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Big 4 Transaction Services: Pathway to Private Equity, or Just a Small Improvement Over Audit?

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At some point, almost everyone “becomes interested” in Big 4 Transaction Services (TS) teams:

• Auditors fantasize about escaping from a boring, repetitive grind and moving into a higher-paying job with more interesting work.
• Aspiring investment bankers think about their Plan B options and wonder if a Big 4 job offer might be a good pathway into IB.
• Corporate finance professionals want to escape their repetitive work and assume that anything related to deals will be an improvement.
• And career changers figure that Big 4 firms might offer easier pathways into higher-paying jobs in finance, consulting, and related fields.

I could go on, but you get the idea.

The point is, everyone debates the merits of these jobs, but there’s still a lot of confusion over what “Transaction Services” means.

We’ll delve into all these points in this article, but let’s start with the basic definition:

The Transaction Services Job Description

Transaction Services Definition: Transaction Services (TS) teams at Big 4 and other accounting firms advise on specific aspects of M&A transactions, such as financial due diligence and the valuation of intangible assets, and they help buyers assess the financial risk of deals; when TS teams advise sellers, they confirm financial results and business trends to potential buyers.

The TS group may also be called “Transaction Advisory Services” (TAS), among other names.

At the large accounting firms, such as the Big 4 , Transaction Services is usually split into different sub-groups:

• Valuations and Appraisals
• Financial Due Diligence (FDD)
• Corporate Finance (may be a separate group)
• Integration Services
• “Business Recovery Services” or Restructuring (may be a separate group)

We will focus on groups #1 and #2 (Valuations and Financial Due Diligence) here.

Corporate Finance and Restructuring are quite different and don’t fit the TS definition above, and the Integration Services group is smaller and has less readily available information.

We did publish an interview about Big 4 Restructuring a long time ago, so refer to that for more details.

We’ve been using the name “Big 4 Transaction Services,” but many non-Big 4 firms and business valuation firms offer these services as well; examples include RSM, BDO, Grant Thornton, Moss Adams, and CLA.

The nature of Transaction Services roles differs heavily based on region .

In Europe, for example, TS teams analyze both historical financial information and forecasts.

But in the U.S., TS teams can analyze only past results due to regulatory differences.

As a result, you gain more exposure to actual financial modeling in European TS roles, and the exit opportunities are better.

Big 4 Transaction Services vs. Investment Banking

Professionals in TS groups work on deals differently than investment bankers.

M&A investment bankers execute the entire deal process from start to finish, including finding and contacting potential buyers and sellers, marketing the company, and negotiating the purchase agreement.

By contrast, Big 4 TS teams:

• Work on only one specific part of the deal (e.g., when a potential buyer is conducting due diligence, or when a deal is closing and the buyer needs to integrate the company and re-value the seller’s Balance Sheet ).
• Are paid on an hourly basis with fees that are not linked to the deal closing successfully.
• Earn fees per engagement somewhere in the $200K – $800K USD range , which is less than what investment banks earn even on “small deals” (but the collection probability is also much higher).

The exceptions here are the Corporate Finance and Restructuring teams at Big 4 firms, but they’re often considered separate from Transaction Services (see below).

Valuation vs. Financial Due Diligence vs. Integration Services vs. Corporate Finance vs. Restructuring

There are many groups within or around “Transaction Services,” so it’s worth explaining how they differ.

The Valuation, Financial Due Diligence, and Integration Services teams all advise on specific aspects of deals and get paid for specific projects, so they fit the definition above.

The Valuation group, similar to business valuation firms , usually works on tasks like purchase price allocation , re-valuing sellers’ assets and liabilities in M&A deals, Goodwill impairment testing, and the valuation of financial assets.

If you’re in the group, you’ll learn far more about valuation than the average banker, but you won’t get much exposure to entire deal processes or other types of modeling.

The Financial Due Diligence (FDD) group digs into companies’ financial statements to highlight trends and identify “red flags” before buyers complete M&A deals.

For example, they might determine the key revenue drivers over the past few years, figure out the company’s cash conversion cycle , determine whether or not the provided EBITDA figures are accurate, and find the company’s “true debt” levels (including hidden and off-Balance Sheet items).

Something like operating leverage could also be a focal point, and they could dig into metrics such as Days Sales Outstanding .

They might also calculate the most common liquidity ratios , including the current ratio , quick ratio , and cash ratio , and make adjustments to determine their true values and the key trends over time.

Quality of Earnings (QoE) reports to assess a company’s recurring earnings and the validity of its accounting policies are also common.

The FDD team typically does this work during the bidding phase of an M&A deal, when potential buyers have access to the seller’s data room.

Finally, the Integration Services team assists with the post-merger integration process when the buyer and seller’s financials, taxes, reporting, and other systems must line up.

In contrast to these three groups, the Corporate Finance and Restructuring teams are much closer to investment banking.

The Corporate Finance team at most Big 4 firms is an internal investment bank that executes entire M&A deals from beginning to end.

The experience is more relevant for IB/PE roles, but these CF teams also tend to work on smaller deals than the FDD teams.

If the TS team works on due diligence for $1 billion deals, the CF team might execute deals in the $100 million – $200 million range.

So, the CF team is more like a middle market or boutique investment bank .

The Restructuring team is a cross between Restructuring investment banking and turnaround consulting , so please see those articles for more.

Also, take a look at our past coverage of Big 4 restructuring in the U.S. and Europe .

Recruiting: How to Join a Big 4 Transaction Services Group

Some Transaction Services groups hire candidates directly out of undergraduate or MBA programs, but internal hires from other groups, such as audit, tend to be more common.

On-campus recruiting, when it happens, usually takes place at the top ~10 schools in the country for accounting, which are different from the “target schools” for investment banking.

For example, in the U.S., the list might include universities like Notre Dame, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, UT Austin, BYU, Michigan (Ann Arbor), and others in that tier.

There is some overlap with the top schools for IB recruiting, but relatively few students from the Ivy League and equivalent schools end up in these roles.

An accounting degree helps, but it’s not necessary if you’ve had enough relevant work experience, and you already have the required Excel, accounting, and analytical skills.

The CA or CPA certifications can help if you’re moving into TS from another full-time job; accountants take these credentials more seriously than bankers (but again, it’s region-dependent).

If you want to move from audit to Transaction Services , hiring usually occurs after tax season each year.

However, you may need to network for around a year to get to know everyone in the TS group and maximize your chances.

So, you might be looking at 2-3 years to move from audit to TS.

If you want to improve your chances, involve yourself in the audits of acquisitive companies or ones with complex issues around revenue recognition, stock-based compensation, or intangible assets.

Transaction Services Interview Questions

If you network your way into the interview process, you can expect a few rounds of interviews with behavioral/fit and technical questions, potentially a case study or Excel test, and then a final-round interview with the Partners.

The interview questions are very similar to investment banking interview questions , but they’ll focus more on accounting and valuation and less on topics like LBO modeling.

For example, expect questions about what the Change in Working Capital means, EBIT vs. EBITDA vs. Net Income , and “accountant only” topics like trial balances and how to walk through events using debits and credits rather than financial statement changes.

The case study or Excel test could involve almost anything, so here are a few examples and practice exercises:

• Excel Database Functions
• Excel Practice Test for Interviews with INDIRECT, MATCH, and SUMIFS
• INDEX/MATCH Tutorial
• 3-Statement Modeling Case Study (30 Minutes)

The Transaction Services “Work Product”

It’s difficult to find real examples of the reports that TS teams write because there’s no disclosure requirement.

I managed to find one short, partially redacted example, which you can access below:

• Taylor Torrington and Associates – Financial Due Diligence Report (PDF)

Just like an investment bank can advise the buyer or the seller in an M&A deal, a TS team can also advise either party.

If the seller hires the TS team, the deliverable is usually a “vendor due diligence” (VDD) report that makes it easier for potential buyers to analyze the seller’s business before placing a bid.

If the buyer hires the TS team, the output is usually a “due diligence report” based on the seller’s data or a review of the seller’s existing VDD report, where one TS team challenges the conclusions and adjustments of another TS team.

Besides the tasks mentioned above – analysis of revenue drivers, normalization of metrics like EBITDA and EPS, Working Capital and cash conversion cycle analysis, and determination of “true debt” levels – a few others include:

• Detailed revenue analysis , broken down by customer, channel, geography, and product.
• Customer contract analysis , including any onerous or hidden terms.
• Trial balance analysis to detect shenanigans in the underlying debits and credits.
• Lease analysis , where the team estimates the ongoing costs and rental increases from existing leases and the ones that need to be renewed.
• Revenue and EBITDA bridges that demonstrate how both metrics have changed based on products, channels, and customers.
• Budgeted vs. actual numbers to judge the accuracy of management’s past forecasts.
• Inventory analysis , including aging, inventory by product, average levels, and provisions.
• Review of financial forecasts (outside the U.S.) to determine whether they’re completely fictional or somewhat believable.

