Accountant interviews for freshers test whether you can explain the basics in your own words, such as the accounting equation, debit and credit rules, capital and revenue items, and the adjustments that turn a trial balance into final accounts. Expect a few entries to work out on paper, a small Excel task, and questions about your projects, internship and group work. This page is written for final-year commerce and accounting students, new graduates and anyone finishing an internship or training period who is facing a first accounting interview. Each question shows what the interviewer is checking, the shape of a good answer and a sample you can say out loud. Work the numbers yourself and swap in your own stories.
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Pick one subject: name it and say what made it click for you.
Use it: a project, internship task, family business or club where you applied it.
Link to the job: why that makes you want this role.
“The subject I enjoyed most was financial accounting, especially preparing final accounts from a trial balance with adjustments. I liked that every number had to land somewhere and the balance sheet only agreed if I'd understood each step. Outside exams, I kept the books for our college fest committee in a simple spreadsheet. I recorded every sponsor payment and every bill, matched them to receipts, and gave the committee a short statement at the end showing income, spending and what was left. That's when I saw how much people rely on the numbers being right. It's also why I'm applying for a general accounting role rather than something far from the books. I want to get the basics very solid in real work first.”
Naming a subject but having nothing to say about using it, or picking one that has nothing to do with the role.
Equation: assets equal liabilities plus owner's equity.
Capital in: cash goes up, capital goes up by the same amount.
Credit purchase: equipment goes up, a liability to the supplier goes up.
“The accounting equation says assets equal liabilities plus owner's equity. Everything the business owns was paid for either by outsiders or by the owner. Say the owner puts in 100,000 in cash. Cash, an asset, goes up by 100,000, and capital, which is equity, goes up by 100,000, so both sides still match. Then the business buys equipment worth 20,000 on credit. Equipment goes up by 20,000 on the asset side, and trade payables, a liability, go up by 20,000. Assets are now 120,000, and liabilities plus equity are 20,000 plus 100,000, which is also 120,000. Every transaction moves at least two things, and that's exactly why double entry works. If the equation ever stops balancing, I know an entry has one side missing.”
Writing the equation wrongly, or showing a transaction that changes only one side.
Debit side: assets, expenses and drawings increase with a debit.
Credit side: liabilities, capital and income increase with a credit.
Examples: one clear example for each type.
“Assets, expenses and drawings increase with a debit. Liabilities, capital and income increase with a credit. The opposite entry reduces each one. So if the business buys a laptop for cash, I debit office equipment because an asset went up, and I credit cash because another asset went down. Paying rent is a debit to rent expense. When the business takes a bank loan, the loan account is credited because a liability increased. Sales are credited because income increased. And when the owner invests money, capital is credited. The way I remember it is that assets sit on the left of the accounting equation, and expenses and drawings reduce the owner's equity, so all three grow with a debit. Liabilities and capital sit on the right, and income adds to equity, so they grow with a credit. Some people learned it through the golden rules for personal, real and nominal accounts, and those give the same answers.”
Saying debit always means money coming in, or mixing up which side increases a liability.
| Capital | benefit lasts beyond this year, recorded as an asset and depreciated. |
|---|---|
| Revenue | used up in the running of this period, charged as an expense now. |
The test: does it keep the asset working, or improve it or extend its life?
“Capital expenditure gives a benefit for more than one accounting period, like buying a machine or improving one. It goes on the balance sheet as an asset and is depreciated over its useful life. Revenue expenditure is the cost of running the business day to day, like wages, rent or routine repairs, and it goes straight to the profit and loss account as an expense. So a normal repair that just keeps the machine working as before is revenue expenditure. Replacing the engine is different if it extends the machine's life or makes it more productive. Then I'd treat it as capital and add it to the asset's cost. The reason it matters is that putting a capital item through expenses understates profit and assets this year, and doing the opposite overstates them.”
Classifying by the size of the amount only, or saying every repair is capital.
Order: no revenue yet, nothing has been delivered.
Delivery: revenue when the goods or service pass to the customer.
Payment: cash timing doesn't decide it, it only settles the receivable.
