Grant Thornton Assessment Tests

Grant Thornton Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a management accounts assistant. Your department’s cost figure is £4,000 over its monthly target. A £5,000 invoice arrived on the last day and could reasonably be treated as next month’s. Your manager has said several times how important hitting the target is. Nobody would query either treatment. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Report the figure as it stands without mentioning the invoice, so the number is accurate and no argument about treatment arises at all.
   2. Report the figure as it stands and tell your manager the £5,000 invoice dated on the last day is the reason, so she can decide how to treat it.
   3. Move the invoice into next month and mention it to your manager afterwards, once the reported figure has already gone out showing the target met.
   4. Move the £5,000 invoice into next month and record the month as complete with the department inside its target, since the treatment is defensible and nobody will ask.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Report the figure as it stands and tell your manager the £5,000 invoice dated on the last day is the reason, so she can decide how to treat it.

   Least effective: D. Move the £5,000 invoice into next month and record the month as complete with the department inside its target, since the treatment is defensible and nobody will ask.

   A: Reports accurately and explains nothing: your manager sees an overrun she cannot account for and may go looking for a cause that is not there.

   C: Decides first and tells afterwards: the choice was your manager's, and it is much harder to reverse once reported.

   D: Records a result that was chosen rather than measured: the treatment was picked because of the number it produced, and nothing in the report says so.

   The most effective response is to report the figure as it stands and tell your manager the £5,000 invoice dated on the last day is the reason: the figure is what it is, the invoice timing is the whole explanation, and how to treat it is a judgement she should make knowing why it is being asked. It beats moving the invoice into next month and mentioning it afterwards, because the decision is taken before she is told. It beats reporting the figure without mentioning the invoice at all, because an unexplained overrun wastes her time. The least effective response is moving the invoice and recording the month as inside target: an accounting treatment is selected for the result it produces and reported as though it were simply the position. That is making the record say what you want rather than sequencing the conversation badly. The principle: report what happened, then raise the judgement as a judgement.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are an assurance trainee. While testing a client’s supplier list you notice a small firm offering a service you have been trying to buy privately for months, at a price far below anything you have found. The list is confidential client information. Nobody would ever connect an enquiry from you to the engagement. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Contact the small firm privately for your own benefit, since the price is public once you ask and the client loses nothing at all by your using them.
   2. Wait until the engagement has finished and approach the firm then, since the information will no longer be current client work at that point.
   3. Ask your senior whether it would be acceptable to approach the firm, and go ahead if she says she cannot see any harm in it.
   4. Leave it entirely alone, do not contact the firm, and if it is preying on your mind mention it to your senior so the boundary is on the record.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Leave it entirely alone, do not contact the firm, and if it is preying on your mind mention it to your senior so the boundary is on the record.

   Least effective: A. Contact the small firm privately for your own benefit, since the price is public once you ask and the client loses nothing at all by your using them.

   A: Takes a personal advantage out of confidential client information: the only reason you know the firm exists is the engagement, and that is exactly what makes it not yours to use.

   B: Waits out the calendar rather than the principle: the knowledge still came from confidential client information whenever it is used.

   C: Seeks permission for the wrong question: a senior's casual yes does not change where the information came from.

