Hiring guide
How to Hire an Accounting Manager
How to hire an accounting manager: close ownership, GAAP or IFRS depth, team leadership, a review-the-close work sample, red flags and onboarding.
The short answer
Hiring an Accounting Manager comes down to verifying owning and improving the month-end and year-end close, reviewing reconciliations and journals and spotting errors quickly and us gaap or ifrs knowledge, including revenue recognition under asc 606 or ifrs 15 before you commit interview time. The process below runs 5 stages, screens on evidence rather than résumé claims, and scores every candidate against the same criteria.
- Watch for: Describes the close only in terms of their own tasks, with no view of the whole process
- Watch for: Has never reviewed someone else's work or signed off a reconciliation
- Score on: Proportion of planted errors found in the review exercise
- Score on: Quality and tone of the review notes: specific, actionable and constructive
Paste your Accounting Manager job description; Cohesyve finds, contacts and tests candidates on the real work and ranks them. Ten candidates free, no card.
Applying for a role like this? Practise the assessment free →If you are deciding how to hire an accounting manager, look for someone who can own the monthly close end to end, review other people's work accurately and lead a small team. Being a strong individual accountant is not enough on its own. The role sits between the controller or CFO and the staff accountants, so test technical depth, review skill and management together. This guide covers sourcing, what to test, a realistic work sample and how to onboard.
Why this role matters
The accounting manager is usually responsible for a timely, accurate close and for the team that produces it. They keep the general ledger clean, prepare or review financial statements, coordinate the audit and maintain controls. A strong manager shortens the close, reduces audit findings and develops the accountants below them. A weak one becomes a bottleneck, lets errors through review and leaves the controller doing the detail work.
Where to find candidates
- Senior accountants and assistant controllers ready for their first management role, internally or at peer companies
- Audit seniors and managers from public accounting firms moving into industry
- CPA societies and AICPA in the US, ICAEW, ACCA and CIMA in the UK, ICAI in India
- Finance and accounting recruiters and staffing firms such as Robert Half
- IMA (Institute of Management Accountants) members holding the CMA credential
- LinkedIn, filtering for your ERP and industry, such as NetSuite, Sage Intacct or SAP
Skills to look for
Red flags
- Describes the close only in terms of their own tasks, with no view of the whole process
- Has never reviewed someone else's work or signed off a reconciliation
- Misses obvious errors in the review exercise or approves without checking support
- Blames auditors or staff for past audit findings without describing a fix
- Prefers doing the work themselves to developing their team
The interview process
- 1
Screening call
Confirm qualification status, the size and complexity of the books they have closed, team size managed, ERP experience and audit exposure.
- 2
Technical interview with the controller or CFO
Discuss revenue recognition scenarios relevant to your business, how they would handle a late-arriving invoice after close, and how they have shortened a close in the past.
- 3
Review-the-close work sample
Give a set of close workpapers prepared by a fictional staff accountant: a balance sheet reconciliation, an accrual schedule and a revenue journal, with planted errors and a missing support document. Ask the candidate to review them and write review notes as they would for their team. A job simulation of this review work is one option for a consistent comparison between candidates.
- 4
Management interview
Explore how they assign work, give feedback, handle an underperforming team member and protect deadlines when the team is stretched.
- 5
Meet the team and references
Let finalists meet the accountants they would manage. Ask former managers and direct reports about accuracy, leadership and how they behave under audit pressure.
Cohesyve
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Cohesyve takes your Accounting Manager job description, finds and contacts candidates and tests each one on an AI job simulation of the job, so the stages above start with people who have already done the work. Ten candidates free, no card.
How to evaluate
- Proportion of planted errors found in the review exercise
- Quality and tone of the review notes: specific, actionable and constructive
- Technical accuracy on revenue recognition and period-end judgements
- Evidence of improving a close process or control in a past role
- Management approach and how direct reports describe them
- Communication with auditors and non-finance stakeholders
Onboarding
- 1Share the close calendar, checklist and last year-end audit findings before they start reviewing
- 2Have them run one close alongside the controller before taking full ownership
- 3Hold one-to-ones with each team member in the first weeks to understand workloads and gaps
- 4Introduce them to the external auditors and agree their role in the next audit
- 5Ask for a short written assessment of the close and controls once they have seen a full cycle
Common questions
What is the difference between an accounting manager and a controller?
An accounting manager usually runs the close and the accounting team day to day. A controller typically owns the wider accounting function, financial reporting, controls and policy, and often manages the accounting manager.
Does an accounting manager need to be a CPA?
It is common and helpful, especially where audit and complex reporting are involved, but strong experience and review skill can matter more. Decide based on your reporting obligations and the controller's qualifications.
Should I promote a senior accountant or hire externally?
An internal promotion knows your systems and people. An external hire, often from audit, can bring stronger technical depth and fresh process ideas. Assess both with the same review exercise.
How do I test management ability in an accounting manager?
Combine a review exercise, which shows how they check and give feedback on others' work, with behavioural questions about real situations such as missed deadlines or underperformance.
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