Accountant interview questions
5 questions asked in Accountant interviews, from job seekers and our own interviews, each read by us before publishing.
Phone or HR screen
Walk me through your month-end closing process.
Tip: Go step by step: accruals and prepayments, bank and intercompany reconciliations, fixed asset schedule, review of the trial balance, then reporting. Say how many days your close takes and one thing you did to shorten it.
Technical or skills round
Which MFRS standards have you worked with most, and how did they affect your work?
Tip: Pick two you actually used, for example MFRS 15 on revenue or MFRS 16 on leases, and describe the practical change it made to the numbers or the process.
A reconciliation doesn't balance by a small amount. How do you find the difference?
Tip: Show a method: check the difference for transposition (divisible by 9), timing items, duplicated or missing entries, and bank charges. Interviewers want to hear that you never just post a balancing figure.
How would you account for a prepayment, and when does it hit the P&L?
Tip: Explain it sits on the balance sheet as an asset and is released to expense over the period it covers. Give a quick example, such as a 12-month insurance premium released monthly.
Hiring manager
Tell me about a time you found an error in the accounts. What did you do?
Tip: Use a real example: what you found, how you traced the cause, who you told, and the control you put in place so it would not happen again.