Staff accountant phone screen questions: close, reconciliations, ERP and CPA status
On this page
- What the title covers: industry, public accounting and the AP/AR split
- How staff accountant resumes overstate the work
- Month-end close: what they did, not what happened
- Reconciliations: the fastest depth test
- ERP and Excel: posted in it, reported from it, or set it up
- GAAP checks a non-accountant can run
- CPA status: licensed, passed, sitting or planning
- Hours, busy season and logistics
- Knockout checklist and scorecard
- Questions people ask
A staff accountant phone screen should find out which parts of the close the candidate did themselves, not which parts happened at their company. Ask what entries they prepared, which accounts they reconciled, what did not tie and how they fixed it, what they did inside the ERP, and exactly where they are on the CPA path. Accountants with real experience answer with account names, day counts and specific corrections. Inflated resumes repeat "full-cycle accounting" and "month-end close" without ever saying what their part was.
Below are the questions grouped by what they test, with what a strong answer sounds like, the red flags, a CPA status table and a knockout checklist. The general call structure is in phone screen questions for recruiters.
What the title covers: industry, public accounting and the AP/AR split
"Staff accountant" is used for at least five different jobs. Before asking anything else, find out which one the candidate did, and compare it with the one your client needs.
| Background | What the work usually is | Facts to ask for | Common overstatement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Industry staff accountant (general ledger) | Journal entries, accruals, balance sheet reconciliations, close tasks, audit support | Close length in business days, number of entities, entries and reconciliations they owned, who reviewed them | "Managed the month-end close" when they owned one section of the checklist |
| AP or AR specialist with a staff accountant title | Invoice processing, vendor statements, cash application, collections | Weekly invoice volume, approval workflow, whether they posted any entries outside the subledger | "Full-cycle accounting" meaning full-cycle accounts payable |
| Public accounting, audit staff | Testing client balances, workpapers, requests to clients | Client industries and sizes, which areas they tested, busy season hours | "Prepared financial statements" when they tied out a draft someone else prepared |
| Public accounting, tax staff | Returns, workpapers, sometimes provisions | Return types and volume, tax software, review process | Presented as close experience for a general ledger role |
| Sole accountant at a small company | Everything, often in QuickBooks, with an outside CPA firm booking year-end adjustments | Company revenue range, who booked accruals and adjustments, whether statements were audited | Full-cycle claims where the outside firm did the accrual work |
None of these backgrounds is weak. The mismatch is the problem: an audit associate can be a strong hire for a close-heavy role, but only if the client expects to train them on posting and reconciling.
How staff accountant resumes overstate the work
| Pattern | What it looks like | How to check on the call |
|---|---|---|
| Close by association | "Responsible for month-end close" on a team of six | "Which tasks on the close checklist had your name next to them?" |
| Bank recs as reconciliations | "Performed account reconciliations" | "Which balance sheet accounts, other than cash?" |
| Report runner as ERP user | "Advanced NetSuite" or "SAP experience" | "What did you enter in it yourself, and what did you only pull reports from?" |
| Audit support as audit experience | "Assisted with annual audit" | "What did the auditors ask you for, and what question did you have to answer?" |
| Implementation by proximity | "Implemented Sage Intacct" | "What was your part: mapping, testing, training, or using it after go-live?" |
| CPA without a license | "CPA" after the name, exam passed, license not issued | "Which state licensed you?" then check it (see the CPA section below) |
| Standards as keywords | "ASC 606, ASC 842, SOX" in a skills list | "What was your part in that at your last company?" |
Month-end close: what they did, not what happened
Start with one open request: "Walk me through your last month-end close, from the first day to the day the books were locked." People who did the work tell it in order, with days. People who sat near it describe the close in general terms.
