The cash flow statement because it shows the actual liquidity of the company and how it is generating and using cash. The balance sheet just shows a snapshot of the company at a point in time, without showing the performance of the company, and the Income statement has several non-cash expenses that may not be affecting the company’s health and can be manipulated. Overall, the key to a great company is generating significant cash flow and having a healthy cash balance, both of which are disclosed in the CF statement.
Don’t Miss: How To Prepare System Design Interview
Why Do You Want To Make A Career In The Banking Sector
This question is common in bank interviews as the answer helps the interviewer understand your reasons behind the choice of career.
Talking points can include the importance of the banking sector, its influence and growth trends.
Avoid sharing personal reasons like salary, reputation, perks, etc., and answer with reasons and factual opinions.
What Are Your Strengths Investment Banking
In addition, banking analysts should be energetic, the last piece of the puzzle. You should always take the attitude that work hard/play hard.. The attitude and the way you play as a team are excellent. You should never be afraid to ask questions or make a mistake. It is always a good idea to pay attention to detail.
Also Check: Questions To Ask A Cfo In An Interview
Investment Banking Interview Questions And Answers
101 common technical, fit, behavioral, and logic investment banking interview questions with sample answers
- Investment Banking Interview Questions & Answers
The Investment Banking interview process is highly competitive and designed to rigorously filter out potential candidates. Consequently, answering the behavioral, technical, and logical questions that are asked in the interview with proven answers that we provide is key to converting an interview into an offer.
The following free WSO IB interview guide is a comprehensive tool designed to cover every single aspect of the interview process, guiding you from the very beginning to the very end.
This guide features 101 of the most common technical, behavioral, logical, and group-specific questions that are asked by investment banking professionals to candidates during the hiring process as well as sample answers to each one of them. It is a great place to start your preparation before investing in our more comprehensive IB interview course.
This resource includes 21 bank-specific questions from bulge bracket investment banks .
This interview guide consists of 16 sections which cater to various phases of the interview process.
Shred The Fear Of Not Known
It has been observed on many occasions that student fails out of timidity. The worry of the unknown is more dangerous than you actually dont know. Remember confidence has no alternative to your success. Candidates often caught on a fear that what questions are going to be asked, whether he/she can answer all the questions etc.
Dont worry most of the candidates have the same fear. Well, theres nothing to say about your preparation and hard work. Your preparations should be up to the mark apart from that, your confidence should be at the peak.
You May Like: Best Interview Attire For A Woman
General Banking Interview Questions
Not every question you will encounter when interviewing for a banking position will be related to banking. Often, interviewers will ask a selection of general questions to get a better understanding of who you are and what kind of an employee you would be, such as:
Read More: 125 Common Interview Questions and Answers
Tips To Prepare For Bank Interview
Bank Recruitment 2011: The interview is a very important part of the recruitment process. We tell you how to prepare yourself to face the interview for Bank Probationary Officer or Clerk.
bank interview
Since now you have cleared your written exam, the last phase of the bank recruitment process is Interview. Along with your performance at written exam, interview will be the deciding factor if you have cracked the recruitment process successfully. While your knowledge was judged in the written exams, the employer will judge your communication, attitude, and problem solving skills. jagranjosh.com guides candidates who will be appearing for bank interviews.
Know the bankThe first step to the preparation of bank interview is knowing the bank of which you have cleared the exam. Almost all banks today have their website to promote financial products and provide online banking for their customers. Know about their history, services, products, achievement, management, as well as their values.
Practice interview questionsAsk a friend to help you prepare for basic interview questions. Interviewers would ask about you, your family background, strengths, weaknesses, the reason they should hire you etc. Give a copy of your resume to a friend and allow him/her to question you about your education and work experience.
Read Also: Interview Attire Womens
Understand Behavioural Competency And Situational Interview Questions
When preparing for a job interview, you should next make sure you understand how to answer job interview questions. To get to the motivations and working style of a potential employee, interviewers often turn to behavioural, competency, and situational interview questions to understand your behaviours and establish your core skills and competencies relevant to the role, such as teamwork, creativity and innovation, decision making ability, business awareness or conflict resolution.Behavioural and competency based interview questions usually begin with, Tell me about a time when or Give me an example of an occasion when Both behavioural and competency based interviewing are based on the idea that past behaviour can predict future action.
Sample competency based interview questions and behavioural based interview questions include
- Describe a situation in which you didnt meet your stated goal. How did you handle it?
- Describe a situation in which you took the initiative to change a process or system and make it better. How did you identify the problem? How did you go about instituting change?
- Describe a time when you were required to use your analytical skills to make an informed decision.
- Tell me about a time when you used your creativity to solve a problem.
Sample situational interview questions include:
Intelligent Preparation For Interview Questions

First, note that this article is about investment banking interview questions not the overall process, how to win interviews, or what to do before and after the interviews.
For those, see our articles on how to get into investment banking, investment banking recruitment, and the investment banking industry.
Second, Im going to link and refer back to our existing coverage for many of these questions since the most important ones have dedicated articles on this site.
