Free practice test
Free Series 79 practice test: 60 questions across all three functions
This free Series 79 (Investment Banking Representative Qualification Exam) practice test is a 60-item deal book — 29 Function 1, 16 Function 2 and 15 Function 3 items, roughly the outline’s 49 / 27 / 24 split — with the reasoning and a note on every option. Nothing to sign up for: pick an answer and the memo opens.
The deal book
Start the Series 79 practice test
Full deal book 60 items
Item 1 of 60
F1 · Data & valuation
Analysts perform sensitivity tables to quantify which inputs dominate enterprise value. A firm's projected final year free cash flow is $120.0 million, and the terminal growth rate is 3.0%. If rate hikes push WACC from 8.00% to 9.25%, what is the precise decrease in Terminal Value?
Pick A–D (or press 1–4). The reasoning lands here, with a note on every option — including the ones that were only trying to look helpful.
| Function | Outline | Answered | Right | Flagged |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F1 Data & valuation | 49% | 0/29 | 0 | 0 |
| F2 Underwriting | 27% | 0/16 | 0 | 0 |
| F3 M&A & restructuring | 24% | 0/15 | 0 | 0 |
| Book | — | 0/60 | 0 | 0 |
Filters
Practice questions by function
29
Function 1 items
the exam scores 37
16
Function 2 items
the exam scores 20
15
Function 3 items
the exam scores 18
A practice test and a set of practice questions are the same 60 items read two ways. The All tab mixes the functions the way the exam does, so one pass through it is the closest thing here to a full Series 79 practice exam. The F1, F2 and F3 tabs filter the book to one function, with a count on each tab so you can see the end coming.
Most of your time belongs in F1: Collection, Analysis and Evaluation of Data is 37 of the 75 scored items, and the Function 1 guide covers the statements, ratios and valuation methods behind it. Offerings, registration and the syndicate are in the Function 2 guide. Function 3 (M&A, tender offers and restructuring) has no guide on this site; its 15 items here are in the F3 tab.
- Answer (1–4 or A–D)
- Locks the item: the key gets a gold box, a wrong pick is struck through, and the memo explains every option.
- Flag it (F)
- Marks the item for Next flagged.
- Back / Next (P / N)
- Moves through the current tab; past the last answered item you get the “Book closed” tally.
- Restart the book
- Clears answers and flags. Nothing is stored after you close the page.
Anatomy
How Series 79 questions are written
A typical Series 79 item is a short case and one question. A few sentences set up a company, a deal or a filing, and the last line asks for one thing — a value, a deadline, the communication that is allowed. The median item in this book has about 44 words of setup before the four options.
The wrong options are rarely nonsense. Each is what you get after a familiar slip, like the ones listed beside this section, so the option that looks about right is often the one written for you. Read the question line before the scenario: it says whether the item wants a level or a change, basic or diluted shares, business or calendar days.
Three format facts change how you answer. Of the 80 items, 5 are unscored pretest items you cannot tell from the rest; there is no penalty for guessing; and 150 minutes for 80 items is a little under two minutes each. Every item gets an answer, and no item gets ten minutes of devotion. The exam format page has the rest of the logistics.
- The level, not the change
- The stem asks how far a value falls; one option is the new value itself.
- Cash on the wrong side
- Enterprise value with cash added, not subtracted.
- Calendar days
- Tender-offer clocks run in business days.
- Minority vs control
- Precedent transactions carry a control premium, so they usually give the highest range; trading comps do not.
Arithmetic
Calculation questions you should expect
Enterprise value
EV = equity value + debt + preferred + NCI − cash
Equity value on diluted shares.
Gordon terminal value
TV = FCF(n+1) / (WACC − g)
WACC
E/V × Re + D/V × Rd × (1 − t)
All-stock accretion
accretive if acquirer P/E > P/E paid
Gross spread
management fee + underwriting fee + selling concession
Just over half of this book — 31 of the 60 items — ends in a number, and 18 of those are Function 1: enterprise-value bridges, terminal values and how they move with WACC, free cash flow built up from net income, accretion/dilution, coverage and leverage ratios. Function 2 brings spread splits, greenshoes of up to 15% of the base deal and the proceeds an issuer needs; Function 3 adds pro-rata tenders and buyout funding.
- Diluted shares
- 48 million
- Share price
- $25.00
- Total debt
- $310 million
- Preferred stock
- $40 million
- Cash
- $90 million
- Equity value = 48 million × $25.00 = $1,200 million
- EV = 1,200 + 310 + 40 − 90
- Add the cash instead and you get $1,640 million, which will be sitting among the options
AnswerEnterprise value = $1,460 million
The habit that saves points is mechanical: write the formula before you touch the numbers. The Series 79 study guide shows where each formula sits in the outline.
The tally
What your practice score does (and does not) tell you
Your tally tells you where you are weak, not whether you would pass. The Series 79 reports a scaled score, equated across exam forms, and FINRA publishes no table that turns a raw count into it. Even a perfect run through this book is a direction, not a forecast.