“Under the accrual basis, the business records revenue when it has delivered what it promised, when control of the goods or the service passes to the customer. So an order coming in isn't a sale yet, because nothing has been delivered. When the goods are delivered, I record revenue and a receivable, even if the customer pays next month. When they pay, I just debit bank and credit the receivable. If they pay before delivery, it's a liability until we deliver. Delivery terms matter too: if the customer takes over the goods at our warehouse, the sale happens there, but if we're responsible until they arrive, it happens on arrival. Getting this right at month-end matters, because shipping goods on the last day and recording sales early is a common way profit gets overstated.”
Saying a sale is recorded when the order is received, or only when the cash arrives in an accrual business.
Cash drawings: debit drawings, credit cash.
Goods taken: debit drawings, credit purchases, at cost.
Where it ends up: drawings reduce capital, not profit.
“When the owner takes cash for personal use, I debit the drawings account and credit cash. It isn't an expense, because it wasn't spent to earn income, so it never goes through the profit and loss account. At year-end the drawings balance is taken off the owner's capital. For stock taken home, I debit drawings and credit purchases, and I use the cost price, not the selling price, because the business never made a sale. Crediting purchases stops those goods being counted in the cost of goods sold. If the business is registered for an indirect tax, the rules where it operates may also require an adjustment for tax on the goods taken, so I'd check that too.”
Debiting an expense account for drawings, or valuing goods taken at selling price.
| Trade discount | off the list price for buying in bulk or for the trade, not recorded separately. |
|---|---|
| Cash discount | for paying early, recorded when the customer pays. |
Worked example: invoice at net price, then the early payment entry.
“A trade discount is a reduction off the list price, usually for buying in bulk or for being in the trade. It's never recorded as a separate entry. The invoice is simply raised at the reduced price. So if the list price is 10,000 and the trade discount is 1,000, I debit the customer and credit sales with 9,000. A cash discount is offered to get paid early. If the customer then pays early and takes a discount of 180, I debit bank with 8,820, debit discount allowed with 180, and credit the customer with 9,000 to clear the account. Traditionally discount allowed is an expense for the seller and discount received is income for the buyer. Some newer standards treat an expected early-payment discount as a reduction of revenue instead, so I'd follow the policy the business uses.”
Recording a trade discount as an expense, or crediting the customer only with the cash received and leaving a balance.
Remove the goods: credit purchases or stock at cost.
Claim: debit a receivable from the insurer for the amount accepted.
Balance: the unrecovered part is a loss in profit and loss.
“First I take the goods out of the books at cost. I debit a loss by fire account and credit purchases with 20,000, so those goods aren't counted as available for sale. Then, since the insurer has accepted 15,000, I debit an insurance claim receivable and credit loss by fire with 15,000. That leaves 5,000 in the loss by fire account, which is the real loss, and it goes to the profit and loss account as an expense. When the insurer pays, I debit bank and credit the insurance claim account. As a single combined entry it's insurance claim 15,000 and loss by fire 5,000 debited, and purchases 20,000 credited. Some businesses credit a stock account instead of purchases, depending on how they keep inventory, so I'd follow their system.”
Writing off the full 20,000 as a loss and ignoring the claim, or valuing the lost goods at selling price.
March: debit bank, credit income received in advance, a liability.
April: debit the liability, credit revenue as the service is delivered.
Why: revenue follows the work done, not the cash.
“In March I debit bank because the cash has come in, but I credit a liability called income received in advance, or unearned revenue, because the business still owes the customer the service. Nothing goes to revenue yet. In April, when we deliver the service, I debit the liability to clear it and credit revenue, so the income is recorded in the month it was actually earned. If the service is spread over several months, I'd release a part of it each month in line with the work done. The balance sheet at the end of March shows the liability, and if we never delivered, that's the amount we might have to refund. Recording it as March income would overstate March profit and leave April looking worse than it was.”
Crediting revenue in March because the cash arrived.
Formula: cost minus residual value, divided by useful life.
Answer: 45,000 over five years is 9,000 a year.
