Accounting Mock Interview

Master 30 Accounting interview questions covering reconciliations, financial reporting, and audit scenarios.

Question 5 of 30

What cost-cutting initiatives have you been part of?

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Bobbi Witt is an HR Manager and Senior Level Finance and Accounting Consultant. Her experience includes 9 years at a Fortune 500 company where she held a wide range of financial and management accountabilities.

"I've never cut costs in a specific accounting role, but during college when I worked as a team leader at the local Starbucks, I was able to cut waste costs by 25% by buying reusable cups for the employees since they were allowed three free drinks a day. By using reusable cups, waste dropped 25% that quarter."

Bobbi Witt

"I've been able to present cost-cutting suggestions many times to my previous employer. The one that I feel had the biggest impact was when I suggested additional warehouse staff. We had three various shifts and still averaged 100 hours of overtime per week. I suggested to my employer that we hire one more warehouse employee for each shift and keep hours to 120 regular vs. 100 hours of overtime pay, which was time and a half. This recommendation saved the company 31,000 per year. They implemented this change across 15 warehouses the following year, amounting to nearly half a million dollars in savings per year."

Bobbi Witt

This is a very straightforward answer that can be successfully answered by anyone who has had any job in any field. Draw on personal experience of cutting costs whether it was at the fast food place where you worked during high school or cutting costs in your own budget to ensure timely bill payments.

If you have accounting experience with cutting costs, this is the perfect place to demonstrate that knowledge.

Bobbi Witt

"When I worked as a Business Analyst for my last company, we were outsourcing auditing expertise to a company that was constantly trying to find ways for us to spend more money. When I realized we were spending a million dollars a year on a team that did minimal work apart from running a few queries and providing advice, I started educating myself on query management. I quickly proved to my manager through parallel testing that I could do the work and we could eliminate that expense for the company. We saved the company one million dollars a year by handling control and queries in house."

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During my time at a renewable energy firm, monitoring cash levels was always an issue and we had to do more with less. Every week, I produced a cash forecast and this cash forecast was used to identify the priority payments made those weeks.
From time to time, we would find something that we were paying for that was not providing any real added value and we would eliminate those costs. Some of which included storage, software costs, over-provisioning for office supplies, and even employees whose tasks or roles could be reassigned to address critical business needs.
I must say the most difficult part of that role was having to lay people off.

Chad's Feedback

Laying off staff is never easy, but is an unfortunate reality when a company is reducing costs and identifies roles that can be eliminated. Your example relates directly to the question, and the interviewer will be assured of your experience in this area.

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30Accounting Interview Questions & Answers

1.What is your knowledge and experience using QuickBooks?

2.Give me examples of the accounting reports you've prepared.

3.Give me an example of how SOX compliance has affected your career.

4.Tell me about a time you updated or revised an Accounting process.

5.What cost-cutting initiatives have you been part of?

Accounting Mock Interview

What cost-cutting initiatives have you been part of?

30Accounting Interview Questions & Answers

1.What is your knowledge and experience using QuickBooks?

2.Give me examples of the accounting reports you've prepared.

3.Give me an example of how SOX compliance has affected your career.

4.Tell me about a time you updated or revised an Accounting process.

5.What cost-cutting initiatives have you been part of?

6.How do you stay updated on all the accounting rules and techniques?

7.Give me an example of a challenging tax situation that you have encountered.

8.Give an example of when internal controls needed to be changed or updated and how you handled the change.

9.Discuss your experience in the financial analysis of your previous company's projects.

10.Tell me about the financial forecasting you've been responsible for.

11.Give an example of a time when you caught an invoice error before it was paid out.

12.What courses were your favorite in college while preparing to be an accountant?

13.Give me an example of how your strengths help you in Accounting.

14.Do you plan on attaining your CPA?

15.Give me an example of why you chose this career field.

16.Give me an example of your least favorite Accounting task.

17.A start up company needs help understanding GAAP. How would you explain why GAAP is important?

18.What financial planning have you handled in the past?

19.In what instance would you use LIFO compared to FIFO?

20.When looking at the COGS on the P&L statement, what are some examples of variable costs?

21.Give an example of something you'd put on a sub-ledger that wouldn't be included on the General Ledger.

22.How do you calculate DSO (Days Outstanding)?

23.What responsibilities do you have during month-end?

24.Give an example of an exciting project you worked on in Accounting.

25.What ERP systems and accounting softwares have you used?

26.Give an example of when you have seen or corrected the Trail Balance from being out of balance?

27.Describe to me a time when you faced an ethical dilemma regarding your work.

28.Describe a time when you had to use numerical data or a graph to convince a manager.

29.Describe one of the biggest mistake you've made on the job.

30.How do you ensure accuracy when you prepare monthly journal entries, record transactions, etc.?