10 Finance/Accounting Interview Questions

An accountant has basically an authority to see if companies or organizations are running smoothly and efficiently. They can easily access the financial records of clients and have a big responsibility to analyze data, accounting records, tax records, and budgets, etc.

If you are preparing for a job as an accountant and want to know what kinds of questions will be asked in an accounting job interview, then you have come to the right place.

As there is a lot of competition in the market, you need to enhance your capabilities and present yourself as you are the only person good enough for the accounting job.

You will have to cover all the basics to advance levels of accounting and finance interview questions to ace your interview.

Here is a list of most common and most important accounting interview questions asked in an accounting interview and their answers:

Top 10 Accounting/Finance Interview Questions & Answers 2023

1. Why did you select accounting as a profession?

Here you need to let your interviewer knows your interests in this field. Reply in brief, use wise words that you were pretty good in accounting as an elective subject throughout your bachelors and that you took it as a major later to pursue it as a career.

Don’t be too long in answering your questions. Keep the sentences short and precise. The interviewer should have the same interest in asking you questions throughout.

2. What do you think is the biggest challenge in this (accounting & finance) field?

The interviewer basically wants to judge your opinion on this field, whether it’s right or wrong. It won’t matter unless your reply is intelligent and thoughtful. Be really careful when answering such questions. Don’t hesitate to be confident. You can give an example from the modern-day challenges in the field of accounting, such as tax code.

3. How many types of business transactions are there in accounting?

Reply with a one-sentence answer, do not break your words and be straightforward. Keep your mind sharp when answering. The answer to this question will be simply that there are two types of business transactions which are revenue and capital.

4. What is working capital?

The interviewer has a different set of questions for every person, so when they ask you a certain question, be prepared to get a more advanced version of it. Over here, you will define working capital.

That is in banking working capital is current assets less current liabilities. Try to not answer in paragraphs but in just brief sentences. Also, try to answer correctly as every question is necessary to be right.

5. Walk me through 3 financial statements

Reply according to the question only. You will answer in three simple sentences which are:

1. The balance sheet shows the company’s assets, its liability and shareholder’s equity
2. The income statement reflects the company’s revenues and expenses
3. The cash flow statement shows cash flows from operating, investing, and finance

6. Which accounting abbreviation do you prefer the most and why?

Here reply smart and efficient. Say that Microsoft Accounting professional is best as it’s faster than any other application of accounting and is more stable and reliable as it saves time and efficiency both. It helps with analysis too financially.

7. Do you have any idea about GST?

This is a little explanatory question. You will answer by telling its full form first. GST stands for Goods and service tax. Its indirect tax opposite of income tax.

It depends on the service given to the customer. The clients pay GST, and sellers transfer it to the govt.

8. List down branches of accounting

A very simple question. Answer it simply by listing out the branches of accounting like this:

1. Financial accounting
2. Cost accounting
3. Management accounting

9. Describe a time when you helped to reduce costs at your previous job

All accountants know how to reduce costs. That is why they get hired, mostly. You have to describe a personal innovation and thought where you helped in reducing costs previously. Your knowledge and experience both will be judged thoroughly over here.

Example – you can say you helped reducing costs by analyzing a situation where there were many buyers for application software which was costly, and you researched good and found out the same application with the same function is available in the market with 20% lesser costs. You helped reduce costs by doing this for your company.

10. If you were CEO of our company what would keep you up at night?

This is a very tricky question demanding your own personal opinion and intelligence at the same time. You have to step up with your game and give a high profile overview of the company’s financial situation currently and highlight some financial statements.

Let them know that you have a great mind and you can achieve your goals by studying every aspect of the company if you were CEO.