01
What is error guessing?
Show answer
Using experience to guess where defects likely hide, such as empty fields, special characters or unexpected sequences, and designing tests for them.
KPMG Software Testing Interview Questions & Answers
Curated interview practice questions with answers. These are practice scenarios, not a verified list of past interview questions.
About KPMG hiring for Software Testing roles
KPMG is one of the Big Four professional services networks, providing audit, tax and advisory services. KPMG in India and its global delivery centres support clients with technology consulting, data and analytics, risk advisory and cybersecurity. It hires in India for analysts and consultants in data analytics, governance and risk, IT audit, testing and ERP implementation.
For Software Testing roles, this KPMG practice set focuses most on Automation Basics for Manual Testers (6), Accessibility & Usability Testing (5), Mobile Testing (5), Bug Life Cycle and Jira (4). It has 6 easy, 28 medium, 6 hard questions, so you can start easy and work up to the harder ones.
- Company type
- Consulting
- Headquarters
- Amstelveen, Netherlands
- Main India offices
- Gurugram, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune
KPMG Software Testing interview process
- Online assessment or screening test
- Technical interview
- Managerial or case round
- Partner or HR round
Typical pattern based on public candidate experiences. Rounds vary by role, team and year.
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02
How do you capture screenshots, videos and traces when an automated test fails?
Show answer
Most frameworks support this through configuration. In Playwright, set screenshot to only-on-failure, video to retain-on-failure and trace to on-first-retry in the config, then open the trace viewer to step through actions, network calls and the page state. In Selenium, call save_screenshot in a teardown hook when a test fails. Store these artefacts in CI so anyone can debug the failure without rerunning it.
03
What is a flaky test and what usually causes it?
Show answer
A flaky test passes and fails on the same code without any change. Common causes are timing problems such as fixed sleeps or missing waits, tests depending on each other or on shared data, unstable locators, animations, third-party services, test order in parallel runs and environment issues like slow servers. Flaky tests destroy trust in the suite, so teams quarantine them, find the root cause and fix it rather than adding retries forever.
04
What is regression testing, and when do you automate it?
Show answer
Re-testing existing features after a change. Automate stable, repetitive, high-value flows that run every release.
05
What is a bug triage meeting?
Show answer
A regular review where QA, development and product assess new bugs and decide severity, priority, owner and target release.
06
Which accessibility laws and standards matter for products used in India and abroad?
Show answer
In India, the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 requires accessible information and communication technology, and government sites follow the GIGW guidelines, which align with WCAG. Abroad, the US uses the ADA and Section 508, Europe uses EN 301 549, and the European Accessibility Act applies to many digital products and services from June 2025. Most of these point to WCAG AA as the practical testing target.
07
Tell me about a disagreement with a developer about a bug's severity.
Show answer
Model answer: Situation: I logged a bug where the invoice PDF showed the wrong GST number, and the developer marked it minor because the screen value was correct. Task: get the right priority. Action: I explained that customers use the PDF for tax filing and showed the requirement. Result: the product owner agreed it was major, it was fixed before release, and we added PDF checks to regression.
08
A developer changed a shared header component used on every page. What testing do you plan?
Show answer
Retest the change itself, then run a focused regression on every page type that uses the header: home, listing, detail, checkout and account. Check navigation links, search, login and logout state, cart count and the mobile menu. Do cross-browser and responsive checks because layout changes affect all sizes. A quick visual comparison against the previous build helps spot alignment issues across many pages.
09
What is test automation and what problems does it solve?
Show answer
Test automation means using scripts and tools to run tests, compare results and report them without a person doing each step. It solves slow and repetitive regression, gives fast feedback on every code change in CI, runs the same checks exactly the same way every time and covers many data combinations. It does not replace thinking: exploratory testing, usability judgement and new feature testing still need manual testers.
10
What is the difference between static and dynamic testing?
Show answer
Static testing reviews documents and code without executing; dynamic testing executes the software to observe behaviour.
11
What are ACID properties and how can a tester check them?
