The financial industry is experiencing a talent shortage that is in danger of becoming a full-blown crisis. For the third consecutive year, ManpowerGroup included positions within the accounting and finance sector in their top 10 “hardest jobs to fill” list. If you are tasked with hiring accounting professionals, you know just how difficult it can be to find quality talent.
Even if you make a hire, there is no guarantee that the new employee will stick around. This impermanence is partly because many employees do not possess a good mix of the soft and hard skills needed to become a contributing member of your team.
Many organizations are adding accounting skills assessment tests into their evaluation practices to solve these common hiring problems. These assessments can streamline the hiring process and help you determine which candidates are the best match for your company.
This article identifies several exams that you should incorporate into your skill assessment test for accounting positions. These skills tests will provide valuable insights into a candidate’s abilities so that you can make informed hiring decisions.
Accounting Skills Basic Principles Test
When designing a skill assessment test for accounting positions, it is important to start with the basics. With that in mind, we recommend using the Accounting and Bookkeeping Principles skills test to evaluate candidates. This exam can be administered to new applicants and existing employees applying for an internal transfer to the accounting department.
The Accounting and Bookkeeping Principles test will cover Working with the General Ledger, Accounting Fundamentals, Managing Inventory, and related topics. An applicant who scores well on this exam possesses the basic abilities required for an Accounting Clerk or Accounts Receivable position.
Basic Excel Test
Since most accounting and finance positions require the individual to use the Excel spreadsheet program, you should include an exam covering this topic in your accounting skills assessment test. A basic Excel test will cover topics like data analysis, custom formulas, printing documents, etc.
There are specific tests available for different iterations of the program. For instance, if your office uses the latest version of Excel included in MS Office 2019, you should utilize the corresponding test. In addition to the basic exam, several other Excel tests are available that assess a candidate’s ability to perform more advanced tasks within the platform.
Advanced Excel Functions Test
Speaking of advanced Excel exams, the Functions and Simulations skills tests are great ways of screening candidates responsible for performing high-level tasks within the program. The Functions assessment covers IF Function, vLookup Function, and other search functions that operators can use to navigate Excel.
During the Simulation test, the applicant must demonstrate that they can perform spreadsheet customization, formatting, workbook management, and related tasks. This test includes simulations of real-world scenarios, which is one of the best ways of assessing a candidate’s hard skills.
For higher-level accounting positions, mastery of Excel is mandatory. Our skills tests help ensure that candidates who pass are completely competent and ready to start building Excel solutions for your company on day one.
Numerical Proofreading Test
Numerical proofreading is a valuable hard skill for accounting professionals of all skill levels. They must be able to consistently find numeric data errors and check the accuracy of financial documents.
The Numerical Proofreading test is one of the most efficient ways of assessing a candidate’s ability. This exam covers financial proofreading topics. It features a total of 40 true/false and simple selection questions.
If you’re hiring someone to track your company’s numbers, they must get those numbers right. Using this test, you can ensure that they have the correct skillset for accurately monitoring and reporting your organization’s most important data.
Attention to Detail Test
When assessing accounting candidates, you must gauge their technical abilities and soft skills. Soft skills may include interpersonal communication skills and analytical thinking abilities. Another soft skill that you can measure using an online exam is attention to detail.
The Attention to Detail skills test covers Word Analysis, Finding Errors, Word Meaning, and related skills. It includes 40 questions in fill-in-the-blank, multiple select, simple select, and true/false formats.
If you want to ensure that accounting applicants possess all of the soft skills necessary to succeed at your organization, you should also administer other assessments. There are skills tests available for measuring communication skills, logical reasoning, and much more. Some job-specific exams incorporate these topics as well.
Proven Testing Solutions from eSkill
While you can certainly create a custom accounting skills basic principles test, doing so can be both costly and time-consuming. The more pragmatic approach is to partner with a proven online skills assessment firm like eSkill.
We are the premium market leader and have a digital library that includes hundreds of skills tests for pre-employment and ongoing employee evaluation. You can choose from one of our existing exams or build a custom assessment using our selection of questions.
If you would like to learn more, contact us today to schedule a free demo. We will help you revolutionize the way you evaluate talent.