Top Most Account Manager Interview Questions

Q – 1 Who is account manager?

Ans- An account manager is a person who works for a company and is responsible for the management of sales, and relationships with particular customers. The account manager does not manage the daily running of the account itself. They manage the relationship with the client of the account they are assigned to. Generally, a client will remain with one account manager throughout the duration of hiring the company.

Account managers serve as the interface between the customer service and the sales team in a company. They are assigned a company’s existing client accounts. The purpose of being assigned particular clients is to create long term relationships with the portfolio of assigned clients. The account manager serves to understand the customer’s demands, plan how to meet these demands, and generate sales for the company as a result.

Q – 2 Explain accounting?

Ans- Accounting, or accountancy, is the measurement, processing and communication of financial information about economic entities. Accounting, which has been called the “language of business”, measures the results of an organization’s economic activities and conveys this information to a variety of users including investors, creditors, management, and regulators. Practitioners of accounting are known as accountants. The terms accounting and financial reporting are often used as synonyms.

Q – 3 What are the several fields of accounting?

Ans- Accounting can be divided into several fields including financial accounting, management accounting, auditing, and tax accounting. Financial accounting focuses on the reporting of an organization’s financial information, including the preparation of financial statements, to external users of the information, such as investors, regulators and suppliers; and management accounting focuses on the measurement, analysis and reporting of information for internal use by management.

The recording of financial transactions, so that summaries of the financials may be presented in financial reports, is known as bookkeeping, of which double-entry bookkeeping is the most common system.

Q – 4 What are the responsibilities of account manager?

Ans- ★ Generate sales for a portfolio of accounts and reach the company’s sales target.
★ Identify new sales opportunities within existing accounts to remain a client-account manager relationship by up-selling and cross-selling.
★ Manage and solve conflicts with clients.
★ Interact and coordinate with the sales team and other staff members in other departments working on the same account.
★ Establish budgets with the client and company.
★ Meet time deadlines for accounts .

Q – 5 What is key account?

Ans- Key accounts provide a lot of business because they contain a small number of clients which contribute a large portion of the company’s sales. According to research, sales from a company’s key accounts has increased from 23% in 1975 to 60% currently.

Q – 6 What is the purpose of an account manager?

Ans- To maintain the company’s existing relationships with a client or group of clients, so that they will continue using the company for business.

Q – 7 What are the basic principles of accounting?

Ans- ★ Principles of Accounting was often the title of the introductory course in accounting. It was also common for the textbook used in the course to be entitled Principles of Accounting.
★ Principles of accounting can also refer to the basic or fundamental accounting principles: cost principles, matching principles, full disclosure principles, materiality principles, going concern principles, economic entity principles, and so on. In this context, principles of accounting refers to the broad underlying concepts which guide accountants when preparing financial statements.
★ Principles of accounting can also mean generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). When used in this context, principles of accounting will include both the underlying basic accounting principles and the official accounting pronouncements issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and its predecessor organizations. The official pronouncements are detailed rules or standards for specific topics.

Q – 8 Tell me what is nominal account in accounting?

Ans- Nominal accounts in accounting are the temporary accounts, such as the income statement accounts. In other words, nominal accounts are the accounts that report revenues, expenses, gains, and losses. (The owner’s drawing account is also a temporary account, even though it is not an income statement account.)

Nominal or temporary accounts are closed at the end of each accounting year. This means that their account balances are transferred to a permanent account. This closing process allows the nominal accounts to start the next accounting year with zero balances.

Q – 9 Do you know how petty cash affect expenses?

Ans- Petty Cash is a current asset account; it is part of a company’s cash. A petty cash fund is established by cashing a check drawn on the company’s regular checking account and giving the currency and coins to the petty cash custodian. No expense is involved in this transaction since the company is simply creating the asset account Petty Cash by reducing another asset account.

An expense occurs when the company pays the postal carrier for the postage that is due on the incoming mail. Another expense occurs when the company sends an employee to pick up some needed supplies. If these expenses are paid with money in the petty cash fund, the currency and coins held by the petty cash custodian will decrease and in place of that money the custodian will have petty cash receipts or petty cash vouchers. The expenses will be recorded in the general ledger when the petty cash fund is replenished.

Q – 10 Explain deferred revenue?