| Question | What a strong answer sounds like | Red flags |
|---|---|---|
| How many business days did your close take, and what happened on each? | A sequence: "AP cutoff on day one, accruals and prepaid amortization on day two, reconciliations by day four, flux review with the controller on day five." | Cannot say how long the close took. "We just closed the books." |
| Which journal entries did you prepare yourself every month? | Names them: payroll accrual, bonus accrual, depreciation, prepaid amortization, deferred revenue release. | "All of them," or "adjusting entries" with no examples. |
| Who reviewed your entries, and what did they send back most often? | A reviewer by title and a real correction: "My senior kept asking for better support on the legal accrual." | Nobody reviewed their work, at a company with outside auditors. Nothing was ever sent back. |
| How did you book an expense when the invoice had not arrived yet? | Estimated from a purchase order, contract or prior months, accrued it, and reversed it the next month. | "We waited for the invoice," for a role that runs accrual-basis books. |
| What did your variance or flux review look like, and what did you have to explain? | A threshold and an example: "Anything over 10 percent and 25K. I had to explain a jump in software expense from an annual renewal." | Has never had to explain a movement in an account. |
| How many legal entities did you work with? Any intercompany or foreign currency? | A number, and who handled eliminations and revaluation. | "Consolidations" on the resume for a single-entity company. |
Reconciliations: the fastest depth test
Every staff accountant resume says "reconciliations." The question that separates depth from the keyword is about one that did not tie. You do not need to understand the fix; you need to hear that there was one, what it was, and how the candidate found it.
- "Which balance sheet accounts did you reconcile each month?" Strong: a list beyond cash, such as accrued liabilities, prepaid expenses, fixed assets, deferred revenue and intercompany. Red flag: bank reconciliations only, described as "account reconciliations."
- "Tell me about a reconciliation that didn't tie. What was the difference and how did you find it?" Strong: "AP subledger was about 4K off the general ledger. Someone had posted a vendor invoice straight to the GL, so the subledger never saw it." Red flag: "They always tied," or a difference that was simply booked to a suspense or miscellaneous account.
- "What did you do with reconciling items that were more than 60 or 90 days old?" Strong: investigated, escalated, wrote off with approval, fixed the cause. Red flag: carried forward every month with no action.
- "Where did the reconciliations live: Excel, the ERP, or a tool like BlackLine or FloQast? Did someone sign off?" Strong: names the tool and the preparer and reviewer steps. Red flag: no evidence of review at all.
Worked example (invented numbers)
The candidate says: "I did all the reconciliations." The company had 4 entities, roughly 60 balance sheet accounts each, and a 5-day close.
- Reconciliations per month: 4 × 60 = 240.
- Across a 5-day close, alone: 240 ÷ 5 = 48 a day, on top of journal entries.
- Now ask: "Were those all yours, or split across the team? Which ones were yours?"
The honest answer is usually a share, which is fine. Write down the real share, not "all."
ERP and Excel: posted in it, reported from it, or set it up
Most finance teams care less about which ERP a candidate used than about what they did in it. Ask the question that places them: entering transactions, pulling reports, building reports, or configuring the system.
| Claim | Question | Strong answer | Red flag |
|---|---|---|---|
| NetSuite | "What did you enter yourself, and did you build any saved searches?" | Names transaction types (journal entries, vendor bills) and one search or report they built. | Only exported reports someone else built. |
| SAP or Oracle | "Which module did you work in every day, and what was a routine task in it?" | Names the area (general ledger, payables, asset accounting) and a task. | "SAP" with no module or task. |
| QuickBooks or Xero | "Who booked the year-end adjustments: you or an outside accountant?" | An honest split: "Our CPA firm booked depreciation and the tax entries; I did everything monthly." | Full-cycle claim where the outside firm did the accrual work. |
| Sage Intacct or Dynamics 365 | "Did you work with multiple entities, departments or dimensions in it?" | Describes how transactions were tagged and reported. | Cannot describe how reports were broken down. |
| System implementation | "What was your part: mapping accounts, testing, training, or using it after go-live?" | One clear role with a detail: "I mapped the old chart of accounts and tested the opening balances." | "Implemented" meaning they were a user when it went live. |
| Excel | "What is the most complex workbook you maintained, and what held it together?" | Names lookups (XLOOKUP or INDEX/MATCH), SUMIFS, pivot tables, and what the workbook did. | "Advanced Excel" meaning sums, filters and formatting. |
If the client uses a system the candidate has not touched, say so in the submittal rather than stretching a similar one. Moving between ERPs is common; a candidate who overstated the one they know is harder to place than one who said "I have not used Oracle."
