28 PKF Francis Clark Interview Questions & Answers
1. Being successful in the consulting industry requires adaptability and the ability to learn a business fast. What would be your approach to help you learn the ins and outs of a new client?
How to Answer
PKF Francis Clark contracts with businesses in different industries for their services and it is likely that your job would require you to learn the fine details of each business that you would work with. Demonstrate your ability to be flexible by giving examples of times you've had to do this during your career. As well, describe the approach that you would take to get the know the businesses you would be working with so you can apply your knowledge and expertise toward helping them.
1st Answer Example
"As you can see from my resume, I've been in corporate training and education for over ten years. In my current role, I have to use similar techniques working with different departments to try and tailor programs that meet their specific needs. I feel that my current approach of hosting an intake meeting with leaders would be effective in a consulting role with external customers. The current intake meetings that I lead are an opportunity for me to ask questions and learn as much as I can about my customers. In turn, it is an opportunity for me to lay the groundwork for the project and set expectations. Do you see this as an effective approach for this role?"
2nd Answer Example
"Having worked in quality roles for most of my career in both the private and public sectors, I think my career experiences have shaped me well for this role. Transitioning to a consultative role would definitely be a transition for me and the biggest transition will be this need to work in many different industries. For me, researching clients, their business and their industry will be the first step to my approach in learning about them. I want to make a great first impression when I am face to face with a new client and that first impression starts with my knowledge. Then, my openness and ability to communicate would take over when I am working directly with clients. I know the right questions to ask for laying out quality initiative projects and I know the right things to educate clients on."
2. How do you feel that your education and career to this point has prepared you to work in the international tax realm here at PKF Francis Clark?
How to Answer
With the rise of corporations taking their businesses to a global level, firms like PKF Francis Clark 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.
1st Answer Example
"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 PKF Francis Clark. 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."
2nd Answer Example
"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 PKF Francis Clark. 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."
3. What key skills can your bring to the clients of PKF Francis Clark in administering their trusts and estates?
How to Answer
As your career in finance and trusts/estates has prepared you to have the hard skills necessary in the legal and financial sides of business, your soft skills like negotiation and communication are equally important to the work that you do and what you can bring to the team at PKF Francis Clark. Prior to your interview, try distinguish yourself by talking about your unique skills that you possess that will greatly benefit the clients you work with on the administration of trusts and estates.
1st Answer Example
"I would say the biggest set of skills that I would bring to the team here at PKF Francis Clark is my experience working for a large legal firm on the administration of trusts for clients. On the financial side, I was tasked with handling total values of estates. This, paired with my knowledge of the legal aspect of trusts and estates, would greatly benefit your clients if I was hired for this position."
2nd Answer Example
"If hired for this position, you'll find out quickly that my two greatest skills are my communication style and my ability to problem solve independently. Having worked in the administration of trusts for many high profile clients in my past work history, communicating with clients during the creation of a trust and with beneficiaries down the road. I have the ability to cater my communication to difficult situations and take an empathetic approach at all times. For my problem solving, my work experience to this point has put me in a wide variety of situations where I am comfortable troubleshooting issues with clients without the need for my boss to intervene."
4. If hired here at PKF Francis Clark to work with our clients on wealth management strategies, what would you consider to be your preferred wealth management strategies?
How to Answer
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.
1st Answer Example
"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."
2nd Answer Example
"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."
5. Rate your communication skills from 1-10 with proper examples backing your given rating.
How to Answer
On a scale of 1-10, how skilled are you in communication? Why did you choose that particular rating for yourself?
1st Answer Example
"I rate my communication skills as a 9/10 as I will, on occasion, have times when I am not as clear as I would like to be. My supervisor and co-workers will attest to my clear and concise communication skills. Because I am an open leader, my team will let me know if I need to clarify anything."
2nd Answer Example
"I will rate myself an 8.5 because I consider myself a strong communicator. It is the foundation of all success in business. I am always striving to be a better communicator, so I leave the rest of the scale as an aspirational measure."
6. What approach do you take in giving financial and wealth advice to your clients? Why does this approach suit your clients the best?
How to Answer
For this question, your interviewer is looking to get down to the nuts and bolts relating to the exact method you approach clients with financial advice. Prior to your interviewer, be sure to put thought to your approach and be able to explain why this is both beneficial to your methods and to your clients. Whether you use verbal methods, printed document, email communication or any mixture of the three, be sure you can speak to your method confidently.
1st Answer Example
"I am a firm believer in having a typed up plan that is very detailed for my clients. When coming up with a financial plan, I take the time to present my clients with a written plan and have them review it prior to meeting in person. This gives them time to review information and prepare questions for me ahead of time. My clients have always appreciated this approach and I've included a couple of examples in my portfolio for you."
