How do you stay organized and on track when working on a long-term project?

"I really pride myself on my ability to multitask and my ability to stay organized in key in multitasking. For me personally, organization starts with using technology to my advantage and I do this through the use of my Outlook calendar and tasks functions. I take time each day to update my tasks and project work and use my ability to prioritize tasks to ensure that the right things are being worked on. In looking to bring these skills to long-term project work with your clients, staying organized and on task will be extremely important for the success of both Haines Watts and your clients."

Working for Haines Watts in the role you are interviewing for will require an innate ability to manage projects from conception to final implementation. For this question, your interviewer will be looking to hear that you have the ability to maintain organization to meet deadlines and customer expectations. Talk about your personal methods for organizing project work and give any examples that you have of your methods being successful. In the consulting and advisory industry, customer satisfaction and word of mouth are integral to success and growth of a business and effective project management is key in satisfaction.

"In my work, the ability to stay organized and on track comes down to having a plan of attack for each project and keeping track of the plan as milestones are hit. If you are familiar with the program Trello, it really helps me organize all of the components of the projects that I work on and give me the ability to track who is doing what, what deadlines are coming and what milestones have been hit. But even with a great program like this, I always have the ability to re-prioritize due dates and new tasks as needed with any project."

At Haines Watts, we expect our accounting professionals to be adaptable to working with clients across many different businesses and industries. Why would you say that you have the ability to adapt your knowledge and skills across different industries?

"As you can see from my resume, I have spent time working in both health care and manufacturing and I believe that the 15 years spent between both of these industries have prepared me to consult in any industry here at Haines Watts. When I look at something like raw materials for an organization, amounts of materials can vary and what is considered a raw material can vary across each industry. But, all businesses and industries have to account for raw materials on-hand on their books. These same principles apply across all aspects of the accounting processes anywhere."

Throughout your career up to this point, you may have experience that falls within one specific industry or your experience could span across many different industries. Your interview has a very good sense of your background based on your resume, so they're ideally looking to hear you explain how your experience can be applied to accounting departments across all different businesses and industries that you'll potentially be working with in this role. Prior to your interview, be sure to do your homework on Haines Watts and their clients and be able to talk about your ability to work with those clients effectively.

"Looking to make this move and work for Haines Watts, I certainly know where my strengths and weaknesses fall in the accounting world. Having worked in both the legal industry and the wholesale industry, I have a very strong background in accounts receivable and inventory control. While my weakness right now, based on my experience, would be raw assets, I would take the time to get refocused and educated in those areas if hired for this position."

In your own point of view, what is the most important factor in influencing change for an organization?

"In my experience, the biggest thing that I've seen derail change management for large organizations is a lack of support. When I say support, it is really buy-in and true belief from senior level leadership. Because of this, my initial steps in meeting with any client would be to meet 1:1 with all key stakeholders to gather their ideas and to ensure that they are buying into the change process. Only when that is achieved will I feel comfortable in moving forward with work with that client."

As a professional in change management processes, your interviewer is looking to get some personal insight into how you will work closely with the clients of Haines Watts in this question. However you answer this question, be sure to speak with conviction as to why you feel your answer is the most important aspect to the change management process. However you answer, make sure not to discount other factors that influence change.

"While certainly a high level answer here, people are definitely the most important factor in the change management process for an organization. Change starts with people leading the charge and finishes with every person on board with new processes and ways of life. Because of this, my focus during a change management process is the people that will be designing the change and implementing the change in the end."

Here at Haines Watts, we are often brought in to consult with clients on ensuring accounting accuracy in their practices. What tricks, tips and tools will you be able to bring to our clients to help them ensure accuracy?

"As you can see from my resume, I have experience working in accounting in health care, manufacturing and the public sector. While all of these industries brought their own accounting nuances and expertise required, I've learned many great things along the way to help ensure that accounting departments are as accurate and efficient as possible. One top priority I always work on with clients is accounts receivable and making sure that AR is as up to date as possible. Outside of cash and bank accounts, AR is the bread and butter of finance for a company that is selling goods or services and many companies don't put enough time and energy into balancing their AR."

In looking to join Haines Watts as an accounting expert, their clients will be looking to you to help alter their accounting practices to ensure the best accuracy possible. While there are many ways you can answer this question, ensure that your interviewer walks away knowing that you can bring a unique expertise to the team at Haines Watts by highlighting some ways that you've helped businesses become more accurate in their accounting practices in your past. As always, keep an open mind to perfecting your craft and learning new things along the way as well.

"In my experience, accuracy in accounting practices comes down to control in the aspect of who has final say in financial statements for an organization. At times throughout my career, I have witnessed high level leaders be too involved in the final financial statements for organizations and truth may have been bent at times to inflate the performance of the company. To combat this, I firmly believe in clearly outlining all accounting processes within an organization and segmenting specific duties within an accounting department to different individuals. This tactic has worked great with many departments I have worked with and I'd look forward to working on this with your clients."

