Accounting & Audit interviews. 32 titles, each with its own model.
Each page shows the competency model, the questions that test it, what changes with seniority, and where candidates lose the interview.
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Every Accounting & Audit title
32 titlesWhat the report looks like for Accounting & Audit
- The situation in one sentence: where, what was short, and by how much.
- The decision that was yours rather than the team’s, and what you chose not to do.
- One number or one consequence that shows it worked.
Every competency is scored out of five with a line you actually said as evidence, and the weakest answers are rewritten as structure and specifics, never a script.
What Accounting & Audit interviewers keep scoring
Month-end close & reconciliations
Runs an accurate, timely close: reconciles bank, debtors, creditors and intercompany accounts, posts accruals and prepayments, and resolves reconciling items with evidence.
Transaction processing & accuracy
Captures supplier invoices, customer invoices, cashbook and journals correctly the first time: matching to POs and GRNs, coding to the right GL account and cost centre, and checking their own work.
Payroll & statutory submissions
Runs payroll or statutory filings correctly and on time: PAYE, UIF, SDL, VAT returns and EMP201/EMP501 reconciliations, with supporting schedules that reconcile to the ledger.
Debtors, creditors & cash management
Manages the receivables and payables cycle: ageing reviews, collections follow-up, supplier statement reconciliations, payment runs and cash-flow visibility for the business.
Controls, ethics & integrity
Applies segregation of duties and approval controls, raises irregularities, refuses to post entries without support, and handles pressure from managers to 'make the numbers work'.
Accounting systems & management reports
Uses accounting software and Excel effectively: sets up and maintains the chart of accounts, extracts and reconciles data, and produces management accounts and variance commentary managers can act on.
Deadline pressure & workload prioritisation
Delivers under fixed statutory and close deadlines: plans the month, sequences dependencies, flags slippage early and copes with peak periods such as year-end and audit.
Risk assessment & audit planning
Identifies where material misstatement or control failure is likely, sets materiality, and designs procedures proportionate to the risk rather than following a standard programme blindly.
Evidence gathering & testing
Executes tests of controls and substantive procedures properly: sampling, tracing to source, analytical review, and judging whether the evidence obtained is sufficient and appropriate.
Professional scepticism & independence
Questions management explanations, corroborates rather than accepts, recognises threats to independence and holds the line when a client or partner pushes to sign off.
Findings, documentation & reporting
Writes working papers a reviewer can follow without asking, and drafts findings, management letter points and internal audit reports that state condition, cause, effect and a workable recommendation.
Client & auditee relationship management
Gets what the audit needs from busy client or auditee staff without damaging the relationship: sets expectations, chases information tactfully, handles pushback and keeps the audit moving.