There is nothing more mentally draining (to say nothing of expensive) than dealing with new hires who don't perform. Equally, you never forget rejecting a candidate only to see them thrive and succeed after being hired by a competitor!
Believe me, I've felt the pain from both sides of the equation above. Fortunately there are some excellent tools on the marketplace to help hiring managers make better, more confident decisions. But no matter how good the tool, introducing it at the wrong time in the hiring process, or not explaining clearly to candidates why they need to be tested, can have disastrous results.
Perhaps that's why only
So, it's pretty hard to imagine how you can assess a prospective employee without any objective evidence, but it still happens.
Even among organizations that are utilizing testing, many have told us they aren't sure where in the hiring process to introduce it. If you introduce it too early, you might scare off good candidates, while spending more money than you'd like to. Introduce testing too late and your interviews may not focus on the right things, and you'll be interviewing candidates you shouldn't have.
What's the best option? There's no single right answer, but from hundreds of discussions we've had with firms, we've found two approaches that seem to work well for hiring candidates with previous work experience: early testing and stage testing. In either case, don't focus too much on the cost. The
Strategy 1: Early testing
You can utilize testing in both the early and later stages of the hiring process. Early testing is done prior to the first interview. However, even with later testing, any assessment should be completed before a final interview with a candidate.
Use early testing when you want objective data to screen out weaker candidates in the interviewing process. We typically see organizations using early testing for more junior roles, especially when there has been a reasonable level of interest in the position. The goal is to have at least three viable candidates after the initial screening. Early testing can weed out any candidates unsuitable for interviews and will allow you to return to the applicant pool without losing momentum.
How to implement early testing
Stage 1 — Initial screening: After advertising the job opportunity, HR and the hiring team review resumes and identify credible candidates. HR conducts short 10- to 15-minute phone screens with each credible candidate.
Stage 2 — Early testing for all credible candidates: After the initial phone screen, invite all candidates to complete a full test suite that includes a Personality Profile, a Critical Reasoning Test and a Technical/Work Skills Test. Score and rank the test results objectively based on a minimum technical threshold, and flag any personality or team-fit concerns. Then select two or three candidates for a first interview based on their combined resume and test performance.
Stage 3 — First-round interview (accounting manager + HR): First-round interviews should probe areas indicated by the tests such as strengths, weaknesses, skills gaps and situational judgement (using real tax-practice scenarios). Score candidates using a standard evaluation form and shoot for two finalists for a second-round interview.
Stage 4 — Final interview (accounting leader + HR): Provide the accounting leader with a concise summary of test results and interview findings. Next conduct second-round interviews focusing on a candidate's technical depth, client handling, partner-level expectations and cultural alignment.
After HR performs reference checks, make an offer to the strongest candidate and document the final hiring rationale.
Strategy 2 — Staged testing
Use staged testing when you want to minimize external costs, or the role is less critical to your organization, and you only want to test candidates who interview well.
How to implement staged testing
Stage 1 — Initial screening (same as early testing above).
Stage 2 — Early-Stage Limited Testing: Have candidates complete either a skills test or critical reasoning test based on consideration of what is more important — current knowledge or ability to learn fast. Score/rank test results objectively. HR and the accounting manager should review the results together and identify a minimum technical threshold or concerns about the candidate's reasoning score. Next bring in credible candidates for first interviews based on combined resume and test performance.
Stage 3 — First-round interview (accounting manager + HR): Conduct structured interviews with selected candidates. Be sure to evaluate technical communication, real-world tax reasoning, work style and cultural fit. Shoot for two finalists for second-round interviews.
Stage 4 —Testing for finalists: Invite the finalists to complete tests that assess their personality profile, critical reasoning or technical/work skills. HR and a tax manager should review results collaboratively and benchmark them against a minimum technical threshold and reasoning score concerns. Flag concerns about a candidate's personality or team-fit.
Stage 5 — Final interview (accounting leader + HR): After a partner reviews the summary of earlier interviews and test results, conduct a final interview as with the early testing above and probe on the newly tested areas. After HR conducts reference checks, make an offer to the strongest candidate and document your final hiring rationale.
When executed correctly, either strategy can get you to the point of making an offer to a great candidate within a week of receiving an application.
Source: Accountests, 2026
Traditional hiring methods are broken. Relying on resumes and interviews alone can increase your risk of making poor hiring decisions. There are proven strategies for implementing testing. Choose a method that fits best with your hiring processes and culture. Take the guesswork out of choosing the best candidates.