As we work with clients on assessing potentials mergers and/or acquisition, valuation is an important skills to possess. How would you go about placing a value on an organization for a client?

"First and foremost, my valuation method would be strictly dependent on the business and industry that I was consulting in. A majority of my experience in mergers and acquisitions has come in the manufacturing industry. In manufacturing, I have used the discounted cash flow model to properly value small operations and an important factor in this method was future forecasting. In each situation that I used this method, my clients saw significant growth and value in their purchases based on the work that I had done."

As you look to join the ranks at Haines Watts, this question is giving your interviewer the chance to look into your technical skills that you could bring to their clients. For your answer, talk about your ability to take measure of cash flows, revenues, price/earnings ratios and other factors to value a company. Another aspect to keep in mind when answering question is the methods that are most common for a valuing a particular industry. Prior to your interview, try to do as much research as possible on Haines Watts and the typical clients that they serve.

How do you feel that your education and career to this point has prepared you to work in the international tax realm here at Haines Watts?

"As you can see from my resume, I've spent the last 10 years working in private business for a large manufacturer that sees profits from a few countries from around the world. While this has somewhat exposed me to international tax laws, I know that I would be working much more in depth in this realm here at Haines Watts. If hired for this position, I know that I would face a learning curve with each new client I worked with that had to file and deal with tax laws from other countries. Because of that, I would take it upon myself to read and network with other professionals to become as knowledgeable as possible in the laws in different countries."

With the rise of corporations taking their businesses to a global level, firms like Haines Watts are often brought in to be the experts on international tax. Prior to your interview, your interviewer can tell a lot about your education and career and whether you have direct experience in working with international tax laws. Not having experience doesn't exclude you from candidacy for this experience, but if that is the case, your interviewer will be hearing how you'll apply what you've already experienced in your career to international practice. Put some thought to this question ahead of your interviewer to be able to paint the picture of yourself being well-versed in how to get educated in the field if you don't have direct experience.

"My experience in advising on high level tax law changes to corporate boards and c-level suites in the United States would be a great benefit to your international clients here at Haines Watts. As I have always had to stay on top of and educate myself in the laws here at home, I would continue to do the same at a much higher international level if hired for this position."

If working with a client of Haines Watts and you discovered fraudulent activity, what steps would you take following your discovery?

"Throughout my career conducting financial audits, I've always adhered to the SAS 99 statements on fraud. As long as I took every step possible in evaluating the risks, verifying that information was correct and verifying actual fraud, I would ensure that my evidence was sound and approach management of the organization and the auditing team with the information that I gathered."

Fraud is a serious matter that some auditors come across during their career. While some industries have specific guidelines regarding fraud reporting, talk to your interviewer about the steps that you are familiar with and explain to your interviewer that you always have your fraud detective hat on. As a consultant to clients at Haines Watts, you will be expected to be the last line of defense against potential fraud.

"The potential discovery of fraudulent activity starts with a methodical approach to the audit, assessing all potential risks and gathering all evidence possible to ensure that fraudulent activity is actually taking place. Once this is all in place, I would take the proper measures to notify leadership of the activity and walk through all necessary steps of documenting the fraud activity and my notification of it to leaders."

Give an example of a time that you brought an innovation to an accounting practice for an organization. What was your motivation to do this?

"Two years ago, I led the charge for my organization to integrate all of our systems together. Of course selfishly, my intent was to positively impact our accounting department by integrating our CRM and ERP systems into our accounting system. After walking through a stringent request for proposal process where we looked at many different vendors, a new interactive system was chosen that every department in the organization could work off of. To this day, we are still seeing the benefits in sales, production and finance. While struggles certainly happened at first with implementing new systems, the small headaches were well worth the benefits we are seeing now."

With this being a pretty open ended question, your interviewer is allowing you to have the opportunity to showcase your ability to think creatively and outside the box when it comes to your accounting experience. Whether you implemented a new technology or developed new processes to work more efficiently, make sure that your interviewer walks away knowing that you are an innovator in your work.

"When I took my current position six years ago, I began leading a finance department ten people. At that time, my employees were what I considered to be jacks of all trades, but masters of none as they were all doing different accounting and finance tasks with the departments that they worked directly with. Within a couple of months as the manager, it was easy to see that different processes among my employees were causing major troubles. Immediately, I created new job descriptions and placed my staff into task specific roles within the finance department. There were struggles with staff learning to work with new departments at first, but a focused work effort for each individual made our department much more fluent and efficient for our internal and external customers."

What logical steps would you take following an internal audit process with our clients here at Haines Watts?

