Accounting Test for Job Interviews

What the real test usually looks like

Accounting tests for interviews are written by the employer or bought from an assessment publisher, so the length varies. Two public examples show the range:

• Short online screens. TestGorilla lists its Accounting (Intermediate) test at 12 questions in 10 minutes and its Accounts Payable test at 15 questions in 10 minutes. Each candidate gets a set drawn from a larger question bank.
• Longer government exams. New York State's Entry-Level Audit and Account Clerk test has a 4-hour time allowance and three subject areas: operations with letters and numbers, arithmetic computation with a calculator, and arithmetic reasoning. Candidates bring a handheld calculator; the calculator on a cell phone is not allowed.

Whatever the length, most accounting tests for bookkeeper, accounts assistant and junior accountant roles cover the same ground:

• Double entry: debits and credits for purchases, sales, payments and receipts.
• Period-end adjustments: accruals, prepayments, unearned revenue, depreciation and bad debts.
• Reconciliations: bank reconciliations and supplier or customer statements.
• Financial statements: what the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement show, and simple ratios.
• Practical tasks for some roles, such as a spreadsheet exercise, posting a batch of invoices or finding errors in a ledger.

Which rules apply. The principles behind these questions are set out in the IFRS Conceptual Framework and, in the US, the FASB Concepts Statements. Entry-level tests rarely go beyond the basics, which work the same way under both.

What the employer sees. Usually your total score, sometimes broken down by topic, plus your working if the test is on paper or in a spreadsheet.

TestGorilla is a trademark of its owner. Intellect Council is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any of them.

Question types with worked examples

Seven worked examples that go beyond the free sample. Each one shows the method and the trap.

1. Paying a supplier. A business pays a supplier $1,800 it already owes for goods bought last month. Which entry?

Answer: debit accounts payable $1,800, credit cash $1,800. Method: the purchase was recorded last month, so this entry only settles the debt: the liability falls and so does cash. Trap: debiting purchases or inventory again, which records the same goods twice.

2. Unearned revenue. On November 1, a customer pays $3,600 in advance for 12 months of service. At the December 31 year end, how much revenue is earned, and what is left?

Answer: $3,600 / 12 = $300 a month. November and December are earned: $600 of revenue. The other $3,000 is unearned revenue, a liability. Trap: recording the whole $3,600 as revenue because the cash arrived.

3. Bank reconciliation. The bank statement shows $8,450. Deposits in transit are $1,200, and outstanding checks total $950. The cash book shows $8,745, and the bank charged a $45 fee that is not yet in the cash book. Do the two agree?

Answer: adjusted bank balance = $8,450 + $1,200 - $950 = $8,700. Adjusted cash book = $8,745 - $45 = $8,700. They agree. Method: adjust each side only for items the other side already knows about. Trap: subtracting the bank fee from the bank balance, which already includes it.

4. Reducing balance depreciation. Equipment costs $20,000 and is depreciated at 25% a year on the reducing balance. What is the charge in year 2?

Answer: year 1 is 25% of $20,000 = $5,000, leaving $15,000. Year 2 is 25% of $15,000 = $3,750. Trap: taking 25% of the original cost every year, which is the straight-line method.

5. Allowance for doubtful accounts. Receivables are $40,000, and the business keeps an allowance of 5%. The allowance already has a $1,200 credit balance. What is the adjustment?

Answer: the allowance should be 5% of $40,000 = $2,000, so increase it by $800: debit bad debt expense $800, credit allowance $800. Trap: booking the full $2,000 and ignoring the existing balance.

6. Errors a trial balance cannot find. A $500 sale is posted correctly in amount, but to the wrong customer's account. Will the trial balance show it?

Answer: no. Debits still equal credits, so the trial balance balances. This is an error of commission. Errors of omission, reversed entries and errors of principle also leave it in balance. Trap: assuming a balanced trial balance means the books are correct.

7. Current ratio. Current assets are $90,000 and current liabilities are $60,000. A $100,000 bank loan is due in five years. What is the current ratio?

