How to Prepare for Your Accounts Payable Interview Questions

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Tips on Being Prepared for Your Accounts Payable Interview Questions

Practice answering the accounts payable interview questions
Don’t let accounts payable salary questions throw you for a loop
Understand the real purpose behind unusual questions
Maintain composure when answering accounts payable interview questions

If you are preparing for an accounts payable interview, or hope to schedule one soon, you’re likely more concerned about accounts payable interview questions related to the role itself than you are common interview questions like asking you to discuss your strengths and weaknesses and why they should hire you.

You will need solid answers for both the generic questions as well as the specific accounts payable interview questions themselves, such as those having to do with verifying invoices, tracking purchase orders, processing payments and other skills necessary for you to excel on the job.

Here are some tips and examples to help prepare and be able to give winning answers to any accounts payable interview questions that may come your way, be they questions you may be expecting or a few “wild cards” designed to find out more about how you perform, what motivates you and what sort of intangible qualities you might bring to the job. Here's how to ace the top financial analyst interview questions.

One tip for preparing is to ask a friend or family member to conduct a practice interview with you. Make a list that covers accounts payable-related questions that will test your research, problem-solving and computer skills. Your answers to questions like these will also give you a chance to demonstrate your knowledge of the job and how you’d approach the role of accounts payable clerk.

“Which accounting software do you have experience with?”

“Can you tell me about past invoice disputes and how you’ve resolved them?”

“Can you explain end-to-end process of accounts payable?”

“How would you balance accuracy and efficiency in this job?”

“How do you approach working with ledgers?”

“What is a workflow for accounting?”

“What is consolidation?”

“What is interest on capital?”

“What is a non-PO invoice?”

See these payroll Interview questions job candidates should be ready to answer.

Sometimes, the simplest questions can be the toughest to answer. For example, a question about what you expect to be paid could get you flustered if you haven’t researched the salary range for an accounts payable clerk before the interview. Before any discussions, be sure to review the latest Salary Guide From Robert Half to get a sense of the compensation you can reasonably expect as an accounts payable clerk. You can even cite the Robert Half Salary Guide as a source in your interview answer.

To find specific salary ranges in cities or geographic regions anywhere in the United States, use the Robert Half Salary Calculator. Just start typing “Accounts Payable Clerk” in the Job Title field and choose that title when it appears in the dropdown menu. Do the same for the City field, typing in where you will be working and choosing that location from the City dropdown. If the U.S. city you’re interviewing in is not listed, choose the closest one that is. For example, if your interview is in Lawrenceville, Ga., choose Atlanta. If you’re interviewing for a position in Burbank, Calif., choose Los Angeles. You’ll immediately get useful information to have at your disposal before answering any questions about your desired salary.

Be aware that the hiring manager will not always bring up compensation in the first round of accounts payable interview questions. Still, it’s best to be prepared, and if you make it to a second interview, it will serve you well to already have given this important question some thought.

Access the Salary Guide for the latest hiring trends, hottest jobs and salary insights in finance and accounting.

Now take your interviewing skills to the next level by practicing replies to a few unusual questions. In a Robert Half survey, executives were asked to share the strangest questions they’d ever been asked during an interview. Here are just a few they cited:

“What would I find in your refrigerator?”

“What’s the last book you read?”

“What animal are you most like?”

Why don’t hiring managers just stick to standard questions when interviewing? Because whether you are interviewing for the role of an accounts payable clerk or something completely different, your answers to oddball questions may shed light on your personality, problem-solving skills and performance under pressure in ways that standard questions do not.

These types of questions may not necessarily be directly related to the duties of an accounts payable clerk, but interviewers ask them because they’ve determined that the insight your answers provide may be helpful in their hiring decision. Be ready for questions of this nature by understanding that there are no right or wrong answers per se, and that how you answer — with a smile instead of a frown, for example — can help your cause as much as the words themselves.

Preparation is the best defense. Realistically, however, you can’t practice every possible accounts payable interview question in advance. But you can rely on the following tips to ensure you don’t become tongue-tied if you’re asked an interview question that seems to come from out of the blue:

Keep your composure. Interviewers evaluate more than the content of your answers. They also note how you formulate responses to get a sense of your creativity and approach to problems. Remain calm, maintain eye contact and stay confident — just like you’ll be on the job as an accounts payable clerk.

If you’re stumped, that’s OK. Ask the interviewer to repeat or reword the question. Interviewers will respect your desire to give them what they are looking for in an answer and your willingness to ask for clarification so you can do just that.

Don’t be a dodger. Don’t dodge questions. You could be particularly tempted to do so if asked about a resume gap. If you stopped working as an accounts payable clerk so you could finish an MBA program early, say so. Be honest and factual, and get ready for the next question.

Make sense of it. Let’s say an interviewer asks you, "What animal are you most like?" If you say "a cat," you might want to add "because I am curious and always land on my feet." Try to highlight skills you’ll need as an accounts payable clerk at that particular company when answering these types of questions. In this example, curiosity and landing on your feet represent eagerness to try new things and dependability.

Take your time. The interviewer will expect you to take some time with an unusual question. A thoughtful answer is better than a rushed one. It’s OK to say something like, “That’s an interesting question. Let me think about it.” You can then take a brief pause while considering how you want to answer.

Ask questions. The employer isn’t the only one who should ask good questions. Consider what questions you can ask in the interview, such as inquiring about what software the company uses or the biggest changes the interviewer has seen in the role over the past few years. When asking questions, it helps if the interviewer can see that you’re asking things that will be useful for you to know if you are hired for the role.

Finally, remember that you may knock yourself out of consideration if you say you identify more with cats than dogs or reveal that you have only a chocolate bar, leftover pizza and jar of yellow mustard in your refrigerator. Just kidding — we’re not actually sure about that! How about just following this simple rule of thumb: Be honest, be thoughtful and be yourself when faced with unexpected interview questions, whether they’re about accounts payable matters or if you’re more of a dog person or a cat person.

Skilled accounts payable clerks are in demand in cities across the United States. See our open accounts payable jobs.

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