A hiring manager's question bank for accountants — double-entry bookkeeping, the accounting cycle, reconciliations, accruals, and the month-end close. Built to separate people who memorised the rules from people who keep the books accurate, tied out, and audit-ready.
Accounting is a role where precision and integrity matter more than flair, so the interview should confirm both solid mechanics and a temperament that treats getting it right as non-negotiable. The foundation is double-entry bookkeeping: every candidate should be able to explain debits and credits without hesitation, journalise a common transaction, and articulate why the accounting equation always balances. From there you probe the accounting cycle and the month-end close — journal entries, adjusting entries, accruals and deferrals, and the reconciliations that catch errors before they reach the financial statements. A strong accountant does not just record transactions; they reconcile the bank, tie the subledgers to the general ledger, and know that an unexplained difference is a problem to chase down, not round away. Understanding accrual versus cash accounting, the matching principle, and how the three financial statements are built from the trial balance separates someone who understands accounting from someone who only runs the software. You also want awareness of controls and ethics — segregation of duties, why controls exist, and how they would respond if asked to book something that does not look right — because an accountant is a guardian of accuracy. Attention to detail, comfort with reconciliations, and clear communication with non-finance colleagues round out the picture. The questions below run from bookkeeping fundamentals through the close and reconciliations into financial statements, controls, and judgement. Pair a couple of technical questions with one "the bank does not reconcile" scenario and one ethics question, and you will quickly tell whether someone can be trusted with the books.
Choose six to eight questions across two or three categories rather than the full list. Confirm the mechanics with a Bookkeeping question — journalising a transaction is a fast filter — then move into a Close & Reconciliation scenario and a Controls or ethics discussion. Follow every clean answer with "walk me through the journal entry" or "what would you do if it did not tie out?" to see real depth.
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