Interviewing for a new team member at your business can be an exhausting process, from finding the right candidates, and asking the right questions, to getting the right answers and feeling a connection between them and the team. All of these are important factors for consideration when selecting the person you ultimately offer the position to. Choosing the right candidate for an accounts payable position, like many other positions, requires finding the candidate who can accomplish the job better than anyone else. Consider the accounts payable interview questions that are most important for your candidates to provide answers to, including invoice processing interview questions. Answers to these should be among the most important you’ll receive in your interview. 

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As you consider candidates for your interview process, it’s also important to keep in mind that the motivations, processes, and successes of each of your team members, as well as their struggles, weaknesses, and lack of knowledge, will have an effect on the overall performance of your business. Of course, training is always an option, but in the cases where your candidate will require training, their willingness to grow is also an important factor. These are all things you should be looking for when pursuing a new candidate for a role within your company. 

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Using interview intelligence software like Pillar’s gives you many of these tools at your fingertips during your interview process so that you don’t have to try to keep all of these ideas in your head. Interview intelligence software keeps your hiring committee on task during interviews to ensure that you ask all of the important questions, gauge the quality of your candidates’ answers, and more. You can use the software to take notes on your candidates’ answers and the impressions they leave on your team, as well as notes on the qualities of your candidates’ answers to the questions you pose. 

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In this post, we’ll talk about the most important accounts payable questions to ask your candidates during their interviews, the factors you should consider when selecting candidates for the interview process, who should be on your interviewing committee, and more. Interviewing for positions within your company is an important part of how your day-to-day operations flow, and who you select to hire makes a difference. Keeping your company’s goals in mind as you interview is important so that you can ensure that you only select candidates who check all of the important boxes. Hiring people who match your company culture is important because it helps to ensure that everyone in your organization shares core values, beliefs, and goals. Employees with a similar set of values are more likely to be productive, collaborative, and have job satisfaction. Plus, it becomes much easier to create an environment where everyone works together towards a common goal and develops loyalty to the organization. This can increase efficiency, productivity, and creativity while minimizing conflicts. Hiring people who match the culture allows for a more cohesive organizational culture and increases the chances of achieving success.

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Accounts Payable Interview Questions With Answers

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As you are developing your interview process for your candidates, we recommend doing a little research about the important skills that your accounts payable team member should have. You may choose to ask your current or previous accounts payable team members about the most important jobs they complete on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, and you may consider searching online for lists like “common interview questions for an accounts payable specialist.” Once you have your questions gathered, you can add them to your interview intelligence platform to ensure that they are included and covered in your interviews. 

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When interviewing a candidate for a position, it is important to develop effective interview questions. Questions should be tailored to the specific job and should focus on the candidate’s experience, skills, and qualifications. For example, you may ask them about their educational background and previous work experience in relation to the role they are being interviewed for. You could also inquire about the skills they have acquired in their previous jobs, or ask them to describe a situation where they solved an issue or made a positive contribution.

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It is important to ask questions that will allow you to get to know the candidate and evaluate if they are a good fit for the job. Questions should be open-ended and allow the candidate to fully explain their responses. When evaluating a candidate, it is also important to ask follow-up questions. For example, if a candidate says they are comfortable with using certain software, then you can ask them about previous experiences in which they used that specific software. This allows you to get an accurate assessment of the candidate’s skills.

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You should also ask questions about the candidate’s goals, interests, and motivations. This will help you determine if they are a good fit for your organization.

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The most important accounts payable interview questions with answers to ask your candidates should include:

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• What experience do you have with accounting principles, procedures, and systems?
• How familiar are you with managing accounts payable functions?
• Can you explain the various components of an accounts receivable system?
• What strategies do you use to ensure accuracy when processing
• In your experience, what are the most common reasons for payment delays?
• Describe a time when you had to resolve a dispute with a vendor or customer relating to an invoice.
• What processes have you put in place in the past to increase invoice accuracy?
• How do you stay current with changing regulations related to accounts payable?
• What methods do you use to prioritize tasks when managing multiple invoices at once?
• Describe a time when you had to manage a high volume of invoices.
• How do you determine the authenticity of invoices?
• Explain how you handle duplicate invoices when processing payments.
• Describe a time when you had to review and make adjustments to an invoice before payment.
• How do you ensure that invoices are properly coded for accounting purposes?

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The answers to these questions should be pre-vetted by your team so that you know what answers, generally speaking, you are expecting from a qualified candidate. Even in cases where there is no clear, right answer, you will be looking for candidates to have thoughtful responses to the questions that you pose to indicate how they think about problem-solving, how they approach teamwork, what they feel about leadership, and more. We recommend having a discussion with your hiring team leading up to the interview during which time you discuss company and team values so that that information is top of mind when you enter the interview. In this state of mind, it will be easier to determine if a candidate is an appropriate match for your company’s culture. 

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Top 10 Interview Questions For Accounts Payable

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During the actual interview, interview intelligence software like Pillar’s can help you keep track of the common interview questions for an accounts payable specialist as you go through the interview process. If you have already gathered the top 10 interview questions for accounts payable, you can have those set up in your program so that the interview follows a smooth process and you ensure that all of your most important questions are answered. 

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Ultimately, when you are looking for a new team member, you are looking for someone who can do the job, not just correctly, but also up to your company’s standards. As you record their answers, you can also indicate whether you agreed with their responses or if your team members had disputes about the processes described. Using interview intelligence software is a great way to give you an at-a-glance guide to which candidates received the most or least favorable responses from your team in the moment.

The candidates you are interviewing for an accounts payable position are interviewing to show you their skills and knowledge, so challenging them with questions is exactly what they’re expecting. You should be able to tell whether the candidate has done their research on the position, role, and company, as well as whether they have ingrained knowledge and developed skills around the position. Additionally, they will be a good fit with your company’s culture and have both knowledge and enthusiasm about completing their role within your company. No matter who you choose to offer a job to, know that your company’s needs are the most important factors to consider. Fill your open positions with qualified candidates who are able to answer all of the important questions correctly, have nuanced approaches to the complicated problem-solving questions that you ask, demonstrate enthusiasm and excitement for the position and your company, and who ask questions back to your hiring team that are thoughtful and honest. 

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Choosing a new person to join your company can make all the difference to how your company changes and grows. Hiring the right person is key!

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