"Through my time working with different financial auditors, the follow-up to an audit is often overlooked as most people look to move onto the next project. In reality, clients look for the follow up report to learn and grow from their audit experience and this is a part of the process that I take great pride in. My writing skills are tailored to be to the point and clear in my findings. Without having my head get too bogged down in other work, I write and submit reports to leadership in a very timely manner following the completion of an audit."

If hired for this position, your work as an auditor with Haines Watts doesn't end when the audit is done. Clients expect follow-up in the form of written reporting. Talk about your ability to write a follow-up report clearly and concisely and do so in a timely manner. To really have an impact on your interviewer, talk about how these steps in your work would hopefully make a repeat client out of those that you work with.

An often difficult part about working for Haines Watts and our clients is the need to be fluent and adaptable to the cultures of our clients. Why would you say that you'd be able to handle this aspect of the job with ease?

"During my career to this point, I've been very fortunate to say that I've worked for one employer for over ten years and the experience that I've gained with them is a huge asset to me personally. But even though all of my relevant work experience is with the same employer, I've worked under six different department managers during my time there and each person had their own unique management style and expectations of me. As well, my organization has undergone three mergers in my time there and each merger brought a new and bigger organization to light with new values and culture. Whether it was a manager change or an organization change, I always prioritized openness and asking questions to get to know new processes better. I would bring this approach with each and every new client that I would work with in this role."

In the business consulting world, organizations work with clients that all have different backgrounds, leadership styles, cultures, industries and motivating factors. Consultants hired to come in to these organizations have to possess a chameleon-like ability to ingrain themselves in a new company's culture. For you to be successful in the role that you are interviewing for, you must possess this same ability. In your answer to this question, be sure to point out your fluidity to adapt to new situation in your work by giving an example or two of a time you had to do this to give your interviewer a sense of your ability to be flexible with clients.

"I would liken this role as a Client Manager to working with my customers in my current job. I approach each new customer with an open slated mind while getting to know their motivations, their needs and their expectations of me to help me get a better understanding of how I can best suit them. If hired for this position working with your clients here at Haines Watts, this approach would be vital because of the variety of businesses and industries that I would be working with."

As a consultant here at Haines Watts, you will have the opportunity to work with many accounting departments on tax filing for their business. When called upon, how would you go about verifying the accuracy of an accounting department?

"In any tax consulting project, data verification and sampling is of utmost importance to me and a step I would ensure happens with every client here at Haines Watts. Depending on the accounting and finance department's books and how they are kept, my data verification could be as simple as printing documents and verifying samples against filed information or running the data verification through a program. I have extensive experience running both methods of data verification and wouldn't hesitate to use either with the clients here."

No matter the size of the business and their accounting department, human error can lead to costly mistakes down the road if accuracy is not verified on the financial statements and books of a company that you would be consulting in this role. In your answer, talk specifically about your methods for verifying data entry and make it clear to your interviewer that this a step that you do not take lightly or overlook.

"I fully realize that my work in advising businesses on their tax filings comes down to verifying their income statements, balance sheet and cash flow statements. To verify, I would have to work with leaders in reconciling their financial statements with bank records, credit card statement, invoices, receipts and any other documents that show physical proof on financial statements. Realizing that this can sometimes be a difficult task with businesses that don't keep accurate records, have segregated finance departments or multiple physical locations, I would leave no stone unturned in this initial verification process with your clients."

How do you keep up to speed on changing trends and laws in the financial planning field?

"Being a certified financial planner, I love having the opportunity to take continuing education credits to help me become better for my clients. Last year, I attended a two day estate planning course that really helped me develop some unique strategies for clients over the past couple of month. If hired for this position, you can be sure that I'd look forward to continuing me knowledge throughout my career and I'm always open to new suggestions from my employer."

In the ever changing world of financial planning, staying on top of both legal changes and improving trends in the field is extremely important to succeed in this role with Haines Watts. Talk to your interviewer about any educational opportunities that you have taken part in recently and any journals/publications that you subscribe to that help you stay on top of your financial planning game.

"Being an avid reader and lifelong learner, I subscribe to The Economist and Financial Advisor Magazine. Both publications have great content about large scale and small scale financial topics that impact the work that I do on a daily basis. I love to read before bed each night and I've found that things that I've learned in this 20 minutes each night was very beneficial to my clients."

Our clients here at Haines Watts rely on our experts to help find new and unique sources of business funding. How would you be able to assist our clients with their funding needs?

"As you can see from my resume, I've spent the last ten years focusing my financial services to small businesses and funding is always in high demand for small businesses. To assist them in the best way possible, I first need to learn their financial situation and the goal of the funding that they are in search of. With that information, I can decipher among many options to help them do what works best for them. In some instances, a business credit card can suffice and be the perfect solution. In other instances, I work with businesses on traditional or SBA loans to get financing in short order."

