An Account Executive at Tipalti plays a critical role in driving the company's market expansion by introducing mid-market organizations to world-class accounts payable (AP) and mass payments automation software. In this role, you are responsible for managing the complete B2B sales cycle, from initial discovery to closing complex deals. Tipalti helps finance teams eliminate manual workflows, reduce compliance risks, and scale their global payment operations, making your role highly consultative and impactful.

You will act as a strategic advisor to finance executives, including CFOs, Controllers, and VPs of Finance. Because financial processes are core to any business, the sales cycles require a deep understanding of financial workflows, ERP integrations, and global payment compliance. Your ability to articulate how Tipalti solves these critical pain points directly influences the strategic growth of your prospects and the overall revenue trajectory of the company.

Selling a comprehensive financial platform requires navigating complex organizational structures and building trust with analytical, risk-averse buyers. This makes the Account Executive position both intellectually challenging and highly rewarding, as you help modern finance teams transition from archaic spreadsheets to streamlined, automated operations.

The following questions are representative of what you can expect during the Tipalti interview process. These questions are drawn from real interview experiences of candidates who have gone through the loop and are designed to help you identify patterns in how Tipalti evaluates sales talent.

Sales Strategy and Discovery

These questions assess your ability to run a tight, structured sales process, uncover prospect pain points, and present solutions under tight constraints.

• How do you structure a 20-minute discovery call and pitch session to ensure you uncover key pain points while still presenting the core value proposition?
• Walk me through your strategy for handling objections when a prospect questions our pricing tiers or implementation costs.

To succeed in the Tipalti interview process, you must demonstrate a blend of structured sales discipline, financial curiosity, and personal resilience. Your preparation should focus on showing that you can run a repeatable, data-driven sales process.

Sales Proficiency & Discovery – You must prove that you do not just pitch features, but instead run deep discovery. Interviewers will evaluate how well you ask open-ended questions, uncover operational bottlenecks, and map those bottlenecks directly to Tipalti's platform capabilities.

Domain & Product Acumen – While you do not need to be a CPA, you must show a strong willingness to learn the language of finance. You should understand basic accounts payable concepts, ERP systems, and the typical challenges finance teams face when managing global partner payments.

Coachability & Resilience – Tipalti values sales professionals who can take feedback and apply it immediately. During mock exercises, pay close attention to the feedback provided by the managers and demonstrate that you can pivot your approach in real-time.

Process Discipline – You will be expected to show that you are highly organized and rely on modern sales tools. Having a strong working knowledge of Salesforce and a disciplined approach to pipeline management is critical to proving you can hit the ground running.

The interview process at Tipalti is thorough and designed to evaluate both your conversational sales skills and your practical execution. It typically spans several weeks and involves multiple touchpoints with recruiters, sales managers, and senior leadership.

The process begins with a standard recruiter screening to align on your background, career goals, and compensation expectations. From there, you will move to interviews with hiring managers and potential peers. The core of the evaluation relies heavily on practical, real-world sales exercises, such as mock discovery calls or slide presentations, before a final culture-fit conversation with a Director or VP of Sales.

The timeline above outlines the typical progression from the initial recruiter call to the final decision. Candidates should use this visual roadmap to pace their preparation, ensuring they dedicate sufficient time to practicing the mock exercises before reaching the mid-stages. While the exact sequence can vary slightly by territory, mastering the practical mock call is universally the most critical gateway to the final rounds.

The Mock Discovery Call & Pitch

The mock discovery call is the most critical evaluation stage in the Tipalti interview process. It is typically conducted as a roleplay scenario with two sales managers acting as prospects (often a Controller and a VP of Finance).

Tipalti will provide you with a slide deck or a brief case study beforehand. You must be prepared to run a highly structured, 20-minute meeting with a hard stop. The goal is not to rush through every slide, but to conduct an effective discovery session while seamlessly weaving in the product's value.

Be ready to go over:

• Upfront Contract – Setting a clear agenda and objective at the very beginning of the call.
• Active Listening – Asking targeted questions about their current AP workflows, invoice processing times, and payment errors, then tailoring your pitch to those specific pain points.
• Pricing and Tiers – Knowing how to handle questions about pricing structures, tiers, and implementation timelines confidently without guessing.

Example scenarios:

• "You are presenting to a Controller who is highly protective of their existing manual processes and worried about the security of automated payments."
• "The prospect asks a direct question about how Tipalti integrates with their specific ERP system (e.g., NetSuite or QuickBooks) mid-way through your presentation."
• "You have 5 minutes left in the meeting and need to transition from discovery to securing a clear next step or follow-up meeting."

Cold Outreach & Prospecting

As an Account Executive, you are expected to be proactive in generating pipeline alongside your SDR partners. Tipalti frequently evaluates your raw outreach skills through practical exercises.

You may be asked to conduct a live mock cold call during an interview or submit a sample prospecting email targeted at a specific mid-market finance leader. They are looking for your ability to capture attention quickly, articulate a concise value proposition, and handle immediate objections.

Be ready to go over:

• Hooking the Prospect – Crafting a compelling opening statement that focuses on a common financial pain point (e.g., tax compliance, manual invoice entry).
• Handling Objections – Confidently navigating common brush-offs like "We already have a process in place" or "I don't have time for this."
• Email Structure – Writing personalized, short, and action-oriented emails that focus on the prospect's industry.

Example scenarios:

• "Conduct a live mock cold call to a busy CFO who has just picked up the phone and is trying to end the call in under 30 seconds."
• "Draft a personalized outreach email to a Controller at a fast-growing e-commerce company struggling with international supplier payments."

Business & Financial Acumen

To sell successfully to financial buyers, you must demonstrate strong business acumen. Interviewers will test whether you can speak confidently about corporate strategy, ROI, and financial workflows.

They will evaluate this by asking you to explain the business models of your previous employers, how those companies made money, and how your sales strategy aligned with their broader corporate goals.

Be ready to go over:

• Financial Terminology – Understanding terms like working capital, accounts payable reconciliation, tax compliance (W-9/W-8 forms), and ERP integration.
• ROI Calculation – Explaining how automating a process translates to saved hours, reduced headcount requirements, and eliminated payment errors.
• Corporate Strategy – Articulating how your past companies positioned themselves against competitors and how you leveraged that strategy in your territory.