Accountant Skills Interview
Author:
Alycia Damp, PhD IRHRAn Accountant interview assessing key skills required for success. We've also included a few motivation and values questions to help you make the best decisions about your candidates.
Focus area:
Question
1
Why are you interested in making a career move to our company as Accountant? How do you see this opportunity within the context of your career?
What does this question reveal?
Candidate exhibits fit and motivation to join the company
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- Is seeking an opportunity to grow by applying and developing multiple skills
- Wants to make a defined impact on others and the organization’s success
- Is motivated to add value to the company's culture and work environment
- Is passionate when discussing how this connects with their strengths/interests
- Exhibits awareness of the role expectations and the organizational context
Question
2
If you received our company’s latest financial statements, what would you analyze to reach a conclusion about the overall financial health of our business?
What does this question reveal?
Candidate has the ability to assess financial health using financial statements
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- Understands the relationship between financial statements and financial health
- Discusses inferences that can be made from key financial statements
- Discusses specific indicators to help monitor the company's financial health
- Discusses frequently used ratios (e.g. gross and net profit margins)
- Recognizes that financial health is a dynamic process
Question
3
Imagine you join our team and leadership is discussing whether we should expand the marketing budget for next year. How would you use information from our financial statements to make a recommendation here?
What does this question reveal?
Candidate has the ability to use financial statements to deal with practical issues
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- Utilizes three main statements (i.e. balance sheet, income and cash flow)
- Analyzes whether they can expand the cost base and discusses profitability
- Discusses how a successful marketing campaign would affect financial statements
- Considers whether the company has enough reserves to finance the campaign
Question
4
In your current/former role, have you ever missed a transaction or identified an incorrect transaction? How did you detect it, and what did you do when it was identified?
What does this question reveal?
Candidate has the ability to analyze and maintain accurate ledger records
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- Elaborates on their missed/incorrect transaction
- Explains how they detected and corrected the error
- Discusses the implications of the error(s)
- Shares tips for how to avoid errors in ledgers in the future
Question
5
Imagine you join our company as a Accountant. You are required to take charge of collecting and storing all financial transactions. What approach would you use to effectively manage this data?
What does this question reveal?
Candidate has the ability to understand and apply ledger skills
Explore tips
- Exhibits a comprehensive understanding of ledger skills and related information
- Points out key steps in collecting and storing transaction data
- Shares their process for maintaining accurate/error-free records
- Points out common issues and how to avoid them in the future
Question
6
Imagine you are required to do a final review of the annual financial statements before sending them to the CFO. What method would you use to quality check the reports to ensure all data and summaries were accurate?
What does this question reveal?
Candidate has the ability to apply attention to detail when reviewing statements
Explore tips
- Understands key reporting elements of financial statements
- Identifies key steps and indicators they would use to check accuracy
- Acknowledges the significance of accurate and thorough reporting
- Draws from related past experience and highlights key learnings and takeaways
Question
7
Tell me about a time where you were working on an important project and were under pressure due to a tight deadline. What did you do to ensure you delivered high quality work? What was the outcome?
What does this question reveal?
Candidate has the ability to prioritize tasks and pay attention to detail under pressure
Explore tips
- Prioritizes work quality across all situations
- Schedules time to edit/review/quality-check work despite time pressure
- Shares specific tactics they used to minimize errors and check data accuracy
- Shares best practices for managing quality of work across all situations
Question
8
Imagine you join the company and the marketing manager approaches you for advice on whether to increase the marketing budget by 10% for the next year. How would you help make a well-informed decision?
What does this question reveal?
Candidate has the ability to use business acumen to make budgeting recommendations
Explore tips
- Emphasizes the relevance of the whole company's financial situation
- Considers using external benchmarks to compare against marketing's data
- Assesses cash reserves, profitability and financial health of the business
- Considers the opportunity cost of this decision
- Discusses other potential costs related to increasing marketing spend
Question
9
Imagine you want to compare the performance of two separate teams/departments. What information would you look for? What steps would you take to make a valid comparison between the two teams?
What does this question reveal?
Candidate has the ability to apply data analysis methods to business problems
Explore tips
- Discusses key principles for an effective analytics approach
- Identifies different ways to define good performance
- Discusses using more historical data for this comparison
- Interprets hypothetical results and discusses potential next steps
Question
10
Imagine you found your colleagues violating a Generally Accepted Accounting Principle (GAAP). How would you respond?
What does this question reveal?
Candidate has the ability to uphold ethical standards by ensuring GAAP is adhered to across the organization
Explore tips
- Ensures their assumption about the violation is correct
- Privately confronts colleague to inquire about their knowledge of the error
- Works to understand why the principles were violated (e.g. mistake/intentional)
- Proposes a solution that follows the relevant GAAP
- Emphasizes the importance of following GAAP to minimize business risk
Question
11
Sometimes we face difficult decisions at work. Can you tell me about a time you were confronted with a difficult decision at work and made the right decision even if it wasn't the easiest?
What does this question reveal?
Candidate has the ability to adhere to moral/ethical principles in decision-making
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- Describes the context and why the right decision was difficult
- Recognized the impact of their decision on others
- Considered the ethical implications of their actions
- Discusses avoiding making decisions for personal gain
- Values fairness in decision-making
Question
12
Imagine you receive spreadsheets with huge amounts of data from multiple sources and are asked to summarize a selection of these in a single Excel file. What method would you use to respond to this request?
What does this question reveal?
Candidate has the ability to use Excel proficiently
Explore tips
- Proposes a structure by separating input and output data
- Designs a plan by breaking the process into smaller steps
- Discusses common issues and references real-life examples on how to avoid them
- Considers alternative tools to Excel (Macros, SQL, etc.)
Question
13
If we gave you our [company-specific data], how would you use a spreadsheet to calculate the unit economics of our flagship product?
What does this question reveal?
Candidate has the ability to use Excel proficiently
Explore tips
- Clearly articulates a proposed strategy
- Discusses spreadsheet structure and methodology
- Keeps source data and assumptions separate
- Utilizes pivot tables to explore more complex data
- Discusses calculation in an accessible way (easy to understand for others)
Question
14
Based on your past work history and professional experience, in what type of work environment were you the happiest and most productive?
What does this question reveal?
Candidate shares preferences for organizational culture and workstyle aligned with your company
Explore tips
- Discusses attributes that align with your organization
- References different organizational factors (people, place, work, etc.)
- Highlights the values that shaped the environment/culture
- Shares a story from past experience to support their claims
- Justifies why it made them happy and productive
Question
15
What is one thing you wish I had asked you in our conversation today?
What does this question reveal?
Candidate displays self-awareness of unique strengths and value-add
Explore tips
- Gives a response that is relevant to the role in question
- Justifies their suggestion by explaining their value-add
- Exhibits strengths that were not previously covered
- Further demonstrates their value-add and competitiveness as a candidate