   The most effective response is to leave it entirely alone, not contact the firm, and mention it to your senior if it is preying on your mind: the information is the client’s, no version of using it becomes acceptable through timing or permission, and recording the temptation protects you. It beats asking your senior whether it would be acceptable to approach the firm, because permission from a senior does not alter the source. It beats waiting until the engagement has finished and approaching them then, because waiting changes nothing about where the knowledge came from. The least effective response is contacting the small firm privately for your own benefit: confidential client information is converted into a personal saving, on the reasoning that nobody would connect it. That is self- dealing rather than a poorly reasoned attempt to do it properly. The principle: information you only have because of the engagement is not yours to spend.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are an audit junior. The client’s financial controller has asked you for a summary of the queries raised so far, which will take an hour. Your manager has asked for a section of testing by tonight, which will take the rest of the day. The controller is going on leave tomorrow for two weeks. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Do the summary first because the controller is leaving, and tell your manager tonight if the testing has not been finished as a result of it.
   2. Ask the controller to send her questions by email so you can answer them from wherever you are while she is away on leave for the fortnight.
   3. Get on with the testing and leave the controller's summary until she is back in a fortnight, since your manager's work is the priority and nobody has said otherwise about the summary.
   4. Tell your manager that the controller leaves tomorrow and ask whether to spend the hour on her summary before she goes, since the testing can absorb an hour and the controller cannot.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell your manager that the controller leaves tomorrow and ask whether to spend the hour on her summary before she goes, since the testing can absorb an hour and the controller cannot.

   Least effective: C. Get on with the testing and leave the controller's summary until she is back in a fortnight, since your manager's work is the priority and nobody has said otherwise about the summary.

   A: Reorders your manager's work without asking: she may have a reason the testing cannot move that you do not know about.

   B: Solves the wrong problem: she asked for a summary of queries raised, not for a channel, and she wants it before she goes.

   C: Declines to raise a two-week window: the controller's leave is the fact your manager does not have, and the choice is made by not making it.

   The most effective response is to tell your manager that the controller leaves tomorrow and ask whether to spend the hour on her summary before she goes: your manager owns the ordering, the leave is the fact that makes the hour urgent, and asking takes a minute. It beats doing the summary first and telling your manager tonight if the testing slipped, because reordering her work without asking is her call to make. It beats asking the controller to send her questions by email while she is away, because a mailbox is not the summary she asked for. The least effective response is getting on with the testing and leaving the summary until she is back in a fortnight: a two-week window closes tomorrow and the person who could decide is never told it exists. That is avoiding the question rather than answering it wrongly. The principle: when a window is about to close, the person who owns the priorities needs to know today.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are an audit junior on a client site. The testing you were given for this week will take two more days than the budget allows, and your manager is at another client until Thursday. The client’s team leaves at 5pm on Friday for a fortnight. You have not worked at this pace before and you are falling behind. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Reduce the sample sizes so that the testing fits the days that are left, and record the work as complete for the areas the programme asked you to test.
   2. Test the areas you can finish properly and leave the rest for after the client's team returns, noting in the file that those areas are outstanding.
   3. Work late every night this week to close the gap yourself, and raise it with your manager on Thursday only if you have not managed to catch up by then.
   4. Message your manager today with what is done, what is left and the two-day gap, and ask what to prioritise while the client's team is still available this week.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Message your manager today with what is done, what is left and the two-day gap, and ask what to prioritise while the client's team is still available this week.

   Least effective: A. Reduce the sample sizes so that the testing fits the days that are left, and record the work as complete for the areas the programme asked you to test.

   A: Records work that was not done as done: the file will say the areas were tested to the required depth, and everybody reading it afterwards will believe that, including the reviewer.

   B: Accepts a fortnight's delay without asking: the client is away for two weeks, and whether the file can wait that long is your manager's call.

   C: Absorbs a shortfall that is not yours to absorb: your manager loses three days in which they could have moved resource or spoken to the client.

