Interview questions for Accounting Manager

1.Tell me what do you consider to be the biggest facing the accounting profession today?

A sample answer to accounting interview questions like this is In response to the changing market accountancy professionals have to provide more management and consulting services, in addition to financial management. They have to assume a greater advisory role and develop more complex and flexible accounting systems. Then continue to explain how you can meet this challenge.

2. List Down The Errors Which Affect Trial Balance And Errors Which Do Not Affect Trial Balance ?

Errors which affect the agreement of trial balance:
o Wrong totaling of subsidiary books.
o Posting on the wrong side of an account
o Omission of posting an amount in the ledger
o Posting of wrong amount
o Error in balancing
o Errors which do not affect the agreement of trial balance:
o Error of Principle
o Errors of Omission
o Errors of Commission
o Recording of wrong amount in the books of prime entry or subsidiary books.
o Compensating Errors.

3. Tell me what other careers are you considering?

The obvious answer would be careers in banking and insurance and other finance areas, but it is OK to mention any career here as long as you can argue your case effectively e.g. by demonstrating that the skills required are similar to those of an accountant.

Interviewers will be looking for evidence that you have analyzed your skills and interests in a logical manner when coming to a career decision, and also for signs of your commitment to accountancy.

However, in an interview you do not HAVE to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. If you admit to also applying for highly-competitive areas such as journalism or the Diplomatic Service, the interviewer is likely to assume that accountancy is your second choice. Similarly, you might find the interviewer challenging your interest in business if you said that social work or nursing was also an option.

4. What Is The Relation Between Journal And Ledger ?

o The journal is the book of first entry whereas the ledger is the book of second entry.
o The journal as a book of source entry ordinarily has greater weight as legal evidence than the ledger.
o The journal is the book for chronological record whereas the ledger is the book for analytical record.
o The unit of classification of data within the journal is the transaction; in the ledger the unit of classification of data within the ledger is the account.
o The process of recording in the journal is called journalizing, the process of recording in the ledger is called posting.

5. What Are The Common Errors In Accounting? What Steps Will You Follow To Locate Errors ?

Following are the common errors in accounting:
o Errors of Omission
o Errors of Commission
o Errors of Principle
o Compensating Error
To locate the errors in the trial balance follow the below steps:
o Check the total of all the subsidiary books, cash book and trial balance.
o Ensure that all the opening balances have been correctly brought forward in the current year’s books of account.
o Ensure that all the ledger accounts have been properly balanced and the balances of all the ledger accounts have been reflected in the Trial Balance.
o The difference in trial balance should be halved to locate such errors.
o If the difference in the trial balance is divisible by 9 without any reminder, it may indicate the transposition or transplacement of the amounts.

6. Explain me are there any questions you would like to ask?

Before your interview think through everything you have done in the last five years and try to find at least one example which fits each of these situations. Don’t worry if your examples are not earth-shattering, as long as they give some evidence for possessing the quality in question.

You can answer these questions by first describing the SITUATION and/or TASK you had to achieve, then the ACTION you took in the situation and finally the RESULT or outcome. Some interviews consist almost entirely of these types of questions, in which case the order of the interview is set in advance with a standard list of questions.

7. What Is The Difference Between A Trial Balance And A Balance Sheet ?

Trial balance is a list of balances from the ledger account while balance sheet is a statement of assets and liabilities.
Trial balance contains balances of all personal, real and nominal accounts, while balance sheet contains balances of only those personal and real accounts which represent assets and liabilities.
Trial balance is prepared before preparation of trading and profit and loss account, while balance sheet is prepared after the preparation of trading and profit and loss account.
Trial balance is prepared to check the arithmetical accuracy of posting into ledger while balance sheet is prepared to indicate the financial position of the business on a particular date.

8. How do you control errors in your work?

While working on a project, errors can happen. Talk to the interviewer about how you manage/control these errors.

9. What Are The Accounting Concepts ?

Accounting concepts are the basic assumptions on which the process of accounting is based.
Following are the accounting concepts
o Business Entity Concept
o Dual Aspect Concept
o Going Concern Concept
o Accounting Period Concept
o Cost Concept
o Money Measurement Concept
o Matching Concept

10. Tell me about your leadership skills. Do you enjoy leading and teaching others?

Are you a natural born leader? Do you enjoy leading a team? Discuss any leadership qualities and experience with the hiring manager. Be sure to use examples of times when you have taken on a leadership role.

11. What Is Deferred Revenue Expenditure? Give Some Examples?

Deferred Revenue Expenditure is a type of expenditure which does not result into the acquisition of any fixed asset and the benefits from such expenditure is not received during the period which they are paid for.
For example: Initial Advertisement Expenditure, Research and development Expenditure, Preliminary Expenses.