Tell me about yourself.

To formally introduce my self, my name is Joshua Perez. Currently residing in Binangonan Rizal. I am the
youngest among the siblings. I perceive myself as a young, friendly, humble, hardworking and goal-
oriented individual. I graduated in the URS Binangonan with a degree of Bachelor of Science in
Accountancy. I was an active member of JPIA in our local chapter where I participated with various
activities locally, regionally, and nationally. I also won different local and regional accounting quiz bees.
One of my strengths is my ability to focus as it contributes to my ability to meet deadlines. I was trained
to meet very tight deadlines. I am a team player and a very dependable person. As for my weaknesses, I
tend to become a little bit intense and serious in the work place. But I'm working it and use my sense of
humor when appropriate.

Are you familiar with Accenture?

I recognized Accenture from the list of top companies issued by LinkedIn and from my fellow
schoolmates. Based on what I have learned about the company, ACN is a global professional services
company with leading capabilities in digital, cloud and security. The company offers Strategy and
Consulting, Interactive, Technology and Operations services.

Why did you leave your previous company?

While I have value my time on my previous work and there are other opportunities to grow in public
practice, I believed that I’ve reached my peak in the firm and I am now looking for new opportunities.

Why should we hire you?

Having equipped with necessary skills to some extent, as well as the experience to lead a team, I firmly
believe that my current skillset can help the company on its daily operations. I am well versed in
Procurement to Payment, Inventory Management and Record to Report processes. I’m also familiar on
how Order to Cash and Work Order Management processes work.

Short-Term and Long-Term Goals

As for my short-term goal, I aim to take the CPA Licensure Examination and other certifications in line on
my profession but without sacrificing the quality of my work. And for my long-term goal, I envisioned
myself to a well-trained and licensed accountant who work on a higher position.

Walkthrough of your experience

On my first 7 months stay in the firm, It is a local accounting firm located in Mandaluyong City named
HDJC (Formerly RCC), I have provided bookkeeping, tax filing and attachments, intercompany
reconciliations, account reconciliations (especially bank and cleanup of long outstanding AR and AP),
cash flow projections, and compliance on both external and BIR audit to my client. Right after that,
we’re assigned to a separate engagement where we will be handling another company (in addition to
my previous client) as they will undergo transition to Netsuite. With that, we attended some User
Acceptance Trainings as a preparation for our assigned processes. We also assisted them in migrating
their manual books to NS including its data management until Go Live.

With 1 year of extensive knowledge, I assumed the position of a Team Leader/Acting Supervisor as the
previous one was absorbed by one of our clients. I was supposed to handle 2 colleagues at that time but
I’ve handled only one as we are short of staff. Despite of it, I took the initiative to work on two different
roles and still managed to not sacrifice the quality of my work.

As a Supervisor, I was responsible on the month end closing activities. This includes: ensuring that the
cash account is reconciled on every bank account, preparation of AR and AP Aging with schedules,
generation of current inventory snapshot, examining any significant rise or drop of accounts, posting of
accruals and coordinating reconciliations to key personnel as to intercompany transactions. Also, I’m
the point of contact for any internal and external accounting related issues.

What is your salary range?

At best, I would ask for around 30k-35k. However, if it is not feasible, I would like at least 30k but I am
open for negotiation.

What are you looking for a company?

I am looking for a company that has a friendly environment, offers great compensation package and
work from home arrangement. A big plus to a company that offers various training for professional
growth and promotes work and life balance.

How do you feel working on night shift?

I am a morning person. But as far as night shift is concerned, I am open to whatever shift the company
will offer.

Are you willing to relocate or travel?

I would definitely consider it. If the opportunity given to me is a rewarding one, I don't think I don't have
any issues relocating.

How long do you intend to stay in this company?

If everything goes well, I plan to stay here for a long time, or as long as my services will be valued and
required.
 Inventory Management Inventory Transfer
Transfer Order
Inventory Adjustments
Physical Count Reconciliation
Purchase to Pay PO Creation
Item Receipt
Vendor Bill Creation
Debit Memo Creation
AP Aging Report
Payments
Record to Record Taxes
Intercompany Reconciliations
Accruals
Order to Cash Item Fulfillment
SI Generation/ BS
Credit Memo Creation
Collection
AR Aging Report
Bank Reconciliation

Cash Flow Projection

I also created a quarterly CFP, where I'll be anticipating the total net cash flow from my client's
expectations. Then I'll propose the total budget for our expenses (based on the result of CFP) be
transferred to our disbursing account.

How do you handle stress?

Well, stress is inevitable and we need to live up to the expectations of our clients while dealing with a lot
of loads. And in order for me to handle such pressure, I always take a breather to clear my mind before
going back to work. I also carry-out my deliverables ahead of time to avoid unnecessary stress. I do
prefer to have some time offs after a busy season to avoid burnout.

How do you handle your teammate?

