The document lists 20 potential interview questions for accounting and finance professionals. The questions cover a range of topics including important skills for accountants, explaining complex processes, impacts of purchases on financial statements, defining big data, differences between accounts receivable and payable, journal entries, accounting software, developing business metrics, evaluating financial information, and recent changes in accounting standards.

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for Accounting and Finance Professionals
Effective
Interview Questions20

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2
“What do you consider
the top three skills of
a great accountant?”
1

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3
“Can you give me
an example of how you
would explain a complex
accounting process or finance
data to a staff member?”
2

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4
“When you buy a piece
of equipment for a company,
what is the impact on the
three financial statements?”
3

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5
“How do you define
big data, and why is it
important for finance teams
to have expertise in big data?”
4

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6
“What is the difference between
accounts receivable (AR)
and accounts payable (AP)?”
5

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7
“When a company is using
double-entry accounting,
what elements of a given
ledger must be equal?”
6

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8
“If a company has three bank
accounts for processing
payments, what is the minimum
number of ledgers it needs?”
7

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9
“What are two or three
types of special journals?”
8

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10
“What methods have
you used for estimating
bad debt?”
9

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11
“Describe a time
you’ve made an
accounting error
and how you handled it.”
10

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12
“How do you differentiate
between accounting
and auditing?”
11

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13
“Why is it easier for someone
to perpetrate fraud using
a journal entry than with
a ledger?”
12

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14
“Which enterprise resource
planning (ERP) systems
have you used?”
13

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15
“What accounting software
are you most familiar with?”
14

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16
“What is your experience
with developing
business metrics?”
15

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17
“If a private company
with break-even operations
received a $10 million
investment, how would you
develop a strategy to spend
or invest that money?”
16

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18
“What challenges
have you faced in
leading a team through
an analysis project?”
17

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19
“What criteria do you use
to evaluate the reliability
of the financial information
you receive?”
18

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20
“How do you
minimize the risk
for error in your work?”
19

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21
“What do you think
of the most recent updates
or changes in the
accounting standards?”
20

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