InterviewAccountant interview questions with answers
Interviews for accounts assistant, junior accountant and accountant posts usually mix three things: basic accounting concepts, practical questions about daily work, and a short test on software or a spreadsheet. The questions below are the ones asked most often for the first few years of an accounts career.
What interviewers look for
- Clear basics: debit and credit, the accounting cycle, reconciliation.
- Practical experience: what you have actually entered, reconciled and filed.
- Accuracy and honesty about what you do not know.
- Comfort with accounting software and spreadsheets.
12 questions with model answers
1. What are the golden rules of accounting?
There are three. For personal accounts: debit the receiver, credit the giver. For real accounts: debit what comes in, credit what goes out. For nominal accounts: debit all expenses and losses, credit all incomes and gains. For example, when we pay rent in cash, Rent is a nominal account and an expense, so it is debited; Cash is a real account and goes out, so it is credited.
2. What is the difference between a trial balance and a balance sheet?
A trial balance is a list of all ledger balances, debit and credit, prepared to check that the books are arithmetically correct. A balance sheet is a statement of assets, liabilities and capital on a particular date, showing the financial position. The trial balance is a working document; the balance sheet is a final statement.
3. What is bank reconciliation and why is it done?
It is a statement that explains the difference between the bank balance in our cash book and the balance in the bank's statement on the same date. Differences arise from cheques issued but not yet presented, deposits not yet credited, bank charges and direct credits we have not recorded. It helps to find errors and missing entries and gives the true bank balance. In my last job I reconciled five accounts every month.
4. What is depreciation? Name two methods.
Depreciation is the fall in the book value of a fixed asset from use, time or obsolescence, charged as an expense each year. Under the straight line method the same amount is charged every year on the original cost. Under the written down value method a fixed percentage is charged on the reducing balance, so the amount falls each year.
5. What is the difference between accounts payable and accounts receivable?
Accounts payable are amounts the business owes to suppliers for goods or services bought on credit; they are a liability. Accounts receivable are amounts customers owe the business for credit sales; they are an asset.
6. What are accrued and prepaid expenses?
An accrued or outstanding expense belongs to this period but has not been paid yet, such as salary for March paid in April. It is added to the expense and shown as a liability. A prepaid expense has been paid in advance for a later period, such as insurance for next year. It is deducted from the expense and shown as an asset.
7. What is GST and what is input tax credit?
GST is a tax on the supply of goods and services. A registered business pays tax on its purchases and collects tax on its sales. Input tax credit means it can set off the tax paid on purchases against the tax collected on sales and pay only the difference. Within a state, CGST and SGST apply; between states, IGST applies. For current rates and return rules I would check the GST portal.
8. Which accounting software have you used, and for what?
I have used Tally for about a year: creating ledgers, entering purchase, sales, payment and receipt vouchers, and taking out the day book, ledger and GST reports. I am comfortable in Excel with VLOOKUP, SUMIF and pivot tables for reconciliation. I have not used an ERP yet, but I learn software quickly.
9. A customer says he has paid, but your ledger shows the amount outstanding. What do you do?
I would ask him for the payment details: date, amount, mode and reference number. Then I would check our bank statement for that date and amount. Often the payment has come in but was posted to another party with a similar name, or is lying in a suspense entry. If I find it, I correct the entry and confirm to the customer. If it is not in the bank, I tell him politely and ask him to check with his bank.
10. What is the difference between capital and revenue expenditure?
Capital expenditure gives benefit for more than one year, such as buying a machine or adding to a building. It is shown as an asset. Revenue expenditure gives benefit within the year, such as rent, salaries and repairs. It is charged to the Profit and Loss Account.
11. How do you make sure your work is accurate?
I check totals against source documents before posting, reconcile bank and party balances regularly instead of leaving them to the month end, and review the day's entries before closing. Where two names are similar I check the code. If I find a mistake, I correct it through a proper entry and tell my senior.
12. What is working capital?
Working capital is current assets minus current liabilities. It shows how much short-term money the business has to run its day to day operations.
Model answers are examples. Use your own experience and figures, and for anything that changes (rates, limits, rules) check the official source before the interview.
How to prepare
- Revise journal entries, the three golden rules and final accounts. Our neighbour site accountancy.shareyourgroup.com has solved examples.
- Be ready for a practical test: a few journal entries on paper, or entries and a simple formula on a computer.
- Know the scale of work you have done: invoices a month, number of bank accounts, clients handled.
- For tax questions, state the concept and say you would confirm current rates and dates from the official portal.
Do not forget the common questions
Every one of these interviews also includes the general questions. Prepare them too:
Other jobs
Guides
Model answers are examples. They show the shape of a good answer, reviewed in November 2026. Use your own facts: an answer copied word for word will not survive a follow-up question. Employers differ, and nothing here promises selection. Names in the examples are invented.