Ans- Deferred revenue is not yet revenue. It is an amount that was received by a company in advance of earning it. The amount unearned (and therefore deferred) as of the date of the financial statements should be reported as a liability. The title of the liability account might be Unearned Revenues or Deferred Revenues.

Q – 11 What is columnar in accounting?

Ans- Prior to electronic worksheets, accountants had several pads of paper with a varying number of columns (and rows) preprinted on them. The pads of paper were labeled as columnar pads. The preprinted paper in these pads allowed accountants and bookkeepers to easily prepare manual spreadsheets.

With the introduction of VisiCalc (the original electronic spreadsheet) followed by other electronic spreadsheets or worksheets (e.g., Lotus 1-2-3, Excel), the use of columnar pads of paper declined significantly.

Q – 12 What is equity for account manager?

Ans- Equity is used in accounting in several ways. Often the word equity is used when referring to an ownership interest in a business. Examples include stockholders’ equity or owner’s equity.

Occasionally, equity is used to mean the combination of liabilities and owner’s equity. For example, some restate the basic accounting equation from Assets = Liabilities + Owner’s Equity to Assets = Equities.

Q – 13 What is the defination of prepaid insurance a short term asset?

Ans- The definition of a short term or current asset is cash and other assets that will turn to cash or will be used up or consumed within one year of the balance sheet date. If a company’s operating cycle is longer than one year, the definition allows for assets turning to cash, used up, or consumed during the operating cycle to be reported as a current asset.

Q – 14 Tell me about term organic growth mean?

Ans- Organic growth often refers to the growth in a company’s sales that did not occur because of an acquisition of another company. Expressed another way, organic growth is the internal growth or the growth from its existing businesses-not from the businesses it acquired during the period.

Q – 15 Explain chart of accounts?

Ans- The chart of accounts is a listing of the general ledger accounts to which amounts can be posted. The chart of accounts is a helpful tool for identifying the best account for recording a transaction.

In some accounting software the chart of accounts may be the means to open new general ledger accounts and to control their position in the financial statements.

Q – 16 What is window dressing?

Ans- Window dressing refers to actions taken or not taken prior to issuing financial statements in order to improve the appearance of the financial statements.

Q – 17 What is statement of income?

Ans- This financial statement is also known as the statement of operations, statement of earnings, or income statement. It reports the corporation’s revenues, expenses, gains and losses (except for items stipulated as other comprehensive income) for a period of time such as a year, quarter, 13 months, etc.

Q – 18 What is statement of comprehensive income?

Ans- This financial statement begins with the bottom line of the income statement and then lists the items considered to be other comprehensive income. Some of these items involve currency translation, hedging, available-for-sale securities, and pensions.

Q – 19 What is balance sheet in accounting?

Ans- This statement of financial position reports a corporation’s assets, liabilities and stockholders’ equity as of the final instant of the date shown in its heading (December 31, January 31, June 30, etc.)

Q – 20 What is statement of cash flows?

Ans- This statement reports the major causes for the change in cash and cash equivalents during the accounting period. The cash flows are presented as operating, investing, or financing activities.

Q – 21 What is statement of stockholders equity?

Ans- This financial statement is often presented as the statement of shareholders’ equity, statement of equity, statement of changes in stockholders’ equity, etc. It reports all of the changes in stockholders’ equity which occurred during the accounting period.

Q – 22 What are noncurrent assets in accounting?

Ans- A noncurrent asset is an asset that is not likely to turn to unrestricted cash within one year of the balance sheet date. (This assumes that the company has an operating cycle of less than one year.)
A non-current asset is also referred to as a long-term asset.

Non-current assets are reported under the following balance sheet headings:

★ Investments (long-term)
★ Property, plant and equipment
★ Intangible assets
★ Other assets

Q – 23 What is fiscal year for account manager?

Ans- A fiscal year usually refers to an accounting year that does not end on December 31. (The accounting year of January 1 through December 31 is usually referred to as a calendar year.)

Some examples of the fiscal years used by U.S. corporations include:

★ The 12 months of February 1 through January 31
★ The 12 months of October 1 through September 30
★ The 12 months of June 1 through May 31
★ The 52 weeks (four 13-week quarters) ending on the Saturday closest to January 31 (This will require an occasional fiscal year of 53 weeks since 52 weeks X 7 days = 364 days vs. 365 days per year.)

Q – 24 Tell me about sales?

