Accounting Clerk Interview
Questions

25 Accounting Clerk Interview Questions

By: Samantha Hamilton

Question 1 of 25

You may have multiple deadlines to complete your tasks. When have you been in such an environment and how did you handle it?

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How to Answer

Deadline-driven environments are a breeze for you as an accounting clerk! Planning and organization are key for any environment, and the interviewer simply wants to hear that you're not daunted by it. Begin by sharing an example of a deadline-driven environment you've participated in. It can even be a school setting if you're a recent graduate. Share where you were employed (or were a student), what types of deadlines you had to meet, and how you approached the tasks. Mention what organizational tools you utilized, and be sure to mention how successful you were in handling the multi-tasking deadline environment.

Answer Example

"I've worked on several projects at once with different deadlines. I'm well versed with this as all it takes is good time management skills to handle the completion of different tasks."

Entry Level Answer Example

"I have experience in handling various projects at the same time. In college, I was in my week of final exams and projects due, and was working with Habitat for Humanity building homes for the less fortunate. I was a veteran volunteer, so they relied on me for many hours and to help train newcomers. I was able to schedule myself enough time to study and complete my projects while helping the charity I hold so close to my heart."

Experienced Answer Example

"This happens all the time if you have a good time management system. Deadlines can actually help you prioritize tasks you'd otherwise put off. I always schedule my day by priorities. The highest priority is the first thing that needs to be done. It doesn't matter how difficult or easy the task. It's done first to ensure it gets my complete attention."

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Question 2 of 25

Do you enjoy working with deadlines?

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How to Answer

This is a straightforward question. Most accounting positions have strict deadlines for the majority of their work. If you can't work with a deadline or are consistently late, that adversely affect your career if it hasn't already. Be honest if you struggle with deadlines and explain that it's something you're improving on daily to ensure you meet your company's timelines.

Talk about your time management system so they know you have something in place to help you meet all deadlines.

Answer Example

"I'm great at meeting deadlines. I have a planner that I live by and as soon as I get a task, I break it down into manageable pieces and tackle them one at a time. I ensure that I always turn in my projects early if not on time."

Entry Level Answer Example

"I'm great with deadlines. I've never turned in a task late at school and with any job I've had so far."

Experienced Answer Example

"I'm great with deadlines. I rarely miss a deadline unless something is given to me at the last minute, and even those I can generally complete on time. I've had two instances when I was waiting for others to provide documentation, which caused a delay, but I always communicate when there's going to be a delay so that everyone knows the situation."

Question 3 of 25

What do you hope to achieve in the accounting clerk role?

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How to Answer

This is an important question that asks if you see yourself growing with the company. They want to know if you'll be looking for advancement or if you're happy to be in the same role year after year. This could be a double-edged sword question as well. If it's a small company, then they may be concerned that if you're too eager, you won't be satisfied without pay raises later on. If you don't seem eager, they may fear you won't help them grow.

Be honest with where you are in your career. If you don't want advancement, let them know so they can place you in the right position.

Answer Example

"I'm hoping to grow into a more managerial position in the future and to help this company grow so that it will need multiple new roles that present growth opportunities not only for me but others as well."

Entry Level Answer Example

"I'm always open to new possibilities and responsibilities, so if the company is growing, I'd like to grow with it."

Experienced Answer Example

"I've been in management and executive roles. Currently, I'm looking for something that I enjoy that's low stress. I'm not driven to grow in a role. As I have the ability to teach and help others grow, I'd rather remain in a lower position and help others thrive and learn."

Question 4 of 25

Give me an example of an accounting goal you set for yourself and achieved.

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How to Answer

This is a variation on the standard question of goal-setting but with an accounting focus. They want to see that you can overcome obstacles and set your goals high. If you think that you haven't set or achieved goals in this area, then look to your education. You set the goal to become educated and take on this career, so you achieved whatever level of education you have.

If you're self-taught, that's also a goal. Discuss a project you took on or how you became interested in the field.

Answer Example

"When I was in college, I worked as a receptionist at a dental clinic four days a week. Their accounting clerk walked out on them in the middle of month end. They asked for help because at the time, I was an economics major and somehow they thought that tied together. I dug in and learned a lot about accounting on the internet. When I got stuck, I went to YouTube and found these walk-through videos that taught me so much. Shortly afterward, I changed my major to accounting because I fell in love with the process."

Entry Level Answer Example

"The biggest accounting goal I set for myself was obtaining my Bachelor's degree in Accounting. I started school with no idea what I wanted to do, but after a lot of research and development, I was able to narrow the field to accounting. I set the goal of achieving my Bachelor's degree early to start my career. I was able to double my class load a couple semesters in a row and graduate a year early."

Experienced Answer Example

"When I started working for a company that was newly public, they had no structure for a lot of their departments. I was tasked with finding a way to help structure the accounting department. I was a business analyst so I did the majority of the grunt work of compiling who did what and documenting everything. My goal was to document in such a way that everyone could understand the details of their job functions through the documentation with no surprises. From my understanding, the company took my documentation and use it as job descriptions when they post for open positions."

Question 5 of 25

Give me an example of a time you handled documentation preparation for an audit. How did you ensure you had everything required?

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How to Answer

Accounting clerks have to wear many hats. Not only do they have to reconcile financial data, but they have to prepare it for the auditors. If you have experience with this, it will be an easy question. Most companies have a system or a list of things required for auditors that clerks have to prepare.

If you don't have experience, then be honest. It will show your integrity and you can use another story that shows that you're highly organized.

Answer Example

"At my previous company, we had an Excel spreadsheet with a master list of what the auditors would ask for and how to review the documents to ensure they were complete. I just followed the list and reviewed what was needed. I found one document that hadn't been properly updated and was able to send it back to the accountant on duty to revise it before handing over the audit package."

Entry Level Answer Example

"I've never had real world experience with this, but I'll say that in school I was part of the student government and had to organize everything as the secretary. I ensured everyone had the documentation they needed and kept track of all budgets and accounts to help the treasurer because they weren't as organized as me."

Experienced Answer Example

"I've had to come up with several systems to ensure documentation quality and completion for a few companies I worked for. The best I found was a shared drive site where auditors input requests for documentation, as they change by year and we'd respond by posting the documentation on a protected site that only allowed access to those posting and the auditors. The data couldn't be shared outside that source due to personal identifiable information. It worked wonders and helped the company stay on top of the audits."

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Author of Accounting Clerk Answers and Questions

Samantha Hamilton

Samantha H. is an Accountant with a technology firm in Austin Texas. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Accounting and over a year of experience in Auditing she is taking on new challenges in the Accounting world with her firm. She has almost three years of experience in recruiting and loves to help people obtain their dream jobs. With a mix of recruiting and accounting knowledge, we hope she can help you land your dream job.

First written on: 06/12/2014
Last modified on: 02/04/2019

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About Accounting Clerk

February 4th, 2019

Bookkeeping is the recording of financial transactions. Transactions include sales, purchases, income, and payments by an individual or organization. Bookkeeping is usually performed by a bookkeeper. Bookkeeping should not be confused with accounting. The accounting process is usually performed by an accountant. The accountant creates reports from the recorded financial transactions recorded by the bookkeeper and files forms with government agencies. There are some common methods of bookkeeping such as the Single-entry bookkeeping system and the Double-entry bookkeeping system. But while these systems may be seen as "real" bookkeeping, any process that involves the recording of financial transactions is a bookkeeping process.

wikipedia.org/wiki/Accounting_clerk