Excel test for finance jobs

Financial analysts, controllers and finance assistants are often given an Excel task before the interview. This practice test has 20 tasks from finance work, from gross margin, debtor days and year-to-date totals to a loan payment, NPV, IRR and lookups in a report, in a live grid with a 30-minute clock.

20 questions · 30 minutes · passing score 70%

Question 1 of 20

In D2, calculate the gross margin as a decimal: revenue minus the cost of goods sold, divided by revenue (0.25 is 25%).

	A	B	D
1	Line	Amount	Gross margin
2	Revenue	1840000
3	Cost of goods sold	1196000
4	Other external costs	312000
5	Staff costs	245000
6
7
8

No tips during the test. I'm back with help when the clock stops.

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What finance employers test

A finance Excel test checks that you can turn a table of figures into the numbers a manager asks for, quickly and without mistakes. Expect margins and growth rates, shares of a total, totals for one period or one region with SUMIF and SUMIFS, and pulling a figure out of a report with VLOOKUP or INDEX and MATCH.

Many finance tests add a few questions on the time value of money: the payment on a loan with PMT, the net present value of an investment with NPV and its internal rate of return with IRR. The classic mistake is putting the year 0 investment inside NPV, which discounts it a year too far.

How this practice test works

You have 30 minutes for 20 questions. Each question has its own small sheet, written for this test only: an income statement, monthly actuals, a rate table or a project's cash flows. Click the answer cell, type your formula and press Enter, as in Excel.

Nothing is marked until you hand in. Every answer has to be a formula that still gives the right result when the figures change, so a typed number does not count. Afterwards you see your score, every question you missed and where to practice it.

How to prepare

Take the free preview of the first 10 questions to see where you stand. If percentages trip you up, remember that a share is always the part divided by the whole, and a change is new divided by old, minus 1. Then practice conditional sums and lookups, which make up most of the test, before you take the full test against the clock.

What the test covers

Each question practices one of these skills. Follow a link to practice it before you start.

Questions

What Excel skills do finance jobs need?

Percentages and growth rates, conditional sums with SUMIF and SUMIFS, lookups with VLOOKUP or INDEX and MATCH, rounding, and the financial functions PMT, NPV and IRR. This practice test covers all of them.

Do finance Excel tests include NPV and IRR?

Often, for analyst and controller roles. Expect at least one question on the value of future cash flows, so know how NPV treats the payment in year 0.

How long is this practice test?

30 minutes for 20 questions. The free preview has the first 10 questions in 15 minutes.

What score should I aim for?

The passing score here is 70%, 14 of 20. Aim for 80% or more before the real test.

Do I get a certificate?

Yes. Pass the full test with a verified email and you get a certificate with a public link for your résumé or LinkedIn.