Lominion

Fintrainer · accounting practice

Practice for finance job interviews

At an interview for an accounting, audit or financial analyst job you are usually asked to post a transaction and explain what it does to the statements. Here you can practise that beforehand: 1000 IFRS problems and the same thousand in US GAAP, on the books of different companies, from depreciation and disposals of fixed assets to leases, impairment and deferred tax. The server checks the answers, and the figures change on every attempt. If a topic has slipped your mind, a plain-language textbook is right next to the problems.

Open the problemsHow a problem works

What the questions sound like

A few questions from the accounting practice problems, the way an interviewer asks them. Every problem has its own company and its own period, and the amounts in the problem itself will differ: they change on every attempt.

Post it and show the effecteasyIAS 163 min
“Our café fit-out cost £96,000 and lasts eight years. Post November’s depreciation and walk me through the three statements.”
Solve it → Post it and show the effectmediumIAS 16IAS 125 min
“Ireland taxes trading profit at 12.5%. Post June’s €8,000 of depreciation with its tax effect and tell me what happens to net income.”
Solve it → Post it and show the effecteasyIFRS 164 min
“Our restaurant lease gave us a right-of-use asset of HK$720,000 for three years. What is August’s depreciation?”
Solve it → Post it and show the effectexpertIAS 367 min
“After a year of empty rooms the hotel is carried at AED 52,000,000. A buyer would pay AED 41,000,000 net of costs; our forecast cash flows are worth AED 44,000,000. Post the impairment.”
Solve it →

How a problem works

Two kinds of problem, like the two main interview questions. Each stage is checked on its own, and at any stage you can press “How to solve” to see what is expected.

Post it and show the effect1000 problems

The classic “walk me through…” question: the journal entries for an everyday transaction and what it does to the three statements. Depreciation, disposals, revaluation, impairment, leases, deferred tax. Every problem also comes in a US GAAP version.

  1. Post it. Write the double entry the way you would in the ledger. The accounts and the amounts are checked, not the wording.
  2. Say the effect. For profit, assets, liabilities, equity and operating cash flow: up, down or no change, and by how much.
  3. See it. The entry is posted to the company's books, and every statement line that moved is shown before and after, next to the answer in words, the way you would say it at an interview.

Find what is wrongComing soon

Finding errors in the books: one of the month's entries is wrong, and its traces show in the statements and the documents, a bank statement and a fixed asset register.

  1. Spot it. Find the wrong entry among the month’s postings from the symptoms in the statements and documents.
  2. Name it. Say what kind of mistake it is and how much each figure is misstated.
  3. Fix it. Post the correcting entry.
  4. See it. The model answer and the explanation.

A plain-language textbook

250 chapters of the IFRS textbook in 10 blocks, and the same in US GAAP. Every chapter is built around one company and one question, and that company’s books for the year are open right in the chapter: the journal, the balance sheet, the income statement and working sheets. At the end of a chapter a button takes you to its problems.

  1. Accruals and prepayments
  2. Inventories
  3. Equity
  4. Depreciation and amortisation
  5. Property, plant and equipment beyond depreciation
  6. Provisions and contingencies
  7. Leases
  8. Income taxes
  9. Revenue
  10. Financial instruments
Open the textbookUS GAAP textbook

What helps you prepare

Honest marking

The model answers never reach the browser: the server checks your work. The first check of each stage sets the marks, and checking again only shows what is right, so the score shows how you would have answered first time.

New figures on every attempt

The amounts change every time. You cannot memorise the answer, but the method sticks, and you can take the same problem again on different figures.

What to say to the interviewer

After you solve it: the answer in words, the way you would put it at an interview, and an interview tip. The interviewer listens to how you explain, not only to the figures.

A working sheet like Excel

A sheet for the calculations: formulas with cell references, functions, copy and fill. No need for a calculator in another window.

Interview readiness

For every topic you see what already works, what is worth another go and which problem to solve next.

Ranks

Seven ranks for solved problems. Your first attempt is what counts, as at a real interview, and you can keep practising as much as you like.

Topics and standards

The catalogue holds 1000 IFRS problems: 250 easy, 468 medium, 262 expert and 20 master, and 1000 in the US GAAP version. It keeps growing; these are the standards the problems are built on.