Professionals in the TS / FDD teams may also interview management about everything above, and they’ll write a detailed report with their findings at the end of the process.

If you’re in the valuation team, your work tasks will be similar to the ones covered in the business valuation firms article, with a focus on numbers rather than written reports.

What Do You Do as an Associate, Manager, Director, and Partner?

The hierarchy in Transaction Services differs a bit from the ones in investment banking and private equity careers , and the general shape looks like this:

• Associate or “Consultant” – The entry-level role, where you do a lot of data and financial analysis (~2 years for a promotion from here).
• Senior Associate or “Senior Consultant” – The next level up; similar work, but you get the more interesting bits (~3 years for a promotion).
• Manager – You lead the Associates and review their work to write the reports (~3 years for a promotion).
• Senior Manager – You lead the Managers, perform reviews, and delegate work to everyone else (~3-6 years for a promotion)
• Director / VP – You do final reviews of the FDD and valuation reports and start managing client relationships (promotion time is highly variable).
• Partner – This one is divided into Junior Partner and Equity Partner roles, and your job at this level is to win new clients and more business from existing clients.

If you perform very well, you might reach the Partner level in 10-15 years.

But don’t be fooled: it’s not necessarily “easier” to reach the top than in investment banking because the turnover is also lower .

In particular, it’s difficult to get promoted beyond the Manager level because few people leave the job at that stage, and you need to start showing evidence of your ability to generate revenue to advance.

Transaction Services Salary, Hours, and Lifestyle

Let’s start with the hours and lifestyle since those are easier to describe: expect to work around 50-60 hours per week .

There are occasional late nights and weekend work, but nothing like the frantic nature of investment banking.

In normal, non-pandemic times, you might also have to travel to client sites occasionally, but far less than the travel schedule required in management consulting.

Before giving the compensation ranges, it’s important to explain the Transaction Services business model.

The fees from TS engagements are lower than audit fees, but the margins on the engagements are higher .

Many deals are staffed with a Partner or Director, a Senior Manager, and 2-3 Managers and Associates.

If an engagement takes a few professionals a month to complete, and it results in $300K in fees, that’s a very healthy profit for the firm.

The budget for each engagement is 100% negotiable with the client, and in some cases, firms end up billing clients less if a deal falls through – because of relationships and the desire to win future work.

These factors explain why total compensation (salary + year-end bonus) is higher than audit compensation but lower than investment banking salaries :

• Associate: $80K – $100K Base + Up to 30% bonus ($100K – $130K total)
• Senior Associate: $115K – $145K Base + Up to 30% bonus ($150K – $190K total)
• Manager: $150K – $190K Base + Up to 30% bonus ($200K – $250K total)
• Senior Manager: $190K – $220K Base + Up to 30% bonus ($250K – $290K total)
• Director / VP: $220K – $300K Base + Up to 30% bonus ($290K – $390K total)
• Partner: $600K – $2 million+ in total compensation (if profits for the Equity Partners that own part of the firm are also counted)

NOTE: Compensation figures as of 2022.

The average total compensation for a Partner is probably just above $1 million, depending on bonus levels and profit share in the year.

There are cost-of-living adjustments, so expect lower compensation if you’re in a cheaper location outside major financial centers.

For all positions except Partner, the base salary comprises the bulk of the total compensation; the year-end bonus might be a max of 30% of your base salary.

Often, the best way to increase your earnings is to switch to a different firm and negotiate for a higher salary and bonus.

Promotion Within Transaction Services Groups

You might now be thinking, “Well, the pay is lower than IB or PE pay, but I can just grind it out until the Partner level and earn a lot!”

Not so fast: 1-2% of new hires might eventually become Junior Partners.

And even fewer will make it to the Equity Partner level, where total compensation moves over $1 million due to ownership in the firm.

To reach those levels, you need to generate millions of dollars in revenue each year.

An average assignment could be worth something in the low-hundreds-of-thousands range, so that requirement translates into 10-20 signed engagements each year.

So, it’s arguably even more difficult than what a Managing Director in investment banking does because an MD can close a large deal or two and earn their pay.

Juggling dozens of clients and potential clients and trying to win assignments from them requires more multi-tasking and constant attention.

Oh, and if you do not advance to the Partner level, your exit opportunities are fine, but not spectacular:

Transaction Services Exit Opportunities

The top question here is “Can I get into private equity ? I’m dreaming of private equity. Can I break into Blackstone or KKR directly from a Big 4 TS team?”

And the answer is “No, probably not .”

Some people do move from TS into private equity, but this usually happens:

• Outside the U.S.
• At smaller/startup funds.
• If you’ve worked with highly relevant clients, such as PE firms executing deals and bolt-on acquisitions .

The issue with moving directly into private equity is that you don’t gain experience working on entire deals from start to finish in TS.

It makes more sense to use a TS role as a springboard into investment banking or the internal IB team (“Corporate Finance”) at the Big 4 firm, and then move into PE from there.

Other exit opportunities depend on how long you’ve been working in the TS group:

• 1-3 Years: It’s possible to win IB roles, but more so at boutique and middle market firms; FP&A roles in corporate finance , corporate development jobs , and certain consulting roles are also plausible.
• 4-6 Years: You could get into corporate development , but investment banking gets more difficult at this stage because you’ll be over-qualified for Analyst roles. Corporate finance is still an option.
• Past 6 Years: At this stage, you should just stay and make a run for a Partner-level role. If you want to leave, maybe move to a client and perform their valuations and due diligence in-house.

Is a Big 4 Transaction Services Team Right for You?

Overall, Transaction Services jobs are “OK.”

In terms of Plan B options for winning IB/PE roles, my view is that corporate banking and even independent business valuation firms come out ahead.

The main problem is that TS is an indirect/lengthy way to break into the industry because:

• You usually need to join another Big 4 group, such as audit, and work there for a few years…
• …and then move into TS, work there for a few years…
• …and then move into IB.
• And there’s still no guarantee of winning this IB role because it depends on your region, clients, and the hiring market at the time.

Big 4 TS teams make the most sense if:

• You want to stay in the industry and work at a Big 4 firm for the long-term;
• You want to get into corporate development or win a related corporate role without doing IB first; or
• You’re in a region like Europe, where it’s somewhat easier to move into IB/PE due to the skillset differences.

Longer-term, there is also some risk of commoditization and automation because reviewing a company’s historical financial information is not exactly rocket science.

Yes, humans will always need to be involved, but with more advanced technology, lower headcounts could potentially support client engagements.

That said, the Transaction Services group beats audit in terms of pay, work, and exit opportunities.

So, if you’re bored to tears in your audit role and itching to do something different, TS is a good place to start.

If you liked this article, you might be interested in reading

• The Corporate Finance Analyst: Promising Career Path, or “Plan B” if Investment Banking Doesn’t Work Out?
• The Full Guide to Lateral Hiring in Investment Banking
• Corporate Development Careers: The Definitive Guide

About the Author

Brian DeChesare is the Founder of Mergers & Inquisitions and Breaking Into Wall Street . In his spare time, he enjoys lifting weights, running, traveling, obsessively watching TV shows, and defeating Sauron.

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63 thoughts on “ Big 4 Transaction Services: Pathway to Private Equity, or Just a Small Improvement Over Audit? ”

Hi Brian, thank you so much for the insightful articles. I noticed you mentioned big 4 corporate finance a bit here, do you have an article that provide more insights over the big 4 corporate finance? (e.g. difference between IB, how to break into it, qualifications, exit opportunities). I am currently in audit and looking for a change. Appreciate your help!

We don’t have anything on Big 4 CF vs. IB, specifically. But there are a few other articles on Big 4 groups if you do a search:

https://mergersandinquisitions.com/?s=big+4

Some are much older, but I don’t think too much changes over time other than the salary/bonus levels. I’ll see if we can cover this topic in the future.

Hey brian can you tell me what is the percentage chance of winning IB Analyst role from Big 4 TAS/TS? Is it too difficult to convert from Big 4 to IB? And what percentage of the chances are very good win IB analyst role from Big4 TAS/TS?

I can’t give you an exact percentage because I don’t know how many Big 4 professionals apply for IB Analyst roles, but I would say it’s “doable but not necessarily easy.” The problem is that many people take these Big 4 roles with the aim of moving into IB eventually, and lateral hiring for IB roles comes and goes in waves based on market conditions and deal activity. So you’re up against a lot of competition and not-very-consistent open spots at banks. If you put in enough effort over a long enough period, you should be able to find something, but it might be at a smaller bank.

These salary numbers are laughably off…managers aren’t taking home 250k, and seniors aren’t doing 190k lol. all these pay ranges need to drop down level outside of partner. Also, seniors get a max bonus of maybe 12%, it’s a formula at most Big 4. A&M is the only firm that is paying above big 4 and it’s just a sell side shop.

The original version of this article from ~2 years ago had lower numbers, but then people left comments saying they were too low, at least in the U.S. So we increased them based on these comments.

