Crack Your Next Accounting Interview: Top 5 Practical FAQs for 2026#
Moving Beyond the Textbooks#
If you are a commerce student or a junior accountant stepping into the corporate world in 2026, knowing the "Golden Rules of Accounting" is no longer enough. Recruiters and Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) are looking for practical, scenario-based knowledge. They want to know if you can handle real-world GST complications and ERP adjustments.
Here are the Top 5 practical FAQs you must master to crack your next accounting interview.
Question 1: When is the "Sales Account" actually debited?#
The Common (Wrong) Answer: "During a sales return." Answer: While Sales Returns do reduce sales, they are typically booked to a separate 'Sales Return' account for tracking purposes. The actual "Sales Account" is debited when you need to reduce an invoice's value post-sale without taking the goods back. This happens due to a rate difference (billing ₹100 instead of ₹90), a pricing error, or when issuing a post-sale volume discount via a Credit Note.
Question 2: What does the 6th digit of a GSTIN represent?#
Answer: A GSTIN is a 15-digit alphanumeric code. The first two digits represent the State Code, and the next ten are the PAN. The 6th digit of the GSTIN (which is the 4th character of the embedded PAN) reveals the constitution of the business.For example:
- 'P' stands for Proprietorship (Individual)
- 'C' stands for Company
- 'H' stands for Hindu Undivided Family (HUF)
- 'F' stands for Partnership Firm Why recruiters ask this: It shows you understand the anatomy of tax documents, not just how to punch data into Tally.
Question 3: Can a business with a ₹40 Lakh turnover operating inter-state avoid GST registration?#
Answer: No. The ₹40 Lakh (for goods) or ₹20 Lakh (for services) threshold limits apply only if the business is making strictly intra-state (within the same state) supplies. The moment a business makes an inter-state supply (selling to a customer in another state), Section 24 of the CGST Act is triggered, making GST registration mandatory within 30 days, even if their turnover is just ₹10,000.
Question 4: How do you treat Bank Charges in a Bank Reconciliation Statement (BRS) if they are not yet in the cash book?#
Answer: If the bank has deducted charges (which appear on the bank statement) but the accountant hasn't recorded them in the company's cash book yet, the cash book balance will be higher than the actual bank balance. To reconcile starting from the cash book balance, you must deduct the bank charges to arrive at the bank statement balance. (The follow-up action is to pass a journal entry debiting Bank Charges and crediting the Bank).
Question 5: What is the journal entry for the Reverse Charge Mechanism (RCM) on Freight?#
Answer: When you pay a Goods Transport Agency (GTA) ₹10,000 for freight and RCM applies at 5%, the entry involves recognizing the expense and the tax liability simultaneously:- Debit: Freight Inward/Outward Account (Expense) - ₹10,000
- Debit: Input CGST RCM Account (Asset) - ₹250
- Debit: Input SGST RCM Account (Asset) - ₹250
- Credit: GTA/Transporter Payable Account (Liability) - ₹10,000
- Credit: Output CGST RCM Payable (Liability) - ₹250
- Credit: Output SGST RCM Payable (Liability) - ₹250
Mastering these scenarios proves to an employer that you are job-ready from day one. Good luck!