Walk me through the three financial statements.
Answer
The income statement reports revenues and expenses over a period of time, ending at net income. The balance sheet is a snapshot of what the company owns and owes on a single date, with assets equal to liabilities plus equity. The cash flow statement begins at net income and reconciles it to the actual change in cash, broken into operating, investing, and financing activities.
Why interviewers ask this
This is the warmup question in nearly every first-round IB interview. The interviewer is screening for three things: that you can describe each statement clearly, that you understand how they link, and that you can deliver technical content confidently under pressure. Strong candidates briefly mention the time dimension (the IS and CFS cover a period; the BS is a point-in-time snapshot) and start tying the statements together — even subtly — to show depth. Pace yourself: this should land in under 90 seconds.