7. If a client you were working with here at PKF Francis Clark purchased a large asset, how would you explain to them the impact of that purchase on their financial statements?
How to Answer
When an organization purchases a large scale asset, like new equipment or property, it has an impact on their financial statement. As part of your role working with clients of PKF Francis Clark, your job will be to explain the impact of that purchase on cash flow, income statement and the overall balance sheet. For this question, walk your interviewer through how you would educated clients on large asset purchases to show you have a solid understanding of their impact on the finances of the company.
1st Answer Example
"I have a great example of this just happening recently with my current organization that purchased a $1,250,000 piece of manufacturing equipment. With our leaders, I explained that since the equipment was purchased in cash without financing, it would directly impact our cash flow statement immediately. On the balance sheet, it ended up being a wash with the cash side going down by $1.25 million and the asset side going up by that same amount with new equipment. The biggest thing that I had to reiterate to leaders was the impact of depreciation on the overall income statement in the coming years."
8. At PKF Francis Clark, you will have the opportunity to work with high level executives and leaders from the companies we contract with. What experience do you have in working with people at these levels?
How to Answer
As a business advisory and consulting firm, PKF Francis Clark works with Managers, Directors, CEO's, CFO's, CAO's and leaders with other titles on all of our projects. Your role will likely involve working closely with these leaders. For this question, your interviewer will be looking to hear that you are comfortable in working with the leadership team of the organization's clients by having you talk about your experience. Make sure that the examples you provide include some details on how you worked effectively to get the job done with the leaders you worked with.
1st Answer Example
"In my current role, I work directly under our Chief Financial Officer and sit on a couple of different committees that our Chief Executive Officer is on. Under the direction of my CFO, we have a great working relationship. I am comfortable approaching him at any moment with questions or to bring forward new ideas. He is aware of my strengths and respects my opinions on matters in my wheelhouse, so he never hesitates to come to me with important things. I think the keys to our strong relationship are the respect we show for each other and our open lines of communication."
2nd Answer Example
"Throughout my career, I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with employees at all levels of the organizations that I've worked with. To me, working effectively with anyone requires a personal touch and a respectful approach. Whether I work with front line sales staff or members of the C-Suite, I take the time to get to know the person, their job and how I can best be of help to them in my role. This approach really helped me build a relationship with a Sales Executive that a few of my colleagues had struck out with in recent interactions."
9. 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?
How to Answer
For people outside of the finance and accounting world, methods and terms can often be very confusing and part of your work with PKF Francis Clark 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.
1st Answer Example
"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."
2nd Answer Example
"As I understand the business here at PKF Francis Clark, 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."
10. How do you define working capital and why is it important for our clients here at PKF Francis Clark to take this into consideration when evaluating their finances?
How to Answer
While it will be important for you to explain your knowledge of working capital, your interviewer will really be looking to hear your thoughts on why it is important for clients to consider as part of financial decision making processes. Give an overview of your personal thoughts on the importance of considering working capital while hitting on its ability to maximize an organizations efficiency and profitability.
1st Answer Example
"While working capital is pretty simple in that is simply defined as an organization's current assets minus their current liabilities, many companies fail to see the importance in these simple numbers. My goal with clients here at PKF Francis Clark would be to work them toward a positive working capital ratio as that allows them to have the finances on hand to grow and prosper in to the future."
2nd Answer Example
"Working capital essentially tells me as a financial analyst about the organizations ability to meet financial obligations in the coming years and their ability to grow prosperously into the future. With accurate financial statements, subtracting liabilities from assets shows the overall health of the finances of an organizations and their ultimate direction for the future. I have a lot of great experience helping turn around organizations that have a negative working capital into a position position in a short amount of time. The clients here at PKF Francis Clark could benefit greatly from that work into the future."
11. In what ways would our clients here at PKF Francis Clark benefit from your knowledge and services?
How to Answer
This question is your chance to talk about the unique skills and knowledge that you would bring to PKF Francis Clark and that is exactly what your interviewer is looking to hear. In your answer, keep your focus centered on how clients of the organization will benefit from the things that you bring to their table because PKF Francis Clark is client focused in all that they do. To be effective with this answer, be sure to do your research on the clients at PKF Francis Clark and think about how your experience will be beneficial for them.
1st Answer Example
"As you can see from my resume, I have extensive experience in risk management in the healthcare industry. Having worked with some major players in the industry, your healthcare clients would benefit the most from the experience and solutions I could help provide them. Not to leave other industries out, I think my experience in the healthcare realm will also translate nicely to your clients in other areas of the private sector."
2nd Answer Example
"Having worked in accounting and tax law in a few different industries during my career to this point, I also have the unique experience of creating new organizational policies and procedures in my current role. In hearing more about this role, I think this experience would be very beneficial for your clients as I would be helping advise them in their practices and creating new policy would be crucial in that process."