Show answer
ACID means Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation and Durability. Atomicity: a transfer that debits one account must also credit the other, or neither happens; test by forcing a failure midway. Consistency: constraints still hold after the transaction. Isolation: two users updating together do not see each other's half-done work; test with two sessions. Durability: committed data survives a restart; test by committing, restarting the service and querying again.
12
How do you test location-based features in a mobile app?
Show answer
Test with location permission allowed, denied and approximate only. Use mock location tools to simulate different cities and moving routes. Verify the app shows nearby results correctly, updates location while moving and handles GPS turned off. Check accuracy indoors and with weak GPS, battery impact of continuous tracking and that background location is used only if needed and explained to the user.
13
An automated test keeps failing because an element's ID is generated differently on every build. What do you do?
Show answer
Stop using the dynamic ID. Look for a stable alternative: the element's role and visible name, its label, a stable attribute, or a relative locator based on a nearby fixed element. The best long-term fix is asking developers to add a data-testid attribute. Avoid partial matches on random strings, which can break again. Then update the locator in the page object so every test using it is fixed at once.
14
What is test coverage and how do you measure it?
Show answer
The extent of requirements or code exercised by tests. Measure requirement coverage with a traceability matrix and code coverage with tools.
15
How do you test a mobile app when the device storage is almost full?
Show answer
Fill the device storage close to the limit, then install or update the app and confirm a clear message if it cannot proceed. Inside the app, try downloads, photo capture, caching and saving drafts. The app should show a helpful error, not crash or corrupt data. Also check what happens to the local database when a write fails, and whether the app recovers after space is freed.
16
Why is exhaustive testing impossible?
Show answer
Exhaustive testing means trying every possible input, path and combination, which is practically infinite for real software. Even a single text field accepting 20 characters has more combinations than you could ever run. So testers use risk and techniques like equivalence partitioning and boundary value analysis to select a small set of tests that give high confidence. The goal is enough coverage of important risks, not every possible case.
17
A monthly report query runs on millions of rows and takes minutes. How do you test and report its performance?
Show answer
Test on a database with production-like volume, not a small QA dataset. Measure the run time several times and note the filters used. Ask for or run the execution plan to see whether it does full table scans or uses indexes. Compare with the agreed target, such as under five seconds. Report the query, data volume, timings and plan, and retest after fixes such as indexes, date filters or summary tables.
18
What is the difference between a test strategy and a test plan?
Show answer
A test strategy is a high-level document, often at organisation or product level, that defines the general approach: test levels, types, tools, environments, automation approach and standards. It changes rarely. A test plan is project or release specific: scope, schedule, resources, entry and exit criteria, risks and deliverables. The plan follows the strategy and applies it to a particular release.
19
What are the main testing differences between Android and iOS?
Show answer
Android has many manufacturers, screen sizes and OS versions with custom skins, so device fragmentation and background-kill behaviour need more coverage. iOS has fewer devices but strict permission, privacy and store review rules. Navigation differs: Android has a system back button or gesture, iOS relies on in-app navigation and swipe back. Notification, permission and file-access behaviours also differ, so test cases need platform-specific steps.
20
What is the difference between a defect and a production incident?
Show answer
A defect is a flaw in the software that makes it behave differently from the requirement, whether found in testing or production. A production incident is an event that disrupts or degrades service for users, such as an outage or a failed payment flow. An incident may be caused by a defect, but also by infrastructure, configuration or third-party failures. Incidents are handled by an incident process first, then linked to defects for the fix.
21
Your team wants to use an AI tool to generate test cases and automation scripts. What benefits and risks do you point out?
Show answer
AI assistants can draft test cases from requirements, suggest edge cases, generate first versions of scripts and test data, and some tools self-heal locators when the page changes. Risks are confident but wrong output, tests that assert the wrong behaviour, hidden locator changes that mask real bugs and leaking confidential data into external tools. Treat AI output like a junior's draft: review it, run it and keep human judgement on what matters.
