Should an accountant interview include a test?

Yes, short and inside the interview. A 15-minute reconciliation with made-up numbers, like the one in this kit, shows more than asking how many reconciliations someone does each month. Allow a calculator or spreadsheet, use the same numbers for every candidate, and score against an answer key.

Should we require a CA, CPA, ACCA or CMA qualification?

Only if the role needs it, for example to sign off statutory work, and say so in the job description. For a general ledger role at two to six years, part-qualified and unqualified accountants with solid close experience often do the work well. Assess the close, the reconciliation and the judgment either way.

How do we interview an accountant who used a different system or accounting standard?

Ask about principles and process, not menus. Close steps, reconciliations and controls carry over between Tally, SAP, NetSuite or QuickBooks quickly. A move between frameworks, such as Ind AS to US GAAP, takes longer, so ask the candidate to name one difference they know and how they would learn the rest.

Who should interview an accountant?

The finance manager or controller, a senior accountant who would review their work, and a colleague from a team that relies on finance, such as procurement or sales operations. The non-finance colleague is often the best judge of communication. Give each interviewer distinct competencies and the same written anchors.

Free interview kit

Accountant interview kit: questions and rubric

For hiring teams interviewing a general ledger or financial accountant, roughly two to six years in, who closes the books each month and prepares reconciliations, accruals and the entries tax returns are built from. It is neutral on framework (local GAAP, Ind AS, IFRS or US GAAP) and covers a short screen, five competencies with a 15-minute reconciliation exercise, anchored ratings, the questions never to ask, and a rule for deciding.

5 competencies · 11 questions · anchored 1-to-5 scale · Updated 10 October 2026 · Written by the Itya team

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How to use this kit

Agree the competencies with the hiring manager before the job is posted.
Give each interviewer one or two competencies, so nothing is asked twice.
Ask every candidate the same core questions; follow up freely.
Rate each competency against the anchors straight after the interview, alone.
Debrief on quotes, not adjectives, then decide with the rule at the end.

First-round screen

Fifteen to twenty minutes, by phone, video or a disclosed AI screen. The aim is to confirm the basics before the panel spends its time.

What draws you to this role, and which parts of accounting work do you want more of next?
Walk me through the accounts you own today and what you do for each of them at month-end.
Which accounting systems have you closed the books in, such as Tally, Zoho Books, QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite or SAP, and under which framework did you report: local GAAP, Ind AS, IFRS or US GAAP?
The job description sets out the location, working pattern, close-week hours and start date. Do those work for you, what is your notice period, and what compensation range are you expecting?

Competency 1

Month-end close and reconciliations

Everything finance reports rests on a clean close. A general ledger accountant must reconcile each account to evidence, explain every difference and meet the close calendar without shortcuts.

Exercise, 15 minutes, numbers on paper or a shared screen, calculator allowed: at 31 March the ledger cash balance is 482,600 and the bank statement shows 498,750. Cheques issued but not yet presented total 38,400. A customer receipt of 21,000 was recorded on 31 March and credited by the bank on 2 April. Bank fees of 650 and interest of 1,200 are on the statement but not yet in the ledger. Reconcile the two balances and list the entries you would post.
Follow up with
- A difference of 1,800 is left. What would you check first?
- Which items need a journal entry, and which do not?
- What would you do about a cheque that has been outstanding for eight months?
Strong answer
Adjusts the bank side for timing items (498,750 less 38,400 plus 21,000 gives 481,350) and the ledger for fees and interest (482,600 less 650 plus 1,200 gives 483,150). Notices that the 1,800 gap divides by 9 and looks for transposed digits; the interviewer then reveals a 7,500 supplier payment booked as 5,700. Posts entries for the fees, the interest and the payment error, never for timing items.
Weak answer
Posts journals for the uncleared cheques or the deposit in transit, adjusts the wrong side, or plugs the 1,800 to a suspense or rounding account. Cannot say which differences are timing and which are errors.
Walk me through your part of the month-end close: what you own, the order you do it in, and what usually makes it late.
Follow up with
- How do you know an account is reconciled, not just balanced?
- What did you change to close faster or with fewer corrections?
Strong answer
Describes a dated close calendar: cut-off, accruals and prepayments, depreciation, intercompany, subledger and bank reconciliations, then review and sign-off. Ties each balance to outside evidence, explains and ages reconciling items, and names one change that cut days or corrections.
Weak answer
Lists tasks with no order or deadline. Calls an account reconciled when the totals match, carries unexplained items month after month, or relies on the reviewer to find errors.