As the business landscape has grown and changed in recent history, new and unique methods for funding a business have been developed and evolved into new and exciting ways for businesses, both large and small, to grow and prosper. For this question, talk about your business funding experience in detail and try to highlight any new and unique methods that you have worked directly with. This will give your interviewer the sense that you have the ability and desire to create unique solutions for the clients of Haines Watts.

"While I do have a lot of great experience in assisting businesses in loan applications and credit card applications, I have very unique experience in applying for and securing government funded grants that are available for businesses meeting certain needs. Last year, I worked with a client to apply for and secure a business grant from the EPA when they were looking at moving to a new fully sustainable manufacturing facility. The research and application process was tedious and took hours of focus, but the experience that I gained from it perfect for potential clients I would work for here with Haines Watts."

Have you ever developed an acquisition strategy for an organization? Why would this be important to our clients here at Haines Watts?

"In the last year, I have helped two organizations think out and write their acquisition strategies that they would use moving forward. For one regional grocery retailer, I worked with their CEO and CFO to learn that their desire to enter new markets was their overall goal. With that strategy in mind, we began to search and evaluate potential organizations in adjacent regions to where the retailer currently had a foothold. As of today, they have successfully acquired one struggling regional chain and opened six new stores that are flourishing."

For clients that are just beginning the potential acquisition process, an effective strategy is imperative to help them outline what they expect to gain from an acquisition. This strategy provides the basis for all other steps of the acquisition process by outlining what the end goal will be. As a consultant with Haines Watts, their clients will rely on your expertise in this area so be sure to speak about the experience you have and how that will help the clients that you work with.

"A well thought out acquisition strategy is crucial for an organization to have as they look to venture out in new markets and territories. I consider this planning process as one of my fortes that I'd be able to bring a wealth of expertise to with your clients. A couple of years ago, I consulted a mid-sized automotive dealership that had aggressive dreams of growing their number of dealership. In that industry, there just isn't much room for expansion so merging with or acquiring new dealerships was a priority. In my leading of the process for developing a strategy, the leadership team identified new brands as a top priority. With that as our starting point, our analysis of competition in the area showed struggling numbers at two competitors. Within a year, a deal was struck for my client to obtain the local Toyota/Lexus dealership."

Sometimes with our clients here at Haines Watts, we have to think outside the box when helping them develop a strategic plan. Do you have an example of a time where you thought outside of the box in developing a strategic plan?

"As the leader of the strategic growth committee of my employer right out of college, I felt that it was important to solicit feedback from employees as we looked to create and implement our first ever strategic plan. I created an idea box where employees were prompted to write down any ideas anonymously for what they though would be helpful in creating an outward looking success strategy. I communicated to employees through email, team meetings and a company newsletter. After three months, our committee went through every suggestion in the box and brainstormed which ideas could be implemented into our strategy. In the end, we felt that we received many great thoughts and ideas that we likely wouldn't have come up with on our own."

In today's day and age, conventional thinking can only get organizations so far as they develop strategic plans for the future. With competition, demand and needs for success keeping people focused on day to day routine in their work, it is oftentimes necessary to think outside of the box when looking to develop a strategic plan. Talk about a time that you used a unique and unconventional tactic in the development of a strategic plan. Why do you consider that method thinking outside of the box?

"I personally believe that way too many organizations only look internally when developing a strategic plan when they should also be soliciting feedback from customers, stakeholders and/or the general public as well. Last year when working with a regional grocery retailer, I utilized public focus groups to really delve into the minds of consumers to aid in creating a strategic plan. While wanting to get as much relevant information as possible from the focus groups, a great deal of thought was put into the questions that were asked of the focus group."

Being successful in consulting and working here at Haines Watts requires the ability to work effectively with Type A personalities. What are your experiences in working with this personality and how did you make the relationships a success?

"For the last six years, I have worked under your prototypical type A personality as my director. Being a self admitted type B, being under my new director was difficult at first. For me to be successful under her and for our relationship to flourish, I learned quickly that she liked me to regularly communicate timelines for projects and give updates when necessary as she was very time driven. As well, small talk and getting to know me personally wasn't a priority so our communications to this day are pretty succinct and to the point. In this role, I would feel very comfortable with working with high level type A's because of my firsthand experience."

To first understand this question, it is important that you know that Type A personalities are exemplified by being competitive, motivated, organized and goal driven, among many other traits. These traits often lead to success in high level roles within organizations and your chances of working with this personality type are high. Think of a time you worked with a typical Type A personality and explain the methods you used to ensure that you had a sound and successful working relationship. Make sure that your interview walks away knowing that you can work effectively with difficultly driven individuals with high expectations.

"If you haven't been able to tell during my interview so far, I am a type A personality myself. My personality has helped me become very successful as a Financial Analyst. Having had formal training in the different personality types, I know that I need to take a meticulous approach when working with other type A personalities. My current team is loaded with type A's and regular communication is key in ensuring that expectations are clear and timelines are being met. If hired for this position, I would know my place in working with leaders from clients and I can easily be both cognizant of my approach and have the ability to put my desire to be in the lead aside with them when needed."