GAAP checks a non-accountant can run
These questions have short, stable answers, so you can hear whether the candidate is on the right track without being an accountant. The follow-up that matters is always the same: "Give me an example from your last job."
| Question | What a correct answer contains | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| What is the difference between an accrual and a prepaid expense? | An accrual records an expense already incurred but not yet invoiced or paid (a liability). A prepaid is paid in advance and expensed over time (an asset), such as annual insurance expensed monthly. | Mixes them up, or gives a textbook answer with no example from their own books. |
| What is a reversing entry, and when did you use one? | An entry at the start of the next period that cancels an accrual, so the actual invoice is not counted twice. | Has never used one, for a general ledger role. |
| How did your company recognize revenue, and what made it complicated? | Describes contracts, deferred revenue, timing of delivery or services; may mention ASC 606. | "Revenue is when the customer pays," for an accrual-basis company. |
| Did the company account for leases on the balance sheet? What was your part? | Knows leases created an asset and a liability under ASC 842 and describes the schedule they maintained or used. | Claims to have led the adoption as a first-year staff hire. |
| What did the auditors ask you for, and what question did you have to answer? | Specific requests: a sample of invoices, an accrual support file, and one question they had to resolve. | "Assisted with the audit" meaning forwarded files. |
| If the company was under SOX, which controls did you perform? | Names one: journal entry review sign-off, reconciliation review, a three-way match. | "SOX compliance" as a skill with no control named. |
CPA status: licensed, passed, sitting or planning
"CPA" is a licensed title issued by a state board of accountancy, not by an exam result. The Uniform CPA Examination is developed and scored by the AICPA, delivered by Prometric, and the license is issued by one of 55 US jurisdictions, as NASBA's exam partners page describes. The California Board of Accountancy, for example, states in its licensing FAQ that a person may not use the CPA designation until they have received a license number.
| Resume says | What it usually means | Question to ask | How to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPA | An active license from a state board | "Which state licensed you, and is the license active?" | Search CPAverify (NASBA, 53 participating jurisdictions as of September 2026) or the state board's lookup |
| Passed the CPA exam | All four sections passed; experience, ethics exam or application still pending | "What is left before the license, and when do you expect it?" | Take the answer as stated; if the role requires a license, the offer can depend on it |
| CPA candidate | At least one section passed or scheduled | "Which sections have you passed, and when did you pass the first one?" | Credit for passed sections expires after a set window, so dates matter |
| CPA eligible | Meets the education rules to sit for the exam in a state | "Eligible in which state? Have you scheduled a section?" | Treat as a plan, not progress |
Three facts that make the conversation specific
- The exam changed in 2024. Candidates now pass three Core sections (FAR, AUD, REG) and one Discipline section of their choice (BAR, ISC or TCP), per the AICPA's exam blueprints announcement. A candidate who mentions BEC passed that section under the older format.
- Credit windows are rolling. In 2023 NASBA amended its model rules to give candidates a rolling 30-month period to pass the remaining sections, up from 18 months, but each state board decides whether to adopt it. "I passed FAR four years ago" may mean starting over.
- Licensure paths are changing. NASBA describes three pathways in the model law: a graduate degree plus one year of experience, 150 semester hours plus one year, and a bachelor's degree plus two years of experience. States adopt them at different dates, so "I don't have 150 hours" no longer settles the question. Ask the candidate which path they are on in which state.
