AnalystDen
Back to Blogs

Slide checking for investment banking: don't underestimate the importance of analyst-level precision

September 25, 2025•2 min read•By AnalystDen

We sat at the internship round tables. What’s one of the key skills that lands analysts in the “you’re hired” camp vs the “reject” camp? Not spotting their own mistakes and letting us find them.

It’s not always about being the smartest. It’s about being the one who doesn’t send the client a slide riddled with errors, or let the MD catch a miscalculation in the footnotes.

Let’s get this out of the way first: we’re not saying you can’t make mistakes. Everyone does. Including MDs. In fact, we encourage you to get your “major” mistakes out of the way in your first 6 months – and to learn from them.

But what’s important here is:

  • Can you stand behind your calculations?

  • Do you make repeated errors?

  • Can your seniors and clients trust your work?

Think about it like this: if you consistently send miscalcs, or messaging that doesn't fit the data shown (or vice versa), your seniors are going to start to question if you understand the concepts or if you've just memorized certain steps without getting the "why" of it all.

QA – quality assurance – is how you protect your team, your work: your reputation is on the line.

Slide-check reviews that build real execution and quality-assurance habits.

Our slide checks show you investment banking pitchbooks packed with subtle, truly realistic errors that bankers see every day on the desk:

  • Calculations that don’t tie

  • Formatting inconsistencies

  • Messaging that breaks flow

  • Incorrect valuations or assumptions

  • Branding or footnotes that slip past unnoticed

You’re forced to think like an analyst – not a student.

Tagged and tracked.

Every slide check:

  • Is tagged by skill

  • Gets scored and tracked in your dashboard

  • Helps you benchmark how sharp you are

This isn’t busywork. This is what your associate is hoping you catch before they send the deck out. This is how you help them – your team – and build up your reputation (or otherwise risk damaging it).

Final word

QA is how you stop making rookie mistakes. It’s the difference between “good enough” and “great work, send it”.

Want to build analyst-level precision? Try reviewing our investment banking slides and pitchbooks for free at AnalystDen - start catching what others miss, like a top-performing analyst would.