Common accountant interview questions
For trainee, part-qualified and qualified accountants, in practice or in industry. Competency and technical questions, with what a good answer shows.
- 13 common questions
- What they want to hear
- What to avoid
What an accountant interview is like
Accountancy interviews usually mix competency questions with technical ones. Practice firms often ask about client work, deadlines and the exams you are studying for; finance teams in industry ask about month end, reporting and working with budget holders. Many employers add an Excel test or a short technical exercise, and larger firms may use online tests and an assessment centre for trainee roles.
Revise the basics you use every day, such as double entry, accruals and prepayments, reconciliations and VAT, and be ready to explain them simply. Know your own qualification status exactly: which exams you have passed, what is next and what support you would want to finish.
The answers below are structures with made-up detail, to show the shape of a good answer. Use your own real examples and your own words.
Accountant interview questions and answers
Questions marked STAR want a real example: the situation, your task, the action you took and the result. For the others, follow the steps. Keep each answer to about two minutes.
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Opening
Talk us through your current role and responsibilities.
What they want to hear
A clear, concise summary of your work, the size of the entities or clients and the systems you use, linked to this job.
Avoid
A long list of tasks with no sense of scale or ownership.
How to answer
- Start with
- Your role and setting: "I am an assistant accountant in a manufacturing group with three companies."
- Then
- Your main responsibilities, such as month-end journals, reconciliations, VAT returns or management packs.
- Finish with
- What you want to develop next, and how this job fits.
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Technical
Can you explain the difference between an accrual and a prepayment?
What they want to hear
A correct, simple explanation with an example, showing you understand why costs belong in the period they relate to.
Avoid
Getting them the wrong way round, or reciting a textbook definition you cannot apply to an example.
How to answer
- Accrual
- A cost you have incurred in the period but not yet been invoiced for, such as electricity used in March and billed in April. You record the cost and a liability.
- Prepayment
- A cost paid in advance for a later period, such as a year’s insurance paid in January. You spread the cost and hold the unused part as an asset.
- Finish with
- Why it matters: the accounts show the costs of the period they belong to.
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Technical
Walk us through your month-end process.
What they want to hear
That you work to a timetable and know the key steps: cut-off, accruals and prepayments, reconciliations, journals, review and reporting.
Avoid
Describing it vaguely, or claiming a speed you cannot explain.
How to answer
- Start with
- The timetable you work to, and your part in it.
- Then
- The main steps in order: cut-off, accruals and prepayments, bank and balance sheet reconciliations, journals, then review.
- Finish with
- One improvement you made or would like to make, such as a template that saved time.
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AccuracySTAR
Tell me about a time you found an error in the accounts.
What they want to hear
Attention to detail, a methodical way of investigating and the confidence to raise what you found.
Avoid
Choosing an error you caused and did not fix, or a story with no clear method.
An example answer, with STAR
- Situation
- While reconciling a supplier statement, I found a difference that did not match any open invoice.
- Task
- Find the cause before the month-end deadline.
- Action
- Traced the transactions back, found a payment posted to the wrong supplier account, corrected it with a journal and told my manager.
- Result
- Both accounts reconciled that month, and we added a supplier code check to the payment run.
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PressureSTAR
Tell me about a time you had several deadlines at once.
What they want to hear
Planning, early communication and accuracy that holds up under pressure.
Avoid
Saying you just work late, or that quality slipped but it was fine in the end.
An example answer, with STAR
- Situation
- In January I had three self-assessment clients still sending records, alongside a company year end due the same week.
- Task
- Meet every deadline without cutting corners.
- Action
- Listed every deadline, chased missing records early with a clear checklist, booked review time with my manager and started with the most complex file.
- Result
- Everything was filed on time, and the review raised only minor points.
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Technical
Which accounting software and Excel functions do you use?
What they want to hear
An honest, specific answer that matches the systems in the advert.
Avoid
Overstating your Excel. Many finance interviews include a test.
How to answer
- Start with
- The packages you use and what for: "Xero, for bank reconciliations and VAT returns for small clients."
- Then
- Your Excel level, with examples: lookups, pivot tables, SUMIFS or Power Query.
- Finish with
- How quickly you picked up the last new system you used.
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CommunicationSTAR
Tell me about a time you explained financial information to someone without a finance background.
What they want to hear
That you can make numbers useful: plain words, the key point first and a clear next step.
Avoid
Jargon, or making the manager feel foolish for asking.
An example answer, with STAR
- Situation
- A department head was worried that their spending was well over budget.
- Task
- Explain the real position and what needed to happen.
- Action
- Showed on a one-page summary that most of the difference was timing, a yearly contract paid early, then pointed to the two lines that were genuinely over.
- Result
- They agreed actions on those two lines and asked for the same summary every month.
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Technical
What experience do you have of VAT returns?
