Updated 2026

Finance Fundamentals Interview Guide

Comprehensive Finance Fundamentals guide for investment banking interview preparation

2
Lesson Levels
17
Flashcards
20
Quiz Questions

Lesson Outline

Build a strong foundation in finance by exploring essential concepts such as the time value of money, discount rates, IRR, WACC, and intrinsic valuation.

  • 1. The Time Value of Money (TVM)
  • The Core Concept
  • Present Value and Future Value
  • 2. Discount Rates: The Price of Risk
  • What the Discount Rate Represents
  • The Risk / Return Trade-off
  • 3. Introduction to Cost of Capital (WACC)
  • The Components of WACC
  • Why Debt is "Cheaper" than Equity
  • 4. Key Financial Metrics: NPV vs. IRR
  • Net Present Value (NPV)
  • Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
  • The Conflict
  • 5. Valuation Overview
  • Intrinsic Valuation (The DCF)
  • Relative Valuation (Comps)
  • The "Football Field"
  • 6. Enterprise Value vs. Equity Value

Flashcards

17 flashcards
Walk me through the concept of the Time Value of Money.
Technical
Review Module
Finance Fundamentals
Question 1 of 17

Practice Quiz

20 questions
Question 1 of 20

Which of the following best describes the core principle of the Time Value of Money (TVM)?

About This Finance Fundamentals Interview Guide

Build a strong foundation in finance by exploring essential concepts such as the time value of money, discount rates, IRR, WACC, and intrinsic valuation. Includes structured lessons, interactive flashcards, and practice quizzes to help you master Finance Fundamentals for investment banking interviews.

This guide is part of the Core Concepts section of our interview preparation platform. Each guide includes structured lessons at basic and advanced levels, interactive flashcards for active recall, and practice quizzes to test your understanding.

Structured Lessons

Basic and advanced content levels

17 Flashcards

Active recall for interview prep

20 Quiz Questions

Test your understanding

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Greenhill & Co.

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Thanks for starting up IB Vine. Couldn't have landed my offer without your help!
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User Story

I honestly think you're doing gods work since IB Vine democratizes the whole interview process and helps a lot of students ace their interviews.
J.P. Morgan

Analyst

I found this website really helpful, which also helps me better prepare for the technical interview in IBD position and get an offer.
Monkey

Seen on WallStreetOasis

Check out IB Vine, specifically the 'IB Vine Select' questions. Once you can get a handle of those, it seems like you are in a spot where you're applying the concepts rather than simply memorizing them
RBC

Analyst

I've used IB Vine for my recruitment, and I could not imagine the journey without it. Thank you for creating a phenomenal resource.
Monkey

Seen on WallStreetOasis

Beyond the 400 questions guide, try to understand a deeper level and the underlying concepts of the questions being asked. Use ibvine, it really helps.
Monkey

Seen on WallStreetOasis

IB Vine has excellent questions, especially multistep ones. In my experience I've gotten grilled on accretion/dilution, bond math, and merger model questions. IB Vine has great practice for all of those.
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From my experience interviewing FT for IB, it’s not enough to just know the 400 questions anymore (it’s a good starting point) but to look at even more advanced questions. Would recommend IB Vine.
Anon

Seen on Twitter

heard all the new kids use IB Vine now. the questions on IB Vine helped me get the concepts down when I had to recruit and make a lot of BB/MM interviews easier than I expected for techs
Anon

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Just got off the phone with a kid who interned at a Dallas PE firm. He mentioned that IBvine.io helped him secure that internship as well as his Summer Analyst offer, especially since he came from a non-target with no resources.
Lazard

Analyst

The IB Vine technical prep is beyond helpful, it's so much more fun quizzing myself every now and then vs. reading through the guides again.
Qatalyst Partners

Analyst

I personally found that the 'IB Vine Select' collection had some of the exact questions I was asked in my Qatalyst interviews.
Greenhill & Co.

