Finance Testing 1-2-3
System
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Despite careful background checking and detailed interviewing, our Finance department can't seem to recruit employees with much common math, accounting, or posting abilities. The job requires simple math, logic, and a very basic understanding of accounting - no degrees or certifications.
People seem to do well with functional data entry, and minor transactions when they interview and test. But, once on board, cannot seem to get a grip of the logical progression of transactions.
What do others do when interviewing for a position in Finance? Our area is mostly water & sewer bills, tax collecting, major facility fees, building permit fees, etc. then balancing out at the end of the day. How do you test for logic?
Thanx, y'all
People seem to do well with functional data entry, and minor transactions when they interview and test. But, once on board, cannot seem to get a grip of the logical progression of transactions.
What do others do when interviewing for a position in Finance? Our area is mostly water & sewer bills, tax collecting, major facility fees, building permit fees, etc. then balancing out at the end of the day. How do you test for logic?
Thanx, y'all
Comments
Congratulations to a woman from Maryland for saying 'ya'll'. x:-)
>understanding of accounting. It is generally
>understood (I hate dealing in generalities),
>that the first accounting classes are the ones
>that most often stretch the mind of the
>initiate. These are the classes where all of
>the new terminology and concepts are introduced.
> I always test and background check, but I also
>interview very carefully. Ask the right leading
>questions about their experience and the things
>they like most about accounting and you can
>quickly determine their skill level and aptitude
>for the job.
Marc: I would guess that any of us who went to college more than 15 years ago (am I dating myself) will overestimate the system of teaching basic accounti8ng knowledge. The HR Administrator working for me took her first Accounting class this semester. She is working towards an Associate's Degree in HR. The most basic accounting course offered by the local community college is "Financial Accounting.” Those "new terminology and concepts" you refer to were only "introduced" by being printed on the flyleaf of the book. This course assumed that college freshmen and sophomores knew from high school the concepts of debits and credits, double entry bookkeeping, and all the things covered in my first six hours of "Introduction to Accounting" at a major (Big XII) land grant university. Guess what the second course offered is. "Management Accounting"!
I wonder if anyone has told the various local high school counselors about these assumptions. Having had two children graduate from high school in the last five years, I would suspect not. We are enrolling new business school undergrads who are unprepared for the demands of the "higher education" system they are depending upon preparing them for a career. That could well be the problem here.
Your post is interesting. Are you saying (generally) that high school grads are not prepared for college? If so, how do we fill the gap? It's ludicrous for grads to attend remedial courses after graduation in order to enter college.
I started college when I was 30 - scared to death that the younger entrants would leave me in the dust. They didn't hold a candle, somehow couldn't grasp basic concepts of math, composition, or accounting.
Recently, I took a 6th grade functional math test to see how much I'd lost. I can still compute after all these years. Perhaps we should use it for our finance people.
"Sam"
The basic classes in college were often considered difficult. Lots of new terminology icons. The cynical side of me understands that language is one of the ways a profession limits the number of practicing members. Some professions use latin, others make up words as they go (like many branches of science), but they all require a significant time investment to understand the concepts, meanings, etc. that the icons represent.
The accounting industry is no different. If one has not put in the time to understand the concepts and the mechanics, it is then difficult to successfully carry out the assigned tasks.
It is not rocket science, but if a person does not like math or have a flair for puzzles and some basic organizational skills, then an uphill battle is in store for them.
As I recall, the first courses in college are usually a 2-semester course of "Principles of Accounting 1" which is the really basic introduction that explains debits and credits, how to do a bank reconciliation and the basic forms of financial statements. Then, there is a second set that is "Intermediate Accounting". I just checked our local community college and they still offer courses in that fashion.
I think that perhaps something is missing here, to offer Managment Accounting next seems to be way off, unless they now offer "basic" courses up front for non-accounting majors. Those specialized accounting courses usually come in the 3rd year with Cost, Tax, and Auditing.
I think that everyone should take a basic or principles of accounting course. There is so much there that can be valuable in any office job as well as personal.