Ans- Sales refers to the revenues earned when a company sells its goods, products, merchandise, etc. (If a company sells one of its non-current assets that was used in its business, the amount received is not recorded in its Sales account.)
The amounts recorded at the time of the sales transaction is also known as gross sales since there may be subsequent subtractions for sales returns, sales allowances, and early payment discounts. (Gross sales minus these subtractions results in the amount of net sales.)

Q – 25 What are certain gains and losses?

Ans- One example is the disposal of a non-current asset for an amount that is different from its book value.

Q – 26 What are expenses?

Ans- These include the cost of goods sold, SG&A expenses, and interest expense.

Q – 27 What are revenues?

Ans- These are the amounts earned through the sale of goods and the providing of services.

Q – 28 What is income statement?

Ans- The income statement is a key financial statement which reports on a company’s profitability during a relatively short period of time such as the past year, month, 13 weeks, etc. The heading of the income statement informs the reader of the period covered.

The main components of the income statement are:

★ Revenues
★ Expenses
★ Certain gains and losses

Q – 29 Explain an accounting period?

Ans- An accounting period is a period of time such as the 12 months of January 1 through December 31, or the month of June, or the three months of July 1 through September 30. It is the period for which financial statements are prepared. For example, the income statement and the cash flow statement report the amounts occurring during the accounting period, and the balance sheet reports the amounts of assets and liabilties as of the final moment of the accounting period.

Q – 30 Tell me what is gross profit?

Ans- Gross profit is net sales minus the cost of goods sold. (Some people use the term gross margin and gross profit interchangeably. Others use gross margin to mean the gross profit ratio or the gross profit as a percentage of net sales.)

Gross profit is presented on a multiple-step income statement prior to deducting selling, general and administrative expenses and prior to non-operating revenues, non-operating expenses, gains and losses.

Q – 31 Explain assets?

Ans- Assets are sometimes defined as resources or things of value that are owned by a company. Some examples of assets which are obvious and will be reported on a company’s balance sheet include: cash, accounts receivable, inventory, investments, land, buildings, and equipment.

Q – 32 What is net income?

Ans- Revenues and gains minus expenses and losses.

Q – 33 What is loss on disposal, net of tax?

Ans- An accounting loss on the sale of a business segment minus the income taxes that were saved (avoided, sheltered) because the loss was also deductible on the company’s income tax return.

Q – 34 What is net cash provided by operating activities?

Ans- The combination of the cash inflows and the cash outflows from a company’s operations (activities outside of its investing and financing activities).

Q – 35 What is accounts receivable, net?

Ans- The recorded amount of accounts receivable minus the allowance for doubtful accounts.

Q – 36 What is net property, plant and equipment?

Ans- The recorded costs of the tangible non-current assets used in the business minus the related accumulated depreciation.

Q – 37 What is net realizable value?

Ans- The amount to be received in the ordinary course of business minus the costs of completion and disposal.

Q – 38 What is “net” for account manager?

Ans- Net usually refers to the combination of positive and negative amounts. For example, the amount of net sales is the combination of the amount of gross sales (a positive amount) and some negative amounts such as sales returns, sales allowances, and sales discounts. Hence, if gross sales are 990 and sales returns are 10, sales allowances are 5, and sales discounts 20, the net sales are 955.

Q – 39 Explain balance sheet accounts?

Ans- Balance sheet accounts are one of two types of general ledger accounts. Income statement accounts make up the other type. Balance sheet accounts are used to sort and store transactions involving assets, liabilities, and owner’s or stockholders’ equity.

Examples of a corporation’s balance sheet accounts include Cash, Accounts Receivable, Investments, Buildings, Equipment, Accumulated Depreciation, Notes Payable, Accounts Payable, Payroll Taxes Payable, Paid-in Capital, Retained Earnings, etc.

Balance sheet accounts are described as permanent or real accounts because at the end of the accounting year the balances in these accounts are not closed. Instead, the end-of-the-accounting-year balances will be carried forward to become the beginning balances in the next accounting year. This is different from the income statement accounts, which begin each accounting year with zero balances.

Q – 40 Describe liability account?

Ans- A liability account is a general ledger account in which a company records its debt, obligations, customer deposits and customer prepayments, certain deferred income taxes, etc. that are the result of a past transaction. Common liability accounts under the accrual method of accounting include Accounts Payable, Accrued Liabilities (amounts owed but not yet recorded in Accounts Payable), Notes Payable, Unearned Revenues, Deferred Income Taxes (certain temporary timing differences), etc.

