Finance Case Study Example | Finance Interview Technical Questions

Learn how to solve a finance case study and make a recommendation - the type frequently given in technical finance interviews. We build a financial model to analyze key metrics. Free template included!

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One of the quickest and most common ways to evaluate candidates for analyst roles is to give them a finance case study during an interview. Case studies force us to both crunch the numbers quantitatively to demonstrate our knowledge and also think about the big picture and make recommendations - they are a lot of fun!

For these reasons, they are common in technical finance interviews, university projects, MBA programs, etc.

In this video, I help you solve a finance interview case study for a software platform that is considering a revenue share partnership with another company - this is the type of case study that would be common at a FAANG or big tech company.

All case studies start the same way - they present you with a set of facts during some pivotal moment at a company where they are trying to decide whether they want to do some new thing (be it internally, or externally).

Regardless of the specifics - all case studies in finance are effectively asking you to do the same thing - build a simple income statement, differentiate COGS vs. OPEX expenses, calculate the depreciation for a CAPEX investment, and evaluate cash vs. accrual accounting payback period.

At the end, you are expected to synthesize your analysis into an open-ended recommendation about what the company should do.

Now that you understand the basic format of finance case studies, let's walk through this example where I help you develop a framework of ideas to analyze situations with.

SECTIONS:

1:04 finance case study model setup (all case studies are basically asking the same info)
3:55 building the income statement & analyzing margins
10:50 calculating depreciation schedule for CAPEX
16:15 cash flow analysis & payback period vs. p&l
18:12 key quantitative metrics for making a case study recommendation
21:10 key qualitative metrics for making a case study recommendation
24:36 my finance case study recommendation

By the end of this video, you will understand how to approach finance case studies, crunch the numbers, and make recommendations in your future interviews - I guarantee it!

If you have questions - please leave a comment below and I'll try to help. Cheers!

#financecasestudy #financeinterviews #saas

[mothekilla]

As a senior financial analyst I have to say these skills are very important and you did an amazing job going over it all.

[zakistar]

Usually I don't make comments on videos that I watch, but what you did is so amazing in terms of opening my eye on the big picture. Thanks from the bottom of my heart Eric.

[tatianapolydore]

You dropped this video just in time. I have a case study finance interview coming up and I'm sooo rusty with my financial modeling haha

[gregorycohen]

Love that Eric brings the casual vibes to finance! Hawaiian shirts 7 days a week baybee!

[WatUpJason]

I have a finance case study interview next Monday and was frustrated, since I graduated last year and haven't looked at accounting principles for a year. This video was helpful enough to bring my dead brain cells back alive! Thanks alot man

[stephaniegoodman]

Super helpful! Thanks so much.
Just a quick FYI pretty sure you miscalculated your EBIT % @13;46 you divided by GP instead of revenue ;)

[_tacotempura]

Love this new video, Eric! So important to know how to apply the fundamental financial statement concepts you teach in your other videos to case study scenarios like this. Also love how broad this case study example is! Super helpful

[geeteshanand]

Beautifully laid out. Its detailed and makes an aspiring FP&A professional think in a certain way!

[ericbecker]

Thank you so much for this video, especially for also taking so much time to discuss the thought process on the recommendation, this is helping me remember to keep the bigger picture in mind and I think this so helpful as I am preparing to do case studies for recruiting processes!

[chrisboychev]

Seems as the number of customers is incorrect. It says "Number of NEW customers". You should add the existing customers to the new. Hence, in year 2 you should have a total of 27 customers.

[CaroleAnnReno]

Perfect explanation of how to build a case study!

[MademoiselleKite]

Very good simple explanation. Just one little issue when you calculated the EBIT %, you chose the line gross profit as the denominator instead of the revenue line... ;-)

[skyinvest]

Finally found someone who eplains really well, and catches ur attention!! Thank youuu, im still a student, I want to smash my interviews like this

[duncanmahood]

Amazing to see how fast you can navigate Excel with those keyboard shortcuts. I have to start using these more! Thanks for the video Eric!

[ericaoliver]

I love this video! Your pace, thought process and thoroughness is great!

[sharda]

great breakdown that will help with my upcoming interview - thank you!

[khalilfuller]

Everything was pretty easy up until the Cash Flow section (give it i have not taken a finance class yet). I think the most essential thing to these case studies are the questions we should pose for evaluating potential investments. Great video as well

[thegeekshot]

oh my is this video real?! Thank you so much! This is like magic!

[jaynm]

I been have been looking for a business case analysis example

[raphaelweitling]

Very nice and easy to understand video ! Keep going and congrats from France 🇫🇷