Have you ever had to explain complex accounting concepts to non-finance leaders? How did you go about that task?

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This is a question to gain insight into your communication skills. Finance Managers and other financial leaders will often need to present to other leaders and colleagues who may not have strong financial backgrounds. Give a specific example of a time when you were able to communicate with other non-finance functions..

"When I was Finance Manager at ABC Retailers, we noticed that bad debt expense was higher than normal. After analyzing the situation, we determined that our sales teams would need to change their product selection in order to return bad debt expense to an acceptable level. In order to do this effectively, I first needed to explain what we were seeing on the financial reporting side and the impact to the financial statements. I created a deck that laid out some concepts like accrual accounting and the components of how bad debt expense was measured. These were concepts I knew the audience would not be familiar with. Then I also gave examples of what steps could be taken from the sales side and the impact it would have financially. This process helped the sales team understand the importance of getting bad debt under control."

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How to Answer: Have you ever had to explain complex accounting concepts to non-finance leaders? How did you go about that task?

Advice and answer examples written specifically for a Finance Manager job interview.

1. Have you ever had to explain complex accounting concepts to non-finance leaders? How did you go about that task?

How to Answer

This is a question to gain insight into your communication skills. Finance Managers and other financial leaders will often need to present to other leaders and colleagues who may not have strong financial backgrounds. Give a specific example of a time when you were able to communicate with other non-finance functions..

Answer Example

"When I was Finance Manager at ABC Retailers, we noticed that bad debt expense was higher than normal. After analyzing the situation, we determined that our sales teams would need to change their product selection in order to return bad debt expense to an acceptable level. In order to do this effectively, I first needed to explain what we were seeing on the financial reporting side and the impact to the financial statements. I created a deck that laid out some concepts like accrual accounting and the components of how bad debt expense was measured. These were concepts I knew the audience would not be familiar with. Then I also gave examples of what steps could be taken from the sales side and the impact it would have financially. This process helped the sales team understand the importance of getting bad debt under control."

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