Accounts payable and receivable interview questions
AP and AR assistant interview questions: invoices, payment runs, collections, credit notes, aging and supplier statements, with answer structures.
Focus areas: Processing bills and payments · Invoicing and collections · Aging reports · Supplier and customer communication · Timed practical task: Receivables and payables test (30 minutes)
- technicalQuestion 1
What is a three-way match?
A strong answer covers
- Purchase order, receiving record, supplier bill
- Prevents paying for undelivered or wrong items
- What to do on mismatch
Common mistakes
- Skipping the receiving check
- technicalQuestion 2
How do you record a supplier bill and its payment?
A strong answer covers
- Bill: debit expense/asset, credit A/P
- Payment: debit A/P, credit cash
- No expense at payment
Common mistakes
- Expensing twice
- technicalQuestion 3
How do you reconcile a supplier statement?
A strong answer covers
- Compare to subledger
- Identify timing differences
- Find missing bills or credits
- Resolve with supplier
Common mistakes
- Paying from the statement
- technicalQuestion 4
What's an aging report and how do you use it?
A strong answer covers
- Groups balances by days outstanding
- Prioritize follow-up
- Inform bad-debt estimates
Common mistakes
- Ignoring older items
- technicalQuestion 5
How do you record a credit note for a customer return?
A strong answer covers
- Contra revenue debit
- Reduce A/R
- Reference original invoice
- Inventory side if applicable
Common mistakes
- Recording as an expense
- technicalQuestion 6
How is an early-payment discount recorded on the AP side?
A strong answer covers
- Full A/P cleared
- Cash for net amount
- Discount reduces cost (perpetual) or as stated
Common mistakes
- Leaving a balance on A/P
- situationalQuestion 7
A customer disputes an invoice. What do you do?
A strong answer covers
- Listen and get details
- Check documents
- Involve the right person
- Issue a credit note only if agreed
- Document
Common mistakes
- Promising credit immediately
- situationalQuestion 8
A supplier calls demanding urgent payment for an unapproved bill.
A strong answer covers
- Stay polite
- Explain the approval process
- Escalate to approver
- Don't bypass controls
Common mistakes
- Paying without approval
- situationalQuestion 9
You find a duplicate payment to a supplier. What next?
A strong answer covers
- Confirm in bank records
- Contact supplier for refund or credit
- Record the correction
- Review how it happened
Common mistakes
- Ignoring it
- communicationQuestion 10
Write a polite first reminder for an overdue invoice. What's in it?
A strong answer covers
- Invoice number, amount, due date
- Friendly tone
- How to pay
- Contact for questions
Common mistakes
- Aggressive tone
- technicalQuestion 11
What's the allowance method for bad debts?
A strong answer covers
- Estimate at period end
- Contra asset
- Write-offs against allowance
- No expense at write-off
Common mistakes
- Confusing with direct write-off
- situationalQuestion 12
Payment run day: what do you check before releasing payments?
A strong answer covers
- Approvals
- Matching to bills
- Duplicates
- Bank details verified
- Cash available
Common mistakes
- Skipping duplicate checks
- communicationQuestion 13
How do you handle a frustrated customer on the phone?
A strong answer covers
- Listen and acknowledge
- Clarify the issue
- Explain next steps and timeline
- Follow up
Common mistakes
- Arguing
- technicalQuestion 14
Why must the AR subledger match the control account?
A strong answer covers
- Control account is the total
- Differences signal errors
- How to investigate
Common mistakes
- Plugging the difference
- communicationQuestion 15
Describe how you'd prioritize collections with limited time.
A strong answer covers
- Largest and oldest balances
- Risk and relationship
- Use the aging report
- Document contacts
Common mistakes
- First-come, first-served only