Accounting interview

Company____
Owner____
Address____
Telephone____
1. How did you start your business?
a. How many years ago
b. What previous experience had you had?
c. With how much capital did you begin?
d. What factors hare had positive and negative effects upon your business?

2. Accounting
a. Have you paid an accountant in the past? How much?
b. What books, files, or account lists do you use?
c. What paper work do you use (receipts, vouchers, etc. )?
d. Do you save receipts, vouchers, orders, etc.?

3. I am interested in knowing the financial state and business policies of your company to have an idea of its condition ant manner of doing business.

a. Where do you have your bank account? More than one?
- How much money is there in the account at this moment?
- Have you borrowed money from this bank?

b. Is there a petty cash system?
- Who controls it? How much cash is kept on hand?
- Do you use personal cash for expenses?

c. Is there a savings account? Where?

- How much do you have saved?
Do you take funds out of the account? Why?
Amount of annual interest?

d. Clients - Receivables
- How many firm clients do you have?
- Where are they located?
- Who pays transportation costs?
- Credit terms?
- What percentage of sales are credit sales?
- Discounts?
- Payment period?
How does this compare to the industry?
- Do you receive postdated checks?
- What do you do with these checks?

- Wait till due- date?
- Pay supplier?
- Sell them to broker? Rate of Commission

- Do you receive orders?

- Is money advanced?
- What percentage?
- Are orders met on time?

- Are there sporadic clients?

- all locals or from farther away also?
- Orders?
- Postdated checks?

- Is there production without firm orders?

- Why?
- What percentage?

- Are the orders in small or large quantities?
- Do you have salesmen?

- Commission policy?
- Base wage?
- Travel expenses?
- Percentage of all sales due to salesmen?

e. Do you loan money to friends?
- How much?
- For how long?
- At what interest rate?

f. How many employees are there?
- When are they paid?
- What social benefits do they receive?
- Is there much turnover?
- More than one shift?
- What are their hours? Overtime?
- Paid by the hour or contract?
- Do you loan them money?

- Often?
- Are these loans reduced from their salary?

g. Do you have investments?
- Stocks, bonds, certificates, etc..?
- Parts of other business?

h. Fixed Assets
- What machines are there? Value?
- Tools? Value?
- Plant

- Mortgage? Monthly payment?
- Rented or loaned? Monthly payment?

- Do you have a house car, farm, motorbike, etc.?

i. Suppliers
- Have you firm suppliers? How many?
- Where?
- Who pays transportation?
- Credit terms? Limit?
- Do you pay them with postdated checks?
- Are there sporadic suppliers?

- can you obtain credit?
- What percentage of purchases?

- What materials do you purchase? % of total?

- Which are scarce?
- Which have risen dramatically in purchase cost?

j. Do you have bank loans? More than one?
- Name of Bank
- Amount?

k. Other financial obligations?
- Finance Companies? Amount? Term?
- Private loan? Amount? Term?

l. Are there reserves to pay social benefits?
- How much do you owe your workers?

m. Sales
- Which months have more sales?
- The least sales?
- Your monthly average? Can you immediately increase your selling price to meet rises in purchasing costs?
- Why not?

n. Personal expenses?
- Do you have a salary?
- How much do you spend per week? Month?

o. Are there income or expenses outside of your normal business?
- What kind?
- How much per month?