Since 2022 was a terrible year for most finance firms, including banks and the Big 4, bonuses are now lower and below the ones here. And outside the U.S., I don’t think they were ever close to these figures.

The point here is that salaries and bonuses sometimes change slowly over a long period (2010 – 2019) and sometimes very quickly in a short period (2020 – 2022). We will probably revisit this topic and update the ranges later this year or just eliminate them altogether. Keeping track of Big 4 salaries/bonuses each year adds exactly $0 to my revenue, given that it’s not at all the core focus of this site, so it is not very high on the priority list.

Do you know what an associate salary range would be at a non big 4 firm?

Traditionally, non-Big 4 firms paid around 20% less than the Big 4 firms, but the last data point I have is from 4-5 years ago, so I’m not sure currently. I would imagine that there is still a discount, but no idea if it’s closer to 10%, 30%, or something else now.

Do exit options between Valuation and FDD differ?

Maybe a little, but the difference is very small vs. working in a completely different group or firm type. Valuation is arguably better for the types of exit opportunities discussed on this site because it’s closer to what bankers do; FDD requires more in-depth accounting knowledge, but that’s less important in banking vs. understanding the story and spinning the company correctly.

Hi Brian Thanks for this amazing article I am 33 years old started working as an associate in accounting& payroll services in PwC about 14 months ago, now I got an offer from Deloitte as an associate in TS with little higher salary. Do you see it’s better to move to TS in Deloitte or stay in Accounting in PwC considering that I don’t have a big experience in accounting and I am looking for which is better in the future. Thank you

I would move to TS at Deloitte because the work is more interesting, the salary is higher, the exit opportunities are better, and you’ll learn about accounting in either one. And the brand/reputation is the same level.

Brian – I am a long-time follower of your website / content, great work. Your TS Compensation numbers are a bit outdated. I thought I’d share the new Big 4 base compensation numbers with you and your followers (bonus various and is generally up to a max of 30%): Associate ($80k – $102k), Senior Associate ($117k – $145k), Manager ($156k – $188k), Senior Manager ($186k – $216k), Director ($216k – $301k). Partners ($600k – $2M) – most partners sit at $1.XXM.

Thanks, updated.

Hi Mr.Brian. For starters, immensely thankful for coming up with this article. Quite insightful and exhaustive. Truly helpful for professionals who have just started our careers in the finance domain.

Question: I am a 27 year old engineer male, passed cfa level 1, with 2.8 years work ex at Morningstar, Senior Research Associate. Now having done my MBA in finance, I in my last semester right now, i have accepted an offer from Grant Thornton India, Strategy and Transactions team. Basis my profile, can you enlighten me about what i can expect in this role and what are my exit opportunities. Also how should i go about my career from here on, if my finally wish to land up in one of the below 5 roles and, whether it possible at all to transition to these: 1. equity research 2. credit analyst 3. private equity 4. venture capital 5. corporate finance

This article is old but covers the Big 4 TS in India:

https://mergersandinquisitions.com/india-big-4-transaction-services/

Salaries have probably changed over time, but the points about the work, careers, exit opportunities, etc., are similar/the same.

Can you please comment on whether research analyst/associate jobs, be it in PE, IB etc. offer 401K contributions and match as part of the compensation package? I think 401k is a very important part of a job offer for me.

I believe they do, at least at the large banks, but I do not have the details on these packages, as people rarely report them along with salary and bonus figures.

Is working in FDD or in Valuation better to break into corporate development

I don’t think there is a huge difference, but valuation is probably better (slightly) because much of the work in corporate development involves analyzing and valuing target companies to estimate how much your firm might pay for them. FDD skills can still be useful, but more at the stage when your company is already serious about making the acquisition, which doesn’t happen that often vs. doing a high-level target search.

Great article.

Just to add, CF team at b4 regional office.

In UK, pay is significantly lower than described, esp for first 2 years.

Of our small team, 80% are internal hires from audit (usually high performers with 1-3 years exp) and 20% external hires at assistant manager level

Broadly looking more into direct graduate hires, 3 new coming this year w/ now summer internships too for CF specifically within TAS at regional offices.

CF is pretty much how you describe, operates like a MM

Thanks for adding that.

Thanks for the article, Brian – feels like you’ve got an article for almost every question on my mind! I’m heading for a globally top 10 ranked MBA in Europe later this year, after working in a big 4 valuation team (back office for US clients). I didn’t work directly in the IB team, but I have been through the same trainings, have modelled LBOs, made decks for deals and have done due diligence valuation work for tons of PE/VC portcos.

How would you rate my chances of making it into the PE/VC arena? I do lack the end-to-end deal experience, but I am willing to put in the elbow grease if there’s even a 5% shot. Also, keeping in mind that the job markets I will target will be European.

I think you have a fairly good shot if you have this type of relevant experience (even if it wasn’t officially “working on deals”). The biggest issue will probably be that there are fewer MBA-level roles in Europe in general, so they’re arguably more competitive to win. But you should have as good a chance as anyone outside of former IB/PE professionals who are just going back into the field (no idea why they bothered with MBAs to begin with).

Enjoy your work on here. Thanks for all the perspectives and data points. Have a quick point on comp ranges listed here. I have been a senior associate/senior consultant at two of the Big 4 firms in deals consulting over the last three years and my base salary alone across both firms (~$165k) is at the upper end of what you have listed for Senior Manager, and I know from discussions with other senior associate/senior consultant peers, that they are being paid similarly. Just wanted to point this out for you.

Thanks. We update the salaries in these articles periodically, usually once every few years once they’ve changed enough to justify an update.

Recently graduated from a target Canadian school, previous internships include LMM PE and a top MM IB. For poor health and familial reasons, I wasn’t able to participate in IB recruiting, and signed with Big 4 M&A Tax Advisory. I was hoping to find my way back to IB after getting my CPA a year or two down the line, and was wondering if you had any insight into a viable path, or potential opportunities that I might have access to with these credentials. Thanks so much.

The best approach here is to move into a more relevant group at the Big 4 firm (valuation, the internal bank, etc.) and then use that to lateral into an IB role. Another option might be to join the valuation/transaction team at a smaller/independent firm and move in. Another degree, MBA, etc., is unnecessary with that type of experience.

This is the first time, I am interacting with B4. Actually, I am from India NCR region. I am B-tech graduate in Electronics and Communication and working in Transaction Services as a senior trade processor for Deutsche Bank in BPO sector since 2016. Now I m pursuing MBA in Finance. Please suggest me how can I look my upcoming future in IB. And Kindly suggest what steps should I take in upcoming times.

OK, so the market in India is completely different, and most IB recruiting only takes place at the top IIMs. So I would read this article before you do anything else:

https://mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking-india/

Hi Brian, I am a recent grad from semi target and just started working at Big 4 business valuations group a few months ago. However, I came across an opportunity at BB in leveraged lending group (in their corporate banking/credit division). Which role do you think has better chance of transitioning to IB?

The leveraged lending group, easily. People move from corporate banking into investment banking fairly often.

Excellent article, thank you. Can you recommend a source that would sort the specific services by industry deal type/experience? I’m looking for financial due diligence and valuation on a merger project, specifically in the direct hire executive recruitment space. Finding CPA and CFA firms that have supported M&A in this world is challenging. Plenty of staffing…endless…but the direct hire search side is very different. Nevertheless, thanks for the article.

Sorry, I cannot. This site focuses on careers in these fields, not the services that different providers offer, so we don’t track this information.

Hi Brian – thanks for the article. I have 3 years experience in transactional banking (sales of treasury products like trade finance, cash management…) at a big bank looking to transition to structure/project/infrastructure finance at a BB. I have an opportunity to join a big 4 in their infrastructure deals advisory practice and tasks would be financial modelling (buy side modelling not acting as an advisor on the deals), risk analysis, business cases etc with most clients seemingly in the public sector. Would spending 1-2 years there be a good stepping stone to project/structured finance at a BB? Or maybe 1-2 years there -> M7 MBA -> BB? I’m based in Canada and open to relocate to US/UK if easier.

Yes. I think you might need a top MBA just because 4-5 years of experience is pushing it in terms of being able to join a large bank as an Analyst. The US and UK are much better for IB recruiting than Canada for a host of reasons (more positions, higher turnover, more exit opportunities), so I would recommend relocating if possible.

Hi Brian, Is the PwC edge program which provides rotations across PwC deals functions a good starting point in my career? Can it lead to Investment banking roles in the Middle East?

Not familiar with it, but if it gives you rotations in some of the groups mentioned in this article, sure. It is more common to move from the Big 4 into IB in the EMEA region.

Thanks for the article, TAS seems intersting with more normal working hours and i’m in ‘late to the game career switcher’ group

Currently passed cfa lvl 2 and hopefully this meant something on big 4 TAS

Regarding Valuation vs FDD division, which one is more suitable to cfa based person from non accounting background?

And which one have better working hours?

FDD is probably more directly relevant to the CFA, but they’re quite similar. Not sure about work hour differences.

