People and finance
An accountant’s first round should show three things: they can run a clean month-end close, they catch errors before anyone else does, and they can explain a number to someone who doesn’t read a balance sheet. All of it can be talked through. None of it needs a calculator.
AI-led follow-ups can ask “and then what?” at each step of a close, which is where real experience shows.
What to screen for
The questions
Ask them in order. Listen for specifics: what happened, what they did, how it ended.
Strong answer
Gives an ordered sequence: cutoffs, accruals and prepayments, reconciliations, trial balance review, variance review, then reporting. Knows who they depend on and where it usually slows down.
Weak answer
Lists tasks in no particular order, or describes only their own small piece.
Strong answer
Investigates anyway: timing items, duplicates, transposed figures and bank fees. Won’t book a balancing entry without knowing what it is.
Weak answer
Writes it off as immaterial without looking.
Strong answer
Names the specific signal, like an expense line far above its usual level, traces it to the cause, and fixes the process so it doesn’t recur.
Weak answer
Can’t name one, or the error was pointed out by someone else.
Strong answer
Gives the answer in one sentence, breaks it into a few drivers in plain words, and separates timing differences from real overspend.
Weak answer
Sends a spreadsheet and talks in debits, credits and accrual reversals.
Strong answer
Looks for goods or services received but not yet invoiced, checks open purchase orders and asks budget holders, and reverses accruals the following month. Treats materiality as a judgment call.
Weak answer
Only accrues when an invoice is already in hand.
Strong answer
Asks the colleague first, checks the support, and raises it with the controller if it isn’t resolved, even if that delays the close.
Weak answer
Lets it through to hit the deadline.
Strong answer
Names real controls like segregation of duties, approval limits or reconciliation review, and explains honestly why one failed in practice.
Weak answer
Speaks in textbook terms with no example from their own work.
Strong answer
Describes the before and after, like replacing a manual matching exercise with a standard report, and how they checked it gave the same results.
Weak answer
Talks about wanting to automate things without having done it.
Before the interview
Quick facts to read alongside the interview. They aren’t scored.
Listen for
Avoid
Use this in LessRounds
Paste the questions into a scripted interview, add the scorecard skills, and share one link. Every accountant candidate gets the same questions, and you get a score for each skill with the quote behind it.
Yes, in a first round. Ask them to talk through a close, a reconciliation that didn’t tie out and an error they caught. The detail in those answers tells you how they work. Save practical tests for later rounds.
A bookkeeper records transactions and keeps the ledgers accurate. An accountant builds on that: closes the books, handles accruals and adjustments, prepares reports and explains the results. See our bookkeeper screening questions for that role.
Start with 10 free interviews a month. No card, no sales call.