The key preparation point is this: Rather than memorizing 541,763 questions and answers, you should focus on the main question categories and make sure that you have stories and examples prepared for them.
There are only four types of questions youll encounter in interviews at investment banks, and you can prepare for 3 / 4 of them in 1-2 days .
The last category technical questions will take more time and effort, but you can save time by focusing on the right topics and ignoring the fluff.
Recommended Reading: Interview Attire Women
Give Me An Example Of A Time When Youve Worked Successfully In A Team
Much like the previous question, the employer is asking you to recall a specific example to highlight how well you work in a team. Its important to use an example that is relevant or transferable to a banking environment.
Alongside this, impress the interviewer by highlighting how your teamwork example demonstrates your other key skills. For example, you could talk about empathising with team members or supporting those more reserved team members by asking them to express their ideas.
Full Wso Ib Prep Guide & Additional Resources
Many of the sample answers in the guide above were taken from WSO’s very own Investment Banking Interview Prep Course, which features:
- 7,548 questions across 469 investment banks
- 3 Modules to master technical + fit + networking
- Access to Company Database for 12 months
Think about it – if this page can set you miles ahead of the competition, imagine what our complete guide can do for you.
Receiving the title of, “The Insider’s Guide on How to Land the Most Prestigious Jobs on Wall Street”, the WSO IB Interview Prep Course will walk you step-by-step through the interview process, and place you in the strongest position to land the job. Click the button below to check it out.
You May Like: Interview Questions To Ask A Cfo
Investment Banking Interview Questions Category : Discussing Deals Markets And Companies
This category includes questions such as:
- Tell me about a recent deal.
- Tell me about a deal our bank worked on recently.
- Tell me about a company youre interested in.
- What makes Market X interesting to you?
These questions are not that important unless youve had extensive deal experience that the interviewers plan to dig into but they do require extra research and preparation.
We recommend the following steps:
There are many tips on how to research and prepare for these questions in our articles on discussing a recent deal and discussing your own deals.
Tips To Prepare For The Bank Po Interview
Below are a few tips for the students to prepare well for the bank PO examination. It is necessary to comprehend well for the interview session as it is the ultimate hurdle to qualifying the banking assessment. Here are reasonable points that can assist you to answer well in the examination.
# Practise well before appearing for the examination. Comprehend all possible previous interview questions. Increase your communication skills by interacting with others or having self conversations.
# Know accurate body posture while answering the questions. Dont lean on the chair or fold your legs. Your body language and answers should match.
# Be confident and real. Dont act fake in front of the panel, just present how you are. Never overreact to a question or any problem you encounter in the meeting.
# Be loud and clear. Dont mumble the answers in your mouth or have any self-talks. Dont smile all the time while answering.
# Answer the question precisely and to the point. Dont add extra information and waste time. If you dont know the answer to any question then just say anything related to it but never keep quiet in front of the panel that gives a poor impression.
Also Read: What is the Job Profile of SBI Bank PO? Herere the Salary and More
Don’t Miss: Questions To Ask A Cfo During An Interview
How To Prepare For Bank Interview Questions
Our Career Development tools for you:
Perhaps, this is a regular question asked by candidates after clearing the written tests conducted by banks. Interview sessions are considered tough by many, as it involves speaking out. Here are some commonly asked bank interview questions methods to answer them. Although you would be extensively asked about banking terms & amp definitions, the interviewer will generally start with the following queries.
This article will take you through:
What Is One Concern You Have About Working In Banking
Much like the age-old biggest weakness question, this one should be answered with caution. Try and take a concern you have about working in investment banking and following it up with a positive.
An example of this would be: My biggest concern is about the work-life balance, as I like to spend as much time with my family as possible. This is why working for your company, who are based in Sydney, would be perfect for me.
Recommended Reading: What Should Females Wear To A Job Interview
Problem Solving Questions :
This section of the investment banking interview questions provides insight into the candidates critical thinking skills.
Question #1How many hairstylists or barbers do you estimate there are there in this city? Explain your logic/assumptions.
Answer: Explain the logic based on the population of the city, average number of cuts people have per year, number of cuts one barber can do per year, and thus how many that implies there must be.
Question #2In the middle of a pond is a single lily pad the lily pad doubles in size every day and the pond is completely covered on the last day of the month . How long does it take for the pond to be half covered?
Answer: 29 days, because if it doubles in size each day it also halves each day. Thus at 29 days is half full in order to be completely full in 30 days.
Question #3A windowless room contains three identical light bulbs. Each light is connected to one of three switches outside of the room. Each bulb is switched off at present. You are outside the room, and the door is closed. You have one, and only one, opportunity to flip any of the external switches. After this, you can go into the room and look at the lights, but you may not touch the switches again. How can you tell which switch goes to which light?
Answer: Switch on switches 1 & 2, wait a moment and switch off number 2. Enter the room. Whichever bulb is on is wired to switch 1, whichever is off and hot is wired to switch number 2, and the third is wired to switch 3.