It is very important to perform well in a job interview to secure a good job with the best salary in the industry available for the position you are interviewing for. If you are aiming to become a professional accountant, then you should be ready to face any kind of accounting interview questions.
The demand for accountants is ever present. But one needs to be competent enough to secure and to excel in these roles.
If you are a fresher, you may expect the following and prepare for the interview.
Mainly the interviewer will test the knowledge in basics of accounting. This will include:
- Owner’s equity
- Debit & Credit concepts
- Balance Sheet
- Bookkeeping and its rules
- Bank reconciliation statement
- Asset accounting
1.Why did you choose a career in accounting?
The candidate should explain his interest in accounting & related areas. For example, state that you were good in accounting during your degree and decided to pursue it as a career.
2. Explain about accounting concepts
Accounting concepts include business entity concept, dual aspect concept, accounting period concept, cost concept etc.
As a fresher, it is also important to show them that you have interest in accounting and you are willing to learn and grow.
3. Tell me something about the basic accounting equation?
The Balance sheet gives a picture of the financial condition of a business’s Assets, Liabilities & shareholders’ equity as on a particular date. We can derive the accounting equation by looking at the balance, which is:
Assets = Liabilities + Owners Equity.
4. As an accountant, what you will do to reduce errors in your job?
Errors may result in huge financial crisis in the company. You should answer your interviewer that you will double check the work you have done to reduce mistakes.
5. Will you be able to manage multiple projects and strict deadlines?
Your answer should be clear to the employer that you are extremely good at multi-tasking. Accountants will be assigned with multiple projects, and they will be managing the deadlines by prioritizing the projects. It will be good if you could give some examples of how you managed multiple tasks in your previous job.
6. What do you know about accounting standards?
There are 27 accounting standards issued by ICAI. The purpose of these standards is to implement uniform policies and practices. Some important accounting standards are:
AS 2 Valuation of Inventories
AS 9 Revenue Recognition
AS 10 Property, Plant and Equipment
AS 15 Employee Benefits
AS 26 Intangible Assets
AS 29 Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets
7. Explain the unique feature of GST law
Accountants should have a clear idea about why GST was introduced and that it is a single tax system for the whole nation. They should be able to explain about how credit on inputs can be availed at each stage.
8. What is the registration limit for GST?
Accountants should know that a person should take registration in the state where he supplies. The registration limit in Kerala is Rs. 20 lakhs (40 Lakhs for goods suppliers from FY 2019-20).
9. What are the services or goods of which credit cannot be availed?
Details of blocked credit are given in section 17(5) of CGST Act. Candidates should have a clear idea on credits which are not allowed to be claimed.
10. What are the different returns under GST and their due dates?
Candidates should mention about GSTR-1, GSTR-3B, GSTR-4 & GSTR-9 without fail and also mention their due dates.
As a fresher, you may not have work experience but you should have conceptual clarity and should appear with confidence. To sum up, these are some of the questions you may face during your interview for an accounting job. What you should aim for is to create an impression on the interviewer that you are an asset to his company. You should clearly show your genuine interest in accounting and the job.