Hi Buds, I’ve worked both in Valuation and FDD as an Associate in a Big 4 TAS for around 2 years. Not yet a CFA myself but I agree with Brian that CFA is more useful in FDD. As to working hours, I think there are other factors that come to play such as the number and size of engagements you handle. But based on my experience, FDD usually involves more analyses compared to Valuation where at times it’s more of a plug and play.

Hi Brian. Currently in my third year of TAS in Chicago where I’ve done both FDD and Management/Operational consulting projects for a wide range of clients (ranging from F500 to $10M manufacturing companies). Interested in making a move to sell-side IB and have a great network to lean on to potentially make this happen. My only hesitation is that I’ve already received my non-target MBA during my 4 years of school (due to being on scholarship for D1 basketball & coming into school with a semesters worth of AP credits – it was that or double major at the time), and I’m wondering if this hurts me. I know my options are probably more limited to smaller boutiques / regional banks if anything, but wanted to hear your thoughts on feasibility of this move / if it makes sense to you.

Realize it’s not a traditional path by any means, but I have relevant skills/experience now (from both FDD/QofE projects and consulting engagements) and am hoping it’s not too late for me to break in. Also, been reading a lot on how COVID has caused a lot of turnover in IB, so wondering if this would help my chances or if you’ve also heard this. Thanks a lot for any advice/input!

It may hurt you a bit at the large banks because they won’t necessarily know what to do with you, but smaller firms might be more open to it. It’s usually very difficult to get in via a non-target MBA, but you’re an exception since you have directly relevant experience. Yes, turnover is definitely higher in IB now because work-from-home has made everyone depressed. I think you should just start networking with a variety of different banks and see what turns up.

Hi Brian, this article seems to focus more on TAS from an experienced associate/auditor POV but it looks like in recent years, this space has been opened up to undergraduate students. As a student who was only able to get an FDD internship for my junior internship, what would you recommend as next steps? Should I accept a FT and try to get an M7/T10 MBA after a couple of years? Recruit for a boutique IB firm for FT? I’m pretty fixed on getting my MBA though so I’m not sure what would look better. Try recruiting for FT CB at a BB? Any advice would help!

Accept a FT offer and then try to move into IB as a lateral hire. I don’t really think you need an MBA to transition into IB if you have that type of experience. Only do it if networking / lateral recruiting does not work.

Hey Brian, This summer, I’ll be working at a Big 4 firm in their Business Tax Consulting division, where I’ll be working exclusively with Financial Services companies. I will be applying to IB summer internships next year. Do you think this Big 4 internship is relevant enough for IB or should I look for more relevant internships? I’m in London if that helps and already had an investment banking spring week, along with a consulting one and asset management one. Thanks!

It’s good enough.

I am currently doing federal tax at big 4 for a year now. I want to move into TS valuation and modeling. What do you think is the chance? Thanks!

It’s possible, but you need to start far in advance and network extensively to get in. See: https://mergersandinquisitions.com/big-4-transaction-advisory-services-corporate-development-financial-institution/

Would you advise doing a traineeship at big 4 TS in Europe. Here i will work at 4 different TS departmemts during 2 years.

Or would you recommend to go for a PE or CF boutique directly if possible?

What are your goals? If you want to do IB, go to a PE or CF boutique. If you want to stay in the Big 4, do the Big 4 TS traineeship.

Insightful article as always. I’ve been a long time reader and you articles have helped me to secure 2 offers from Big 4 Advisory/Transaction services. However, these 2 roles are quite different and I’m not sure which offer to accept, so I would appreciate if you could give me some insights in terms of the career prospects and exit opportunities. Some details of the roles below:

1. Deloitte: Associate – M&A Group (Commercial Strategy & Research) – Financial Advisory – 50% Strategy/consulting projects for corporates, 50% on M&A deals, mostly pre-deal commercial due diligence

2. EY: Strategy and Transactions – Valuation modelling and economics – Mostly modelling work on asset valuation. ~60% time working with audits, rest of the time works on deals, litigation etc.

As you can see, these two positions are quite different in nature and it may lead to a very different career path down the road. So I was hoping to learn what would be the prospects and exit ops for each respectively.

Thanks, and I look forward to hearing back from you.

Thanks. The second one is probably better because you’ll at least be doing some modeling work there. The first one sounds very qualitative, and you may not get “credit” for deal experience there. 60% of your time spent on audits isn’t great, but at least you’ll be able to point to some exposure to valuation and modeling for specific clients.

I see – what about exits to corporate development? Would the first one provide good exit opportunities to corp dev? I quite like the first one as the work seemed more interesting but I’m not sure what kind of exits it would provide.

Potentially, yes, but it’s hard to say because the description sounds vague. But I don’t think there’s a huge difference between them, at least not based on the descriptions.

Brian – what do you recommend if a candidate has too much non finance experience (eg. 10 yrs of accounting + auditing) if they should leave out those experience off the resume if applying for the analyst/associate level opening at PE?

Potentially, yes, but you do still have to list a university and graduation date. I think you could get away with leaving out the oldest ~5 years of experience and maybe just add a line that says you started out in audit and moved into some other group at your firm.

Thanks for your insightful article. I Would like to receive your opinion, I did 6 years in banking in treasury, capital markets, Murex projects, and derivatives analysis, then I did 3 years of equity research and finally 3 years in consulting in Europe at functional corporate banking activities such as capital markets, Murex and cash management. I got a master at non target school in corporate finance a few years ago. I Would like to get a job in transactions service, corporate development, M&A, corporate finance or even sales and trading, do you think I still have a change and In which field may I improve the opportunity to get interviews and job in Europe? Additionally I am around 40 years, I appreciatte your ideas and help

I think it will be difficult to move into any of those at this stage without an MBA. Maybe transaction services or corporate development, but you have a long work history that might be difficult to summarize/explain.

Not sure if this exists in the US but other parts of the world also have a dedicated modelling team which sit close to the valuation team. Except their main deliverable is a model for clients to use or auditing a model created by a client. This can range from valuation modelling, project finance modelling, operational modelling to really random pieces of work like HR payroll modelling – so experience can vary vastly and dictate what future exit opps you may get. Generally this team can place quite well into analyst positions at MM/Boutique IB, small PE funds, decent sized Infra PE funds, equity research and corporate development

Thanks for adding that. Yes, a dedicated modeling team that does real financial modeling can also place well in those roles. Regulations in the U.S. limit how much teams can advise on projections.

Not sure if this is true outside of the UK, but equity research is a pretty common exit too, not just from big4 TS but big4 ACAs in general.

Thanks for adding that. Yes, TS to equity research is possible as well, but it’s probably more common in Europe for similar reasons (more focus on projected financials).

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47 case interview examples (from McKinsey, BCG, Bain, etc.)

One of the best ways to prepare for   case interviews  at firms like McKinsey, BCG, or Bain, is by studying case interview examples. 

There are a lot of free sample cases out there, but it's really hard to know where to start. So in this article, we have listed all the best free case examples available, in one place.

The below list of resources includes interactive case interview samples provided by consulting firms, video case interview demonstrations, case books, and materials developed by the team here at IGotAnOffer. Let's continue to the list.

• McKinsey examples
• BCG examples
• Bain examples
• Deloitte examples
• Other firms' examples
• Case books from consulting clubs
• Case interview preparation

Click here to practise 1-on-1 with MBB ex-interviewers

1. mckinsey case interview examples.

• Beautify case interview (McKinsey website)
• Diconsa case interview (McKinsey website)
• Electro-light case interview (McKinsey website)
• GlobaPharm case interview (McKinsey website)
• National Education case interview (McKinsey website)
• Talbot Trucks case interview (McKinsey website)
• Shops Corporation case interview (McKinsey website)
• Conservation Forever case interview (McKinsey website)
• McKinsey case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)
• McKinsey live case interview extract (by IGotAnOffer) - See below

2. BCG case interview examples

• Foods Inc and GenCo case samples  (BCG website)
• Chateau Boomerang written case interview  (BCG website)
• BCG case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)
• Written cases guide (by IGotAnOffer)
• BCG live case interview with notes (by IGotAnOffer)
• BCG mock case interview with ex-BCG associate director - Public sector case (by IGotAnOffer)
• BCG mock case interview: Revenue problem case (by IGotAnOffer) - See below

3. Bain case interview examples

• CoffeeCo practice case (Bain website)
• FashionCo practice case (Bain website)
• Associate Consultant mock interview video (Bain website)
• Consultant mock interview video (Bain website)
• Written case interview tips (Bain website)
• Bain case interview guide   (by IGotAnOffer)
• Bain case mock interview with ex-Bain manager (below)

4. Deloitte case interview examples

• Engagement Strategy practice case (Deloitte website)
• Recreation Unlimited practice case (Deloitte website)
• Strategic Vision practice case (Deloitte website)
• Retail Strategy practice case  (Deloitte website)
• Finance Strategy practice case  (Deloitte website)
• Talent Management practice case (Deloitte website)
• Enterprise Resource Management practice case (Deloitte website)
• Footloose written case  (by Deloitte)
• Deloitte case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

