FP&A -> RX Consulting

Howdy all, I was just tapped to interview for an RX consulting role, coming from an FP&A/Accounting background.

My experience has been very forecasting and business partnering heavy with a surprising amount of accounting involved for the last few years. The firm I’m interviewing at is pretty well known in the RX space and supposedly values accounting and FP&A experience in candidates. But, having no background in transactions, banking, etc, I’m feeling woefully under-prepared for these interviews. I am not a CPA nor do I have an MBA.

What should I study up on, and how should I frame my current 3-statement modeling, balance sheet management, business planning, and internal reporting experience for a RX role? I was advised to be prepared for a moderately technical interview, and I hardly know anything about the restructuring process let alone the consulting firm’s place in that process.

FWIW I’m at the finance manager level at a mid sized tech company (post acquisition) interviewing for a senior associate corporate finance RX role.

Thanks in advance.

 
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Sounds like you already have the basics down pat. In my experience, they may ask at a high-level some questions regarding 3-statement models, FP&A/working capital forecasting, and other accounting-related items; however, the vast majority of my interviews revolved around identifying early indicators of distress and being able to walk through a 13-week cash flow model from head-to-toe. If I were you, I would be googling/memorizing every early-warning-sign of bad debt and building multiple 13-week models from scratch - that should get you good to go!

(Received Rx offers from A&M, BDO, GT, and FTI). 

 

Not like a consulting interview at all. Like I said above, there was some basic finance/accounting questions; however, the majority of every interview was A) talking through my work experience and how it was relevant; B) early warning signs of debt debt; and C) 13-week cash flow model questions.

For A&M I also had to build a linked 3-statement model (to prove I wasn't BS-ing about my technical background) that I had a time limit to complete. 

 

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