If hired for this position here at Haines Watts, how would you coach our clients to be more detailed in their accounting practices?

"Accuracy in accounting practices requires a methodical approach and documented procedures for staff to follow. If hired for this position, my first priority with clients would be to ensure that procedures are in place for staff that entail details on data entry, data confirmation and re-checking work after it is completed. I have a lot of experience creating custom procedures for accounting departments and I would always make sure that department leaders know that they are ultimately responsible for the work that is being put out by their staff."

As an accounting professional, you know that a detailed approach to your work is necessary in ensuring that work produced is accurate. Inaccuracy in accounting practices can have significant impact on an organization. As you look to join Haines Watts, you will be put in a position to teach others the importance of accuracy and methods for ensuring accuracy in their accounting practices. Talk about how you would go about doing this from a high level overview and make sure you give your interviewer the impression that you have the ability to teach accuracy to the clients of Haines Watts.

What would you say is the key factor for an organization to consider when building an action plan for growth?

"In my experience in going back and measuring the successes of past organizations that I have been a part of a growth plan for, the top determining factor in success was having and following a five year plan for growth. The development of a solid five year plan entails setting goals, establishing the resources needed to meet the goals and pinpoints any potential hurdles on the way to the goals. An integral part of the plan also includes timelines for adding resources along the way to ensure that milestones are met on time."

Creating an action plan for growth can entail many steps and processes. As the clients at Haines Watts will look to you to be an expert on the entire process, your interviewer is simply looking to take a dive into your mind to hear what you feel is the most important factor. No matter how you answer this question, be sure to speak passionately about why this factor is important and how you will help their clients understand this and put it to use.

"To me, companies that seize opportunities in their market are best suited for growth into the future. For a lot of companies, seeing opportunity is a huge area for improvement and its a passionate area of mine where I could bring expertise the clients of Haines Watts. As a consultant, the process of seeking out opportunity would involve detailed SWOT analyses, market research and surveying of staff. These processes will help clients see their best opportunities for growth, then further plans can be made to turn plans into reality."

Which accounting platforms are you familiar working with?

"As you can see from my resume, my experience over the past 15 years has placed me in a few different industries. With each industry has come experience working with many accounting software programs. I have worked in Infor, QuickBooks, Net Suite and Patriot Accounting over the last five years alone. While they all have their features and benefits that are catered to each industry, I've found myself able to learn systems proficiently and adapt my work to the needs of the systems. If hired here at Haines Watts, you can rest assured knowing that I would pick up any systems with ease."

Coming to work for Haines Watts as an accountant, your interviewer is looking to hear how fluent you are in working on the technical side of the job. Talk about your experience in working with some of the many accounting programs. No matter which programs you are familiar working with, make sure that your interviewer has the clear understanding that your readily adaptable to working on any program and that you understand the importance these platforms play in your work.

"In my current role, I work exclusively with SBS Financials Suite. I love its ability to custom create reports that are reusable over time and adaptable to be able to use with different internal customers. I also love the budgeting and electronic invoice approval features of this system. In knowing other systems like Workday and QuickBooks, I am confident in my ability to pick-up and work on just about any system quickly and efficiently."

What steps would you take in creating a new audit process for a client here at Haines Watts?

"If asked to consult with a new client on their audit process, my first goal would be to determine the overall purpose of the audit. I would have to ask questions about any regulating bodies for the industry and internal quality perspectives that would guide my work. Only when those questions are answered can I move forward with assembling an audit team, giving the team purpose and setting expectations for the new process. With this great start, my leadership skills in the audit process would take over and greatly benefit your clients here at Haines Watts."

When Haines Watts is asked consult with an organization on their audit processes, you will be looked upon to be the expert in creating a solid auditing process for them. To get an idea of your knowledge and experience, your interviewer is asking you how you would go about creating a new process from scratch for an organization that you are consulting. While your discussion will certainly be high level without knowing much detail about the specific organization you are hypothetically working with, make sure that you hit the important aspects of creating an audit process.

"Any solid auditing process starts with great planning. Planning includes outlining the scope of the audit, clearly defining what data and information is required to successfully perform the audit and selecting a team of individuals to be a part of the audit process. If hired for this position, you can rest assured knowing that I have great experience in planning for and creating auditing processes across many businesses and industries."

With some of our clients here at Haines Watts being hesitant to run an internal audit, what points would you use to sell them on the importance of conducting an internal audit?

"From my experience, increasing industry regulation and compliance with such regulation is a huge selling point to leaders for conducting internal audits. Oftentimes, leaders are well aware of impacts that regulations have on many aspects of their business, but financial records and book keeping often gets overlooked. With my experience and knowledge across many industries, I can speak knowledgeably to high level leaders about how industry regulations can impact accounting practices and audits are the best way to implement positive change."