5. Accenture case interview examples

• Case interview workbook (by Accenture)
• Accenture case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

6. OC&C case interview examples

• Leisure Club case example (by OC&C)
• Imported Spirits case example (by OC&C)

7. Oliver Wyman case interview examples

• Wumbleworld case sample (Oliver Wyman website)
• Aqualine case sample (Oliver Wyman website)
• Oliver Wyman case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

8. A.T. Kearney case interview examples

• Promotion planning case question (A.T. Kearney website)
• Consulting case book and examples (by A.T. Kearney)
• AT Kearney case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

9. Strategy& / PWC case interview examples

• Presentation overview with sample questions (by Strategy& / PWC)
• Strategy& / PWC case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

10. L.E.K. Consulting case interview examples

• Case interview example video walkthrough   (L.E.K. website)
• Market sizing case example video walkthrough  (L.E.K. website)

11. Roland Berger case interview examples

• Transit oriented development case webinar part 1  (Roland Berger website)
• Transit oriented development case webinar part 2   (Roland Berger website)
• 3D printed hip implants case webinar part 1   (Roland Berger website)
• 3D printed hip implants case webinar part 2   (Roland Berger website)
• Roland Berger case interview guide   (by IGotAnOffer)

12. Capital One case interview examples

• Case interview example video walkthrough  (Capital One website)
• Capital One case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

13. Consulting clubs case interview examples

• Berkeley case book (2006)
• Columbia case book (2006)
• Darden case book (2012)
• Darden case book (2018)
• Duke case book (2010)
• Duke case book (2014)
• ESADE case book (2011)
• Goizueta case book (2006)
• Illinois case book (2015)
• LBS case book (2006)
• MIT case book (2001)
• Notre Dame case book (2017)
• Ross case book (2010)
• Wharton case book (2010)

Practice with experts

Using case interview examples is a key part of your interview preparation, but it isn’t enough.

At some point you’ll want to practise with friends or family who can give some useful feedback. However, if you really want the best possible preparation for your case interview, you'll also want to work with ex-consultants who have experience running interviews at McKinsey, Bain, BCG, etc.

If you know anyone who fits that description, fantastic! But for most of us, it's tough to find the right connections to make this happen. And it might also be difficult to practice multiple hours with that person unless you know them really well.

Here's the good news. We've already made the connections for you. We’ve created a coaching service where you can do mock case interviews 1-on-1 with ex-interviewers from MBB firms . Start scheduling sessions today!

The IGotAnOffer team

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I have an interview coming up for a big four transaction services group (Transaction Support - Due Diligence ). any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Can't speak to EY's interviews, but here's a breakdown of my other big4 FDD interview:

1) Case study - example company with limited financial info, background, industry, etc. Was given another sheet with ~15 scenarios relating to the example company (i.e. Company A had $2M in restructuring charges in FY14, Company A paid $500K in FY15 relating to a natural disaster, etc.) Essentially you had to think of how each scenario might impact our work for one of the three main analyses (quality of earnings, debt analysis, net working capital ). The debrief essentially consisted of walking through each scenario with a Director and discussing my thought process. Case study also consisted of a few other questions, such as how to calculate LTM financial info, etc. (fairly basic).

2) ~30 minute interview with a partner that was 100% behavioral, no technicals.

Hope this helped

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Hacking the Case Interview

For those interviewing for KPMG advisory or consulting roles, KPMG interviews consist of case interviews, a written case interview, and behavioral or fit interview questions. There are typically three rounds of interviews that candidates go through before receiving a KPMG job offer, but the interview process slightly varies by office.

Typically, you should expect an interview process similar to the following:

• First round : Two 30-minute interviews. One interview will be focused on a case interview while the other is focused on behavioral or fit interview questions.
• Second round : A 30- to 40-minute behavioral or fit interview, a 30- to 40-minute case interview, and a 60-minute written case interview for a total of three interviews.
• Third round : Some candidates may be given a third round of interviews. Expect two to three 30- to 40-minute interviews. These interviews are typically focused on behavioral or fit interview questions, but you may also be given case interviews.

If you have an upcoming KPMG advisory or consulting interview or are expecting to interview with them, we have you covered.

While KPMG does provide  eight KPMG interview tips , their advice is fairly generic and not that useful. In this article, we’ll go into more detail on exactly what to expect in your KPMG advisory or consulting interview. We’ll cover:

• The 4 steps to solve any KPMG case interview
• KPMG case interview examples
• How to ace the KPMG written case interview
• The 10 most common KPMG behavioral or fit interview questions
• Recommended KPMG case interview resources

If you’re looking for a step-by-step shortcut to learn case interviews quickly, enroll in our case interview course . These insider strategies from a former Bain interviewer helped 30,000+ land consulting offers while saving hundreds of hours of prep time.

The 4 Steps to Solve Any KPMG Case Interview

A case interview, also known as a case study interview, is a special type of interview that nearly every single consulting firm uses. KPMG case interviews simulate what the consulting job will be like by placing you in a hypothetical business situation in which you are asked to solve a business problem.

You will need to ace every single case interview in order to land a KPMG job offer.

KPMG case interviews are all candidate-led. You will be in the driver’s seat of the case interview and will be expected to ask the right questions, perform the right analyses, and decide the direction of the case.

Follow these four steps to solve any KPMG case interview or case study interview:

1. Understand the case

The case will begin with the interviewer giving you the case information. While the interviewer is speaking, make sure that you are taking meticulous notes on the most important pieces of information. Focus on understanding the context of the situation, the company, and the objective of the case.

Don’t be afraid to ask clarifying questions if you do not catch something. If you are not familiar with the industry, it is completely acceptable to ask how it works. Sometimes, repeating the information back to the interviewer is helpful to confirm your understanding of the case.

Finally, make sure to verify the objective of the case. Not addressing the right business question is the quickest way to fail a case interview.

2. Structure the problem

Develop a framework to help you tackle the business problem. A framework is a tool that helps you structure and break down complex problems into smaller, more manageable components. With a framework, you’ll be brainstorming different ideas and organizing them into different categories.

It is completely acceptable to ask the interviewer for a moment of silence so that you can collect your thoughts and think about the problem.

Once you have identified the major issues or areas that you need to explore, walk the interviewer through your framework. They may ask a few questions or provide some feedback.

For a complete guide on how to create tailored and unique frameworks for each case, check out our article on case interview frameworks .

3. Solve the problem

Once you have developed a framework, you can begin to solve the problem. To solve the case, you’ll likely need to answer a mix of quantitative and qualitative questions.

When solving quantitative problems, make sure to walk the interviewer through your approach before doing any math. Check if the interviewer has any further information for you before making your own assumptions. Finally, neatly label your calculations and write out all numbers so that the interviewer knows exactly what you are doing. 

When answering qualitative questions, try to structure your answer in a logical way to make it easier to brainstorm or communicate your point of view.

For both quantitative and qualitative questions, make sure to go beyond just answering the question. Think about how your answer impacts the answer to the case. Always try to tie the implications of your answers to the case objective. This will help you develop a hypothesis for what a potential recommendation could be.

4. Make a recommendation

In the last step of the case interview, you’ll present your recommendation and provide the major reasons that support it. You do not need to recap everything that you have done in the case, so focus on summarizing only the facts that are most important.

It is also good practice to include potential next steps that you would take if you had more time or data. These can be areas of your framework that you did not have time to explore or lingering questions that you do not have great answers for.

KPMG Case Interview Examples

Below are some examples of KPMG case interviews or case study interviews that past candidates have received. These should give you an idea of the types of cases you may see on your interview day.

For more practice, check out our article on 23 MBA consulting casebooks with 700+ free practice cases .

Example #1: National Zoo

Your client is one of the oldest national zoos in the United States. The zoo hosts over 2,000 animals in its 150-acre park. Your client is looking to increase revenues and profits and is considering purchasing a giant panda from China to place in its newest exhibit. You have been hired to help them make this decision. What would you recommend?  

Example #2: Brewing Company

Our client is the largest American beer brewing company. The American beer market is dominated by three large players. The rest of the market is comprised of small mom and pop breweries.

What would happen to our client if the second largest and third largest American brewing companies decided to merge?

Example #3: Chemical Company

Your client is a privately owned chemical manufacturing company that specializes in producing car wash chemicals. After a series of aggressive acquisitions, your client has become the market leader in car wash chemicals, but revenue growth has been flat over the past few years.

Your client is looking to increase revenues by 20% without reducing profit margins over the next two years. How would you go about achieving this?

Example #4: Yoga Studio

Your client is Ms. Johnson, the proud owner of an up-scale yoga studio in New York City. Her yoga studio is known for high quality instruction and a relaxing atmosphere. Ms. Johnson has been operating the studio for the past five years.

Over the past year, your client has made a few major investments, but has noticed that her profits have been declining. How would you determine what is causing the decline in profits and what should be done to address it?