12. 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?
How to Answer
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.
1st Answer Example
"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."
2nd Answer Example
"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."
13. Being successful in consulting and working here at PKF Francis Clark 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?
How to Answer
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.
1st Answer Example
"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."
2nd Answer Example
"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."
14. A key component to success here at PKF Francis Clark is building solid relationships with new clients. How do you effectively get to know new people and lay the groundwork for a long lasting relationship?
How to Answer
The fast paced world of business consulting requires the ability to build relationship after relationship with all of the clients that you will potentially be working with. For this question, your interviewer will be looking to gain insight into how you build relationships with new people from the first time you interact with them. In your answer, talk about how you gain and build trust with new people and explain how the little things in your initial interactions go a long way toward building long lasting working relationships.
1st Answer Example
"I am a firm believer that success in any role I've played in my career was due in part to the relationships that I've built in those roles. Whenever I have the chance to work with a new colleague or a new customer, my approach is to create an initial connection with them to build trust. After that point, my interpersonal skills take over through active listening. I use my listening skills to learn about the motivating factors and needs of the person that I will be working with and this helps mold that respect and trust between us even more. I think this approach would be very critical in working with new clients on a regular basis here at PKF Francis Clark and I'd love the opportunity to bring these skills to the table for you."
15. Here at PKF Francis Clark, 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?
How to Answer
In looking to join PKF Francis Clark 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 PKF Francis Clark 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.
1st Answer Example
"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."
2nd Answer Example
"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."
16. How did you maintain a good relationship with your most recent boss?
How to Answer
The interviewer wants to know that you are capable of maintaining a harmonious relationship with those who are considered your leaders.
If your relationship with your boss wasn't fantastic, what efforts did you take to make it better? Here are some suggestions:
- Try to understand what your boss values the most
- Keep your cool, even when you want to lose it
- Anticipate their needs and stay one step ahead
- Take leadership opportunities to show your worth
- Adapt to their preferences
Some basic ground rules for a stable working relationship with your boss are open communication, proactive listening, and not taking things personally. Discuss the ways that you cultivated a healthy relationship with your boss.
1st Answer Example
"My current boss is a very particular individual. Over the years I have taken the time to understand her preferences, her stress triggers, and what she enjoys seeing in my work. I find that if I stay one step ahead and maintain a positive attitude, we can work productively together."
2nd Answer Example
"I value having a strong working relationship with my boss. I want to learn what they do and take on as much work to help our team as possible. I scheduled regular update meetings with my boss and went the extra mile wherever I could."
17. As a consultant here at PKF Francis Clark, 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?
How to Answer
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.
1st Answer Example
"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 PKF Francis Clark. 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."
2nd Answer Example
"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."
18. Do you have any experience in financial modeling? What skills in financial modeling could you bring to the clients here at PKF Francis Clark?
How to Answer
In the corporate finance world at PKF Francis Clark, clients may look to you to be the expert to help them build forecasting models for the future. For this question, your interview is looking to hear that you have experience in financial modeling. Talk about your experience, what industry it was in and what tools you needed to help build as detailed of a model as possible. To seal the deal for this question, make sure to explain that your experience could be used across many businesses and industries with the clients you would be working with.
1st Answer Example
"As you can see from my resume, my corporate finance experience has mostly fallen in the manufacturing industry and financial modeling for forecasting purposes has been a skill that I've been developing over the past ten years. To start, I consider myself a master in Microsoft Excel to build great financial modeling tools that utilize all necessary data from an organization's financial statements. Though my experience is in manufacturing, my skills in financial modeling are ready to be applied to healthcare, banking or any other industry with your clients."
2nd Answer Example
"I have experience creating financial forecasting models in a few different areas of business. I consider my most unique talent to be my experience in M&A modeling for organizations that are looking to grow their business. In my current role, I've worked with leaders of organizations to strategically plan new acquisitions and modeling M&A for them was an integral part of the process. On top of M&A, I have experience in the standard three statement model and discounted cash flow analysis."
19. When have you contributed to an effort to obtain a corporate goal?
How to Answer
Engaged employees are always the most productive. Assure the interviewer that you are capable of being an involved team member by assisting, in some way, to the end goal of the corporation.
1st Answer Example
"My most recent employer had an extreme interest in giving back to the community. So much so that we, as a group, logged our volunteer hours and it was treated as another KPI. We would review our community contributions on a quarterly basis. Our goal was always to hit a minimum 500 volunteer hours per quarter which meant that everyone would volunteer one day per month. It was a great initiative and one that I happily participated in."
2nd Answer Example
"Everyday! The corporate goal is always my primary driver, in my current position. To be successful in my position I need to always be in tune with what my employer is trying to achieve, and be an active participant."