Analyst

Thanks for starting up IB Vine. Couldn't have landed my offer without your help!
Anon

User Story

I honestly think you're doing gods work since IB Vine democratizes the whole interview process and helps a lot of students ace their interviews.
J.P. Morgan

Analyst

I found this website really helpful, which also helps me better prepare for the technical interview in IBD position and get an offer.
Monkey

Seen on WallStreetOasis

Check out IB Vine, specifically the 'IB Vine Select' questions. Once you can get a handle of those, it seems like you are in a spot where you're applying the concepts rather than simply memorizing them
RBC

Analyst

I've used IB Vine for my recruitment, and I could not imagine the journey without it. Thank you for creating a phenomenal resource.
Monkey

Seen on WallStreetOasis

Beyond the 400 questions guide, try to understand a deeper level and the underlying concepts of the questions being asked. Use ibvine, it really helps.
Monkey

Seen on WallStreetOasis

IB Vine has excellent questions, especially multistep ones. In my experience I've gotten grilled on accretion/dilution, bond math, and merger model questions. IB Vine has great practice for all of those.
Anon

User Story

As a nontraditional transfer student who has been rendered unavailable to many resources at my university (Leadership positions at clubs, immediately behind the recruiting cycle, etc.) IB Vine has been an absolute game changer in my IB prep.
Monkey

Seen on WallStreetOasis

From my experience interviewing FT for IB, it’s not enough to just know the 400 questions anymore (it’s a good starting point) but to look at even more advanced questions. Would recommend IB Vine.
Anon

Seen on Twitter

heard all the new kids use IB Vine now. the questions on IB Vine helped me get the concepts down when I had to recruit and make a lot of BB/MM interviews easier than I expected for techs
Anon

User Story

Just got off the phone with a kid who interned at a Dallas PE firm. He mentioned that IBvine.io helped him secure that internship as well as his Summer Analyst offer, especially since he came from a non-target with no resources.
Lazard

Analyst

The IB Vine technical prep is beyond helpful, it's so much more fun quizzing myself every now and then vs. reading through the guides again.
Qatalyst Partners

Analyst

I personally found that the 'IB Vine Select' collection had some of the exact questions I was asked in my Qatalyst interviews.
Greenhill & Co.

Analyst

Thanks for starting up IB Vine. Couldn't have landed my offer without your help!
Anon

User Story

I honestly think you're doing gods work since IB Vine democratizes the whole interview process and helps a lot of students ace their interviews.
J.P. Morgan

Analyst

I found this website really helpful, which also helps me better prepare for the technical interview in IBD position and get an offer.
Monkey

Seen on WallStreetOasis

Check out IB Vine, specifically the 'IB Vine Select' questions. Once you can get a handle of those, it seems like you are in a spot where you're applying the concepts rather than simply memorizing them
RBC

Analyst

I've used IB Vine for my recruitment, and I could not imagine the journey without it. Thank you for creating a phenomenal resource.
Monkey

Seen on WallStreetOasis

Beyond the 400 questions guide, try to understand a deeper level and the underlying concepts of the questions being asked. Use ibvine, it really helps.
Monkey

Seen on WallStreetOasis

IB Vine has excellent questions, especially multistep ones. In my experience I've gotten grilled on accretion/dilution, bond math, and merger model questions. IB Vine has great practice for all of those.
Anon

User Story

As a nontraditional transfer student who has been rendered unavailable to many resources at my university (Leadership positions at clubs, immediately behind the recruiting cycle, etc.) IB Vine has been an absolute game changer in my IB prep.
Monkey

Seen on WallStreetOasis

From my experience interviewing FT for IB, it’s not enough to just know the 400 questions anymore (it’s a good starting point) but to look at even more advanced questions. Would recommend IB Vine.
Anon

Seen on Twitter

heard all the new kids use IB Vine now. the questions on IB Vine helped me get the concepts down when I had to recruit and make a lot of BB/MM interviews easier than I expected for techs
Anon

User Story

Just got off the phone with a kid who interned at a Dallas PE firm. He mentioned that IBvine.io helped him secure that internship as well as his Summer Analyst offer, especially since he came from a non-target with no resources.

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