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Many small business owners find themselves in the predicament of having hired a bookkeeper who turned out to be a less-than-perfect match for the business.

In order to facilitate hiring the “best fit”, it is best to organize the interviews so they are spaced out, allowing the employer to spend time with each applicant and get to know him better.  Find out about his past experiences, technical knowledge, and expertise with your accounting software.

The following general questions should be asked.

“Tell me about yourself.”

This is an opener that gets information from them that you might not be able to get any other way.  Sometimes they talk about bad work experiences and their personal life.

“Why did you apply for this bookkeeping position?”

You want to make sure they are not interested in this position because they are unemployed and are using this until they find another position.  Also, you want to see if they are a match for your company.  Also, make sure they are honest and check their work after you hire them.  One company had two partners and hired a bookkeeper.  She would purchase items from Walmart and other vendors for her personal needs and charge it to the company account.  No one checked these purchases until 2 years later when the partners could not determine where the money went.

Why did you choose this career?

You want to find someone who is enthusiastic about bookkeeping and who has an interest in continuing.

“Why are you interested in leaving your current job?”

You do not want someone who is unhappy about their current job or employer.  You are looking for someone who is looking for a bigger challenge.

“What are your career goals?  How do you plan to achieve them?” What do you see yourself doing five/ten years from now?”

You are looking for someone who is self-motivated, who wants to progress in his career and has a plan to achieve it.

The following specific questions about a candidate’s work experience should be asked.   The answers should align with your needs as much as possible.  You should also have a job description for him.

“What types of financial report have you prepared?”

At a minimum, they should be able to create an aged payable, aged receivable, cash flow statement, P&L, and Balance Sheet.  You should ask your accountant what type of reports he/she needs and how often should they be prepared.

“Which accounting software programs are you familiar with?”

They should be very familiar with the accounting software you use.  This could be Quickbooks, Xero, or Sage, to name some of the more popular programs, but there are many other programs that companies use.

“How would you describe your work style?”

Try to determine their workstyle, and if it matches and works well with the other employees and you.

“What did you like most/least about your last job?” “What were the responsibilities of your last position?”  “What do you think of your previous boss?”

This is similar to the question above about why they want to leave their current job.  You may get more information from these questions.

“What are three positive things your last boss would say about you?”

You are looking for specific ideas, not just to hear he is a hard worker of nice person.  It should match items of worth in your job description.

“What’s one negative thing your last boss would say about you?”

You are looking not only for the item, but also a sense from them that they are taking steps to improve.

“Give examples of ideas you’ve had or implemented.“

They need to tell you the problem, and solution, and results.

Quickbooks and other bookkeeping software are as good as the data that is entered.  Many try to save money by trying to hire a secretary to do the bookkeeping but they do not know bookkeeping and can cost the business money.  An accountant should make sure that the data is entered correctly and then takes the P&L and Balance Sheet to properly file the tax returns.  I have one client who asked me to take over doing their books and taxes because the previous accountant did not review the records closely. The bookkeeper was entering all deposits as income when some of them were investments of cash into the business by the owner.  Due to this error, the taxes were higher than they should have been.  It is important that you hire the proper person.

Ask questions to see how much they know about bookkeeping, accounting, and the software which you use.  They should also have a good knowledge of Excel.

“How do you customize a report in QuickBooks?”

“Tell me when you would post an adjusting entry.”

“Does the accounts payable account normally have a debit or credit balance?”

“How would you know if someone accidentally posted an adjusting journal entry to accounts receivable?”

“When do we have to send vendors 1099s?”

“What is depreciation expense?”

The answers to the above questions are straightforward and a bookkeeper should know them.