There are two individuals that a person, whether a businessman or a salaried one should keep close to themselves – the doctor and the bookkeeper. The doctor is someone who knows all your medical facts and secrets and the bookkeeper knows all your financial facts and secrets. Therefore, both these job positions are quite critical for your well being.
The article provides common interview questions for bookkeepers along with answers and tips.
Bookkeeping Interview
Along with the knowledge and expertise, a book-keeper should also have the general loyalty that one handling such a critical position in a person’s life or a company.
The questions that are asked of a bookkeeper depend on the type of book keeping job that they are looking for – A standard bookkeeper will be asked different questions as compared to the advanced book keeper.
Standard Interview Questions for bookkeeping position with answers
Here are some questions for the standard bookkeeper:
Can you handle customer invoicing?
It goes without saying that the job of a book keeper contains a lot of customer invoicing. In fact, customer invoicing is one of the most basic of a book keeper’s key responsibility areas. Therefore, when asked this question, you should clarify your comfort levels at customer invoicing. This is one of those basic questions that work in creating the path for the further questions.
How does the customer invoicing relate to the accounts receivable?
This is another of the basic questions that are asked to a standard book keeper. Though even a layman can glib an answer to this one, only the well educated and qualified book keeper can give a stable and authentic answer to this question. So, make sure that you do your homework well before you opt for a bookmaker’s interview.
What is an Asset? What is a Liability?
This is another question that aims at finding out whether you slept through your accountancy class or did you actually learn something. An asset and liability are terms that form the base of the world of accountancy.
Briefly define a journal entry.
Again, this is a basic question that can be asked to a standard book keeper. These questions are generally aimed at finding out your knowledge and capabilities. Good news is that the answers to questions like this will be a reflex if you have actually paid attention in accountancy class and were serious in your studies.
Experience and educational qualifications
The further questions for a standard book keeper will involve finding out about their experience in the profession. If the book keeper is a novice, his or her educational qualifications will be gone through and authenticated before the interview goes anywhere ahead.
Advanced Book Keeper Interview Questions and answers
The question sets are a bit different for an advanced bookkeeper:
• An advanced book keeper can generally be described as a person who understands the financial and business flow in a business.
• The advanced book keeper will also have at least a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting.
It goes without saying that the job profile of an advanced book keeper is quite different from a standard book keeper. The interview questions will therefore highlight these differences.
Here are some questions that are generally asked to an advanced book keeper:
• Describe the difference between a Profit and Loss Account Statement and a Balance Sheet Statement.
• When are the expenses recorded under the accrual basis of accounting?
Answering the questions
If you have done your homework right, you should have the answer to this question at the tip of the tongue. However, during an interview, the presentation matters as much as the quality of a person’s work.
Make sure that you are unwavering and confident while all and any of the questions that the interviewer gives to you.