Rating	What it looks like
5 · Strong	Reconciles to outside evidence, separates timing items from errors at once, traces unexplained differences, clears old items, and improves the close calendar.
3 · Mixed	Reconciles accurately and knows the close steps, but is slow to trace an unexplained difference or lets old reconciling items sit.
1 · Weak	Cannot reconcile a simple account unaided, plugs differences, or posts entries for timing items.

Competency 2

Accounting standards and judgment

Revenue, accruals and provisions involve judgment, and auditors will ask for the reasoning. The accountant must know the principles of their framework, whichever it is, and document why a treatment is right.

A customer pays 120,000 on 1 January for a 12-month software subscription. The financial year ends on 31 March. How much revenue do you recognize this year, and what sits on the balance sheet?
Follow up with
- What changes if the contract adds a one-off setup fee?
- What changes if the customer can cancel in any month for a pro-rata refund?
Strong answer
Recognizes 30,000 for the three months of service delivered and holds 90,000 as deferred revenue, a contract liability. Explains that the service is delivered over time under IFRS 15, Ind AS 115 or ASC 606, which share one model, or the local equivalent. Asks whether a setup fee is a separate service before deciding how to treat it.
Weak answer
Recognizes all 120,000 when the cash arrives, or treats cash received as revenue earned. Cannot link the treatment to any standard.
Tell me about an accounting treatment you were unsure about. How did you decide, and how did you document it?
Follow up with
- Where did you look in the standard or the guidance?
- Who reviewed your conclusion, and did the auditors agree?
Strong answer
Names a specific issue, such as a lease, a provision, capitalizing costs or a cut-off question. Read the standard and guidance, discussed it with the controller or auditors, wrote a short memo with the reasoning, and applied the treatment consistently afterwards.
Weak answer
Copied last year's treatment, or did what the manager said without understanding why. Kept no record of the reasoning.

Rating	What it looks like
5 · Strong	Applies the principles of their framework correctly, spots when a judgment is needed, researches it, documents the reasoning, and explains it to auditors.
3 · Mixed	Handles standard treatments correctly for their framework, but needs a prompt on the harder judgments or on documenting the reasoning.
1 · Weak	Confuses cash with revenue or expense, and cannot connect a treatment to any standard.

Competency 3

Tax compliance awareness

Most general ledger accountants are not tax specialists, but tax returns are built from their entries. They need to know the indirect and withholding taxes where they work well enough to book correctly and to know when to call the tax adviser.

A supplier invoice arrives with tax on it: GST in India, VAT in the UK or EU, or sales tax in the US. What do you check before you book it, and can the business recover that tax?
Follow up with
- What would stop you from claiming the credit this month?
- Where would you check if you were unsure?
Strong answer
Checks the supplier's tax registration, the invoice details and the rate, and that the goods or services were received. In India, checks that the place of supply sets IGST or CGST plus SGST, and that the invoice appears in GSTR-2B before claiming input credit. Knows US sales tax is usually a cost, not a credit, and that use tax may be due when a vendor charged none.
Weak answer
Books the full amount to expense with no checks, or claims every credit automatically. Assumes the rules where they trained apply in every country.
What would you do if you found that withholding tax, such as TDS in India, had not been deducted from a supplier's payments for the last three months?
Follow up with
- Who would you tell, and when?
- What would you change so it is caught sooner?
Strong answer
Quantifies the gap, tells the finance manager the same day, and brings in the tax adviser on how to correct it, including any interest or late filing. Fixes the vendor master data or system setting that caused it, and checks other suppliers for the same gap.
Weak answer
Corrects future payments quietly and hopes the past ones go unnoticed, or tries to recover the tax from the supplier alone without advice.