20. What would be the initial steps that you would take when evaluating the financial situation for a client of PKF Francis Clark?
How to Answer
If hired for this position with PKF Francis Clark, 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.
1st Answer Example
"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."
2nd Answer Example
"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."
21. 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?
How to Answer
As you look to join the ranks at PKF Francis Clark, 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 PKF Francis Clark and the typical clients that they serve.
1st Answer Example
"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."
22. With some of our clients here at PKF Francis Clark being hesitant to run an internal audit, what points would you use to sell them on the importance of conducting an internal audit?
How to Answer
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 PKF Francis Clark.
1st Answer Example
"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."
2nd Answer Example
"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."
23. Talk about a time that you successfully educated another individual or group in your area of expertise. What made your educational experience effective?
How to Answer
The role that you are interviewing for with PKF Francis Clark will likely involve providing education to clients in your area of expertise. For this question, your interviewer will be looking to hear that you are comfortable and effective in providing education by having you talk about a time that you have done so. In the example that you provide, try to point out some key items to making business education successful like developing a plan/goals, respecting differing viewpoints/opinions, making it hands on and making it fun.
1st Answer Example
"Probably the aspect that I love the most about my current job is being the lead for training new hires into our department. Because of my years of experience and my innate ability to effectively orientate new employees, my director asked me to take this duty about four years ago. My approach with any new hire is to customize their training based on their knowledge and experience so the training is effective for them. What works for one person may not work for another and I always need to be fluid with this. I also prioritize the need to make orientation and training a hands on experience for the new hire because classroom learning can only take a person so far in the learning process."
2nd Answer Example
"As you can see from my resume, I've spent the last seven years working in the corporate tax field. While in this job, I worked very independently for a private organization, so I've been out of the training and education side for a while now. During my first job out of college as a CPA though, I was very adept at providing education to the clients that I worked with on a daily basis. What I learned in that experience was the importance of putting material out there in a manner that the person being trained understood. As well, talking to clients and understanding my client's wants and needs were very important for me to be able to best educate them. I really believe that these skills would enable me to hit the ground running with PKF Francis Clark and your clients would benefit greatly."
24. Working with our clients here at PKF Francis Clark often involves some initial conflict with our clients. How would you rate your ability to handle conflict or disagreements in the workplace?
How to Answer
When a consultant comes into an organization to help better an aspect of their business, there are many factors that can lead to initial conflicts with the consultant and their firm. Big egos not wanting a fresh new face and the fear of change are inevitable in this business and your interviewer wants to hear that you have the experience and ability to handle inevitable conflict that will come your way if hired for the position. While obviously rating yourself highly in this area, try to talk about a time where you handled difficult conflict on the job with ease.
1st Answer Example
"In my role as a Project Manager with a large private organization, one of my first steps on any new project is setting a budget. Last year, I was leading the effort on a project focused on waste reduction in our manufacturing facilities. In the initial meetings for new projects, our CFO is always involved so she has a high-level overview of what the project will entail. In the meeting, she immediately berated me for the initial budget that I was proposing and vehemently insisted that the amount just wasn't correct or feasible. Rather than taking offense to her thoughts, I wanted to make sure that she, and the rest of the group, had a solid understanding of all that was taken into consideration for setting the budget. After I explained and showed line by line what the proposed budget broke down to, she was very thankful and didn't realize that team member labor was part of that equation. I think that my ability to understand why she was conflicted and my ability to keep a calm, cool head in that situation was vital and a perfect reason for me rating myself high on my conflict resolution skills."
2nd Answer Example
"From my call center days, I think I developed great conflict resolution skills where I would rate myself an 8 out of 10. Handling customers who were upset about a product or service they received required a calm tone, an educational approach and the ability to not take things too personally. If hired for this position, I would be able to bring this same approach to the client of PKF Francis Clark."
25. What steps would you take in creating a new audit process for a client here at PKF Francis Clark?
How to Answer
When PKF Francis Clark 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.
1st Answer Example
"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 PKF Francis Clark."
2nd Answer Example
"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."
26. At PKF Francis Clark, 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?
How to Answer
PKF Francis Clark 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.
1st Answer Example
"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."
2nd Answer Example
"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."
27. What logical steps would you take following an internal audit process with our clients here at PKF Francis Clark?
How to Answer
If hired for this position, your work as an auditor with PKF Francis Clark 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.
1st Answer Example
"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."
28. At PKF Francis Clark, 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 industri
How to Answer
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 PKF Francis Clark and their clients and be able to talk about your ability to work with those clients effectively.
1st Answer Example
"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 PKF Francis Clark. 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."
2nd Answer Example
"Looking to make this move and work for PKF Francis Clark, 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."