   The most effective response is to message your manager today with what is done, what is left and the two-day gap, and ask what to prioritise while the client’s team is still available: a two-day gap is a resourcing decision, they can only make it if they know, and the client’s availability this week is the thing that expires. It beats working late every night to close the gap yourself and raising it on Thursday, because three nights of your own time removes your manager’s chance to fix it properly. It beats testing what you can and noting the rest as outstanding, because a two-week slip may or may not be acceptable, and that is not yours to decide alone. The least effective response is reducing the sample sizes so the testing fits and recording the work as complete: the file asserts testing that did not happen, which the reviewer, the client and anybody relying on the audit will take at face value. That is a false record rather than a bad way of handling pressure. The principle: surface the shortfall to the person who can resource it, while the opportunity is still open.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a customer service adviser. A colleague tells you she gave a customer the wrong charges figure last week, that the customer accepted it, and that she has decided not to raise it because “it worked out fine”. She asks you not to mention it. The team logs pricing errors weekly. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Agree to keep it between the two of you and leave the weekly log alone, since the customer accepted the figure and no harm has come of it in the end.
   2. Tell her the log exists for exactly this and that you would rather she entered it herself, and say plainly that you will raise it if she does not.
   3. Say nothing to her about it at all and enter the error in the weekly log yourself later on, since the log needs to be accurate whatever she has decided to do about it.
   4. Tell your team leader today what she has told you, without giving her the chance to enter it in the log herself first.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell her the log exists for exactly this and that you would rather she entered it herself, and say plainly that you will raise it if she does not.

   Least effective: A. Agree to keep it between the two of you and leave the weekly log alone, since the customer accepted the figure and no harm has come of it in the end.

   A: Joins a decision to hide it: the log's only purpose is counting errors like this one, and two people have now agreed it will not be counted.

   C: Logs it behind her: she asked you directly, and finding her own error in the log without warning is worse for both of you.

   D: Escalates before asking: she may well log it if asked plainly, and going straight up makes an error into a conduct question.

   The most effective response is to tell her the log exists for exactly this, that you would rather she entered it herself, and that you will raise it if she does not: it gives her the chance to put it right, is completely clear about what happens if she does not, and protects the log either way. It beats entering the error in the weekly log yourself without saying anything to her, because logging it silently is the same ambush with extra steps. It beats telling your team leader today what she has told you, because she has not yet been asked. The least effective response is agreeing to keep it between you and leave the log alone: the weekly log is deliberately left wrong by two people who both know it, so a pricing error that happened is recorded as one that did not. That is agreeing to conceal it rather than raising it clumsily. The principle: give them the chance, and say what you will do if they decline it.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are an onboarding analyst. Your team of three is down to two for a fortnight and your caseload has gone from twelve clients to nineteen. Four of the new ones have deadlines this week. Your team leader has asked everybody to “absorb it where you can”. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. List the four deadlines you cannot meet, take that to your team leader today with what you can cover, and ask which of the four should move.
   2. Reply to your team leader that the caseload is not realistic and ask for the extra seven clients to be reallocated somewhere else this week.
   3. Work to the four deadlines this week and leave the other fifteen clients entirely untouched until the fortnight is over.
   4. Hand the four clients with deadlines over to a colleague on another team, since your own caseload is full and somebody with spare capacity ought to be picking them up.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. List the four deadlines you cannot meet, take that to your team leader today with what you can cover, and ask which of the four should move.

   Least effective: D. Hand the four clients with deadlines over to a colleague on another team, since your own caseload is full and somebody with spare capacity ought to be picking them up.

   B: Hands the problem back whole: the team is two people, so there is nowhere obvious for seven clients to go, and no proposal comes with it.

   C: Protects the visible four: fifteen clients hear nothing for two weeks, and some of them will have needs that surface in that time.

   D: Passes the hardest cases to somebody with no history on them: four deadlines this week land with a colleague who has never seen the files, and the caseload problem is not raised with anybody who could fix it.