Example #5: Pharmaceutical Company

Your client is Pfizer, an American pharmaceutical company that develops and produces medicines and vaccines in a wide range of therapeutic areas. The CEO is worried about the company’s financial performance five years from now, when three of their blockbuster drugs come off patent.

What can Pfizer do to ensure that it continues to grow and be profitable?

Example #6: Insurance Company

Our client is an American auto insurance company. They are the second largest auto insurer in the United States and provide coverage for more than 30 million motor vehicles and more than 20 million policy holders.

Until recently, most car insurance is sold to car owners by insurance brokers. Insurance companies pay brokers a commission for each policy sold. Recently, car owners have started buying insurance directly from insurance companies over the phone.

You have been hired to help our client determine whether they should invest more in selling policies direct to customers over the phone.

How to Ace the KPMG Written Case Interview

Here’s how the KPMG written case interview works:  

• The interviewer will give you a packet of 20 – 40 pages of graphs, charts, tables, notes, and other text
• You’ll have anywhere between 45 - 60 minutes to analyze the information in the packet and make slides to present your analysis and recommendation
• Afterwards, you will present your slides to the interviewer who will ask follow-up questions on your analysis and findings

Follow the steps and tips below to ace your KPMG written case interview.

1. Understand the business problem and case objective

The first step in completing a written case interview is to understand what the objective is. What is the primary business question you are trying to answer with the data and information provided?

Answering or solving the wrong business problem is the quickest way to fail a written case interview. Therefore, the first thing you should do is to read the instructions and the case background information so that you clearly understand the primary question you are trying to answer.

2. Read the list of major questions

Some written case interviews will provide you with a list of 3 – 4 key questions that you will be expected to address or answer.

Once you understand the overall business problem and case objective, read through the list of key questions. This will tell you what the most important areas of the case are. These will be the questions that you want to investigate and answer first.

If the written case interview is more open-ended and does not provide you with a list of key questions, skip this step and move onto the next step.  

3. Quickly flip through the material to identify what information exists

The next step is to flip through the information packet that is provided to see what information is available. Identify what data you have and what data you do not have.

If the written case interview has provided you with pre-filled slide templates, make sure to flip through those as well.

The goal in this step is not to read and analyze every slide. That would take too much time.

Instead, you want to get a sense of what data and information is out there. This will help you decide and prioritize which slides are most important to read and analyze in more detail later.

4. Create a framework

Before you begin reading and analyzing the information in the slides in more detail, you should create a basic framework to help guide your analysis.

Select 3 to 4 broad areas that you think are the most important to analyze. In other words, what are the 3 to 4 things you need to know to answer the primary question of the written case interview?

If the written case interview has provided you with a list of 3 – 4 key questions, make sure to include these important areas in your framework.

Sometimes, these 3 – 4 key questions are your entire framework and you will not need to add anything else. Other times, you may identify important areas from flipping through the slides that you want to add to your framework in addition to these 3 – 4 key questions.

If the written case interview has provided you with pre-filled slide templates, these slides often provide clues on what the most important areas are.

5. Match information that exists to areas in your framework

Now that you have a solid framework to guide your analysis, the next step is to identify what information you can use to answer each area of your framework.

Since you have already flipped through the material and catalogued what information exists, you can match different pieces of information that exist to areas in your framework.

6. Read and analyze the material

The framework you created tells you what questions you need to answer. From the previous step, you know which slides the information is in to answer each question. All that is left to do is to read and analyze the information that is relevant to each area of your framework.

As you answer the major questions in your framework, make sure to write a one or two sentence summary of the key takeaway or answer. This will help you remember the work that you have done and make it easier to decide on a recommendation.

7. Decide on a recommendation

Once you have finished reading and analyzing all of the important and relevant material, you should have a list of key takeaways or answers to the major areas of your framework.

In this step, you’ll read through the key takeaways and decide on what recommendation they collectively support.

You should not expect every key takeaway to support your recommendation. Often, you’ll have key takeaways that support your recommendation, but also key takeaways that go against your recommendation.

If this is the case, you’ll need to mediate conflicting insights and decide on which insights are the most important. Remember that there is typically no right or wrong recommendation. As long as your recommendation is supported by data and evidence, you will be in great shape.

8. Structure your presentation slides

When you have decided on a recommendation and have the supporting data and evidence for it, you’ll want to create a structure for your presentation slides.

A simple, but effective structure you can use is:

• Slide 1: Present your recommendation and the three reasons that support it
• Slide 2: Present your first reason and the data that supports it
• Slide 3: Present your second reason and the data that supports it
• Slide 4: Present your third reason and the data that supports it
• Slide 5: Summarize everything that you’ve covered so far
• Slide 6: Present potential next steps

If the written case interview has already provided you with pre-filled slide templates, the structure of your presentation slides may already be decided for you. If not, you can incorporate the pre-filled slide templates into your overall presentation structure.

9. Fill in your slides

Once you have the structure of your presentation slides, the next step is to fill in the slides with content.

When filling in slides, make sure you use descriptive slide titles that clearly communicate the main message of the slide.

Additionally, try to make your slides easy to digest. Each slide should have one key message.

10. Review your slides and prepare for potential questions

If you have time remaining, review your slides one more time to check for any mistakes or errors. You can also spend some time cleaning up the slides to make them look neat and polished.

Afterwards, you can brainstorm potential questions the interviewer may ask you during your presentation. They may want to know how you performed your analysis or reached your conclusions. They may also challenge your assumptions or interpretations of the data.

Preparing for potential questions that could be asked will help your presentation go much more smoothly and you’ll feel much more confident while presenting.

For a full guide on written case interviews, check out our consulting written case interview step-by-step guide .

The 10 Most Common KPMG Behavioral or Fit Interview Questions

In addition to case interviews, you will likely be asked a few behavioral or fit interview questions. There are ten questions that are most commonly asked.

1. Why are you interested in working at KPMG?

How to answer: Have at least three reasons why you’re interested in working at KPMG. You could mention that you loved the people that you have met from KPMG so far. You can talk about KPMG’s massive global presence and expertise in nearly every industry and function. You can speak to KPMG’s work culture and their emphasis on work life balance. Finally, you can mention their investment in their consultant’s professional development through their Continuing Professional Education (CPE) courses.

2. Why do you want to work in consulting?

How to answer: Again, have three reasons why you’re interested in consulting. You could mention the fast career growth opportunity, the opportunity to develop soft and hard skills, or the level of impact that you can make by working with large companies on their most challenging issues.

3. Walk me through your resume

How to answer: Provide a concise summary of your work experience, starting with the most recent. Focus on emphasizing your most impressive and unique accomplishments. At the end, tie your experiences to why you are interested in consulting.

4. What is your proudest achievement?

How to answer: Choose your most impressive, unique, or memorable accomplishment. Structure your answer by providing information on the situation, the task, the actions you took, and the results of your work.

5. What is something that you are proud of that is not on your resume?

How to answer: This is a great opportunity to highlight an accomplishment that is not related to your professional work experience. Perhaps there is a non-profit that you volunteer at, a side project or business that you work on, or a hobby that you have won awards or recognition for. Choose something that is impressive and interesting.

6. Tell me about a time when you led a team.

How to answer: If possible, choose a time when you directly managed a person or a team. For this question and the following questions, make sure that you structure your answer. Structure your answer by providing information on the situation, the task, the actions you took, and the results of your work. This is known as the STAR method and is commonly used to answer behavioral or fit interview questions.

7. Give an example of a time when you faced conflict or a disagreement.

How to answer: When answering this question, focus on emphasizing the steps you took to resolve the conflict or disagreement. Speak to the interpersonal skills you had to use in order to mediate the situation. Interviewers want to know that you are a great mediator and that you can handle conflict in a constructive way.

8. Tell me about a time when you had to persuade someone.

How to answer: Choose a time when you were able to change someone’s mind. Focus on emphasizing the steps that you took to persuade that person and what impact and results this had. Interviewers want to know that you are a great communicator and a good people person.

9. Describe a time when you failed.

How to answer: Choose a time when you failed to meet a deadline or did not meet expectations. Focus on emphasizing what you learned from the experience and how you used that experience to deliver even better results in the next opportunity that you got. Interviewers want to see that you don’t get discouraged from failure and that you treat those experiences as learning opportunities.

10. What questions do you have for me?

How to answer: This is a great opportunity to get to know the interviewer on a more personal level. Ask them questions about their experience in consulting or their career. Express genuine interest in what they have to show and ask follow-up questions. The more you can get the interviewer talking about themself, the more likely they will have a positive impression of you.

For more help on KPMG behavioral or fit interview questions, check out our complete guide on consulting behavioral interview questions .

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Need a sample of Case study for KPMG Transaction Services Interview please.

Overview of answers.

• Date ascending
• Date descending

Don't have a sample, however, can give you some tips.