At some point in your career, you've likely faced resistance to creating and running an internal audit process regarding accounting practices within an organization. It can be a very touchy subject for a variety of reasons. To help curb resistance, you will be relied upon to point out the importance of internal audits. From your own perspective, reiterate the key points that you would use to sell the development of an internal auditing process to the clients at Haines Watts.

"Over the past 10 years, the impact of the digitalization of businesses has greatly increased the need for internal audits of accounting and finance departments. Many factors surrounding the digital impact on organizations have made life tough for accountants and educating leaders on these impacts is essential in today's day and age. Recently, I worked with an organization on an audit that revealed significant gaps in their web invoicing systems. Without the audit, the organization was risking losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax money."

Talk about a success story that you have in implementing an organization design change with an organization. How will your skills used here benefit the clients of Haines Watts?

"With a background in HR, my org design work has most often centered around labor efficiencies with organizations. I have a lot of experience in evaluating work processes and gauging the appropriate labor needs that are necessary. Last year, I worked with a small plastics manufacturer that wasn't using their automation capabilities to their highest level. They were essentially paying many people to do what some of their machinery could actually do. While it did involve some difficult conversations and some difficult employment decisions, the organization was able to save a lot of labor costs on simple modifications to their processes."

Organizational design is a very broad field that looks at workflow, procedures, systems and structures that impact the overall business goals of an organization. Over time, changes in products and ways of doing business should require changes in the overall design of the organization, but companies are often slow to react to needed changes. Talk about an organization design project that you were a part of and describe the details of the project that you handled. Then, talk about your organizational design skills that you would bring to the table at Haines Watts.

"As you can see from my resume, I have a vast amount of experience in the transportation and warehousing industries. In my work here, org redesign has always been a focus to increase efficiencies and profitability. Last year, I helped a large trucking firm implement the UPS logistics philosophy in their routing that saved a lot money on fuel, maintenance costs and labor. If hired here, I think my corporate design experience in these areas would translate well to industries like manufacturing and healthcare."

If hired here at Haines Watts to work with our clients on wealth management strategies, what would you consider to be your preferred wealth management strategies?

"Having guided many previous clients on very successful wealth management strategies, those successes have always relied upon setting goals and creating budgets that guide people towards those goals. I take the time to know and understand my clients, their short and long-term goals and guide them through setting realistic goals and plans for achieving those goals. Along our journey together, I consistently evaluate progress towards goals and reevaluate budgets if ever needed down the road."

While this is certainly a very open ended question that you can run with, your interviewer will be looking to hear that you are passionate about creating strategies for your clients in your answer. No matter how you answer the question, speak with knowledge and passion and always tie your answer back to doing what is best for your clients based on their situation.

"I would consider my forte in the field to be wealth preservation for late career individuals nearing retirement. I have a lot of experience in creating wills and estate plans, career exit planning and cash flow planning post-retirement for my clients. While I consider this my forte, I also love to work with individuals early and mid-career as well."

Have you ever had a time where you had to explain accounting processes or practices in layman's terms to someone? Why is the ability to do that important?

"In our world, financial terms and principles are almost second nature to us and it can be easy to take the knowledge we have for granted when talking with others. Last year, my current organization hired a new CEO that came from the sales side of the business and he was an extreme work in progress when it came to the financial and accounting side of the business. I took the time to sit down and explain our financial statements to him and get him used to the acronyms that are often used in our accounting department's email communications to leadership. He was very appreciative of my efforts and he really did catch on quickly moving forward in his new role."

For people outside of the finance and accounting world, methods and terms can often be very confusing and part of your work with Haines Watts may entail your ability to explain things in the simplest of terms to the leadership staff and employees of organizations that you will work with. If you have a specific time where you had to do this, discuss in detail how you did that and why you felt it was important to do that. Be sure to explain that accounting principles can be hard to grasp and that educating others is a part of your work that you take great pride in.

"As I understand the business here at Haines Watts, I would have the opportunity to work as an accounting consultant with businesses both large and small. Through my career, I've had the ability work with leaders from many departments to talk about and explain accounting processes and how their job impacts the work of an accounting department. During these times, it was very important to relate things to the person's work in the easiest way possible. I have a lot of great experience in explaining things like ledgers and income statements to leaders so they can understand things in a way that is simple for them. This ability would translate nicely to the work I would be doing here with your clients."

What roles are you comfortable assuming in working as part of a larger team?

"I am really comfortable working in any role within a team and I think my experiences throughout my career demonstrate this well. At many times in my career, I've been the legwork of team operations and have easily taken direction on projects and been able to hit pre-established deadlines. As well, I've lead many projects and have shown my ability to lead others in a team effort and the ability to delegate tasks and set milestones for projects. If hired for this position, you can be rest assured that I have the ability to be a key team players with your clients in helping better their business."

