ARTICLE
Accounting & Bookkeeping

Top 11 Questions to Ask in an Accounting Interview

Written by Analytix Editorial Team | November 23, 2022

Growing your team with the right people is crucial because of the effort and value they add to project and client management. The success of your business relies on good employees, including (and especially) accountants.

Treating employees with the utmost respect and giving them the best workplace would allow them to improve their productivity. In addition to helping your employees, create a healthy workplace and offer them flexibilities to retain your best talents longer. This will also help with the process of hiring new resources.

If you are struggling to find good talent for your accounting department, read this blog to learn how to address this issue. This post serves as a guide to help you ask the right questions during an interview to evaluate the best accountant candidate.

To understand each accountant applicant and their experience, it’s important that you attempt to learn more about their personal life, experience, expectations and goals, and longevity relationship.

Questions to Ask in an Accounting Interview

Top 11 Questions to Ask in Accounting Interview

1. Know your Accountant

The interviewer should make the candidate comfortable by asking easy and warm-up questions. Ask them about their lifestyle, hobbies, personal lives, and interests. This information can reveal what type of person they are: how curious and open-minded they are, how they address issues and unforeseen issues, etc.

2. Current role and responsibilities

Learn more about their work life and what they do for their current organization. Align their work with your requirements to hire the best candidate. Ask your applicant to carefully walk through their resume and experience.

Note – It is highly recommended that you prepare a job description and role responsibility document before shortlisting the candidate, as this can help optimize transparency.

3. What are you looking forward to in a new job?

Many employees leave their jobs because of an unhealthy/toxic workplace or because they believe there are no more opportunities for career growth in their current role. It is highly recommended that you try to understand why they are looking for a new job. Knowing more about an applicant’s career plan will help you establish a stronger relationship with him/her. After all, you don’t want to hire someone who is not fit for the job.

4. Dive deeper with them by asking industry-related questions

For example, ask them what is happening in the accounting industry and new accounting software. Since we are on the edge of pushing automation, you want a professional that stays updated with trends and upgrades their talent by learning new skills and becoming familiarized with current, relevant concepts.

5. Put your requirements and challenges on the table

To get the best return on your investment, ensure that a candidate has the skill set and mindpower to work with your growing organization. Be sure to never understate your company’s needs. Clarify your doubts and explain the importance of the job and your expectations.

6. What do you do in difficult situations?

It is a simple, tricky question to understand how they act while working alone and taking responsibility. Since your company is growing faster, you need to hire someone that can work effectively and decrease your workload so you can focus on your core responsibilities. Hire someone who is ready to tackle virtually any challenging situation without anyone’s attention or approval.

7. Are you flexible with regard to taking on extra responsibilities and roles?

If you are busy with business development and activities, hire someone who is flexible with managing clients and working with them to meet their needs. Applicants should develop technical and social skills to develop their businesses.

8. How do you manage your workload?

Frustration over workload can bring out the worst in almost anyone. Knowing how a candidate ensures they are following work processes and managing productivity is essential. You can know their plan to streamline work and core roles and responsibilities.

9. Do you require additional training to get acquainted with our organizations and new software?

Understand if they are willing to take on responsibilities to learn new things with interest. If you are satisfied with the candidate, don’t hesitate to offer them the opportunity to learn more. You can even encourage them to enroll in a course and take management classes to help them develop new skills.

10. Open for questions! Do you have any questions for me?

Allow your candidate to ask you questions related to the company and job. The more questions they ask, the more they are generally interested.

11. How soon can you join us?

It is essential for you as the interviewer to clarify the expected start date if you are running late on crucial tasks. A few basic questions you can ask in the accounting interview include:

  • Why are you planning to leave your current organization?
  • Where do you see yourself in one year?
  • What do you do when you make an accounting error?
  • How often do you require help from your supervisor?
  • Are you interested in taking a higher position?
  • What are your best strategies with regard to optimizing software and other technologies?
  • What steps do you take to improve work culture and promote good vibes?
  • What is your biggest weakness?
  • Why should we hire you?
  • What do you know about our company?

Bottom Line

When it comes to hiring and conducting interviews for accountant roles, you should follow these best practices. Finding good talent in your area is difficult but not impossible. To grow your team of professional accountants that can bring value to the table, be sure to hire individuals who are passionate about their work. We understand that the process of hiring and onboarding new employees is often. To ease the hiring process and add expertise to your existing team, we provide outsourcing and staffing solutions. Analytix has access to great accountants that can meet all your end needs. From accounting automation to data processing, we provide extended and comprehensive services to our clients via a strategic partnership that allows them to focus on generating revenue and increasing profits.

Next Steps

  • Explore our outsourcing solution to expand your accounting team on demand.
  • Email us at sales@analytix.com or call us at 781.503.9002 today.
  • Follow our blog for industry trends and the latest updates.
  • Engage with us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Written by

Analytix Editorial Team
Analytix Editorial Team

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