Q – 41 Explain the statement of cash flows?

Ans- The statement of cash flows is one of the main financial statements. It is to accompany the income statement, balance sheet, and statement of stockholders’ equity. The statement of cash flows (also known as the cash flow statement) reports.

★ The major sources and uses of cash during the period of the income statement.
★ A reconciliation of the change in an organization’s cash and cash equivalents (which are reported on the beginning and ending balance sheets).
★ Supplementary information including the amount of income taxes paid, the amount of interest paid, and significant noncash investing and financing activities (such as issuing common stock in exchange for land).

Q – 42 Explain accrual method?

Ans- The accrual method of accounting reports revenues on the income statement when they are earned even if the customer will pay 30 days later. At the time that the revenues are earned the company will credit a revenue account and will debit the asset account Accounts Receivable. When the customer pays 30 days after the revenues were earned, the company will debit Cash and will credit Accounts Receivable.

The accrual method of accounting also requires that expenses and losses be reported on the income statement when they occur even if payment will take place 30 days later. For example, if a company has a $15,000 repair done on December 15 and the vendor allows for payment on January 15, the company will report a repair expense and a liability of $15,000 as of December 15. On January 15 the company will credit Cash and will debit the liability account.

Q – 43 Define the stated interest rate of a bond payable?

Ans- The stated interest rate of a bond payable is the annual interest rate that is printed on the face of the bond. The stated interest rate multiplied by the bond’s face amount (or par amount) results in the annual amount of interest that must be paid by the issuer of the bond. For example, if a corporation issues $10,000,000 of bonds having a stated interest rate of 6%, it is promising to pay interest of $600,000 each year (usually $300,000 semiannually).

The stated interest rate of a bond payable is also known as the face interest rate, the nominal interest rate, the contractual interest rate, and the coupon interest rate.

Q – 44 Tell me about selling, general and administrative expenses?

Ans- These costs are reported as operating expenses on the income statement because they pertain to operating the main business during that accounting period. These costs may have expired, may have been used up, or may not have a future value that can be measured.

Q – 45 Explain about cost of goods sold?

Ans- These costs are reported as operating expenses on the income statement because of the matching principle. The revenues from the sale of merchandise must be matched with the cost of the merchandise that is sold.

Q – 46 What is operating expenses?

Ans- Operating expenses are the costs associated with a company’s main operating activities and which are reported on its income statement.

Q – 47 Tell me about premium on bonds payable?

Ans- Premium on bonds payable (or bond premium) occurs when bonds payable are issued for an amount greater than their face or maturity amount. This is caused by the bonds having a stated interest rate that is higher than the market interest rate for similar bonds.

Q – 48 Describe ordinary annuity?

Ans- In accounting, an ordinary annuity refers to a series of identical cash amounts with each amount occurring at the end of equal time intervals.

An ordinary annuity is also known as an annuity in arrears.

Q – 49 Tell me what is the difference between revenues and receipts?

Ans- A company’s revenues are amounts it has earned as the result of business activities such as selling merchandise or performing services. Under the accrual method of accounting, revenues are reported on the income statement in the period in which they are earned even when a dependable customer is allowed to pay 60 days later. In this example, when the revenues are earned the company will credit a revenues account and will debit the asset account Accounts Receivable.

Q – 50 You majored in philosophy. How did that prepare you for this career?

Ans- Philosophy didn’t prepare me for a career in accounting at all. But it did force me to become philosophical about my prospects. After two years of trying to figure out what to do with my life, I visited Chicago one weekend, and was absolutely spell bound by the gorgeous architecture all around me.

I came home, applied to architecture schools all over the country, and was accepted by one of the best. I’ve never looked back. This is definitely the career that I was meant to be in.

Q – 51 You were fired twice. How did that make you feel?

Ans- After I recuperated from the shock both times, it made me feel stronger. It’s true that I was fired twice, but I managed to bounce back both times and land jobs that gave me more responsibility, paid me more money, and were at better firms.

The morale here is very high. I’ve been exposed to the “seamy underbelly” of this business, but I’m still passionate about working in it.

Q – 52 Suppose if you knew that things were rocky, why didn’t you get out of the company sooner?

