You're right. The hours are probably way off. I do financial due diligence for M&A. I'm on a deal for the next couple weeks for a software company in this price range and it will take us a little under 250 hours to complete a pretty thorough analysis of the target from a deal perspective.

Although we're only around towards the end of the transaction, bankers are involved from the beginning. They typically get an offering memorandum together, help the company organize their financial data, contact potential buyers and do anything else necessary to facilitate a smooth transaction acting on the seller's behalf.

As far as fees go, we're by the hour, but bankers may very well get a % of the total deal. I certainly don't make ibanker money, but there wouldn't be anytime for my hacking side projects if I did!