BREAKING INTO WALL STREET BASIC QUESTIONS 2026/2027 | COMPLETE BIWS INTERVIEW
QUESTIONS & FINANCE FUNDAMENTALS STUDY GUIDE
Walk me through the 3 financial statements - ✔✔The 3 major financial statements are the
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Statement. The Income Statement gives the
company's revenue and expenses, and goes down to Net Income, the final line on the
statement. The Balance Sheet shows the company's Assets - its resources - such as Cash,
Inventory and PP&E, as well as its Liabilities - such as Debt and Accounts Payable - and
Shareholders' Equity. Assets must equal Liabilities plus Shareholders' Equity. The Cash Flow
Statement begins with Net Income, adjusts for non-cash expenses and working capital changes,
and then lists cash flow from investing and financing activities; at the end, you see the
company's net change in cash.
Can you give examples of major line items on each of the financial statements? - ✔✔Income
Statement: Revenue; Cost of Goods Sold; SG&A (Selling, General & Administrative Expenses);
Operating Income; Pretax Income; Net Income. http://breakingintowallstreet.com
http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com 7 Balance Sheet: Cash; Accounts Receivable;
Inventory; Plants, Property & Equipment (PP&E); Accounts Payable; Accrued Expenses; Debt;
Shareholders' Equity. Cash Flow Statement: Net Income; Depreciation & Amortization; Stock-
Based Compensation; Changes in Operating Assets & Liabilities; Cash Flow From Operations;
Capital Expenditures; Cash Flow From Investing; Sale/Purchase of Securities; Dividends Issued;
Cash Flow From Financing.
How do the 3 statements link together? - ✔✔To tie the statements together, Net Income from
the Income Statement flows into Shareholders' Equity on the Balance Sheet, and into the top
line of the Cash Flow Statement. Changes to Balance Sheet items appear as working capital
changes on the Cash Flow Statement, and investing and financing activities affect Balance Sheet
items such as PP&E, Debt and Shareholders' Equity. The Cash and Shareholders' Equity items on
the Balance Sheet act as "plugs," with Cash flowing in from the final line on the Cash Flow
Statement.
If I were stranded on a desert island, only had 1 statement and I wanted to review the overall
health of a company - which statement would I use and why? - ✔✔You would use the Cash
Flow Statement because it gives a true picture of how much cash the company is actually
, generating, independent of all the non-cash expenses you might have. And that's the #1 thing
you care about when analyzing the overall financial health of any business - its cash flow.
Let's say I could only look at 2 statements to assess a company's prospects - which 2 would I use
and why? - ✔✔You would pick the Income Statement and Balance Sheet, because you can
create the Cash Flow Statement from both of those (assuming, of course that you have "before"
and "after" versions of the Balance Sheet that correspond to the same period the Income
Statement is tracking).
. Walk me through how Depreciation going up by $10 would affect the statements. -
✔✔Income Statement: Operating Income would decline by $10 and assuming a 40% tax rate,
Net Income would go down by $6. Cash Flow Statement: The Net Income at the top goes down
by $6, but the $10 Depreciation is a non-cash expense that gets added back, so overall Cash
Flow from Operations goes up by $4. There are no changes elsewhere, so the overall Net
Change in Cash goes up by $4. Balance Sheet: Plants, Property & Equipment goes down by $10
on the Assets side because of the Depreciation, and Cash is up by $4 from the changes on the
Cash Flow Statement. Overall, Assets is down by $6. Since Net Income fell by $6 as well,
Shareholders' Equity on the Liabilities & Shareholders' Equity side is down by $6 and both sides
of the Balance Sheet balance. Note: With this type of question I always recommend going in the
order: 1. Income Statement 2. Cash Flow Statement 3. Balance Sheet This is so you can check
yourself at the end and make sure the Balance Sheet balances. Remember that an Asset going
up decreases your Cash Flow, whereas a Liability going up increases your Cash Flow.
If Depreciation is a non-cash expense, why does it affect the cash balance? - ✔✔Although
Depreciation is a non-cash expense, it is tax-deductible. Since taxes are a cash expense,
Depreciation affects cash by reducing the amount of taxes you pay
Where does Depreciation usually show up on the Income Statement? - ✔✔It could be in a
separate line item, or it could be embedded in Cost of Goods Sold or Operating Expenses - every
company does it differently. Note that the end result for accounting questions is the same:
Depreciation always reduces Pre-Tax Income.