22
How do you test a mobile app's offline mode and data sync?
Show answer
Turn off the network and perform supported actions, such as creating, editing and deleting records, and check they are saved locally with a pending status. Reconnect and verify everything syncs once, in order, with no duplicates. Test conflicts, where the same record is changed on two devices, and confirm the agreed rule applies. Test sync after app restart, on a slow network and when the server rejects a change.
23
Tell me about a time you pushed for an accessibility fix the team wanted to postpone.
Show answer
Situation: before a release, I found the payment form errors were not announced by screen readers and not reachable by keyboard. Task: the team wanted to defer it. Action: I recorded a short NVDA video showing a user could not finish payment, linked it to WCAG and our customer commitments, and proposed a small fix. Result: the fix took half a day, shipped in the release and we added keyboard checks to our definition of done.
24
Write a pytest test using requests that checks a GET call returns 200 and a non-empty list.
Show answer
import requests
BASE_URL = 'https://qa-api.example.com'
def test_get_products_returns_list():
response = requests.get(f'{BASE_URL}/products', timeout=10)
assert response.status_code == 200
body = response.json()
assert isinstance(body, list)
assert len(body) > 0
assert 'id' in body[0]
25
User reviews say the app drains the battery. How do you investigate?
Show answer
Collect details from reviews and support: devices, OS versions and app version when it started. Compare battery usage of the current and previous versions on the same devices over a typical session and while idle in background. Use profiling tools to look for background location, wake locks, frequent sync or network polling. Share measurements with developers, verify the fix with the same method, and add a battery check to release testing.
26
What is the difference between ad hoc testing and monkey testing?
Show answer
Ad hoc testing is informal testing without test cases, done by a tester who understands the application and tries likely weak areas based on experience. Monkey testing gives random inputs and actions, often without knowing the application, to see if it crashes. Ad hoc testing is targeted and good at finding logical bugs, while monkey testing is good at finding stability issues and is often automated.
27
How do you test a web page with a screen reader?
Show answer
Turn on the screen reader, for example NVDA with a browser, and listen rather than look. Navigate by headings to check the structure is logical, by landmarks to find main regions and by Tab through controls. Each control should announce a clear name, role and state, such as 'Subscribe, checkbox, not checked'. Check images, form errors, dynamic updates like cart counts and dialogs. Note exactly what was announced in bug reports.
28
The developer says "it's not a bug". What do you do?
Show answer
Re-check the requirement, reproduce with clear steps and evidence (screenshots, logs), discuss with the BA/PO and record the final decision.
29
What is a database view and what do you verify when testing it?
Show answer
A view is a saved query that behaves like a virtual table, often used for reports or to hide sensitive columns. When testing it, compare its output with the same query run on the base tables, check filters and joins return the right rows, confirm hidden columns such as salary are really absent, check behaviour when base data changes and verify that users without permission on the base tables can still read the view if intended.
30
Scrum ceremonies and the tester's role?
Show answer
Sprint planning (estimate test effort), daily stand-up (status and blockers), sprint review (demo) and retrospective (improve). Testers clarify acceptance criteria early and test within the sprint.
31
What does POUR mean in accessibility?
Show answer
POUR is the four principles behind WCAG. Perceivable: users can see or hear the content, for example images have alt text and videos have captions. Operable: everything works with a keyboard and users have enough time. Understandable: text is clear and forms explain errors. Robust: content works with assistive technologies such as screen readers. Every WCAG success criterion sits under one of these four principles.
32
A load test shows good response times but a 15 percent error rate. How do you interpret it?
Show answer
The result is a failure, not a pass. Failed requests often return quickly, so they make response times look better than they are. Check which requests fail and with which errors, such as 500, 503 or timeouts, and when errors started relative to the load level. Look at server logs, connection pool and thread limits. Also confirm the script is not wrong, for example expired tokens or bad test data.
33
What is cross-site scripting (XSS)?