Entry: debit depreciation expense, credit accumulated depreciation.
“Straight-line depreciation is cost minus residual value, divided by useful life. So that's 50,000 minus 5,000, which is 45,000, divided by five years, giving 9,000 a year. The entry each year is debit depreciation expense 9,000 and credit accumulated depreciation 9,000. The expense goes to the profit and loss account, and on the balance sheet the machine is shown at cost less accumulated depreciation, so after the first year its carrying amount is 41,000, and after five years it's down to the 5,000 residual value. If the machine was bought partway through the year and the policy is to charge by months, I'd only charge the part of the year it was in use, so for six months that's 4,500.”
Forgetting to deduct the residual value, or crediting cash as if depreciation were a payment.
Write-off: a specific debt you know won't be paid is removed.
Allowance: an estimate of debts that may not be paid, kept as a separate balance.
Presentation: receivables shown net of the allowance.
“A bad debt write-off is for a specific customer I know won't pay, say because they've closed down. I debit bad debts expense and credit that customer's account, so the balance disappears. An allowance for doubtful debts is different. It's an estimate of how much of the remaining receivables probably won't be collected, based on how old the debts are or past experience. I debit bad debts or impairment expense and credit the allowance account. The customers' balances stay as they are, because we're still chasing them, but on the balance sheet receivables are shown minus the allowance. Each year I adjust the allowance up or down, and only the change goes through profit and loss. If a debt I wrote off is later paid, I record the cash and show it as bad debts recovered.”
Crediting the customer accounts for an estimated allowance, or charging the whole allowance again every year instead of the change.
Profit and loss: performance over a period.
Balance sheet: what the business owns and owes at one date.
Cash flow: where cash came from and went.
Links: profit into retained earnings, closing cash matches the balance sheet.
“The profit and loss account, or income statement, shows how the business performed over a period: income minus expenses gives profit. The balance sheet is a snapshot at one date of what the business owns, what it owes and the owners' equity. The cash flow statement explains how cash moved during the period, split into operating, investing and financing activities. They link together. The profit for the year is added to retained earnings, or the owner's capital, on the balance sheet. The closing cash on the cash flow statement has to match the cash figure on the balance sheet. And the cash flow statement often starts from profit and adjusts for items that aren't cash, like depreciation, and for changes in receivables, payables and stock. That's why a business can show a profit and still be short of cash.”
Saying profit and cash are the same thing, or being unable to name any link between the statements.
Current: expected to turn into cash or be settled within a year or one operating cycle.
Non-current: held or owed for longer.
Working capital: current assets minus current liabilities.
“An asset is current if it's expected to be turned into cash, sold or used up within twelve months or one normal operating cycle, like stock, trade receivables and cash. A liability is current if it has to be paid within that time, like trade payables or a short-term loan. Everything else is non-current: buildings and machines on the asset side, and long-term loans on the liability side. One point people miss is that the part of a long-term loan due in the next twelve months is shown as current. Working capital is current assets minus current liabilities. It tells you whether the business can pay its short-term bills from its short-term resources. If it's negative, the business might struggle to pay suppliers on time, although some businesses that collect cash quickly run like that safely.”
Classifying by what the item is called rather than when it will be settled or used.
Given outside: it has two effects, trading account credit side and balance sheet as a current asset.
Given inside: purchases are already adjusted, so it goes only to the balance sheet.
Why: every adjustment outside the trial balance needs both sides.
“If closing stock is given as an adjustment below the trial balance, it hasn't been recorded yet, so it needs both sides of an entry. I debit closing stock and credit the trading account. That means it's shown on the credit side of the trading account, which reduces cost of goods sold, and it's shown on the balance sheet as a current asset. If closing stock already appears inside the trial balance, it usually means purchases have already been adjusted for it, so the adjusted purchases figure already reflects goods sold. In that case I only show it on the balance sheet, because putting it in the trading account again would count it twice. The same idea applies to every adjustment: if it's outside the trial balance, I make sure it lands in two places.”
Showing closing stock in only one place when it's given outside the trial balance, or in both places when it's already inside.