QUESTIONS & FINANCE FUNDAMENTALS STUDY GUIDE
Walk me through the 3 financial statements - ✔✔The 3 major financial statements are the
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Statement. The Income Statement gives the
company's revenue and expenses, and goes down to Net Income, the final line on the
statement. The Balance Sheet shows the company's Assets - its resources - such as Cash,
Inventory and PP&E, as well as its Liabilities - such as Debt and Accounts Payable - and
Shareholders' Equity. Assets must equal Liabilities plus Shareholders' Equity. The Cash Flow
Statement begins with Net Income, adjusts for non-cash expenses and working capital changes,
and then lists cash flow from investing and financing activities; at the end, you see the
company's net change in cash.
Can you give examples of major line items on each of the financial statements? - ✔✔Income
Statement: Revenue; Cost of Goods Sold; SG&A (Selling, General & Administrative Expenses);
Operating Income; Pretax Income; Net Income. http://breakingintowallstreet.com
http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com 7 Balance Sheet: Cash; Accounts Receivable;
Inventory; Plants, Property & Equipment (PP&E); Accounts Payable; Accrued Expenses; Debt;
Shareholders' Equity. Cash Flow Statement: Net Income; Depreciation & Amortization; Stock-
Based Compensation; Changes in Operating Assets & Liabilities; Cash Flow From Operations;
Capital Expenditures; Cash Flow From Investing; Sale/Purchase of Securities; Dividends Issued;
Cash Flow From Financing.
How do the 3 statements link together? - ✔✔To tie the statements together, Net Income from
the Income Statement flows into Shareholders' Equity on the Balance Sheet, and into the top
line of the Cash Flow Statement. Changes to Balance Sheet items appear as working capital
changes on the Cash Flow Statement, and investing and financing activities affect Balance Sheet
items such as PP&E, Debt and Shareholders' Equity. The Cash and Shareholders' Equity items on
the Balance Sheet act as "plugs," with Cash flowing in from the final line on the Cash Flow
Statement.
If I were stranded on a desert island, only had 1 statement and I wanted to review the overall
health of a company - which statement would I use and why? - ✔✔You would use the Cash
Flow Statement because it gives a true picture of how much cash the company is actually
, generating, independent of all the non-cash expenses you might have. And that's the #1 thing
you care about when analyzing the overall financial health of any business - its cash flow.
Let's say I could only look at 2 statements to assess a company's prospects - which 2 would I use
and why? - ✔✔You would pick the Income Statement and Balance Sheet, because you can
create the Cash Flow Statement from both of those (assuming, of course that you have "before"
and "after" versions of the Balance Sheet that correspond to the same period the Income
Statement is tracking).
. Walk me through how Depreciation going up by $10 would affect the statements. -
✔✔Income Statement: Operating Income would decline by $10 and assuming a 40% tax rate,
Net Income would go down by $6. Cash Flow Statement: The Net Income at the top goes down
by $6, but the $10 Depreciation is a non-cash expense that gets added back, so overall Cash
Flow from Operations goes up by $4. There are no changes elsewhere, so the overall Net
Change in Cash goes up by $4. Balance Sheet: Plants, Property & Equipment goes down by $10
on the Assets side because of the Depreciation, and Cash is up by $4 from the changes on the
Cash Flow Statement. Overall, Assets is down by $6. Since Net Income fell by $6 as well,
Shareholders' Equity on the Liabilities & Shareholders' Equity side is down by $6 and both sides
of the Balance Sheet balance. Note: With this type of question I always recommend going in the
order: 1. Income Statement 2. Cash Flow Statement 3. Balance Sheet This is so you can check
yourself at the end and make sure the Balance Sheet balances. Remember that an Asset going
up decreases your Cash Flow, whereas a Liability going up increases your Cash Flow.
If Depreciation is a non-cash expense, why does it affect the cash balance? - ✔✔Although
Depreciation is a non-cash expense, it is tax-deductible. Since taxes are a cash expense,
Depreciation affects cash by reducing the amount of taxes you pay
Where does Depreciation usually show up on the Income Statement? - ✔✔It could be in a
separate line item, or it could be embedded in Cost of Goods Sold or Operating Expenses - every
company does it differently. Note that the end result for accounting questions is the same:
Depreciation always reduces Pre-Tax Income.
