As an Accounts Clerk you will usually have some experience of working in an accounts office combined with excellent administration skills. In the role of an Accounts Clerk you will do a varied role consisting of sending invoices, dealing with invoices coming into the business, payroll, petty cash etc so you will need to be able to move from task to task quickly and be able to work on multiple things at any one time.
You will need to be a very organised person who pays great attention to detail in this role and be able to communicate well with others as an accounts department has to communicate with external and internal people.
Accounts clerks are also known as finance clerks or bookkeepers. Salaries for newly qualified accounting clerks are around £15,000 to £16,000 a year. If you have experience then you can earn up to £22,000 a year. Earnings can be higher once you are a senior clerk which is around £25,000 a year or more.
Once you have researched the company and what they are all about and where they are based and how you will get there, then you need to focus on how well you believe that you can do the role that they have advertised and how you can do this.
Accounts Clerk Interview Questions
You may be asked questions such as:
- What duties have you previously done in an Accounts office?
- Why do you want to work in Accounts?
- Have you done payroll before and what is your understanding of payroll?
- What accounting/payroll computer systems have you used?
- How do you deal with enquiries or queries coming into the office?
- Have you set up new accounting systems and procedures? If yes what were they are how did you do it?
- Where do you see your career in 5 years?
The interviewer may be looking for long term investment and someone who can grow with the company and work their way up in the company so it is important to think about your future career plans. Any role in an accounts department in a company is an important one and the employer will be very keen to build up a good relationship with someone so that they stay with the company long term.
It is always best to check out most asked interview questions too. Be prepared for them!
Typical Interview Questions
- Tell me about yourself.
- What are your strengths?
- What are your weaknesses?
- Why do you want this job?
- Where would you like to be in your career five years from now?
- What’s your ideal company?
- What attracted you to this company?
- Why should we hire you?
- What did you like least about your last job?
- When were you most satisfied in your job?
- What can you do for us that other candidates can’t?
- What were the responsibilities of your last position?
Good luck.