Accounts Payable (AP) Executive Interview Guide

Introduction

Hiring the right Accounts Payable (AP) Executive is critical for finance teams that need accurate payables processing, strong internal controls, and timely vendor relationships. The AP Executive role supports cash flow management and compliance while reducing payment risk.

This guide provides role-specific interview questions for hiring managers, recruiters, and candidates, including basic, intermediate, and advanced prompts. It also includes pre-screening one-way video interview questions suited for ScreeningHive to streamline candidate selection.

Accounts Payable (AP) Executive Interview Questions

Basic Accounts Payable (AP) Executive Interview Questions

• Describe the typical end to end accounts payable process and your role within it.
• What is a three way match and why is it important in AP?
• How do payment terms such as net 30 and net 60 impact working capital?
• Which invoice details are essential to ensure accurate posting?
• Explain the difference between trade and non trade payables.
• What controls would you use to prevent duplicate payments?
• How do you handle vendor queries about invoice status?
• What is the importance of accurate account coding and expense classification?

Intermediate Accounts Payable (AP) Executive Interview Questions

• Describe a time you identified and corrected a duplicate invoice or double payment. What steps did you take to resolve it?
• How would you manage vendor relations when a supplier complains about late payment during a cash shortage?
• Explain how you perform month end AP reconciliations between the subsidiary ledger and the general ledger.
• Provide an example of how you reduced invoice processing time or improved AP cycle efficiency.
• How do you prioritise payments when cash is limited but multiple suppliers must be paid?
• Describe your experience with AP automation tools and how you evaluated their impact.
• Walk through how you investigate and resolve a vendor dispute over an invoice amount.
• How do you prepare and present an accounts payable ageing report to finance leaders?
• Explain the process you follow for onboarding a new vendor and validating bank details.
• How do you ensure compliance with VAT GST or sales tax requirements when processing invoices?

Advanced Accounts Payable (AP) Executive Interview Questions

• Design a scalable AP process for a company expanding into multiple countries. What controls and local requirements do you include?
• Which KPIs would you track to measure AP performance and how would you report them to senior management?
• Explain how you would implement robotic process automation or machine learning in invoice processing while maintaining control and auditability.
• Describe a fraud risk assessment for the AP function and the control changes you would recommend.
• How would you lead a project to migrate AP operations to a shared service centre or external provider?
• Discuss strategies to optimise days payable outstanding without harming supplier relationships.
• How do you design role based controls and segregation of duties for a mid sized AP team?
• Describe your approach to vendor financing programs such as supply chain finance and the AP role in their execution.
• Explain how you would integrate AP data with treasury systems to improve cash forecasting.
• How do you build a continuous improvement plan for AP that balances efficiency, compliance, and employee development?

Pre-Screening Video Interview Questions for Accounts Payable (AP) Executive

These pre-screening questions are ideal for one-way video interviews on ScreeningHive. They help hiring teams quickly assess communication, technical knowledge, and situational judgement before scheduling live interviews.

1. Introduce your experience as an Accounts Payable Executive and highlight two achievements.

   This evaluates concise communication, relevant experience, and measurable impact.

2. Describe a time you discovered a payment error. What actions did you take and what was the outcome?

   This assesses problem solving, attention to detail, and control awareness.

3. How do you ensure invoices are coded correctly and tax compliant across different jurisdictions?

   This evaluates technical knowledge of tax rules, accuracy, and compliance processes.

4. Explain one process improvement you led in AP and the measurable results.

   This looks for initiative, project management, and evidence of efficiency gains.

5. How do you handle confidential vendor information and mitigate fraud risks in daily operations?

   This assesses ethics, control mindset, and knowledge of data protection practices.

Conclusion

These Accounts Payable (AP) Executive questions give hiring teams a structured way to evaluate candidates at entry, mid and senior levels. They also help candidates prepare targeted responses that demonstrate technical ability and process thinking.

Using ScreeningHive one-way video interviews enables faster screening, more consistent candidate assessment, and standardised evaluations across the hiring process. Implementing these questions can shorten time to hire and improve the quality of AP hires for finance teams.