Excel test for accounting and bookkeeping
Bookkeepers, accounts assistants and accountants are often tested on the spreadsheet work behind the ledger. This practice test has 20 tasks from that work, from VAT and depreciation to due dates, account balances, overdue invoices and a bank reconciliation, in a live grid with a 30-minute clock.
20 questions · 30 minutes · passing score 70%
Question 1 of 20
In C2, calculate the price of the office chair including VAT. Use the VAT rate in E2.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Item | Price excl. VAT | Price incl. VAT | VAT rate | ||
| 2 | Office chair | 1840 | 0.25 | |||
| 3 | Desk lamp | 360 | ||||
| 4 | Monitor | 1480 | ||||
| 5 | ||||||
| 6 | ||||||
| 7 | ||||||
| 8 |
No tips during the test. I'm back with help when the clock stops.
The free preview is the first 10 questions in 15 minutes. It isn't saved.
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What accounting employers test
An accounting Excel test is about getting amounts exactly right. Expect VAT added to and taken out of amounts, totals per account or per type with SUMIF and SUMIFS, due dates worked out from payment terms with EOMONTH, rounding to two decimals, and checks that flag invoices for review with IF, AND and OR.
The harder questions are the ones you meet at month end: finding a difference in a journal, totaling the open invoices that are past their due date, and spotting bank lines that are missing from the ledger. When a journal is out by an amount divisible by 9, look for two digits swapped.
How this practice test works
You have 30 minutes for 20 questions. Each question has its own small sheet, written for this test only: receipts, a VAT list, postings by account, a journal or a bank statement. Click the answer cell, type your formula and press Enter, as in Excel.
Nothing is marked until you hand in. Every answer has to be a formula that still gives the right result when the amounts change, so a typed number does not count. Afterwards you see your score, every question you missed and where to practice it.
How to prepare
Take the free preview of the first 10 questions to see where you stand. Then practice SUMIF with the criterion in a cell, SUMIFS with a date condition like "<"&F2, and EOMONTH, which come back in several questions. Take the full test against the clock when you score 80% or more on the preview.
What the test covers
Each question practices one of these skills. Follow a link to practice it before you start.
- 1Price including VAT
- 2VAT included in gross amounts
- 3Straight-line depreciation per year
- 4Count the paid invoices
- 5VAT to pay for the quarter
- 6Due date on end of month + 30 days
- 7Total travel expenses
- 8Balance of one account from the postings
- 9Find the difference in a journal
- 10Vacation pay at 12.5%
- 11Check the length of an account number
- 12Last four digits of an account
- 13Total of all orders not canceled
- 14Reminder fee for a late invoice
- 15Flag invoices for review
- 16Total of the payments above a limit
- 17Overdue amounts from customers
- 18Order line total from a price list
- 19Show "Not found" for a missing code
- 20Bank lines missing from the ledger
Questions
What Excel skills does a bookkeeper need?
VAT calculations, SUMIF and SUMIFS for totals per account or customer, date formulas for due dates, rounding, IF for checks, and VLOOKUP or XLOOKUP to match codes against a list. This practice test covers all of them.
How do I take the VAT out of an amount that includes it?
Divide by 1 plus the rate to get the amount without VAT, and subtract that from the gross amount. At 25% the VAT is a fifth of the gross amount.
How long is this practice test?
30 minutes for 20 questions. The free preview has the first 10 questions in 15 minutes.
What score should I aim for?
The passing score here is 70%, 14 of 20. Aim for 80% or more before the real test.
Do I get a certificate?
Yes. Pass the full test with a verified email and you get a certificate with a public link for your résumé or LinkedIn.