Top 6 Accounting Interview Questions You MUST Ask

Accounting is a critical function within any organization, ensuring financial stability and facilitating informed decision-making. When hiring for accounting positions, it's essential to ask the right questions to identify candidates with the necessary skills, knowledge, and experience. In this article, we will discuss six accounting interview questions you must ask to find the best fit for your team.

1. What types of accounting tools and technology are you familiar with?

In today's digital age, proficiency with accounting softwares is a valuable asset. Their ability to navigate and effectively utilize these tools can significantly impact the efficiency of your accounting department. Ask this question to see if your candidates have prior experience with your company's accounting programs or if they can learn new programs quickly.

Some examples of the accounting tools that staff accountants may use include:

• QuickBooks Online
• FreshBooks
• Sage Business Cloud Accounting
• Xero
• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems like SAP or Oracle.

Check if your applicants have noticed the advantages of using accounting tools and technology in their work, or if they prefer one tool over another, such as cloud accounting tools.

2. Explain how you would organize and prioritize your daily tasks?

Staff accountants must complete many duties and tasks during the day, so it’s important to check how applicants prioritize and organize their responsibilities. This question seeks to figure out what methods of organization your candidates use and how effective they are. The best candidates will mention time-management skills and communication, explaining how these skills help them manage their tasks.

For example, candidates can explain how they create a to-do list and mark which factors are high or low priority to allocate specific time to each task to stay organized. Or, they could even explain how they split their time between clients, accounting procedures, and working with their team. 

3. Can you define and explain some of the main types of financial statements?

This question tests your candidates' basic accounting knowledge. These statements are a big part of every accountant’s job — reading and interpreting or creating them. Three financial statements an accountant can use to measure a company’s financial health include:

• Balance sheets shows the company’s financial position at a specific time. It features the company’s assets (what the company owns) should be equal to liabilities (what the company owes) and shareholder equity or in other words, balanced, and shows the difference between these values.
• Income statements declares the company’s business operations for the quarter or year. This statement shows a company’s revenue, expenses, and taxes, resulting in the net income or profit. 
• Cash flow statements shows a company’s financial activity (incoming and outgoing cash) over a specific time. This statement is useful for determining if a company can see where the company’s cash comes from, how the business uses it to pay for operations and invest in growth down the line.

4. Can you give us a definition of and the differences between accounts payable and accounts receivable.

Candidates with staff accountant experience should know what accounts payable means.

• Accounts payable refers to the amount a company owes a creditor for the products, goods, or services they deliver or complete.
• Accounts receivable is a client’s or customer’s claim against a company (or debtor) for an amount they have not collected. They claim occur after a sales transaction or when a company renders services.

As for the differences between the two, accounts receivable are assets — the company will collect this money in exchange for already sold goods or services. Accounts payable are liabilities — the company owes this money to someone else for goods or services. 

5. Describe a time when you helped to reduce a company's operational costs in a previous role.

If an accountant is good at their job, they can have a comprehensive view of a company's financial health. That’s a major part of why employers hire them. Ask this interview question to determine how well your candidates understand a company's financial situation and how efficiently they can identify excess operational costs.

What you should look out for:

• Description of a time when your candidates' reduced costs unexpectedly through your personal innovation or diligence.
• Having the financial details of their success available when you ask to elaborate.
• Outlines how they've used their analytical and problem-solving skills to decrease costs without sacrificing quality customer service.

6. Describe a time when you provided excellent customer service to a client. What did you do and what was the outcome?

While accounting requires technical knowledge of financial processes and statements, it's also a customer-centric role. Ask your candidates to describe a specific time when they delivered high-quality customer service so you can anticipate their performance if you offer them the position. Candidates should share information on what they did to provide great service and how they accomplished it.

Conclusion

Hiring the right accountant is crucial for the financial health and success of your organization. By asking these six accounting interview questions, you can evaluate candidates' knowledge, skills, and experience, ensuring that you select the best fit for your accounting team. Remember that a strong candidate should not only possess technical expertise but also demonstrate problem-solving abilities, attention to detail, and a commitment to maintaining financial accuracy and compliance.

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