Gross margin: gross profit divided by sales.
Worked answer: 60,000 over 200,000, which is 30 in every 100 of sales.
Current ratio: current assets divided by current liabilities, a short-term liquidity check.
“Gross profit is sales minus cost of sales, so 200,000 minus 140,000 is 60,000. The gross profit margin is gross profit divided by sales, so 60,000 over 200,000, which is 0.3, or 30 out of every 100 of sales. It tells me how much is left from each sale to pay overheads and make a profit. The current ratio is current assets divided by current liabilities. If current assets are 80,000 and current liabilities are 40,000, the ratio is 2 to 1, which means there are two units of short-term assets for every unit owed in the short term. Very low can mean trouble paying bills. Very high isn't always good either, because it can mean too much cash sitting idle or too much stock. I'd always compare a ratio with last year or with similar businesses.”
Dividing gross profit by cost of sales and calling it margin, or saying a higher current ratio is always better.
What: a temporary account for a difference or an item you can't yet classify.
When: a trial balance that won't agree, or a receipt with no clear owner.
Clearing: correct each error through it until the balance is nil.
“A suspense account is a temporary account. I'd use it in two situations. The first is when the trial balance doesn't agree and I need to prepare draft accounts while I look for the error: I put the difference into suspense so the trial balance balances for now. The second is when money comes into the bank and I don't know yet which customer or income it belongs to. As I find each error, I pass a correcting entry with suspense on one side, and the balance should come down to nil. It should be cleared as soon as possible and certainly before final accounts are signed off. A suspense balance sitting there month after month is a warning sign, because it can hide a real error or even a fraud.”
Treating the suspense account as a permanent place to park differences.
Type: an error of principle, so the trial balance still agrees.
Effect: purchases and cost of goods sold too high, profit too low, fixed assets too low.
Fix: debit furniture, credit purchases, then charge depreciation if due.
“That's an error of principle, because a capital item was treated as a revenue item. The debit went to the right side but the wrong kind of account, so the trial balance still agrees and the error won't show up by itself. The effect is that purchases, and so cost of goods sold, are 15,000 too high. Gross profit and net profit are 15,000 too low, and on the balance sheet furniture is 15,000 too low. To correct it I debit furniture and credit purchases with 15,000. Then I'd check whether depreciation should be charged on the furniture for the period, because it was never included in the asset register. If that year's accounts were already closed, a material error is usually corrected against the opening balances rather than this year's profit, so I'd check with my senior how the business handles past-period errors.”
Saying the trial balance won't agree, or fixing the purchases account without adding the asset back.
Float: a fixed amount is kept as petty cash.
Vouchers: every payment has a signed voucher and a receipt.
Top-up: reimburse exactly what was spent, so the float is restored.
“In an imprest system, petty cash starts with a fixed float, say 5,000. Every time someone takes cash for a small expense like courier charges or tea supplies, they fill in a voucher with the amount, the reason and a signature, and attach the receipt. At any moment, cash in the box plus the vouchers should add up to 5,000. At the end of the week, I total the vouchers by type of expense. If they come to 3,200, I record each expense as a debit and credit petty cash, then draw 3,200 from the bank to bring the float back to 5,000, debiting petty cash and crediting bank. The nice thing about it is that any shortage shows up straight away when the cash and vouchers don't add up.”
Topping up a round amount instead of what was spent, or accepting payments without vouchers.
Stop: don't enter it yet.
Check: compare dates, items and the original entry, and ask if it's a reminder copy.
Act: set it aside or confirm with the supplier, and tell your senior.
“I wouldn't enter it. First I'd pull up the entry from last week and compare the two properly: supplier, invoice number, date, amount and the items on it. If everything matches, it's almost certainly a copy, maybe a reminder, or the same bill sent by post and by email. I'd mark it as a duplicate and keep it with the original rather than throw it away. If something is different, like the date or the items, it might be a genuine second bill that happens to reuse a number, so I'd contact the supplier to confirm before entering anything. Either way I'd tell my senior, because if it had gone through it could have been paid twice, and it's worth checking whether the system warns on duplicate invoice numbers.”