While the b asic consulting services have mainly classic cases (Market sizing, profitability, market situation, etc), f inancial consulting may have specialized cases as well. For example, Transaction has M&A cases (Basic accounting, Due diligence, calculating NPV on paper, calculating Stock basis and earnings & profits, etc).

The cases will be much more detailed in the financial part . Depending on the company you'll need to:

• Find the relevant information in P&L and Balance sheet
• Do the simplified valuation using NPV: calculate cash flows and make assumptions about growth rate and discount rate
• Do the valuation using comps - you'll have to explain which comps you will use and why
• Calculate the share splits and price per share

I recommend finding someone from that practice and check the details of the interview in the particular department

Here are some good frameworks you may use:

1. For commercial DD you can use the following structure:

• Growth rates
• Profitability
• Distribution channels

Competition

• Market shares of competitors and their segments (see the next point)
• Concentration / fragmentation (Fragmented market with lots of small players is less mature and easier to enter from a scratch. Concentrated market is hard to enter but has potential acquisition targets)
• Unit economics of the players (Margins, relative cost position)
• Key capabilities of the players (e.g. suppliers, assets, IP, etc)
• Unit economics (Margins, costs) in current or target markets
• Product mix
• Key capabilities

Feasibility of exit :

• Exit multiples
• Existence of buyers

2. For Synergies Calculation you can use the following structure:

• Revenue synergies - here you calculate the synergies in price and quantity (depending on the case it may be new geographies, new products, new distribution channels, bigger share on shelves crosselling opportunities, etc.)
• Cost synergies - typically you use a value chain structure tailored to the industry (e.g. supply-production-distribution-marketing-after sales support)
• Financial s ynergies - access to capital, restructuring, etc
• Risks - major risks that can decrease the synergies (tip: don't underestimate the merging companies culture factor)
• Total synergies potential in $, adjusted by risk (probability of failure)

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Financial Services Case Interview: 4 Tips on How to Pass

• Last Updated December, 2021

A good case structure will get through any consulting case interview question. But some industries have specific issues that make it a lot easier to pass the case if you know what to expect. Financial services case interviews are like that.

Government regulation of financial institutions, their corporate structure, and business models are quite different from other industries, so it’s good to brush up on the financial services industry before facing a case.

In this article, we’ll discuss:

• Differences between financial services firms and other firms.
• Common types of financial services case interviews.
• A financial services case example.
• 4 Tips on acing your financial services case interview.

Let’s get started!

Differences Between Financial Services Firms & Other Firms

Financial services case interview example, common types of financial services case interviews.

5 Tips On Acing Your Financial Services Case Interview

Financial services firms don’t make cars or serve hamburgers to customers to generate revenue the way an auto company or a fast-food restaurant does. Instead, they provide retail customers (individual consumers – people like you and me) and businesses with loans, deposit accounts, or insurance policies. Or they help them invest their money in stocks, bonds, or other financial instruments.

Corporate Structure

There are many different types of financial institutions and they exist both on paper (e.g., online banks) and in actual brick-and-mortar form (e.g., retail bank branches with ATMs). Typical financial institutions include:

• Commercial banks (provide business loans, home mortgage loans, and savings/checking accounts)
• Investment banks and securities firms (help people buy and sell stocks and bonds and help companies issue them)
• Insurance companies (provide insurance for homes, cars, business risk, health, etc.)
• Mutual funds and pension funds (manage retirement savings or savings for other goals, e.g., education, health, etc., by investing it in stocks, bonds, and other assets)
• Microfinance companies (provide small loans to populations underserved by traditional financial institutions)

Businesses that “make stuff” have a factory where parts go in one end and cars or hamburgers go out the other. Financial institutions, on the other hand, have people who handle the bank accounts, stocks purchases/sales, or insurance products that they provide, and all the investment decisions and paperwork that go with that service.

Business Model

Unlike other sectors, the financial services industry’s business model is largely based on interest, fees, and premiums. Don’t get bogged down by the variety of products and services that a financial institution has to offer. You only need to remember:

• Key income sources: interest earned by selling retail and corporate loans, premiums earned on insurance policies, fees earned on financial advisory (e.g., stockbroking) or on deposit accounts, etc.
• Key costs: interest paid on deposits from retail investors and corporates, insurance claims/payouts, branch operations, manpower, SG&A, etc.

Always confirm and validate the drivers of revenue and cost with your interviewer before jumping to solving any financial services case.

Regulation and Risk

A well-functioning financial system is vital for the economy, businesses, and consumers. When a financial institution fails, it can create problems for the wider economy as the 2007-2009 financial crisis showed us. Financial services firms, therefore, attract high levels of scrutiny and oversight.

Government regulation helps make sure that these institutions have good management so they don’t make bad investments or become too risky. They require that financial institutions hold “shock absorbers” (i.e., capital) to help deal with bad investments. Each country has its own set of norms and regulations that create the framework and operating model for financial institutions.

In a financial services case, therefore, it’s always important to include regulation as a category in your issue tree. You can check with your interviewer on which aspects of financial regulation and risk are relevant to ensure that ideas you brainstorm in the case won’t break laws. Aligning on this upfront increases your credibility with the interviewer, but regulation is not typically the focus of the case.

Nail the case & fit interview with strategies from former MBB Interviewers that have helped 89.6% of our clients pass the case interview.

Financial services cases can include revenue growth, cost reduction, or new product introduction like they would for any other industry. They can also include managing the “back office” where financial account information is maintained or stock and bond trades are cleared.

Here are some financial services case interview examples:

• Disconsa – A McKinsey case on developing better financial service offerings for a not-for-profit entity serving remote Mexican communities.
• Internet Bank – An L.E.K. case on product diversification for a large insurance company in Europe.
• Big Bucks Bank – A Deloitte case on technology transformation for a large US-based bank.
• Bank of Zurich – A Deloitte case on developing a strategy to structure the organization’s data program.

We’ve also curated a list of case examples , to help you hone your business problem-solving skills. Head to Our Ultimate Guide to Case Interview Prep to learn what a case interview is and its various stages (i.e., opening, structure, analysis, and conclusion). The best way to get smarter about answering financial services case interview questions is to master this general four-part approach first and then apply financial services specifics as appropriate.

Let’s dive into a financial services case example.

Case Question

“Your client is Go-for-Growth bank, a large bank in a frontier market that wants to rapidly build its agent network to grow revenue for its payment and banking business. How should they go about it?”

First, repeat the main information in the prompt to the interviewer to make sure you got it right, and ask clarifying questions. If you don’t know what a frontier market is or who banking agents are, ask your interviewer.

Frontier market is a classification made by Standard & Poors, a financial rating agency, that’s used to classify less advanced economies in the developing world, e.g., Vietnam, Kenya, Nigeria, Cambodia, etc.

A banking agent is a retail or a postal outlet contracted out by a financial institution (in this case Go-for-Growth bank) to process clients’ transactions. Typically, in less advanced economies, the population has little access to banks but significantly higher interaction with establishments such as pharmacies, grocery stores, post offices, and beauty salons. The agents help the banks get new customers and typically make money on commissions.

Take a moment to develop your own hypothesis for the Go-for-Growth bank case.

Financial Services Case Hypothesis

Your hypothesis could be that a banking agent is a cost-efficient way for the bank to acquire customers and distribute financial products vs. having to set up their own branches across the country (including paying rent for office space and hiring staff in each location).

Next, validate your understanding of the bank’s business model, corporate structure, and applicable regulations. Here, the bank is a traditional commercial bank that wants to add agents as a channel to acquire retail customers and sell traditional financial products and services (e.g., loans, deposits, etc.) Building an agent network is allowed within the regulatory framework of the country.

A great candidate would also establish:

• The purpose of agent acquisition: “Why agents?” “Why now?” and “What is the size of the opportunity (or market) that the bank is chasing?” Here, the interviewer can confirm your hypothesis about agents being cost-efficient vs. Go-for-Growth Bank having to set up brick-and-mortar establishments.
• The size of the opportunity: Establishing an agent network is a big undertaking so it’s worth ensuring the opportunity size is big enough to justify the cost. In this case, the total opportunity size is $3 billion given the country is largely underpenetrated with only 10-20% of the total population of 100+ million having access to financial services, so the opportunity is worth it. (Note that to make this a short case or one that would be appropriate for undergrad summer interns, sizing the market could be the sole focus.)
• The client’s key success metrics : “What does success look like to Go-for-Growth Bank?” Here, you should clarify the target network size and the target timeframe to meet the client’s growth target. Say, your interviewer adds that they want to scale up to a size of 200,000 agents in 2 years to achieve the topline impact of $3+ billion.

You’d now ask for a minute to lay down your thoughts so that you can build your structure.

Take a moment to think about how you would structure this case before reading ahead. That will give you a sense of what business issues come naturally to you in a financial services case and where you need to push your thinking further.

