Is the hurdle rate a factor in all carried interest methods (deal-by-deal and the two total return methods). Kaplan and the CFAI curriculum do not seem to do a good job explaining. Based off my reading it seems the hurdle rate only comes into play with the deal-by-deal method, but I am hoping someone can confirm for me. Thanks!
Both.
And be sure to distinguish between a hard hurdle rate and a soft hurdle rate.
Lol, I went searching for carried interest threads on the forum and saw many discussions about soft and hard hurdle rates. Thank you!
I didn’t come across any questions on soft and hard hurdle rates in the curriculum. Did I totally miss them? 
They aren’t explicitly mentioned in level 2 curriculum. But anyways:
Hard hurdle rate: carry is earned on profits in excess of IRR
Soft hurdle rate: carry is earned on total profits