Entering it anyway because the supplier sent it, or deleting it without checking or telling anyone.
Totals: SUMIFS against a list of customers, or a pivot table.
Age: today's date minus the invoice date gives days outstanding.
Flag: an IF formula or a filter to pick out the old ones.
“First I'd make sure the data is clean: dates are real dates, amounts are numbers, and customer names are spelled the same way. For the totals, a pivot table is the quickest: customers in rows and the sum of amounts in values. If I want a formula, I'd copy the unique customer names into a column and use SUMIFS to add up the amounts for each one. For the age, I'd add a column that subtracts the invoice date from TODAY, which gives days outstanding. Then an IF formula labels anything over thirty days, and I can filter or sort on that label. If the business uses due dates, I'd age from the due date instead. At the end I'd check that the pivot total matches the total of the whole list.”
=SUMIFS(D:D, B:B, G2)
=TODAY()-C2
=IF(TODAY()-C2>30, "Over 30", "Current")Saying you'd add them up by hand with a calculator, or never checking the totals agree.
Automatic: double entry, ledger updates, customer account and reports.
Still yours: the right customer, account, tax code, date and amount.
Check: review reports, because a wrong input gives a neat but wrong result.
“When I save a sales invoice in accounting software, it makes the double entry for me. It debits the customer's account, credits sales, and credits the tax account if the sale carries tax. It updates the ledger, the customer's balance and reports like the aged receivables list and the profit and loss, all at once. By hand I'd write the journal, post it to each ledger and total them myself. What still depends on me is choosing the right customer, the right sales account and tax code, the correct date so it lands in the right period, and the right amount. The software can't tell that I picked the wrong customer. So I'd still review reports like the trial balance and the customer statements, because a wrong input produces a tidy report that's still wrong.”
Saying the software makes mistakes impossible, or not knowing what entry it creates.
Task: what it was and how many items.
Method: how you organised and checked the work.
Result: what you caught or delivered, and what you learned.
“During my internship at a small accounting practice, I was asked to enter about three hundred purchase bills for a client for one quarter. The bills were a mix of paper copies and email attachments, so first I sorted them by month and numbered them, so I could tell if any went missing. I entered them in batches of about fifty, and after each batch I totalled the bills with a calculator and compared that with the total the software showed for the batch. That caught two typing errors where I'd swapped digits. I also found one bill dated in the next quarter, so I kept it aside for that period and told my supervisor instead of entering it with the rest. My supervisor started using the batch-total idea with the next intern too.”
Saying you never make mistakes, or describing no method beyond being careful.
Situation: the assignment and what was going wrong.
Action: how you raised it and reorganised the work.
Result: what was submitted and what you'd repeat.
“In my final year, four of us had to analyse a listed company's annual report and present its ratios and cash flow. With a week to go, one teammate hadn't started his part, the cash flow analysis. Instead of just doing it myself, I called a short meeting and we listed what was left, with a name and a date against each piece. He admitted he wasn't confident with cash flow statements, so I sat with him for an hour and walked him through the indirect method using our company's figures. He then did the analysis himself, and I checked it. We submitted on time and got one of the better marks in the class. What I took away is that people often go quiet when they're stuck, not when they're lazy, so it's worth asking early.”
Blaming teammates the whole way through, or quietly doing everyone's work and resenting it.
Try first: read the supporting documents and think it through.
Ask well: a short, specific question with what you think it's for.
Learn: note the answer so you don't ask twice.
“I'd post the entries I understand and check the supporting papers for the one I don't. Often the invoice or the email behind it explains it. If I still couldn't see the reason, I wouldn't post it blindly, because I'm responsible for what I enter. I'd go to the senior with a specific question, something like: I think this entry is reversing last month's accrual, is that right, or is it something else? That shows I've tried, and it's quick for them to answer. Then I'd post it and write a short note in my own file about that type of entry, so the next month I can do it without asking. In a new job I'd rather ask one sharp question than post something wrong that someone has to unpick at month-end.”
Posting it anyway without understanding, or saying you'd never ask because it looks weak.
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