Rating	What it looks like
5 · Strong	Knows the indirect and withholding taxes where they work, checks invoices before claiming credits, raises errors at once with a quantified impact, and fixes the cause.
3 · Mixed	Books routine tax entries correctly for their country, but is unsure of the conditions for credits or slow to involve the tax adviser.
1 · Weak	Does not know which taxes apply to the entries they book, or keeps tax errors to themselves once found.

Competency 4

Controls, accuracy and systems

An accountant posts entries that few people check line by line. Controls, reviewable spreadsheets and the integrity to refuse an unsupported entry protect the numbers and everyone who relies on them.

On the last day of the close, a senior manager emails asking you to post a journal moving 200,000 of this month's expenses into next month, 'so we hit the budget'. What do you do?
Follow up with
- What if they say the CFO has already agreed?
- What would you put in writing?
Strong answer
Does not post it without support. Asks whether the expense truly belongs to next month, explains cut-off in plain words, and offers to post a correct entry if the evidence supports one. Raises it with the controller or finance manager and keeps a written record.
Weak answer
Posts it because the request came from a senior person, or refuses without telling the controller. Treats it as a budgeting matter rather than a misstatement.
Tell me about an error that had already reached the books or a report, made by you or someone else. What happened next?
Follow up with
- How was it found?
- What control did you add so it would not happen again?
Strong answer
Owns it plainly, quantifies the impact, corrects it through an approved journal with support, tells the people who relied on the numbers, and adds a check such as a review step, a system validation or a reconciliation.
Weak answer
Cannot recall an error, blames the system or a colleague, or fixed it quietly without telling the reviewer.
Describe a spreadsheet you built that other people relied on. How did you make it easy to review and hard to break?
Follow up with
- How do you check that a lookup has not silently missed rows?
- What would you move into the accounting system instead?
Strong answer
Separates inputs, calculations and outputs, keeps hard-coded numbers out of formulas, ties control totals back to the ledger, and checks lookups such as XLOOKUP or INDEX-MATCH for missing matches. Documents the steps, and moves repeatable work into the system or an automation where it can.
Weak answer
One crowded tab with typed-over formulas and totals nobody ties to the ledger. Only they can update it, and errors are found by whoever reads it.

Rating	What it looks like
5 · Strong	Refuses unsupported entries and escalates, owns and fixes errors with a new control, and builds workbooks that tie to the ledger and that anyone can review.
3 · Mixed	Follows controls and corrects errors openly, but their spreadsheets need them present to review, or pressure from a senior makes them hesitate.
1 · Weak	Would post an unsupported entry on request, hides or blames errors, and keeps spreadsheets only they can follow.

Competency 5

Communicating with non-finance colleagues

Accountants rely on other teams for invoices, approvals and explanations, and those teams rely on finance's numbers. Plain explanations get documents in on time and keep finance from becoming the department that only says no.

Role-play, 5 minutes: I am a department head with no finance background. Explain why my budget report shows an expense in March for work we paid for in April.
Follow up with
- How would you check that I understood?
- What would you say if I asked you to move it to April?
Strong answer
Explains in plain words that costs are recorded in the month the work was done, so March shows what March really cost, with a simple example. Avoids jargon or explains it, checks understanding, and keeps the treatment, politely, if asked to move it.
Weak answer
Answers 'because of the accrual principle' and stops, uses unexplained jargon, or grows impatient. Agrees to move the cost to keep the department head happy.
Tell me about a time another team kept sending invoices, approvals or information late and it held up your close. What did you do?
Follow up with
- What did you change about how you asked?
- When did you escalate, and how?
Strong answer
Explained why the deadline mattered, made it easy with a template or a short checklist, set dates early, and followed up before the deadline. Escalated with notice and evidence when needed, and the delays shrank over the following months.
Weak answer
Chased harder by email each month, complained about the team, or worked late to cover the gap without fixing the cause.

