Financial due diligence is one piece of a bigger picture
Financial due diligence never happens in isolation. On most deals, a client will run several due diligence workstreams in parallel, each answering a different question about the target:
Commercial due diligence looks outward — market sizing, competitive position, customer base and growth opportunity — essentially testing whether the business has a viable future, not just a clean set of historical numbers.
Legal due diligence examines material contracts, from financing agreements to staff-related agreements, to flag liabilities that could affect the transaction or the new owners.
Tax due diligence covers the target's tax obligations and the tax impact of the transaction itself — in bolt-on deals, for instance, whether tax losses can contribute to future group relief is a genuinely interesting equity-bridge consideration.
Operational due diligence reviews processes and facilities for both cost-saving opportunities and operational risk.
IP/property due diligence assesses the quality and protection of intellectual property and the condition of owned or leased property.
Depending on the deal, clients may also bring in specialist environmental, regulatory, IT or HR due diligence. Knowing where FDD's remit ends and these other workstreams begin is a genuinely useful thing to be able to articulate in an interview.
All you need to know
The below information pack (60+ page document with accompanying example Excel databook) will benefit any individual looking into a potential move into the financial due diligence profession (often referred to as transaction services or transaction advisory services in the market). The information pack will prove useful for potential interview questions or even simply establishing a general understanding of the typical financial due diligence thought-process.
The pack will also be beneficial for any already successful FDD candidate who is looking to acquire a strong technical understanding in order to hit the ground running.
FDD Interview Preparation Pack and Example Excel Databook
Complete FDD (Transaction Services) interview preparation pack (60+ page document + example Excel databook). Insights into the FDD process and detailed technical examples covering all three key FDD workstreams: Quality of Earnings, Net Debt and Net Working Capital.
Candidate feedback on the interview preparation pack:
“I would definitely recommend for anyone interested in FDD to take this course just because of the quality. I bought other materials for higher price and this one is better than other online materials.”-Ting L, March 2026
“Thanks to the wide range of information, I successfully managed to receive a job offer at a Big4 firm in FDD.” — Guido V, March 2026
“This guide was worth every penny. I was able to land two big 4 fdd senior associate offers using the information in this guide and would recommend to anyone looking to do the same.” — James E, March 2025