What they want to hear
Practical knowledge: output and input VAT, the checks before a return is filed and filing through Making Tax Digital compatible software.
Avoid
Bluffing on a technical point. It is fine to say what you would check, and where.
How to answer
- Start with
- Your hands-on experience: "I prepare quarterly VAT returns for fifteen small business clients in Xero."
- Then
- The basics: VAT charged on sales, VAT reclaimed on purchases and the checks you do before submitting.
- Finish with
- Anything trickier you have handled, such as the reverse charge, but only if you really have.
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Development
Where are you with your exams, and how do you balance study with work?
What they want to hear
Your exact status and a realistic plan, showing you can study and work at the same time.
Avoid
Being vague about an exam you failed. Say what you changed and what you passed afterwards.
How to answer
- Start with
- The body and your exact progress: "ACCA, seven exams passed, sitting two more in December."
- Then
- How you study: a timetable, revision courses, using study leave well.
- Finish with
- The support you are looking for, such as study leave or exam fees.
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ImprovementSTAR
Tell me about a process you improved.
What they want to hear
That you look for better ways to work, especially with systems and automation, and that you can show the result.
Avoid
Taking credit for a team project without saying what your own part was.
An example answer, with STAR
- Situation
- Our bank reconciliations were done by hand in a spreadsheet every week.
- Task
- Speed them up without losing control.
- Action
- Set up bank feeds and matching rules in the accounting system, and built a short exceptions report for anything that did not match.
- Result
- The weekly job went from most of a morning to under an hour, and my manager only had to review the exceptions.
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Ethics
What would you do if a manager asked you to post a journal you thought was wrong?
What they want to hear
Integrity: you would question it, look for evidence and escalate if needed, rather than just posting it.
Avoid
Saying you would post it because they are senior, or jumping straight to accusations.
How to answer
- First
- Ask politely for the reasoning and the supporting evidence.
- Then
- If it still does not look right, explain your concern clearly and suggest the correct treatment.
- Finish with
- If you were still asked to post something you believed was wrong, raise it with the financial controller or through the company’s whistleblowing policy, and keep a record.
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TeamworkSTAR
Tell me about a time you worked with others to meet a reporting deadline.
What they want to hear
That you communicate early, share the load and help the team, not just finish your own tasks.
Avoid
Taking credit for the whole team’s work.
An example answer, with STAR
- Situation
- Our year-end audit was brought forward by a week.
- Task
- Get the audit file ready in less time with the same team.
- Action
- Helped my manager split the schedules, took on the fixed asset and accruals working papers and ran a short daily catch-up to flag anything blocking us.
- Result
- The file was ready on the new date, and the auditors raised no adjustments in my areas.
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Motivation
Why do you want to work in practice rather than industry, or the other way round?
What they want to hear
That you understand the difference and have a real reason for your choice.
Avoid
Running down the other side, or saying you just want easier hours.
How to answer
- Start with
- What attracts you: variety of clients and deadlines in practice, or depth in one business and closer work with managers in industry.
- Then
- Link it to your experience so far.
- Finish with
- How you would like to grow in this team.
Questions to ask them
At the end you will usually be asked if you have any questions. Two or three thoughtful ones show you are serious about the job. Write them down and take them with you.
- What does the month-end or year-end timetable look like for this team?
- Which systems do you use, and are any changes planned?
- What study support do you offer, such as study leave or exam fees?
- What would success look like in this role after the first six months?
Practise out loud with mock interview questions
Answers sound different said out loud. With a free account, our interview prep tool gives you practice questions for an accountant job, from your CV or the job title alone, with a tip for each one. Each practice set uses one free use.
Accountant interviews: your questions
What technical questions are asked in accountant interviews?
Usually the basics you would use in the job: double entry, accruals and prepayments, reconciliations, depreciation, VAT and the month-end process. Senior roles add reporting, controls and judgement. Explain simply and use a worked example where you can.
Is there an Excel test in finance interviews?
Often. Expect tasks such as lookups, SUMIFS, pivot tables and tidying a set of data. Be honest about your level, and practise on real data beforehand.
How do I talk about a failed exam?
Briefly and honestly: which exam, what you changed in how you studied and what you passed afterwards. Employers know professional exams are hard; they want to see that you keep going.
What should a trainee accountant say at interview?
Why accountancy, why practice or industry, and evidence that you are numerate, organised and reliable, from study, part-time work or volunteering. Show you understand the study commitment. Our accountant CV template shows how to present your exams.
Get the application ready
- Accountant CV templateThe best designs for an accountant CV, and what to put on it.
- Accountant cover letter exampleA full example letter for this job, with what to mention in yours.
- Accountant CV exampleA filled-in example CV to borrow structure and wording from.
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Ready for the interview?
Pick three or four of these questions, write a few notes for each, and say your answers out loud before the day.