Hours, busy season and logistics
| Question | What a strong answer sounds like | Red flags |
|---|---|---|
| Close here means long days in the first week of each month, and more around the year-end audit. How did hours run at your last job? | Realistic numbers and an honest view: "About 50 hours in close week, 40 otherwise. That's fine." | Expects a flat 40 hours for a role with a heavy close, or cannot describe their own hours. |
| (Public accounting candidates) What do you want to change by moving to industry? | Specific: "I want to own the books rather than test them, and I want to see one company in depth." | Only wants to escape busy season, for a role with its own crunch periods. |
| The team is on site during close week and hybrid otherwise. Does that work? | A clear yes, or a clear limit you can take to the client. | Assumes full remote without asking. |
| What salary do you need to make this move? | A number or narrow range tied to the role. Ask expectations, not current pay; see salary expectation questions. | Only a figure from a salary survey, with no view on the role. |
| Are you legally authorized to work in the US, and will you now or in the future need visa sponsorship? | A direct answer to both. | None from the answer. Ask everyone the same two questions. |
| Where else are you interviewing, and how far along? | Stages and timing. | "Nowhere," followed by an offer deadline next week. |
Finance roles tempt screeners to ask about personal finances. Don't ask about debt, bankruptcy, credit scores or home ownership on the screen. The EEOC explains that financial requirements can be discriminatory when they are not job related, and a credit or background report requires written disclosure and written permission under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, as the FTC's employer guidance sets out. Some states and cities add limits on credit checks. Leave checks to the client's formal process and confirm the rules for your location. This is not legal advice.
Knockout checklist and scorecard
Must-ask on every staff accountant screen
- Which background: general ledger, AP/AR, audit, tax, or sole accountant.
- The last close in order, with the entries they prepared and who reviewed them.
- The balance sheet accounts they reconciled, and one that did not tie.
- What they did in the ERP the client uses, or the closest one.
- CPA status in plain words, with the state and dates; checked if they claim a license.
- Hours during close, on-site expectations, salary expectation, notice period, other processes.
- Work authorization and sponsorship, asked the same way for everyone.
Knock out, or flag to the client before submitting, if any of these is true:
- The role requires a licensed CPA and the candidate is not licensed, or the license does not show up where it should.
- The role is close-heavy general ledger work and the candidate has never prepared an accrual or a balance sheet reconciliation.
- The candidate cannot describe a single entry, reconciliation or audit request from their own work.
- Hours, on-site days or salary expectation are a clear mismatch with what the client told you at intake.
| Area | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close ownership | Describes the team's close | Owned a few tasks | Owned entries and reconciliations, knows the sequence | Owned a close section, trained others, improved the process |
| Reconciliation depth | Cash only | Several accounts, no problems described | A specific difference found and fixed | Fixed the cause, handled aged items, reviews others |
| Systems | Name only | Ran reports | Entered and corrected transactions | Built reports or supported an implementation with a clear role |
| Technical basics | Confused | Textbook answers | Correct with an own-work example | Explains judgment calls, such as an accrual estimate |
| Logistics fit | Deal-breaker | Two open questions | One open question | All aligned |
Write the evidence beside each score in the candidate's words: "Owned prepaid and accrued liabilities recs across 2 entities; found a 4K AP difference from an invoice posted to the GL." A controller reads that in seconds. Interview Signal attaches quotes like that to each score from the call itself, which saves rebuilding them from memory. After the screen, a reference check with the candidate's former reviewer is the best place to confirm close ownership, and the candidate submittal template shows how to present it.
Questions people ask
Can a recruiter without an accounting background screen a staff accountant?
Yes. You are not grading technical answers; you are checking whether the candidate can describe their own close, name the entries and reconciliations they prepared, and explain one that went wrong. Specific, sequential answers are the signal, and they do not require you to know the accounting.
How do I check whether a candidate is really a licensed CPA?
Ask which state licensed them, then search NASBA's CPAverify database or that state board's own license lookup. CPAverify draws on data from 53 jurisdictions, as of September 2026, so use the state board directly if the state is not covered.
What is the difference between CPA eligible, CPA candidate and passed the CPA exam?
These are resume phrases, not official statuses, so ask what each means for the person. Usually eligible means they meet the education rules to sit, candidate means they have passed or scheduled at least one section, and passed means all four sections are done but the license is not yet issued.
Should I give a staff accountant a technical test on the phone screen?
Keep it to the short conceptual questions in this guide and leave any Excel or journal entry test to the hiring team. A recruiter cannot follow up on a wrong technical answer, but can always follow up on a vague description of the candidate's own work.