Answer: $90,000 / $60,000 = 1.5. Trap: adding the long-term loan to current liabilities. Only amounts due within a year count. For more on ratios, see our ratio questions guide.

How to prepare

1. Know your pace. On a screen like TestGorilla's Accounting (Intermediate) test, 12 questions in 10 minutes gives you 50 seconds each. Its Accounts Payable test, at 15 questions in 10 minutes, gives 40 seconds. Practice until a standard journal entry takes under 40 seconds.
2. Learn the accounting equation and DEAD CLIC. Debits increase Expenses, Assets and Drawings; Credits increase Liabilities, Income and Capital. Most double entry questions follow from these.
3. Count months on paper. For prepayments, accruals and unearned revenue, write the months out. Off-by-one-month errors are the most common mistake on adjustment questions.
4. Do one full bank reconciliation by hand, with deposits in transit, outstanding checks, bank fees and an error. Then you will recognize every variant.
5. Know the three statements and which items appear on each. Practice saying where a transaction ends up.
6. Use the calculator you will have on the day. A government exam may require a handheld calculator, while online tests may let you use your own. Check the instructions and write each step down.
7. Check whether the role uses US GAAP or IFRS if the job description mentions it. Basic questions work the same way under both.
8. Prepare for a practical task. Many accounting roles also test spreadsheets. Our Excel assessment test covers lookups, SUMIF and PivotTables.

How scoring usually works

Raw score. Most accounting tests count correct answers. Employer-written tests sometimes give marks for working, so a correct method with a small arithmetic slip may still earn credit. Ask whether working counts, and show it if it does.

Compared with whom. Publisher tests may report your result against other candidates or a benchmark for the role. Employer tests are usually compared with the other applicants for the same job. There is rarely a published pass mark, and it changes with the seniority of the role.

Our practice score is the number of our own questions you got right, with a breakdown by topic, such as double entry, adjustments, reconciliations and statements. It shows what to revise. It is not a score from any real test.

What each accounting role usually tests

Accounts payable clerk. Supplier invoices, three-way matching of purchase order, delivery note and invoice, payment runs, supplier statement reconciliations and spotting duplicate invoices.

Accounts receivable or credit controller. Sales invoices, customer receipts, aged debtor reports, allowances for doubtful accounts and credit notes.

Bookkeeper. The full cycle for a small business: daily entries, bank reconciliations, sales tax, payroll journals and month-end adjustments. Expect a practical task.

Junior or staff accountant. Adjustments, accruals and prepayments, fixed asset registers, reconciling balance sheet accounts and preparing simple statements. Some tests add short questions on revenue recognition and leases.

Many finance roles pair the accounting test with a numbers test. If yours does, try our numerical reasoning test as well.

Common mistakes on accounting tests

• Reversing debits and credits under time pressure. Say the rule to yourself before you choose.
• Recording cash, not the event. Revenue is earned when the service is delivered, and expenses belong to the period they were used, whatever the payment date.
• Mixing gross margin and markup. Margin divides profit by sales; markup divides profit by cost. On sales of $80 with a cost of $50, margin is 37.5% and markup is 60%.
• Adjusting the wrong side of a bank reconciliation.
• Treating long-term items as current. Only items due or used within a year are current.
• Rounding too early. Keep full figures until the final answer, then round as the question asks.

A one-week accounting study plan

Day 1. Take the free sample above and list the topics you missed.

Day 2. Double entry: write the entry for 20 everyday transactions, including purchases on credit, payments, receipts and owner drawings.

Day 3. Adjustments: accruals, prepayments, unearned revenue and depreciation with dates. Count every month.

Day 4. One full bank reconciliation, then a supplier statement reconciliation.

Day 5. Statements and ratios: where each item goes, gross margin, current ratio. Then take a full timed mock and review every explanation.

Day 6. Redo the questions that cost you marks without looking at the answers, plus a short Excel task if the role needs it.

Day 7. Light review of your notes. Check your calculator, device and test time.