   The most effective response is to list the four deadlines you cannot meet, take that to your team leader today with what you can cover, and ask which should move: it accepts the instruction, does the analysis he cannot do from where he sits, and turns an impossible caseload into a specific choice between four dates. It beats replying that the caseload is not realistic and asking for the seven extra clients to be reallocated, because handing back seven with no proposal is not absorbing anything. It beats working to the four deadlines and leaving the other fifteen untouched, because fifteen clients going dark for a fortnight creates the next problem. The least effective response is handing the four clients with deadlines to a colleague on another team: the hardest cases go to somebody who has never seen them, in the week they are due, and the team leader who could have moved a date is never asked. That is offloading the problem rather than allocating it badly. The principle: when you cannot do it all, say which parts and say it while there is still a choice.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a purchase ledger clerk. A batch of supplier invoices has sat unapproved for a week: you thought a colleague was chasing the approvals and they thought you were. Two suppliers have now called about late payment. Your colleague is out for the rest of the week and the month closes on Friday. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Chase the approvals yourself today, call both suppliers back with a date, and agree with your colleague next week which of you owns this batch in future.
   2. Chase the approvals today and leave the suppliers until your colleague is back, since they took the calls and will know what was already said to each of them.
   3. Email your colleague setting out what went wrong and wait until tomorrow for a reply, then chase the approvals yourself if nothing has come back.
   4. Send the batch over to your colleague's manager to allocate and take it off your own list, since the confusion about who owns the chasing is really a question about how the team is organised.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Chase the approvals yourself today, call both suppliers back with a date, and agree with your colleague next week which of you owns this batch in future.

   Least effective: D. Send the batch over to your colleague's manager to allocate and take it off your own list, since the confusion about who owns the chasing is really a question about how the team is organised.

   B: Leaves the callers waiting: both suppliers rang about being paid late, and a week of silence while the invoices move is the part they will notice.

   C: Spends a day waiting on somebody who is away: the approvals move a day later than they need to, with month end on Friday.

   D: Passes the problem to somebody else to sort: the approvals still need chasing today, the suppliers are still waiting, and Friday does not move while the ownership question is answered.

   The most effective response is to chase the approvals yourself today, call both suppliers back with a date, and agree with your colleague next week which of you owns this batch: both are today’s problem, you are the one here, and the ownership question is real but can wait. It beats chasing the approvals and leaving the suppliers until your colleague is back, because they rang about being paid and a week of silence is the failure they experience. It beats emailing your colleague and waiting until tomorrow for a reply, because waiting on somebody who is out all week runs the batch into month end. The least effective response is sending the batch to your colleague’s manager to allocate and taking it off your list: it goes upwards as an organisational question while the invoices, the suppliers and Friday stay exactly where they were. That is passing it on rather than working through it in the wrong order. The principle: fix the thing that is late now, and fix the ownership afterwards.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a compliance analyst. A department head asks you whether his team’s new process “has been approved”. Your review is half done and the parts you have seen are fine, but two sections are untouched. He wants to start using the process on Monday and is pressing for an answer today. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell him exactly which parts you have reviewed and which you have not, say when the remaining two will be done, and be clear that it is not approved yet.
   2. Tell him to raise it with your manager, since a question about whether something is approved should come from somebody more senior than you.
   3. Tell him the review is not finished and that you cannot say anything further about it until it is, without giving him any sort of date for the remaining two sections.
   4. Tell him it is fine to go ahead on Monday, since everything you have looked at so far has been perfectly in order and the rest is very unlikely to differ.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Tell him exactly which parts you have reviewed and which you have not, say when the remaining two will be done, and be clear that it is not approved yet.

   Least effective: D. Tell him it is fine to go ahead on Monday, since everything you have looked at so far has been perfectly in order and the rest is very unlikely to differ.

   B: Passes a question you can answer: you know exactly what has and has not been reviewed, and he now waits for a diary slot.

   C: Withholds the timing: he is planning a Monday start and a date is the one thing that would let him plan around it.

   D: Gives an approval you have not reached: he starts a process on Monday believing it is signed off, and two unreviewed sections carry his name and yours.