Ans- I was working so hard to keep my job while everyone around me was being cut that I didn’t have any time left over to look for another job. With all of the mergers that have been happening in our field, layoffs are a way of life. At least I gave it my best shot!

Q – 53 Why should I let you experiment on my nickel? You have already changed careers before?

Ans- As a career-changer, I believe that I’m a better employee because I’ve gained a lot of diverse skills from moving around. These skills help me solve problems creatively.

Q – 54 Tell me about your biggest weakness that’s really a weakness, and not a secret strength?

Ans- I am extremely impatient. I expect my employees to prove themselves on the very first assignment. If they fail, my tendency is to stop delegating to them and start doing everything myself.

To compensate for my own weakness, however, I have started to really prep my people on exactly what will be expected of them.

Q – 55 Suppose if you work here for five years and don’t get promoted? Many of our employees don’t. Won’t you find it frustrating?

Ans- I consider myself ambitious, but I’m also practical. As long as I am continuing to learn and grow within my position, I’ll be a happy camper. Different companies promote people at different rates, and I’m pretty confident that working for you will keep my motivated and mentally stimulated for several years to come.

Q – 56 Tell me will you be out to take my job?

Ans- Maybe in about twenty years, but by then, I suspect you’ll be running the entire company and will need a good, loyal lieutenant to help you manage this department!

Q – 57 What duties are performed by account manager?

Ans- An account manager supervises account activities of a business. A hiring organization may look for a person who can demonstrate her confidence in the position with relevant experience in the position and the ability to make quick decisions. Her experience should bring strong communication skills to work with her team to effectively to meet deadlines and achieve the company’s targets.

Q – 58 Tell me about your track record for consistently achieving your targets?

Ans- An interviewer expects an account manager to be efficient in knowing how to meet targets within deadlines. He may ask the candidate about his track record for achieving targets. With this question, he gives the candidate an opportunity to provide examples of goals and strategies to achieve them. The interviewer may look for the candidate’s strong communication skills as a vital tool in the candidate’s examples.

Q – 59 What was the tough decision you had to make quickly?

Ans- An employer may seek an account manager with the ability to make decisions in a fraction of a section. If the interviewer asks a candidate a question about making quick decisions, the candidate should be able to provide an incident, the choices she had and the reasons for the decision she made. Her incident may involve a new credit policy, lowering a price for volume dealers, or other incidents with long-term effects on a business. The candidate could end the response with her decision and the outcome.

Q – 60 Which work environment do you prefer?

Ans- In addition to accounting activities, an account manager holds a management position that involves company relations to interact effectively with staff. With a question related to a preferred work environment, an interviewer is probing the candidate’s leadership abilities and interpersonal skills. A candidate who chooses an environment in which he can interact to offer support and feedback, may be preferred to a candidate who prefers to sit behind a desk.

Q – 61 Define team work and communication skills in the context of account management?

Ans- As an account manager, you work on two fronts: the clients and your company. Both require excellent communication skills. You need to earn the trust of both clients and managers, to convince both sides to close the best possible deal. Teamwork is probably more related to coordinating actions with the company, the development, sales, and marketing departments.

Q – 62 Tell me what is important to effective market analysis?

Ans- Generally speaking, it is important to do research on a regular basis in relation to every individual client or category of clients. Effective research assesses current situations to project future developments and opportunities for the company. It studies competitors and proposes improvements.

Q – 63 What are your tactics, techniques, and sales methods to increase revenues?

Ans- An account manager uses the information at his disposal to maintain and increase client interest. Staying current and doing marketing research are key factors to understanding what the customer is getting tired of and what he might become interested in.

This information has to be effectively coordinated with the company departments in order to result in a product that will prevent the customer from leaving.

Q – 64 What are the most important qualities of an account manager?

Ans- This question tests your confidence, self awareness, and independence. Do not be afraid to speak your mind confidently. The ability to work independently and make decisions is crucial if you are an account manager. This in turn requires being organized and self motivated, with the ability to work with many customers at once. This means outstanding customer service skills.

Q – 65 What makes account manager successful?

Ans- Speak confidently when answering questions where success is the subject. You do not have to gush and describe every possible aspect you can think of. Talk about a few key concepts, like communication and negotiation skills, market research and customer prospecting, etc. You will make an even better impression if you give an example from your own professional life to demonstrate your idea.