Show answer
XSS is a vulnerability where an attacker's script is injected into a page and runs in other users' browsers, which can steal session data or change the page. It occurs when user input is shown without proper encoding. Testers enter a harmless script tag or an image tag with an onerror alert in comments, profile names and search boxes, then check if it executes when the page is displayed. Output encoding prevents it.
34
What is a test case and its components?
Show answer
A set of steps with inputs and expected results. Components: ID, title, preconditions, steps, test data, expected result, actual result and status.
35
Your automated accessibility scan shows zero errors. Is the page accessible?
Show answer
Not necessarily. Automated tools catch only a part of WCAG issues, such as missing labels and contrast. A clean scan still needs manual checks: keyboard-only navigation, focus order, a screen reader pass, meaningful alt text and link names, error handling, zoom and reflow and dynamic content. Report the result as 'no automated violations found' and add the manual checklist outcome before claiming conformance.
36
A user updates their phone number in the app, but the old number still appears in reports. What do you check?
Show answer
First query the main users table to see whether the update was saved. If it was, check where the report reads from: a view, a reporting copy, a cache or a nightly ETL table. The report may simply be stale until the next refresh, which may be by design. If the main table still has the old value, check the API request, the update query and any errors in logs, then log a bug with both query results.
37
What are test data and how do you prepare them?
Show answer
The inputs used in tests. Prepare using valid, invalid and boundary values from production-like but masked data, spreadsheets or generators.
38
Tell me about a time you designed tests for a feature with unclear requirements.
Show answer
Model answer: Situation: I got a story for 'flexible EMI options' with only one line of description. Task: test it within the sprint. Action: I listed my assumptions on tenure, interest and rounding, reviewed them with the product owner in a 15-minute call, and wrote test cases only after we agreed. Result: three rules were changed before coding finished, and the feature passed UAT without rework.
39
An API returns 200 OK but the body contains an error message. Is that a bug?
Show answer
Usually yes. Status codes should reflect the result so clients and monitoring can react correctly; an error with 200 can hide failures and break retries. A validation error should return 400 or 422, a missing resource 404 and a server failure 500. Check the API contract first: some legacy APIs document this pattern. If it is not documented, log it as a defect with the request and response attached.
40
How do you test a country dropdown that controls a dependent state dropdown?
Show answer
Check the state list is empty or disabled until a country is selected. Select a country and verify the correct states load. Change the country and confirm the old state selection is cleared and the new list loads. Test countries with no states, a long list with scrolling and search, and default values on page load. Submit the form and verify the saved values, then reload and check both dropdowns keep the saved selection.
Tips to crack the KPMG Software Testing interview
- Learn basics of IT audit, internal controls and risk frameworks, since advisory roles often combine data with governance work.
- Practise structured answers for guesstimates and business problems, explaining assumptions clearly step by step.
- Prepare examples of working with stakeholders and meeting deadlines, which are common themes in Big Four interviews.
- Keep a one-minute story ready for every project on your CV: problem, your part, tools, result.
- Practise the hard questions on this page aloud; KPMG interviewers usually ask follow-ups on your first answer.
Frequently asked questions
How many rounds are there in the KPMG Software Testing interview?
Candidates usually go through 4 stages: Online assessment or screening test; Technical interview; Managerial or case round; Partner or HR round. The exact rounds change with the role, team, location and your experience, so confirm the process with the recruiter.
Which topics should I prepare for the KPMG Software Testing interview?
This practice set leans on Automation Basics for Manual Testers (6), Accessibility & Usability Testing (5), Mobile Testing (5), Bug Life Cycle and Jira (4). Revise those first, then practise explaining one or two of your own projects end to end, because most KPMG interviewers ask you to walk through real work.
Are these the exact questions asked at KPMG?
No. These are curated practice questions that match the skills and difficulty usually tested in consulting interviews like KPMG's. They are not a leaked or verified list of past questions.
Where does KPMG hire Software Testing professionals in India?
KPMG has large teams in Gurugram, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune. Openings and locations change often, so check the KPMG careers page and filter by city and experience.
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