Recruiter's Glossary

Examples: Adverse Opinion • Qualified Opinion • Detection Risk

Financial Statements

Term from Auditing industry explained for recruiters

Financial Statements are essential business documents that show a company's money situation. Think of them as a company's health report card. They usually include three main parts: the balance sheet (what a company owns and owes), income statement (how much money it made or lost), and cash flow statement (how money moved in and out). When you see this on a resume, it means the person has experience analyzing or preparing these important documents. Similar terms you might see are "financial reports," "annual reports," or "company accounts." Auditors, accountants, and financial analysts all work with these documents to help businesses understand their financial health.

Examples in Resumes

Prepared and analyzed Financial Statements for Fortune 500 clients

Led quarterly Financial Statement review process for 20+ companies

Conducted detailed Financial Statements audit for compliance with GAAP standards

Typical job title: "Financial Statement Auditors"

Also try searching for:

Auditor Financial Analyst Accountant Financial Statement Analyst External Auditor Internal Auditor Financial Reporting Specialist

Where to Find Financial Statement Auditors

Professional Organizations

Job Boards

Professional Networks

Example Interview Questions

Senior Level Questions

Q: How would you handle a situation where you discover significant discrepancies in a client's financial statements?

Expected Answer: A senior professional should discuss their process for documenting findings, communicating with management, escalating issues when necessary, and ensuring proper disclosure requirements are met. They should emphasize professional skepticism and maintaining client relationships while upholding ethical standards.

Q: What experience do you have in leading complex financial statement audits?

Expected Answer: Should demonstrate leadership experience in managing large audit teams, coordinating with multiple stakeholders, meeting deadlines, and handling challenging technical accounting issues. Should mention experience with different industries and sizes of companies.

Mid Level Questions

Q: What are the key areas you focus on when reviewing financial statements?

Expected Answer: Should mention checking the accuracy of numbers, looking for unusual changes from previous years, ensuring proper classification of items, and verifying that all required disclosures are included. Should also discuss basic risk assessment procedures.

Q: How do you ensure the accuracy of financial statement presentations?

Expected Answer: Should explain their review process, including cross-checking numbers, verifying calculations, ensuring proper formatting, and comparing to prior periods. Should mention using checklists and getting appropriate approvals.

Junior Level Questions

Q: What are the main components of financial statements?

Expected Answer: Should be able to name and explain the basic parts: balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement, and notes to the financial statements. Should understand what each component shows about a company's financial position.

Q: What tools do you use to prepare and review financial statements?

Expected Answer: Should mention common accounting software, spreadsheet applications, and basic analytical tools. Should demonstrate understanding of how to organize and present financial data clearly.