Financial Controller Interview Questions

Wondering what questions to ask when interviewing a contender for the profile of Financial Controller? Explore financial controller interview questions below to gauge the candidate’s’ skills.

Financial Controller Interview Questions

The key responsibility of financial controller is to ensure the long-term financial solvency of the organization. It further involves establishing budgets, administer and regulate accounts and corporate funds. They also forecast preparations and develop internal control policies and procedures.

Your candidates will have master’s degrees in business administration or accounting. The contenders who are certified management accountants (CMAs) or certified public accountants (CPAs) will be able to answer your complex accounting questions.

For this position, leadership qualities are mandatory. The individual you hire must have strong track records of hiring as well as developing skills. Other attributes such as excellent presentation skills and negotiation skills are also essential. Make sure the person you pick should be able to communicate financial information to the non-finance employees, especially to the team of management.

Here are some financial controller interview questions that will help you in picking the best contender for your company. These questions will assist in starting the purposeful and open-ended conversation.

You will get to know about their skills, and you can see whether they have a gift of strategic planning or not. The one who can clearly articulate his/her logic and can motivate the people they work with will be great for this role. Make sure you look if they are familiar with your company and industry.

Operational and Situational questions

• What challenges are you looking for?
• Explain your approach to teamwork. Can you tell how you have had to adapt to work efficiently as part of a team?
• What have you learned from mistakes in this job?
• Describe a typical work week for a financial controller position?
• What is the most challenging financial project you have ever worked on?
• Explain about a time when you successfully dealt with a difficult and demanding client?
• What types of reports or presentations have you made for executive teams?
• Recall a time you had to motivate your team to complete a complex project under a tight deadline.
• How have you reduced expenses at previous companies?
• What are the financial strengths as well as weaknesses of our industry?
• Give me an example of a decision you made that benefited your company.
• What kind of accounting or financial reporting softwares are you familiar with?
• How have you increased revenues in previous organizations you have worked for?
• What is your approach to hiring financial staff?
• Recall a time you had to convince an executive team to make an important financial decision.