Advanced Accounting (GAAP) test

Why are advanced accounting skills important to employers?

Employers hire people with advanced accounting skills to track revenue and expenses and ensure they meet regulatory compliance. 

Breaching compliance is costly and shatters reputations. For example, the maximum fine for breaching a Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) regulation is $500,000 plus a potential prison term of up to ten years.

Recruiters don’t just want to hire conscientious accountants – they need to.

Corporate finance is increasingly complex, meaning employers need advanced accountants to understand financial data, monitor changing regulations, make accurate calculations, and own important reports.

By hiring a proactive accountant with advanced financial management skills, your company can:

• Save time: Talented accountants need little training and provide professional advice regarding tax and compliance, reducing guesswork.

• Save money: Candidates with advanced accounting skills understand the latest regulations and the most efficient cost-saving tax measures. They also adapt systems and processes to cut further costs, such as accurately managing the cost of goods sold. Finally, they save you money and protect your reputation by keeping you compliant with tax laws and regulations.

• Merge systems together: An advanced accountant can streamline processes and build all-in-one bookkeeping systems, integrating the general ledger and reducing hassle and needless software expenses.

• Ensure you’re compliant: An advanced accountant ensures compliance with tax returns, business activity statements (BAS), and installment activity statements (IAS), properly recording all correct debit and credit entries.

• Build financial forecasts: Talented accountants use extensive financial data, such as the book value of assets, to track debt, plan for expenses, and share gross margins – helping leaders make more informed decisions.

Recruiting on raw skills rather than experience should be a key part of learning how to hire an accountant. TestGorilla helps your candidates show you what they can do with an accounting test for job interviews and in-house training.

Take our case study with Studio Le Pera, an Italian accounting firm, as an example. By switching to skills-based hiring through TestGorilla’s talent discovery platform, the company saved €2,000 in per-hire recruiting costs and improved the quality of candidates attending interviews.

Create a multi-measure assessment: 4 tests to pair with the GAAP Advanced Accounting skills test

With TestGorilla, you can build custom assessments that include up to five different tests – perfect for assessing your accountancy candidates on a wide range of soft and hard skills and getting a holistic view of their knowledge.

Here are four exams we recommend you include alongside our Advanced Accounting test in a multi-measure assessment:

• Critical Thinking test: Evaluate applicants’ ability to make sound judgments based on objective evidence, handle high-pressure, confidential decision-making, and find patterns and sequences in complex financial data.

• Communication test: Gauge a job seeker on how well they actively listen to instructions, ask questions, collaborate with various specialists, and explain their findings clearly and concisely to others. This test helps you ensure your future accountants are adept at using financial information to build insightful action plans. 

• Financial Accounting test (GAAP): Focus on your candidates’ practical financial accounting abilities. Put them to the test and if they can record, classify, and summarize accounting transactions according to US GAAP.

• Culture Add test: Ensure your recruits mesh with your culture and ethos. Culture add is all about finding motivated people who innovate and push your brand further, not just blend with it.

After planning your online GAAP Advanced Accounting test, we recommend you consult our complete guide to accountant interview questions to create the perfect hiring process.