Coming to work for a consulting business requires the ability to work as part of a larger team on the projects you will be heading. Teamwork in this setting requires versatility and your interviewer will be looking to hear that you have that versatility in your answer to this question. Many times, you will be taking the bull by the horns and leading the way. Other times, you will be the worker bee researching behind the scenes. You may be tasked with being the organizer of projects behind the scenes as well. Make sure that you highlight your ability to be flexible when working as part of a team here.

"From a very young age in my career, I've always been a natural leader in a team based environment. My excellent communication skills, honesty, critical thinking and decision making skills have proven time and time again that I can lead others in the most effective way possible. And while being a leader comes naturally to me, I can easily let others take the lead on projects."

At Haines Watts, our clients look to us to help find new and creative ways to save tax dollars. Have you ever had a unique situation where you helped an organization save tax dollars through your work and insight?

"Last year, I was working with an upstart small business in New York that employed around 20 people. Hearing that a big burden for him was providing health care coverage, which he chose to do to hire and retain great staff, I educated him on the savings he could see in starting an HSA associated with a high deductible plan. In the end, this plan was a win for the owner to see a ton of tax savings and the employees benefited with a great plan where the business was contributing towards their HSA on a yearly basis."

Haines Watts is a trusted advisor to their clients on their corporate and small business taxes and your potential work in this position will put you in a position to be creative with your clients. Prior to your interview, think of a time in your work history where you can demonstrate the situation for the organization and came up with a creative tax savings solution for them. Upon answering this question, make sure that your interviewer walks away from your time together knowing that you have the ability to create solutions for clients that make a real difference.

"When working with corporation on tax advising issues, I always walk through business expenditures with a fine toothed comb because how large expenditures are claimed can really make or break taxes for years to come. When working with a client a few years ago, I noticed that they were deducting full costs up front when the depreciation method would have worked out much better for them in their financial situation. The only thing it took to convince them was a simple educational meeting."

What would be the initial steps that you would take when evaluating the financial situation for a client of Haines Watts?

"As an experienced wealth planner and financial advisor, my first goal with new clients is to build trust right from our first meeting together. I take a little bit of time to talk about my knowledge, experience and my ultimate goals for any client. From there, I open the door for clients to talk about their situation and their future goals. I listen to them attentively and reflectively listen to their thoughts to truly understand their needs. Once I have this solid base of where they want to be, I can craft a solid plan for them. As you can see, I submitted several professional references from clients that I have served in the past and they would all be willing to talk about my ability to provide a trusting service to them."

If hired for this position with Haines Watts, you will be expected to be a trusted financial advisor for very high profile clients. Based on your experience, talk about how you begin the process of discovering the needs of your clients. No matter how you answer the question, be sure to highlight your ability to listen to others, ask follow up questions and put those thoughts into action. The position you are interviewing for relies on a heavy dose of trust with your clients, so any of your techniques used to build rapport and trust with your clients is equally important as well.

"If hired for this position and given the opportunity to work with clients on their financial planning needs, my first step with new clients would be to have a Q&A session where I can learn about their history, their finances and their plans for the future. The Q&A session would allow the client to ask questions of me as well. At the end of the initial session together, a foundation of trust is built and I let my excellent customer service and knowledge lead the rest of the way with the client."

