Case study insights required for Manager Financial Due Diligence interview
Looking to seek insights from professionals in the Transaction Services / Financial Due Diligence space across Europe and the UK.
I am currently interviewing with EY for a Manager role in Financial Due Diligence and have an upcoming case study assessment that is expected to run for ~3 hours. Would really appreciate guidance from the community, especially from people who have gone through similar Big Four FDD manager assessments recently.
A bit about my background:
- Chartered Accountant
- 6+ years of experience in Transaction Advisory / Financial Due Diligence
- Extensive exposure to PE and VC-led buy-side and sell-side diligence engagements
- Experience managing teams and handling multiple concurrent engagements
- However, I come from a non-Big Four background and am trying to understand how these assessments are specifically structured within EY / Big Four environments.
I understand that QoE, Working Capital, Net Debt, EBITDA normalization, and key commercial/business drivers will likely form the core of the exercise. However, I am looking for more specific insights around:
- What exactly does the 3-hour case study usually entail?
- Is it more Excel-heavy, report-writing-heavy, or presentation-heavy?
- How deep is the accounting analysis expected to go?
- Are candidates expected to prepare a mini FDD report / red flag report?
- How much focus is placed on storytelling and commercial insights vs pure technical analysis?
- What differentiates a strong Manager-level candidate from a Senior Associate-level candidate in these assessments?
- Any common pitfalls candidates underestimate?
Would especially value perspectives from EY TS/FDD professionals in the UK/Europe market, or anyone who has recently gone through Manager-level interviews at Big Four firms.
Thanks in advance!