Here’s a sample case structure:

• Which services/revenue streams should Go-for-Growth Bank market via the agents and to which end customers?
• Which of the existing products and services are most profitable?
• Which products and services don’t need extensive training for agents to sell?
• Which products and services best meet the needs of the customers who agents serve (e.g., payments and basic deposit accounts and loans, not more sophisticated financial products).
• Is there a segmentation of customers who should be targeted by the agents?
• Will the bank need to tweak their products to make them profitable to customers acquired through the agent network? (An A+ answer would note that clients with low incomes or lumpy earnings might need bank accounts with lower minimums.)
• Is there opportunity for cross-sell/ up-sell of products to customers?
• How to reach the agents? (sales force/feet on the ground vs. email campaign)
• How to get them interested in becoming a channel partner? Will one-time, up-front incentives be required?
• What is the process to get them on board?
• What cut can be given to the agents (so the bank continues to be profitable)?
• What will be meaningful for the agents?
• Can gamification reward schemes be introduced?
• Would certification or co-branding, such as a sticker to display the agent’s affiliation with Go-for-Growth Bank, appeal to potential agents?
• What banking products can be sold to the agents?
• Can the agents be offered discounted pricing on the products?
• What is the up-front effort/cost to acquire agents?
• What is the expected revenue or profit uplift per agent to the bank?
• How much should each agent sell annually/monthly to continue being profitable to the bank?
• What are the recurring costs to maintain the agent network?
• Which metrics should be used for tracking performance?
• Can low performers be segmented further based on their potential?
• What will be the plan of action for consistent low-performing agents?
• Which training(s) and products’ brochures should be offered to agents to keep the customer conversion rate high?
• How can we create a community within the agent network to provide product information updates and support agency retention (such as Facebook or WhatsApp groups)?
• How can we set up the right operating model for providing cash to agents as needed?
• How can we make sure the agents have the right processes in place to ensure Go-for-Growth Bank’s cash is safeguarded?

This structure is quite exhaustive. Don’t worry if you didn’t have every bullet point in your structure. In practice, since you only have about 2 minutes to lay this out, you don’t need to write full questions on your piece of paper but only a couple of keywords for each bucket and each sub-bucket.

We recommend going through our article on Issue Trees to learn more about how to create a case structure.

After you lay out your case structure, your interviewer would prompt you to brainstorm which agents to acquire and which products and services to sell, so if you’ve already alluded to it in your structure, that gives you a headstart.

Here, your interviewer would hand you a few exhibits that detail population density by region, classification of the retail stores with metrics on annual revenue, footfall, etc., a list of Go-for-Growth Bank’s products and the associated profitability of each product, and the results of a survey that details the wishlist of financial services and products by underserved consumers and small businesses.

On brainstorming ideas, you’ll be rated on both your structure and your creativity. Make sure to always articulate the logic behind your ideas, using your past experience, analogies, or your general knowledge.

Ideas for Increasing Go-for-Growth Bank’s Revenue

• Target the agents that receive the highest customer footfall (grocery stores) AND/OR agents that are well-versed in handling legal/administrative documentation (postal outlets). Let’s assume the bank can cover 60% of the untapped population by acquiring grocery stores and postal outlets as agents in the Tier 2 cities.
• Sell products that are profitable to the bank and at the same time relevant to the customers (payment transfer, insurance products, working capital loans, home loans, etc.)
• Onboard agents as customers first to establish other customers’ trust in the bank’s products. Given it’s a less advanced economy where customers rely on heavy interactions with retail stores for information on financial products, word-of-mouth from the agent will establish trust upfront and lead to longer lifetime value (LTV) for the bank.

Ideas on Incentives for Agents

• Provide commission to agents of 0.15% on each insurance/loan product.
• Organize monthly or quarterly leagues with leaderboards to recognize top performers, e.g., highest transaction value, highest growth, highest customer acquisition, etc.
• Leverage social media to build an agent community via Facebook or WhatsApp groups. These groups can create engagement and serve as an efficient mode of communication, allowing the bank to solicit agent referrals and publish leaderboards.
• Introduce friendly competitions like “Best shop-front display” to increase the visibility of Go-for-Growth Bank’s products.
• Test if affiliation with the Bank’s brand in the country is a motivator for agents.

You could classify “high performers” as agents with transaction volume and transaction value in the top 10%. Agent’s potential information (e.g., footfall, turnover, location potential) can also be collected to have a more nuanced segmentation for tracking and governance purposes.

Running the Numbers on Go-for-Growth’s Agent Strategy

Finally, you should consider pressure testing the unit economics of each agent to ensure the bank’s targets are met. To do this, you’ll need to leverage the information you were provided during the opening of the case as well as make some assumptions. A quick way to round this up would be:

• Total # of customers = % of population targeted * Annual conversion rate per agent = 60% of population targeted * 10% conversion rate = 60% * (80% [% of population currently underserved by financial institutions] * 100 million [total population]) * 10% [conversion rate]= 4.8 million customers
• Revenue per customer = Avg # of banking products sold per customer * Annual price per product = 1.5 avg # of products * $500 price 1 = $750 annual revenue per customer.

1 Based on data from interviewer.

• Therefore, Topline impact = 4.8 million * $750 = $3600 million = $3.6 billion (validated as this meets the $3+ billion target)

Keep drawing on the interviewer to test the assumptions and/or ask for industry benchmarks on conversion rates, average number of products, prices, etc. to make your analysis rigorous.

A great candidate would also establish bottom line impact for the bank:

• Total bottom line opportunity = Topline opportunity * Profit margin = $3.6 billion * (5-7% profit margin – 0.15% cut to agents) = $175 to $250 million.

“Go-for-Growth Bank’s CEO walks into the team room and asks you about your findings. What do you tell her?”

You should lead with your recommendation to the client and detail the key reasons supporting that recommendation. Then, mention any risks to consider which might impact the outcome and the next steps that you’d suggest to double down on the analysis. There is no need to repeat everything you covered during the case: be succinct and stick to the key arguments.

What would you say? Give it a try before reading ahead.

“We recommend acquiring the grocery stores and postal outlets in the Tier-2 cities as agents for the bank to help sell loan and insurance products at a profit margin of 5-7% to retail and small business clients with a 0.15% cut to the agents. This way, we cover 60%+ of the underpenetrated population with our highest profitability products and provide an additional source of income to the agents at no additional cost to them. The high perceived value in being affiliated with the Go-for-Growth Bank brand will attract agent interest. This will allow us to add $3 billion to the top line and $175-$250 million to the bottom line annually.

One concern we’d like to address next is whether competitors could potentially take away our first-mover advantage by luring away agents with better commissions, especially in densely populous areas. We should address this potential problem with contract terms and incentives in our agent agreements.”

Congrats, you made it through your first financial services case interview!

4 Tips On Acing Your Financial Services Case Interview

1. validate corporate structure and business model.

Always remember to validate the corporate structure and business model of the financial institution in your financial services case interview. You don’t want to end up confusing a commercial bank with an investment bank!

As a candidate, you’re not expected to know everything. Therefore, ask as many questions as possible to understand what you’re really dealing with. For instance, you could say, “Hey, I’m not familiar with the corporate structure and the business model of a pension fund, could you please explain that to me so I can start to understand the drivers of value for the business a bit better.”

2. Align on the Success Metrics

To be able to reach your destination, you must know what the destination is. This is especially relevant in the financial services case interview, where there could be dozens of metrics that can be solved for. Therefore, it’s critical to align on the North Star with your interviewer so you can solve for the target the client cares most about.

3. Apply First-Principles Thinking to Structure the Case

To navigate through a financial services case interview, you need to think on your toes. Chances are the corporate structure, business model, regulatory environment, and risk aspects will be unfamiliar to you. Instead of feeling bogged down by these nuances, take a big picture lens and apply first-principles thinking to structure the case.

You may not know the industry terms such as “net interest margin” or “dividend-adjusted return,” but you can always ask the first-principles question on “What drives value for the business?” and engage with your interviewer to identify the underlying sources of value.

Demonstrating intellectual curiosity in financial services cases will hold you in good stead. Start with “Why?” then get to the “What?” and only then solve for “How?”

4. Remain Calm and Confident

It’s easy to lose nerve when you’re out of your comfort zone. If financial services case interviews tend to throw you off, practice staying calm while solving the case. During your practice, monitor yourself for signs of nervousness. Pause, take a deep breath, smile, and then continue solving the case. The more practice you put in, the calmer your nerves will become. Also, include elements such as reading financial news, financial statements, etc., into your case prep so that you become familiar with industry terminologies. Incorporating these habits into your holistic practice will boost your confidence naturally.

– – – – –

In this article, we’ve covered:

• Key differences between financial services firms and other firms,
• Common types of financial services case interviews,
• A financial services case interview example, and
• 4 tips on acing your financial services case interview.

Still have questions?

If you have more questions about financial services case interviews, leave them in the comments below. One of My Consulting Offer’s case coaches will answer them.

Other people prepping for consulting case interviews found the following pages helpful:

• Our Ultimate Guide to Case Interview Prep
• Issue Trees
• Market-sizing Case Interview
• Supply Chain Case Interview

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