Haines Watts Interview Questions

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1. How do you stay organized and on track when working on a long-term project?
2. At Haines Watts, we expect our accounting professionals to be adaptable to working with clients across many different businesses and industries. Why would you say that you have the ability to adapt your knowledge and skills across different industries?
3. In your own point of view, what is the most important factor in influencing change for an organization?
4. Here at Haines Watts, we are often brought in to consult with clients on ensuring accounting accuracy in their practices. What tricks, tips and tools will you be able to bring to our clients to help them ensure accuracy?
5. As we work with clients on assessing potentials mergers and/or acquisition, valuation is an important skills to possess. How would you go about placing a value on an organization for a client?
6. How do you feel that your education and career to this point has prepared you to work in the international tax realm here at Haines Watts?
7. If working with a client of Haines Watts and you discovered fraudulent activity, what steps would you take following your discovery?
8. Give an example of a time that you brought an innovation to an accounting practice for an organization. What was your motivation to do this?
9. What logical steps would you take following an internal audit process with our clients here at Haines Watts?
10. An often difficult part about working for Haines Watts and our clients is the need to be fluent and adaptable to the cultures of our clients. Why would you say that you'd be able to handle this aspect of the job with ease?
11. As a consultant here at Haines Watts, you will have the opportunity to work with many accounting departments on tax filing for their business. When called upon, how would you go about verifying the accuracy of an accounting department?
12. How do you keep up to speed on changing trends and laws in the financial planning field?
13. Our clients here at Haines Watts rely on our experts to help find new and unique sources of business funding. How would you be able to assist our clients with their funding needs?
14. Have you ever developed an acquisition strategy for an organization? Why would this be important to our clients here at Haines Watts?
15. Sometimes with our clients here at Haines Watts, we have to think outside the box when helping them develop a strategic plan. Do you have an example of a time where you thought outside of the box in developing a strategic plan?
16. Being successful in consulting and working here at Haines Watts requires the ability to work effectively with Type A personalities. What are your experiences in working with this personality and how did you make the relationships a success?
17. If hired for this position here at Haines Watts, how would you coach our clients to be more detailed in their accounting practices?
18. What would you say is the key factor for an organization to consider when building an action plan for growth?
19. Which accounting platforms are you familiar working with?
20. What steps would you take in creating a new audit process for a client here at Haines Watts?
21. With some of our clients here at Haines Watts being hesitant to run an internal audit, what points would you use to sell them on the importance of conducting an internal audit?
22. Talk about a success story that you have in implementing an organization design change with an organization. How will your skills used here benefit the clients of Haines Watts?
23. If hired here at Haines Watts to work with our clients on wealth management strategies, what would you consider to be your preferred wealth management strategies?
24. Have you ever had a time where you had to explain accounting processes or practices in layman's terms to someone? Why is the ability to do that important?
25. What roles are you comfortable assuming in working as part of a larger team?
26. At Haines Watts, our clients look to us to help find new and creative ways to save tax dollars. Have you ever had a unique situation where you helped an organization save tax dollars through your work and insight?
27. What would be the initial steps that you would take when evaluating the financial situation for a client of Haines Watts?

Haines Watts Interview Questions

1. How do you stay organized and on track when working on a long-term project?

2. At Haines Watts, we expect our accounting professionals to be adaptable to working with clients across many different businesses and industries. Why would you say that you have the ability to adapt your knowledge and skills across different industries?

3. In your own point of view, what is the most important factor in influencing change for an organization?

4. Here at Haines Watts, we are often brought in to consult with clients on ensuring accounting accuracy in their practices. What tricks, tips and tools will you be able to bring to our clients to help them ensure accuracy?

5. As we work with clients on assessing potentials mergers and/or acquisition, valuation is an important skills to possess. How would you go about placing a value on an organization for a client?

6. How do you feel that your education and career to this point has prepared you to work in the international tax realm here at Haines Watts?

7. If working with a client of Haines Watts and you discovered fraudulent activity, what steps would you take following your discovery?

8. Give an example of a time that you brought an innovation to an accounting practice for an organization. What was your motivation to do this?

9. What logical steps would you take following an internal audit process with our clients here at Haines Watts?

10. An often difficult part about working for Haines Watts and our clients is the need to be fluent and adaptable to the cultures of our clients. Why would you say that you'd be able to handle this aspect of the job with ease?

11. As a consultant here at Haines Watts, you will have the opportunity to work with many accounting departments on tax filing for their business. When called upon, how would you go about verifying the accuracy of an accounting department?

12. How do you keep up to speed on changing trends and laws in the financial planning field?

13. Our clients here at Haines Watts rely on our experts to help find new and unique sources of business funding. How would you be able to assist our clients with their funding needs?

14. Have you ever developed an acquisition strategy for an organization? Why would this be important to our clients here at Haines Watts?

15. Sometimes with our clients here at Haines Watts, we have to think outside the box when helping them develop a strategic plan. Do you have an example of a time where you thought outside of the box in developing a strategic plan?

16. Being successful in consulting and working here at Haines Watts requires the ability to work effectively with Type A personalities. What are your experiences in working with this personality and how did you make the relationships a success?

17. If hired for this position here at Haines Watts, how would you coach our clients to be more detailed in their accounting practices?

18. What would you say is the key factor for an organization to consider when building an action plan for growth?

19. Which accounting platforms are you familiar working with?

20. What steps would you take in creating a new audit process for a client here at Haines Watts?

21. With some of our clients here at Haines Watts being hesitant to run an internal audit, what points would you use to sell them on the importance of conducting an internal audit?

22. Talk about a success story that you have in implementing an organization design change with an organization. How will your skills used here benefit the clients of Haines Watts?

23. If hired here at Haines Watts to work with our clients on wealth management strategies, what would you consider to be your preferred wealth management strategies?

24. Have you ever had a time where you had to explain accounting processes or practices in layman's terms to someone? Why is the ability to do that important?

25. What roles are you comfortable assuming in working as part of a larger team?

26. At Haines Watts, our clients look to us to help find new and creative ways to save tax dollars. Have you ever had a unique situation where you helped an organization save tax dollars through your work and insight?

27. What would be the initial steps that you would take when evaluating the financial situation for a client of Haines Watts?