What are the most important technical accounting interview questions to prepare for?

1. **Financial Statement Preparation**: If your job involves preparing financial statements, you need to know the accounting standards and financial statement norms in your country. Understanding the laws about financial statement preparation is also essential. This knowledge ensures your work is accurate and meets legal requirements. 2. **Accounting Entry Clerk Role**: If you're working as an accounting entry clerk, being skilled at making journal entries is crucial. You need to record financial transactions correctly and understand the basics of debits and credits. This role requires accuracy in handling financial data and maintaining proper financial records. In summary, the skills required vary significantly depending on the role.

I would like to add here some important yet frequently asked questions in interview about Accounting concepts. For better experience, I would like to add my story. Back in 2014, when I was new and I applied for the position of "Accountant". Interviewrs asked me about accounting concepts which were very basic and I was not thinking about them. Rather I was busy in learning advance accounting practices and concepts. One should learn the basic accounting concepts like conservatism, historic cost and recognition of transaction.

Ahead of your interview, brush up on key concepts. Understand not just their definitions, but also their roles in shaping financial statements. For example, be prepared to discuss how an increase in accounts receivable affects assets and equity in the accounting equation, or how the matching principle dictates recognizing expenses in the same period as related revenues. Additionally this has been one of my fav questions to ask "Why are sales recorded as credits?" It's because they increase equity. Why are receivables and payables part of cash flow? These insights show you're not just familiar with accounting principles but can also apply them in real scenarios, a key skill in the field.

Before diving into the complex aspects of accounting, such as financial statements, ratio analysis, and cash flow statements, it is important to grasp the basics. Journal entries are the foundation of all these accounting concepts, and to make journal entries, you need to know the golden rules of accounting. Therefore, the sequence you need to follow is: - Classification of accounts - Golden rules of accounting - Posting of journal entries If you master these skills, you will have a solid understanding of accounting and its principles. Additionally, you should also be familiar with the accrual concept and the prudence concept, which are essential for accounting practice

Simple concept but many fails here. Difference between Balance Sheet and Profit Loss. Once this concept is fully understood, other concept will follow the logic.

Accounting standards are the important area for any accountant to prepare before appearing in the interview. It is absolute fair that no one has sharp memory to memorize all the accounting standards but an accountant must know the treatment and imporant concepts like IAS-2 deals with inventory and FMV of inventory. Similarly, IAS-16 deals in property, plant and equipment...

Understanding of standards is important for your interview. These standards guide how financial statements are prepared and presented, and they vary by country and industry. For example, be ready to discuss differences in revenue recognition under IFRS and GAAP. A recent change in these standards might be a topic, like how the new lease accounting standard affects balance sheets. You might be asked how a company's lease obligations are reported differently under both. Such questions test your knowledge of the standards and your ability to apply them to real-world situations. This understanding showcases your ability to adapt to various accounting practices and stay updated with changes in the field, a valuable skill for any accountant.

Ratios are not just numbers but tools that reveal a company's financial health, covering liquidity, profitability, efficiency, and solvency. Prepare yourself to calculate and interpret these ratios and what these numbers mean. For instance, the current ratio evaluates short-term financial strength, while return on equity measures profitability. Also be prepared to answer questions like "why are these ratios important?. For example, you might be asked: What does a rise in the debt-to-equity ratio suggest? This could indicate increased leverage, affecting a company's solvency risk. This depth of analysis demonstrates your ability to go beyond mere calculations, providing valuable insights into a company's financial narrative.

Accounting ratios is one of the important topic for an accountant. These ratios must be practiced by an accountant regularly. Afterall, it shows the financial health of the company and stakeholders give it more importance. Both the shareholders and stakeholders relies on the financial ratios of the comapany. An accountant is responsible for mainting the data, so he should need to carefully go through all the financial transactions. The important accounting ratios are Liquidity ratios, Turnover ratios and solvency ratios.

There are many adjustment entires which we are not usually thought during our school / college days. Even if we were thought about how to post those entries, we wear not thought about the concepts behind it. So one must prepare and be ready to face this kinds of adjustment entires in their interview. Some of the examples are 1. TDS receivable entries ( the TDS deducted by the payers on respective TDS sections) 2. TCS entries - Tax collected at sources. 3. Adjustment entries from suppliers, customers . 4. Depreciation entries. 5. Provision for taxations 6. Provision for bad debts

Ethical dilemmas are one of the things which are usually missing from an accounting interview, but when asked, one should know how to respond appropriately as the dilemma will test your integrity as well as your accounting knowledge.

I feel like accounting interviews are too predictable these days. Candidates just have to research the industry and do a few insider interviews and boom. So for me, in case I am in a position to interview people for accountancy roles, I will have no standard interview questions ready, we will just discuss few industry innovations and base all my interview on your experience and the role I need you for. Furthermore, what I believe now is that a prospect candidate just has to possess ethics, integrity, honesty and respect, the rest I will ensure to lead and train you to my best interest.