US GAAP topics in the ASC codification 49
  • ASC 360Property, plant and equipment193 problems
  • ASC 606Revenue from contracts with customers149 problems
  • ASC 330Inventory133 problems
  • ASC 740Income taxes124 problems
  • ASC 842Leases115 problems
  • ASC 230Statement of cash flows106 problems
  • ASC 250Accounting changes and error corrections71 problems
  • ASC 450Contingencies68 problems
  • ASC 505Equity67 problems
  • ASC 835Interest45 problems
  • ASC 340Other assets and deferred costs30 problems
  • ASC 326Credit losses29 problems
  • ASC 410Asset retirement obligations28 problems
  • ASC 405Liabilities27 problems
  • ASC 321Investments: equity securities25 problems
  • ASC 710Compensation: general20 problems
  • ASC 855Subsequent events20 problems
  • ASC 470Debt19 problems
  • ASC 460Guarantees18 problems
  • ASC 210Balance sheet16 problems
  • ASC 420Exit or disposal costs15 problems
  • ASC 718Stock compensation12 problems
  • ASC 720Other expenses12 problems
  • ASC 270Interim reporting11 problems
  • ASC 310Receivables11 problems
  • ASC 350Intangibles: goodwill and other11 problems
  • ASC 480Distinguishing liabilities from equity10 problems
  • ASC 610Other income10 problems
  • ASC 605Revenue recognition (legacy)9 problems
  • ASC 845Nonmonetary transactions9 problems
  • ASC 260Earnings per share8 problems
  • ASC 815Derivatives and hedging8 problems
  • ASC 860Transfers and servicing8 problems
  • ASC 305Cash and cash equivalents7 problems
  • ASC 805Business combinations7 problems
  • ASC 830Foreign currency matters7 problems
  • ASC 705Cost of sales and services6 problems
  • ASC 730Research and development5 problems
  • ASC 320Investments: debt securities4 problems
  • ASC 440Commitments4 problems
  • ASC 832Government assistance4 problems
  • ASC 908Airlines4 problems
  • ASC 323Equity method and joint ventures2 problems
  • ASC 325Investments: other1 problem
  • ASC 820Fair value measurement1 problem
  • ASC 825Financial instruments1 problem
  • ASC 850Related parties1 problem
  • ASC 952Franchisors1 problem
  • ASC 985Software1 problem

Coming to the trainer

The trainer is in alpha testing: the problems and the textbook are open, the rest is on its way.

Cases: a year in a company’s lifeComing soon

In a case you keep one company’s books for a whole year, and at the end an auditor comes to check them. Cases are still in development, but you can already try the trial case.

Open the trial case

New problem typesComing soon

Find the error, read the statements, professional judgement: the questions an interviewer asks after the journal entries.

Russian standardsComing soon

Problems and a textbook under Russian accounting standards (RAS): the chart of accounts, PBU and FSBU. Coming after IFRS and US GAAP.

No sign-up needed

The problems and the textbook open straight away. Without an account your results stay on this device. With one they are saved on the server and show on your phone and your computer, and whatever you solved before signing in moves into the account. Signing in needs no password, just a code sent to your email.

Questions

What do accounting interview questions look like?

Most often they ask you to walk through a transaction: post it and say what it does to the three statements. Classic topics: depreciation, disposals and revaluation of fixed assets, impairment (IAS 36), leases (IFRS 16), deferred tax (IAS 12). All of them are in the problems, new topics keep being added, and problems on finding errors are coming next.

Who are the problems for?

Anyone going to an interview for an accounting, audit, financial analyst or reporting job, and students learning accounting who want to test themselves in practice.

What do I need to know beforehand?

The basics of double entry are enough. If a topic has slipped your mind, open its chapter in the textbook: it explains it in plain language on one company’s books. Start with the easy problems: every stage has a “How to solve” hint, and after you solve a problem you get the explanation and the answer in words.

Who checks the answers?

The server. It compares your journal entries and figures with the model answer and awards marks. The model answers never reach the browser, so the score is honest.

Can I memorise the answers?

No. The amounts change on every attempt, so you cannot remember the figures, but you can master the method.

Is it IFRS only?

No. Every problem and every textbook chapter also comes in a US GAAP version. Problems and chapters under Russian standards (RAS) are being prepared.

Do I need to install anything?

No. The trainer runs in the browser, on a computer or a phone.

Found a mistake in a problem or a chapter?

The trainer is in alpha testing. Every page of it has a “Found a bug?” button, and the message goes straight to the team.

Start with the first problem

An easy problem takes about 3 minutes: the entry, its effect on the three statements and the explanation.

Open the problemsThe first problem

The trainer is the first chapter of Lominion

The next one, an economic strategy game, is in development.

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