BearingPoint Archives

shares his professional experience as a Finance & Risk Analyst at Bearingpoint.

Overview of BearingPoint

BearingPoint is a management and technology consulting firm founded in 1997, with European origins and international reach. The firm operates in more than 20 countries and has over 6,000 employees. It supports large companies, financial institutions and public organizations in their strategic, financial and digital transformation projects.

The firm’s unique selling point is its ability to combine strategic thinking with operational implementation. Its consultants are involved throughout the entire process, from defining the strategy to its concrete implementation. BearingPoint also stands out for its strong entrepreneurial culture, based on collaboration, knowledge sharing and continuous skills development.

Logo of BearingPoint.

Source: the company.

My experience and service

I joined BearingPoint France as an intern analyst in the Finance & Risk department. I completed this internship during the first part of my gap year for a period of six months, from September 2024 to February 2025.

The Finance & Risk department supports the finance departments of large international groups (both private and public) in their transformation projects: optimizing management processes, performance management, digitization of financial tools and risk control. I had the opportunity to participate in a variety of assignments, combining financial analysis and strategic analysis. I worked for a company in the energy sector and had the opportunity to participate in the drafting of two commercial proposals.

As part of my client assignment, I worked in collaboration with a junior consultant, a consultant and a senior manager. I participated in all meetings with the client, contributed to the drafting of various deliverables, mainly in PowerPoint and Excel, produced reports and acted as PMO for effective project management. More specifically, I had the opportunity to gain detailed insight into the organization of a large group’s finance department and to understand the economic challenges and structure involved in the financial management of such an organization.

This assignment had a real impact on the company’s financial management in terms of both the budget and projections and actual results. I was able to interact directly with the finance departments and sometimes with members of executive committees, in a stimulating environment.

Explanation of the hierarchy

At BearingPoint, positions are organized around a clear hierarchy:

Analyst/Junior Consultant: participates in analyses, preparing deliverables and structuring data.
Consultant: manages part of the project, sometimes supervises a junior consultant and contributes to client relations.
Senior Consultant: provides technical or sector-specific expertise and leads certain assignments
Manager: coordinates the team, ensures the quality of deliverables and client satisfaction, and begins to work on several assignments at the same time
Senior Manager: a position between operations and assignment management, supporting consultants on assignments and with clients, leading project and steering committees, and structuring the deliverables plan
Director: strategic vision, supports senior managers in client relations and specialises in a sub-sector of the service (e.g. in public institutions in the Finance and Risk department)
Partner: designs the development strategy, supports and manages a portfolio of clients and contacts, defines the firm’s vision and sectors/areas of development

This hierarchical model provides a highly educational learning environment. Each level of responsibility represents a step forward in one’s career progression.

As a trainee analyst, I was able to learn directly from experienced consultants, understand the logic and structure of a project, and observe how managers structure strategic thinking. Consulting thus offers an environment where learning is continuous and skills develop rapidly.

Required skills and knowledge

On a technical level, the assignments I carried out strengthened my advanced mastery of tools such as PowerPoint and Excel for structuring models and analysing complex data. In addition, understanding budgetary processes, forecasting cycles and key financial indicators (KPIs, margins, cash flow) was essential for me to be able to work collaboratively with my teams on assignments. On a personal level, the consulting environment requires a high degree of adaptability, whether in client meetings, when encountering difficulties, or in keeping up with the fast pace of work. Rigour and attention to detail were also essential, as they are integral to the quality of the deliverables expected and the accuracy of the analyses performed. Finally, teamwork is central to BearingPoint. I strengthened my communication skills and my ability to be proactive and solution-oriented. These constant exchanges with my team members were a driving force for learning and progress.

What I learnt from this experience

This internship was particularly educational. I learned how to:

Structure my thinking and present analyses in a clear and concise manner (analysis of complex financial and quantitative models),
Work as part of a team in a demanding and intense environment where collaboration is essential,
Develop the analytical rigor needed to understand a company’s financial performance,
Finally, translate complex issues into concrete, quantifiable solutions tailored to the client.

Beyond the technical skills I developed, this experience confirmed my interest in financial strategy and consulting. It is a field that I found fascinating, where reflection, adaptation and a deep understanding of business issues are complementary.

Financial and Business concepts related to my internship

Here are three financial and business concepts related to my internship experience at Bearingpoint: financial analysis, writing commercial proposals and pricing assignments, and the strategic and analytical approach to barriers to financial performance for a company.

Detailed financial analysis by cost category

During my internship, I worked on a project that required me to examine in detail the cost structure of the company we were supporting. The analysis was based not only on its financial statements but also on those of its SPVs and the distribution of costs throughout the entire structure. It was necessary to distinguish between support and operational items by linking them to the appropriate cost centre to ensure that the allocation of costs was fair. This work required a deep understanding of the employees’ roles, as well as the financial challenges of each financial structure. One of the challenges was therefore to restructure the allocation of the company’s costs to ensure the right balance within the structures and enable them to grow without running out of resources.

Commercial proposals and pricing for assignments

I have had the opportunity to participate in the drafting of commercial proposals. This is a demanding task that is carried out in collaboration with the departments involved in the tender process. It is often an intense exercise, given the tight deadlines and the complexity of creating a convincing response that is tailored to the company. It is also through responses to calls for tenders that we can see the financial structure of a consulting assignment. Depending on the duration and the people who will be assigned to work on the assignment, there will be a price (number of people per grade x the FTE price per grade x the duration of the assignment). An FTE is a full-time equivalent, i.e. the price of one person working for one day.

Strategic approach and barriers to financial performance

During an assignment, I had the opportunity to work on analysing a company’s financial performance. The task was to identify cost items but also to find ways to optimise certain costs, facilitate access to information and improve understanding of revenues within the company. This involved both internal and external work with a strategic vision. Financial management is therefore a key factor in preparing a solid budget and setting targets that reflect the current situation. I had the opportunity to work on these elements and support the teams in implementing a financial management tool.

Why should I be interested in this post?

This position is a great opportunity to discover several sectors of activity while specialising in corporate finance. Consulting assignments allow you to work with a company and learn about its sector, strengths and weaknesses. This position is also challenging in a dynamic environment. You will be very exposed, working directly with the client, which is very educational but also demanding. It is a great way to learn from extremely competent and motivated teams.

Useful resources

BearingPoint

About the author

The article was written in November 2025 by Julien MAUROY (ESSEC Business School, Global Bachelor in Business Administration (GBBA), 2021-2025).

My internship experience at BearingPoint – Finance & Risk Analyst