To land a good Accountant job, this article lists the essential questions you may be asked in an interview.
1. What is your qualification? What accounting position have you held before?
It is essential to provide the appropriate designations for the roles. Inform the hiring manager of your post-secondary education and accounting credentials. For example, you could say, “My post-secondary education took place at the University of London. After earning my bachelor’s degree in finance in 2012, I returned to part-time study in 2014 to earn my CPA.”
2. Please inform me about your management abilities. Can you relish the opportunity to guide and educate others?
Are you naturally endowed with the ability to lead? Are you a team leader who thrives on responsibility? Discuss the next recruiting manager’s managerial skills and expertise. Be sure to have instances in which you acted as a boss. How did you react to the feedback? For example, your reply can be, “I am an innate leader who enjoys leading. In my current job, I am tasked with a variety of projects. I was previously in charge of a squad of twelve junior accountants. The project got positive reviews, and I had the impression that the accountants who worked under me on this project listened to my advice frankly.”
3. How can you ensure that the work you do is error-free?
Errors may occur when operating on a project. Discuss with the interviewer how you deal with/control these mistakes. For example, you may say that “I still make a point of checking in on the status of a project daily. I ensure that my team members are safe approaching me with updates and ideas as they see opportunities for progress. Having everybody on the lookout for required modifications and potential errors aids significantly in the monitoring of potential errors.”
4. Please walk me through the process of the most recent budget you have prepared.
Walk the recruiting manager through the measures you used to create your budget. When responding, be succinct. If the interviewer wishes to discuss concrete steps in more detail, they may inquire. Such as, you may respond by saying, “My most recent budget planning project needed a great deal of time and effort. I start by revising my expenditure projections. Following that, I looked for bottlenecks. Following that, I decided whether there were any stage costs and then generated a budget package.”
5. Why did you decide to become an accountant?
Discuss with the recruiting manager how you ended up choosing Accounting as a career choice. You can add a personal touch to your answer if you wish. For example, your response could be, “My father was an accountant, and my mother was a bookkeeper when I was growing up. I’ve always been fascinated with problem-solving and mathematics. Accounting was an obvious career option for me.”
6. What credentials do you possess that make you qualified for this position, and why should we consider hiring you?
Show to the hiring manager by example how you were the ideal candidate for the job by discussing your qualifications, strengths, and what differentiates you from the competition. Apart from having the educational background you require, I also hold the PMP designation, which qualifies me to lead accounting-related projects for your firm. This is a rare mix, and I believe it contributes to my standing as a nominee. For example, you may say, “I’ve worked in a variety of accounting roles over the years. I have often been a member of or liable for the closure procedure, performing activities such as period-end close, monthly balance sheet reconciliations, planning correct and timely financial statements, and reviewing financial statements for consistency.”
7. Are you aware of any recent amendments to tax law?
How can you stay up on amendments to tax law? Discuss with the recruiting officer if you keep up on tax law shifts. For example, I keep up on tax law changes by subscribing to several finance and accounting magazines, journals, and newspapers. It is more appropriate to list a few of them.
8. What critical decision did you make at work this year?
As an accountant, you may often be required to make critical decisions. Discuss the most important work-related move you called to satisfy the recruiting manager. For example, you could say, this year, the most important choice I’ve been called to make was through our firm’s downsizing. I was required to make decisions on who should be laid off. It wasn’t quick, but I maintained a diplomatic tone in making the recommendations.
9. What are your QuickBooks, Xero, Sage, or other accounting software expertise?
Inform the recruiting manager of your familiarity with Xero, QuickBooks, or other open-source software. Have you just been evaluated for your software skills? If that is the case, you can indeed discuss it. For example, you may respond by saying, I was recently offered the opportunity to demonstrate my Xero expertise when being evaluated for a position by a recruitment firm. They assessed my skills and determined that I was an advanced user.
10. Are you a good performer under pressure?
As an accountant, you would continually be operating against tight deadlines. Assure the recruiting manager that you can be effective under a high workload. You could say, as an accountant, I am used to operating under extremely constrained and critical deadlines. They make no difference to me, and I perform admirably under pressure.
11. Can you relate an occasion when you were responsible for a complicated financial initiative that involved accurate data collection and interpretation on a tight timeline?
Assure the recruiting manager that you can work under extreme time constraints on complicated tasks. Discuss the client’s needs, any assistance you got during the process, the client’s aspirations, and how you fulfilled them.
12. Are you familiar with ERP or SAP systems?
Inform the recruiting manager about your experience of using SAP or ERP programs. What areas do you believe you should build on? Which abilities do you think are your strongest? You may reply by saying, Yes, I worked in ERP and SAP applications in previous jobs. I’d estimate that I’ve spent nearly eight years in each. My most extensive expertise is in data processing and evaluation via SAP.
13. What was your favorite subject in college and why?
What was your most vital subject, and why? Discuss the preferred post-secondary choice with the recruiting manager. For example, you may say, Accounting and Management was the favorite subject I took during my post-secondary studies. I believe I did well because the Professor was so fascinating. I had a great time studying budgeting, corporate design, inventory costing, and decision-making.
14. How have you stayed abreast of the rules affecting your accounting position?
Discuss with the recruiting officer if you stay up on updated accounting rules. For example, you may respond by saying, As an IFAC associate, I can keep current on new legislation affecting the accounting industry. Additionally, I am a strong scholar, enabling me to stay current on laws and updates.
15. Can you identify the credentials you believe an applicant for this role would need to be effective?
Inform the recruiting manager that you know the credentials necessary for this position’s performance and embody these characteristics individually. For example, I believe that the credentials needed for this position will include a good combination of education and experience. You will significantly profit from hiring someone with expertise managing more complex corporate financial portfolios, which I most definitely do.”
