Accounts Assistant Interview Questions

Accounts Assistants are employed by accounting firms, banks, insurance companies, and educational institutions to perform clerical and basic accounting duties. They update journals and ledgers, file financial records and important documentation, as well as identify and resolve errors in financial records.

Whether you're a job seeker preparing to be interviewed for the role of Accounts Assistant or an employer preparing to interview candidates for Accounts Assistant position, these Accounts Assistant interview questions will help you prepare yourself for the job interview session.

Accounts Assistant Interview Questions

Below are a list of some skill-based Accounts Assistant interview questions.

1. Tell me about a time when you worked with confidential or sensitive documents and accounts.
2. Do you have any experience working with accounting software such as Peachtree, QuickBooks Enterprise or NetSuite?
3. Share some tips and tools that you employ to avoid data entry errors and other accounting mistakes. 
4. Share an experience where you had to finish multiple accounting tasks on a tight schedule. 
5. What are the most important qualities for an accounts assistant to have?
6. Do you possess any accounting certifications that help you stand out as an Accounts Assistant?
7. If you submitted a financial report to an accountant and they asked you to re-do it, how would you respond?
8. There is a learning opportunity that conflicts with your work schedule. What would you do?
9. Many of our accounts have different reporting schedules. How do you accomplish all administrative tasks on time when working with multiple deadlines at once?
10. How would you handle an audit or discrepancy?
11. What would you do if you had carefully planned out your work week but a lead accountant asked for your help with a large data entry task for a client?
12. Are you comfortable talking to clients over the phone about the status of invoices and payments? What security measures do you use when discussing sensitive information over the phone?
13. Provide an example of a time when you identified and resolved a mistake made by another employee
14. Explain the steps you would take to reconcile bank statements with the general ledger.
15. Do you know how to use advanced spreadsheet functions to perform financial calculations?
16. What would you do if you noticed an error in a ledger you were responsible for maintaining?
17. What would you do if you noticed an entry in the ledger that you suspected was incorrect?
18. What do you think is the most challenging part of being an accounts assistant?
19. As an accounts assistant, you’ll provide administrative support and clerical help to the accounting department. What would you do if people from other departments started assigning you tasks and asking for help?
20. We want to ensure that our financial records are accurate and up-to-date. How would you ensure this as an Accounts Assistant?
21. Do you have any experience digitizing physical copies of files?
22. What would you do if a client called with a question about their account but you weren’t sure of the answer and an accountant wasn’t available to help?

Accounts Assistant Interview Questions and Answers

Every interview is different and the questions may vary. However, there are lots of general questions that get asked at every interview.

Below are some common questions you'd expect during Accounts Assistant interviews. Click on each question to see how to answer them.

1. What Is Your Greatest Accomplishment?
2. What is Your Greatest Weakness?
3. Are You a Leader or a Follower?
4. Tell Me About Yourself
5. Why Do You Want To Leave Your Current Job?
6. Do You Have Any Questions for Us?
7. What is Your Salary Expectation?
8. Why Should We Hire You?
9. What is Your Greatest Strength?
10. Why Do You Want This Job?