ROLE-SPECIFIC SKILLS

Financial due diligence test for hiring

See how candidates judge a company’s value, financial condition, and account balances.

10 minutes
15 questions
Intermediate
Multiple choice
Questions in English
Phone and desktop

Use this test free See the question formats

The short answer

The Financial Due Diligence test is an intermediate, timed assessment for finance professionals and owners or investors reviewing a company. It measures judgment in estimating a target business’s value, reading its financial condition and risks, and checking whether account balances hold up. Use it when hiring analysts, deal advisory staff, finance leaders, or advisors involved in company reviews.

What it measures

Estimating the value of a target business, judging its financial condition and risks, and checking the balances in its accounts.

Business valuation

Candidates use a small set of figures to estimate what a target business is worth.

Financial health and risk

Candidates read a company’s financial condition and identify warning signs and risks.

Verifying account balances

Candidates decide whether individual balances recorded in a company’s books hold up.

Question formats

Multiple choice

The candidate: Reads a short situation, table or statement and picks the right answer, or every right answer.

You see: Whether the candidate knows the material well enough to apply it, not just recognize it.

15 questions in 10 minutes, served one at a time.

Roles this test fits

Financial analysts, deal advisory and transaction services staff, financial consultants and advisors, finance managers, controllers and finance leaders who review acquisitions, and owners or investors sizing up a company to buy.

Evidence beyond a resume

Valuation judgment
See how a candidate uses figures to estimate a target business’s value, not just how they describe experience on a resume.
Warning signs before a deal
See whether candidates read a company's condition and spot the risks that matter before buying, investing in or lending to it.
Balances that hold up
Questions ask whether individual balances on a target's books hold up, the check that tells you if a candidate trusts reported figures too readily.
Figures built for judgment
Amounts use no currency symbol, and simple figures plus an on-screen calculator and scratch paper keep the focus on judgment rather than arithmetic speed.

What you get for each candidate

Example report (fictional data)Financial Due Diligence

74%Percentile 53. Benchmark: HireValid candidates, n = 994

Business valuation82%

Financial health and risk57%

Verifying account balances84%

Integrity ScoreHigh confidence

Stayed on the test tab throughout
No pasted answers
Answered at a steady pace

Scores, profiles and integrity signals are evidence for you to review alongside an interview, never an automatic decision.

Use this test free

Test integrity signals for employer review

Each candidate receives a different set of questions from large pools. Questions appear one at a time, in a different order, with shuffled answer options. Answer keys stay on HireValid’s servers. Server timing restores the same question with only the time left after a reload. Candidates cannot copy or select question text; blocked copy attempts are recorded. Personal invitation links expire, and a finished test cannot be taken again. HireValid summarizes signals such as time away from the test tab, pastes, and answers faster than a question can be read in an Integrity Score and evidence timeline for employer review. With candidate consent, employers can add random webcam photos. Learn more about how we build our tests.

How we prevent AI cheating · Integrity signals

Use the score as one source of evidence

Treat the score as evidence for a person to review, not as a hiring decision. Pair it with a work sample asking the candidate to estimate a business’s value, examine its financial condition, and check account balances. Then use a structured interview with the same prompts for each candidate. For adjacent skills, consider Financial Accounting (IFRS) or Financial Math. For invitation practices, see the candidate-friendly hiring guide.

Structured interview questions

A target’s reported balances do not seem to fit the other figures. How would you investigate before deciding whether they hold up?
Listen for a clear plan to check supporting information, examine the figures, and explain the judgment.
You see a warning sign in a company’s financial condition. What would you examine before advising on a possible purchase?
Listen for relevant follow-up questions about the company’s condition and a reasoned account of the risk.
How would you estimate a target’s value from a small set of figures, and what would you flag as uncertain?
Listen for a logical approach to using the figures and a clear explanation of uncertainty.

Understand scoring and benchmarks

Fairness and accommodations

Amounts are shown in thousands with no currency symbol, and questions rely on concepts shared by the major accounting frameworks rather than any one country's tax or reporting rules. Company and people names come from many backgrounds and industries vary across everyday sectors. Every candidate has an on-screen calculator and scratch paper, and the figures are kept simple so the test rewards judgment rather than arithmetic speed.

You can give any candidate extra time as an accommodation. Results are evidence for a person to review, never an automatic decision.

Provisional: reliability is reported once 200 candidates have completed it.

Read our fairness approach

Test details

A short, timed test of the judgment needed when looking hard at a business before buying, investing in or lending to it. Candidates work through small sets of figures to estimate what a company is worth, read its financial condition and warning signs, and decide whether individual balances on its books hold up.

Questions are in English.
Aids allowed: A calculator, Scratch paper.
Each question is answered once, in order, with no going back.
4 practice questions, 4 minutes, before the timed test.

Frequently asked questions

How does the Financial Due Diligence test handle fairness?+

Amounts are shown in thousands with no currency symbol. Questions use concepts shared by major accounting frameworks rather than one country’s tax or reporting rules. Names and industries vary, and simple figures support judgment over arithmetic speed.

What tools and question format does the Financial Due Diligence test use?+

The test has 15 multiple-choice questions in 10 minutes. Candidates have an on-screen calculator and scratch paper, and cannot return to an earlier question. The figures support valuation, financial risk review, and account-balance checks.

Can candidates try the Financial Due Diligence practice set?+

Yes. Candidates can take a practice set of 4 questions in 4 minutes before the test. It gives them a chance to try the multiple-choice format and use the calculator or scratch paper provided.

Which roles suit the intermediate Financial Due Diligence test?+

It is designed for financial analysts, deal advisory and transaction services staff, financial consultants and advisors, and finance managers, controllers, or finance leaders reviewing acquisitions. Owners or investors sizing up a company to buy may also use it.