Financial inquiry wasted time in dissecting statements (5,4)
I believe the answer is:
means test
'financial inquiry' is the definition.
'means test' can be an answer for 'inquiry' (means test is a kind of inquiry). I'm not sure about the 'financial' bit.
'wasted time in dissecting statements' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'time' could be 'est' (EST is an example) and 'est' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for means test that I've seen before include "financial investigation" , "Inquiry into financial position before providing aid" , "enquiry into funding" , "Financial assessment for statesmen" , "Check to see if one qualifies for assistance" .)