1. Explain me are you efficient with your time?
Yes I am efficient. I have done an addon course while I was studying the college apart from the college hours. I have the experience of managing the time both officially and personally.
I would narrate one of the happenings in my past job! At the time of joining the team had backlog due to technical issue in SAP work environment. While it took a long time to stabilize the volumes I contributed my team what all I can be capable off. It helped me a lot to learn through the process at the time of training.
3. Explain me do you work well under pressure?
I see pressure in a different view. Pressure is something which cracks you and helps you to identify yourself. Pressure should be seen as a challenges faced and the challenges faced will assist you the next time. I think its always better to Face everything and rise instead of forgetting everything and run.
4. Tell me a time when you helped reduce costs?
I researched for another suppliers from different country who could sell us raw materials less that we bought.
5. Please explain what experience do you have working in a computerized environment?
Describe tasks done with applications like Microsoft Office, as well as services like client support and representation through the internet, online research and communication with colleagues, development and documentation of accounting and record-keeping systems, etc.
6. Explain nominal account with examples?
Nominal Account is an account of incomes or expenses.
☛ Types of Nominal account
☛ Salary Account,
☛ Commission Paid/Received Account,
☛ Telephone Expenses Account,
☛ Wages Account,
☛ Printing & Stationery Account,
☛ Interest Paid/Received Account.
7. Tell me what is bank reconciliation statement? What are the steps to prepare it?
Bank reconciliation statement is a statement prepared at periodical intervals, with a view to indicated the items which cause disagreement between the balances as per the bank columns of the cash book and the bank pass book on any given date.
Follow the below steps to prepare a bank reconciliation statement
Take the balance either as per cash book or as per pass book as a starting point.
☛ Compare the items appearing in the bank column of the cash book with the item appearing in the bank pass book.
☛ Tick off the items in the pass book with the entries in the cash book. A list of unticked items either in cash book or pass book will be found.
☛ Add or deduct items from the balance which has been taken as a starting point.
☛ The resultant figure will be the balance as shown by the pass book or vice versa.
8. Explain me what is the difference between Cash discount and Trade discount?
☛ Cash discount is an allowance made by retailers to the customers for prompt payment. On the other hand, trade discount is an allowance made by the wholesaler dealer to retailers off the catalogue or invoice price. This allowance is made between purchasers and sellers engaged in the same class of trade.
☛ Cash discount is always allowed or received when payment is made. Trade discount enables the retailers to sell the products to customers at catalogue or price list issued by the wholesaler.
☛ Cash discount is an allowance in addition to the trade discount made by the seller to the buyer.
☛ Cash discount is recorded in account books while trade discount is not shown separately.
☛ The main purpose of allowing trade discount is to enable the retailers to sell the goods at list price while the purpose of providing cash discount is prompt payment by the debtor to the creditor.
9. Tell me what is convention of materiality?
This convention proposes that while accounting for the various transactions, only those transactions will be considered which have material impact on profitability or financial status of the organization and other insignificant transactions will be ignore. In keeping with the principle of materiality, unimportant items are either let out or merged with other items. Sometimes, such items are shown as footnotes or in parentheses according to their relative importance.
10. Explain the errors which affect Trial Balance and errors which do not affect Trial Balance?
Errors which affect the agreement of trial balance:
☛ Wrong totaling of subsidiary books.
☛ Posting on the wrong side of an account
☛ Omission of posting an amount in the ledger
☛ Posting of wrong amount
☛ Error in balancing
Errors which do not affect the agreement of trial balance:
☛ Error of Principle
☛ Errors of Omission
☛ Errors of Commission
☛ Recording of wrong amount in the books of prime entry or subsidiary books.
☛ Compensating Errors.
11. What is trial Balance. What are the main characteristics and uses of a trial balance?
Trial balance is a list of all balances standing on the ledger accounts of a firm at any given time.
Following are the main characteristics of a trial balance.
☛ It is a statement prepared in a tabular form.
☛ It has two columns: one for debit balances and another for credit balances.
☛ Closing balances as shown by ledger accounts are shown in the statement.
☛ It is not an account but only a statement of balances.
☛ It is prepared on the basis of balanced accounts.
☛ It is a method of verifying the arithmetical accuracy of entries made in the ledger.
☛ It helps in preparation of Trading account, Profit & Loss account and Balance Sheet at the end of the period which exhibit the financial position of the firm.
