How Do You Organize and Prioritize Your Day?

Interview Preparation
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#1

The work of an accountant is driven by processes, impending deadlines, and a ton of cross-functional collaboration. So organization, time management, and healthy communication between your team and clients are all super crucial to demonstrate here. According to Holt, it’s important for accountants to explain how they are able to keep track of their schedule and effectively split time between accounting procedures, client check-ins, and team check-ins.

For instance, how often are you checking in with your clients? And when you do, are you sending them updates on documentation needs or where things may be held up in the process (if you’re waiting on something from them)? Do you keep a running to-do list, use a checklist, or note due dates on your calendar? There’s no right or wrong answer here—share what has worked for you to stay on task and on time.

So you could say something along the lines of:

“I like to stay as proactive as possible, especially during busy times such as month- or quarter-end close. I keep a running to-do list and have each task marked as high, medium, or low priority, as well as how many hours it will take to complete. I also give myself deadlines for my tasks, especially those that need to get sent over to another team member—for example, budgeting has to get done before the financial analysis can be created, so I’d make sure to complete my work in plenty of time to set my colleague up for success. I also check in with my leadership often to make sure things are on track and communicate with my team regularly to understand any potential delays or risks to completing our work within the allotted time frame.”

#2

Things that need to be done immediately; things that can be done later; and things that aren’t really that important but should be done at some point.

Todo lists are great, they help you have a physical copy of what needs to be done. However, I’ve learned to not get bogged down by a list of words on paper.

If you don’t achieve everything on the list immediately, it’s okay, you can always finish it tomorrow.

In fact, if it’s important you’ll want to do it straight away. If it’s something you’re passionate about you’ll definitely want to do it straight away.