As a previous team leader, it is my responsibility to understand the situation of my teammate in order to

accomplish our tasks as deadlines are approaching. And there are other factors that we are not aware
of, so it would be best to give them some time to talk. I remember that time when I approached my
colleague to talk about his performance as he suddenly became quite lost on our processes. Little did I
know that he was having a hard time during our transition. With that, I extendedly offer my assistance
and encourage him to reach out whenever he has some clarifications on our processes. And as I have
observed him, notice some improvements and I commended him for that.
How do you handle your client?

Difficult as it is sometimes, it is really important to keep my calm as this can help my client feel that I am
in control of the situation and I can solve their concerns. And when something goes wrong, I will
apologize right away and focus on providing alternative solutions rather than blaming anyone as
problems are inevitable on any business.

Back then, we had a very professional discussion with my client's FC as to a certain deduction that I've
recommended in filing the income tax return. The FC insisted that we cannot proceed on using the said
deduction as this is not specifically stated in the form. So, we decided to inquiry the tax department of
the parent company. They recommended to proceed on my recommendation and I let my FC know the
suggestion of them. With that, we agreed on filing them as recommended.

Most important skills and qualities needed as an Analyst?

To be an effective and efficient Analyst, you need to be detail-oriented, highly organized and
commercially aware. You must possess the ability to manage and meet deadlines, identify ways to
improve accounting processes and have the ability to work independently and as part of a team.

Share how you face some challenges and how did you solve it.

I can share with you that time when I was tasked to do an inventory reconciliation for one of my clients.
They do not have a manual tracker of their stocks back then and some of their information got lost due
to change of their staff and the accountant handling this particular company. In consideration of that, I
worked back on each transaction and created an inventory report that shows every movement of each
stock throughout the year. This helped me identify some invoices and returns are still not recorded and
there are some missing inventories based on the physical count. I was able to confirm that those
missing inventories are still in transit due to pandemic and the sales administrator did not notify the
previous accountant as to this matter. Finally, I recommended to do a monthly inventory reconciliation
as practice. This will help them check the current supply of stocks and avoid the recurrence of tedious
reconciliation at year end.

How do you minimize the risk of errors?

A checklist on the side did help me to prioritize my deliverables based on its urgency. This also helped
me to limit multitasking. In case of doubt, I ask for some clarifying questions to check if I am still aligned
as to what should be the outcome of my work. Last thing to do is to revisit my work and opt to present
them to a colleague for their inputs as well.

How should FS be presented?

Financial statements must be presented fairly and should follow a certain standard which is IAS 1 / PAS
1. This standard sets out the overall requirement for financial statements, including its structure and
overriding concepts like going concern, the accrual basis of accounting and distinction of current and
non-current classification. Financial statements should not be limited to: SFP (current position), SCI
(income and expense for a period), Cash Flow (Flow of cash under operating, investing and financing
activities, SHE and Notes to financial statements (summary of significant accounting policies, estimates
and explanatory notes). Comparative information shall also be observed as this is relevant in
understanding the FS of the current period.

Tell me your experience about intercompany transactions.

We primarily use an ERP called Anaplan to check if our balances as to intercompany transactions are
tallied with our counter parties. In uploading, we used a CSV file that indicates the nature of the
transaction, used mapped accounts, their balances and as well as the transacting party. Once uploaded,
any variances should be coordinated to key personnel and be resolved until final loading. At final
loading, all uploads should be reconciled and any adjustments must be booked already.

1. Unmapped Accounts – accounts that are newly used and should be mapped to the Global COA.
2. Timing difference – time lag as to recognition of transaction, (e.g. payments through check that
is subject to clearing)
3. System Error – due to various users at the same time
4. Accruals that haven’t been reversed.

Tell me about transfer pricing.

Transfer pricing refers to setting of prices on goods and services exchanged among subsidiaries,
affiliates and other legal entity under a company with legal control. The purpose of this taxation practice
is to ensure that the internal prices are equivalent to the prices they would charge if these transactions
are conducted with third parties. Companies are required to file its BIR Form 1709 (Related Party
Transaction Form) along with the income tax return regardless of amount and volume of transaction,
local or foreign within the taxable year. This will help the BIR to assess the risk of eroding the tax base
and subsequently lowers the tax payable. It may be worthwhile to evaluate the:

 addresses of the foreign/local related parties

 their Taxpayer’s Identification Numbers
 the filing of tax treaty relief applications
 local or foreign taxes withheld
 provisions on doubtful accounts
 expenses recognized
  terms and conditions of the transactions
 dividends
 redemption of shares
 compensation and benefits (including post-employment benefits) of the taxpayer’s key
management personnel.

Likewise, the need to evaluate is also true for the following required attachments to the RPT Form:

 relevant contracts or proof of transaction

 withholding tax returns and the corresponding proof of payment of taxes withheld and
remitted to the BIR
 proof of payment of foreign taxes or ruling duly issued by the foreign tax authority where the
other party is a resident.

Once information is gathered in the RPT form and other attachments, the BIR will make an informed
decision at the early stage on whether or not to conduct a thorough review/audit of a particular entity or
transaction. But it will be impossible for the BIR to conduct a transfer pricing audit of each and every
related-party transaction. This is because BIR examiners need to invest time in each transfer pricing
audit.