12. Tell me what items are included in Profit and Loss account?
☛ Salaries
☛ Rent
☛ Rates and Taxes
☛ Interest
☛ Commission
☛ Trade Expenses
☛ Printing and Stationery
☛ Advertisement
☛ Carriage out, freight out, carriage out
☛ Repairs
☛ Travelling expenses
☛ Samples
☛ Depreciation
☛ Apprentice premium
☛ Life insurance premium
☛ Insurance premium
☛ Income tax
☛ Interest on capital and drawings
☛ Loss or gain on asset sold
☛ Discount received and allowed
☛ Trade discount
13. Tell me what are the accounting concepts?
Accounting concepts are the basic assumptions on which the process of accounting is based.
☛ Following are the accounting concepts
☛ Business Entity Concept
☛ Dual Aspect Concept
☛ Going Concern Concept
☛ Accounting Period Concept
☛ Cost Concept
☛ Money Measurement Concept
☛ Matching Concept
In your answer show how you are able to develop specific objectives and plan and prioritize systematically to accomplish these objectives within set time frames. This includes scheduling, identifying and allocating resources and the use of appropriate organizational tools.
Sometimes I worked all days and all nights, if it wasn´t very necessary, sometimes at the weekend too.
16. Please explain why are you the best candidate for us?
I think I am the best candidate as I have alot of experience in the accounting field, I am a fast learner as well so you wont have any trouble wasting time, its my dream title and I am studying towards it, I will do my very best not to disappoint you, and I will always strive to do and be the best, I feel that its important to love your job.
17. Tell me how have you monitored the regulations that affect your accounting position?
I personally think that regulation should be mandatory because everyone should get as much as he/ she deserves. The regulation helps to maintain a honest policy in and around. Being up to date helps us to maintain the same rapo.
18. Explain me how you reacted when someone elses errors were impacting negatively on your job?
It happens when you work as a team. I consider that if you can have their positive impacts towards you as a team you should take the negative ones and make them do the next time right. My idea was not to lose emotional balance which may hurt them.
You can tell about your experience in analyzing current and future business operations, costs, trends, and revenues. You may speak about giving advice in these and other areas, such as budget forecasts, and developing solutions to financial problems in general.
In your answer discuss how you have set up effective procedures for information collection and review. Describe how you monitor projects and check the progress of delegated tasks.
You can describe anything that has to do with client service or cooperation at work: team projects, team problem solving, client representation and support, auditing services, etc.
22. Explain what is the difference between mercantile system and cash system of accounting?
In mercantile system, expenses are considered as expenses during the period to which they pertain. Similarly, incomes are considered to be incomes during the period to which they pertain. This system of accounting is considered to be more ideal. On the hand, in cash system, expenses are considered to be expenses only when they are paid for and the incomes are considered to be income when they are actually received. This system of accounting is mainly used by the organizations established not for earning the profits.
In your answer discuss how you are able to determine an appropriate and effective course of action based on factual information, accurate assessment of organizational resources and consideration of the alternatives. Describe how you communicate your decision to others.
24. Explain what are the common errors in accounting? What steps will you follow to locate errors?
Following are the common errors in accounting:
☛ Errors of Omission
☛ Errors of Commission
☛ Errors of Principle
☛ Compensating Error
To locate the errors in the trial balance follow the below steps:
☛ Check the total of all the subsidiary books, cash book and trial balance.
☛ Ensure that all the opening balances have been correctly brought forward in the current year's books of account.
☛ Ensure that all the ledger accounts have been properly balanced and the balances of all the ledger accounts have been reflected in the Trial Balance.
☛ The difference in trial balance should be halved to locate such errors.
☛ If the difference in the trial balance is divisible by 9 without any reminder, it may indicate the transposition or transplacement of the amounts.
☛ The trial balance of the current year can be compared with the trial balance of the previous year to locate certain highlighting error.
☛ Closing Stock
☛ Depreciation
☛ Outstanding Expenses
☛ Prepaid Expenses
☛ Accrued Income
☛ Income received in advance
☛ Bad Debits
☛ Provision for Doubtful Debts
☛ Provision for Discount on Debtors
☛ Interest on Capital
☛ Drawings
☛ Deferred Revenue Expenditure Written off
☛ Abnormal Loss due to fire etc.
☛ Goods distributed as free samples
☛ Goods sent on approval basis
☛ Commission payable to the manager