The useful part is the closing ledger: answered, right and flagged for each function, next to that function’s outline weight. Read it as a budget. A weak F1 column costs the most at 37 scored items; F2 has 20, and F3 at 18 is only two behind.
The page keeps nothing after you close it, so copy the ledger first. There is no outside benchmark either: FINRA publishes no Series 79 pass rate, and the pass-rate page explains why the figures quoted online are not worth calibrating against.
Samples
Sample Series 79 questions with answers
Three items, one per function, printed in full for anyone who would rather read than click — each is the first item of its function in the book above, with the key marked and the reasoning under a toggle. They are original practice questions written to FINRA’s 2025 content outline, not exam items: exam content is confidential, and a collection sold as the real thing deserves suspicion rather than money.
F1 · Data & valuation
Analysts perform sensitivity tables to quantify which inputs dominate enterprise value. A firm's projected final year free cash flow is $120.0 million, and the terminal growth rate is 3.0%. If rate hikes push WACC from 8.00% to 9.25%, what is the precise decrease in Terminal Value?
- A $2,472.0 million
- B $512.80 million
- C $494.4 million
- D $1,977.6 million
Answer and reasoning
C. Terminal value under the perpetuity growth method is FCF × (1 + g) / (WACC − g). Base case: 120 × 1.03 / (0.08 − 0.03) = 123.6 / 0.05 = $2,472.0 million. After the rate hike: 123.6 / (0.0925 − 0.03) = 123.6 / 0.0625 = $1,977.6 million. Terminal value falls by 2,472.0 − 1,977.6 = $494.4 million.
F2 · Underwriting
An underwriting syndicate is preparing for a highly anticipated IPO. If the syndicate decides to oversell the offering by 20%, what primary risk does the syndicate assume given a standard 15% overallotment option?
- A Naked short risk on 5% of the offering
- B Cancellation of the greenshoe
- C Immediate suspension of trading privileges by the exchange
- D Obligation to register an entirely new class of common stock
Answer and reasoning
A. Treating the greenshoe as an unlimited hedge is a critical error. Greenshoe coverage is typically limited to a hard 15% cap. If the syndicate oversells by 20%, the remaining 5% constitutes a naked short position. If the stock price rises post-IPO, the syndicate will be forced to buy shares in the open market at higher prices to cover this 5% deficit, absorbing the losses directly.
F3 · M&A & restructuring
A target company's board of directors resolves to reject a hostile tender offer. When filing the required Schedule 14D-9, how must the board address financial analyses provided by its advisors that yield conflicting valuation ranges?
- A Redact the underlying valuation multiples to protect advisor confidentiality
- B File the conflicting financial analyses exclusively in a separate Form 8-K filing
- C Omit analyses contrary to the recommendation
- D Disclose all analyses relied upon by the board
Answer and reasoning
D. Schedule 14D-9 requires the target board to provide a transparent disclosure of its recommendation. If the board relied on financial fairness analyses to make its decision, it must disclose the substance of all those analyses, even if they present conflicting valuation ranges or metrics.
Plan
Series 79 test prep around this book
Read the outline once
Fifteen pages: the three functions, the 37 / 20 / 18 split and the rules each names. No arithmetic, which makes it the gentlest part of the process.
Run the All tab cold
No notes, no lookups. The ledger is your baseline.
Fix the worst column
Read the matching guide, then drill that tab. If the columns are close, start with Function 1 — 49% of the scored exam.
Run it again
Restart the book. Items you recognise by their first line prove little; the flagged ones prove a lot.
Sponsorship, the SIE corequisite and how the licenses fit together are on the Series 79 hub.
Questions people ask
FAQ
How long does it take to prep for the Series 79?
FINRA publishes no figure, and the hour counts in circulation are vendor estimates. Plan by milestones: a cold run of the All tab, a drill of each function starting with the weakest, a second cold run — then a test date inside the 120-day window your firm’s enrollment opens.
How difficult is the Series 79 exam?
Hard in an arithmetic way: 37 of the 75 scored items are Function 1, where many questions want a calculation first, and you get 150 minutes for 80 items. With no published pass rate, there is no honest number to put on it; the 79 vs 7 page sets it against the Series 7 line by line instead.
Can I drill Series 79 practice questions one function at a time?
Yes. The F1, F2 and F3 tabs filter the 60 items to one function (29, 16 and 15 of them), and the ledger keeps a count per function, so a weak tab shows up as a weak column. The study guide says what each function covers before you drill it.
Should I time myself on the Series 79 practice test?
The book has no clock, so bring your own. Once a function’s column holds up, run 20 mixed items against about 35 minutes, the pace that leaves a few minutes spare on exam day (150 minutes for 80 items). The exam page has the full set of checkpoints.
Are there free Series 79 practice questions?
Yes: the 60 here, a four-item taster on the home page and 12-item drills on the Function 1 and Function 2 guides. No account, no paywall. The full question bank is in the Series 79 practice app.
Are these questions taken from the Series 79 exam?
No. They are original practice items written to FINRA’s 2025 content outline, with a note on every option.
Finished a run? Take the next one with you
The Series 79 practice app keeps the drills going away from the desk, with the reasoning attached to every option.