Rating	What it looks like
5 · Strong	Explains finance in plain words with examples, checks understanding, holds the line politely, and fixes hand-offs with other teams so inputs arrive on time.
3 · Mixed	Explains clearly when asked and works politely with other teams, but rarely changes how they ask, so the same delays recur.
1 · Weak	Explains with jargon or rules, becomes defensive when questioned, and blames other teams for late inputs.

Never ask

Don't ask a candidate's age, or their graduation year to work it out. Why: age says nothing about accounting skill, and age-based decisions are unlawful in many places.
Don't ask about marital status, children, pregnancy or plans to start a family. Why: none of it is job-related. Describe the close-week hours and ask every candidate whether they can work them.
Don't ask about religion, caste, community or the origin of a surname, directly or by proxy ('What does your father do?'). Why: in India these questions signal caste and religion, which have no bearing on the job.
Don't ask 'Where are you from originally?' or 'What is your native place?'. Why: it invites judgments about region, language and community. If location matters, ask whether the candidate can work from the job's location.
Don't ask about health conditions, disabilities or past medical leave. Why: the only relevant question is whether the candidate can perform the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable accommodation.
Don't ask for salary history where the law restricts it, as many US states and cities do. Why: it carries past pay gaps into the new offer. Ask for the expected compensation range instead.
Don't ask about personal debts, loans or credit scores. Why: personal finances say little about how someone keeps the books, and several US states and cities restrict credit checks in hiring. If a check is lawful and genuinely needed for the role, run it as local law sets out, with the candidate's written consent.
Don't ask about arrests, or about convictions earlier than local law allows. Why: an arrest is not a conviction, and many US states and cities have fair-chance laws that move conviction questions later, in some places until after a conditional offer.
Don't ask the candidate to reconcile your real accounts, prepare your real tax return, or share confidential figures from their current employer. Why: the first is unpaid work, and the second breaches a duty they owe that employer. Use made-up numbers, as in the exercise above.

Making the decision

Each interviewer rates their competencies alone, against the anchors, before the debrief. Score the reconciliation against an answer key written before the first interview. The must-haves are month-end close and reconciliations, accounting standards and judgment, and controls, accuracy and systems. Any 1 on a must-have is a no, and so is any competency rated 1 by two interviewers; agreeing to post the unsupported journal, after the follow-ups, is a 1 on controls. A hire needs an average of 3.5 or higher. The finance manager or controller decides after the debrief and records the exercise working and the quotes behind each rating.

Questions people ask

Should an accountant interview include a test?: Yes, short and inside the interview. A 15-minute reconciliation with made-up numbers, like the one in this kit, shows more than asking how many reconciliations someone does each month. Allow a calculator or spreadsheet, use the same numbers for every candidate, and score against an answer key.
Should we require a CA, CPA, ACCA or CMA qualification?: Only if the role needs it, for example to sign off statutory work, and say so in the job description. For a general ledger role at two to six years, part-qualified and unqualified accountants with solid close experience often do the work well. Assess the close, the reconciliation and the judgment either way.
How do we interview an accountant who used a different system or accounting standard?: Ask about principles and process, not menus. Close steps, reconciliations and controls carry over between Tally, SAP, NetSuite or QuickBooks quickly. A move between frameworks, such as Ind AS to US GAAP, takes longer, so ask the candidate to name one difference they know and how they would learn the rest.
Who should interview an accountant?: The finance manager or controller, a senior accountant who would review their work, and a colleague from a team that relies on finance, such as procurement or sales operations. The non-finance colleague is often the best judge of communication. Give each interviewer distinct competencies and the same written anchors.

A kit is step one.

Itya holds every interviewer to the same rubric, records the interview, and drafts the scorecard with the quotes behind each rating. The AI drafts; your team decides. Free plan, unlimited teammates.

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