   The most effective response is to tell him exactly which parts you have reviewed and which you have not, say when the remaining two will be done, and be clear it is not approved yet: it is precise about what is done, honest about the status, and gives him a date he can plan against. It beats telling him the review is not finished and that you cannot say more, because a refusal without a date leaves him no better off. It beats telling him to raise it with your manager, because you hold the facts and she would only repeat them. The least effective response is telling him it is fine to go ahead on Monday: an approval is given for two sections nobody has read, and a department starts using the process on the strength of it. That is asserting something untrue rather than being unhelpfully vague. The principle: report the status precisely and give a date, never round it up to yes.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a relationship support assistant. A colleague criticised your file notes in front of your manager last week and you thought it was unfair. This morning you notice he logged a client call an hour after it happened. The team is supposed to log calls immediately and nobody has ever raised it with anyone. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Leave the logging alone as you always would have, and ask him for five minutes about last week so the criticism gets dealt with rather than carried around.
   2. Say nothing about the logging and nothing about last week either, and let the atmosphere settle by itself over the next few weeks.
   3. Report the late logging to your manager now that he has criticised you, and leave him to work out for himself why the standard has suddenly started applying to him.
   4. Raise the late logging with him directly as a process point, without mentioning that last week is the reason you happened to notice it.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Leave the logging alone as you always would have, and ask him for five minutes about last week so the criticism gets dealt with rather than carried around.

   Least effective: C. Report the late logging to your manager now that he has criticised you, and leave him to work out for himself why the standard has suddenly started applying to him.

   B: Avoids the difficult conversation: the criticism sits unanswered, and the next time it happens it will be harder to raise than it is today.

   C: Retaliates through a rule nobody enforces: the timing is a pretext, the whole team logs calls late, and he is the only person it has ever been raised about.

   D: Uses a process point as cover: he is being tackled about the wrong thing, and the conversation that actually needs having is still not happening.

   The most effective response is to leave the logging alone as you always would have, and ask him for five minutes about last week: the logging is a team-wide habit and not his failing, and five minutes is the only thing that stops the criticism sitting between you. It beats saying nothing about either the logging or last week, because silence guarantees a repeat. It beats raising the late logging with him as a process point without mentioning last week, because that is tackling him about something you would not otherwise have mentioned. The least effective response is reporting the late logging to your manager now that he has criticised you: a rule nobody enforces is enforced against one person in the week he criticised you, and he is left to work out why. That is payback dressed as process. The principle: deal with the thing that actually happened, and do not go looking for a rule to hit somebody with.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are an audit associate. A colleague is meeting the client’s financial controller tomorrow to ask for a schedule. Last week the same controller told you sharply that she had already sent it and would not be sending it twice. Your colleague does not know this and has not asked. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Send him a message tomorrow morning just before he goes into the meeting, so that the warning is at least fresh in his mind when he walks in there.
    2. Go and ask the controller yourself whether she ever sent the schedule, without telling your colleague that you are doing it.
    3. Tell your colleague today what the controller said last week, and check together whether the schedule did arrive before he goes and asks for it again.
    4. Let him go into the meeting without mentioning what she said, since he has not asked and she may well be in a better mood about it tomorrow.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: C. Tell your colleague today what the controller said last week, and check together whether the schedule did arrive before he goes and asks for it again.

    Least effective: D. Let him go into the meeting without mentioning what she said, since he has not asked and she may well be in a better mood about it tomorrow.

    A: Times it too late to act on: checking whether the schedule arrived takes longer than the walk to the meeting room.

    B: Duplicates the approach: she now hears from two of you about the same schedule, which is precisely what annoyed her.

    D: Lets a colleague walk into it: a two-minute warning would have changed how he opens the meeting, and the client's goodwill is spent for nothing.

    The most effective response is to tell your colleague today what the controller said last week, and check together whether the schedule did arrive: it gives him the warning while there is still time to check, and checking is what prevents the second ask altogether. It beats messaging him tomorrow morning just before he goes into the meeting, because that leaves no time to look. It beats going to ask the controller yourself whether she ever sent it, because a second approach from a different person is the thing she objected to. The least effective response is letting him go into the meeting without mentioning what she said: he walks in without a fact you hold that would have changed how he ran it. That is withholding it rather than giving it late or acting on it clumsily. The principle: warn the person early enough that the warning is still useful.