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24 Accountant Resume Examples That Worked in 2024

Best for jobs requiring a traditional resume

A professional resume like this one communicates a more formal tone, but it’s unique enough to still leave a favorable first impression.

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Like this template? Customize this resume and make it your own with the help of our Al-powered suggestions, accent colors, and modern fonts.

Accountant Resume

Accountant Resumes by Experience
Accountant Resumes by Role

Writing Your Accountant Resume

A business is only as valuable as its finances, so successful organizations are built on a foundation of solid accounting practices. To be a successful accountant, you need to be diligent, organized, and an expert with numbers and financial data.

However, to get a role as an accountant, you need to rely on a completely different skill set: resume writing . (And let’s not forget about cover letter writing! )

That’s where we come in. We’ve reviewed countless accountant resumes, distilling what works and what doesn’t into 24 accountant resume examples that you can use to help you get your next accounting job in 2024!

or download as PDF

Accountant resume example with 7+ years of experience

Why this resume works

Our special tip: avoid any images or graphics. Before a recruiter or hiring manager looks at your resume, a computer scans it for keywords, and graphics are hard for software to read.
We’d also recommend putting your experience in reverse-chronological order. By putting your most recent job first, employers will see how you’ve progressed in your career.
Include the name of the company you’re applying to, the position you’re seeking, and what you hope to achieve in your next role.

Accounting Intern Resume

When you lack paid work experience, use relevant academic or personal projects to showcase your skills, passion, and capabilities.

Accounting Assistant Resume

In this resume, the candidate carried out a simulated audit of a fictional company and showcased multiple skills that will help them be a better accounting assistant. If you have similar experiences to talk about, you want to add them to your accounting assistant resume .

Entry-Level Accountant Resume

Because of your limited background in accounting, don’t worry about trying to extend or fluff your minimal experience.
Instead, list any work experience and highlight transferrable skills , like written communication, data analysis, and research.
Try following a resume outline to help you organize your thoughts and ensure you’ve put everything you need onto a single sheet of paper.
Once you’ve completed the outline, you can use a resume template to format your content correctly and make it look great, too.

Junior Cost Accountant Resume

Using a resume objective can be a great decision if you’re having trouble filling the page or trying to provide hiring managers with more context as to why you want the job.
But please be cautious and double-check your resume before submitting an application!
Imagine submitting your resume for a position at Instacart and realizing you left the name of another target company in your resume objective. Facepalm anyone?

Junior Accountant Resume

A ChatGPT resume builder can help you highlight your past accomplishments in any roles or projects that are related to finance or show your knowledge/ability to use an accounting tool. Personalize the objective as much as possible to convey why you’re so passionate about getting hired!

Senior Accountant Resume

You can further support your work by adding metrics to show how you’ve helped the company , especially when it comes to revenue.
But remember that even a spellcheck system misses things, so ask a colleague to review your resume! You’ll be amazed at what they’ll catch before you turn in your application.

General Ledger Accountant Resume

In your general ledger accountant resume, use a credible title such as “Certified Management Accountant (CMA).” Not only does this convey that you’re better than the average accountant in creating reports, but it also shows your dedication to the career at an early stage.

Project Accountant Resume

Ready to move your resume from the backlog to the done folder? First, let’s embellish it – use a different color to distinguish the header, and then choose a larger and legible font for section subheadings. You can even bolden them to improve visibility and make the resume easier to scan.

Senior Tax Accountant Resume

For your work history section, use numbers (and percentages, too) to back up your vast experience as a senior tax accountant. Take a look at how Kevin capitalizes on this strategy – Directing a team of six in conducting in-depth analysis…, …reducing errors by 12%, and improving financial reporting accuracy to a rating of 9 out of 10- effectively presenting himself as an outcome-oriented expert.

Payroll Accountant Resume

Certificates like Certified Public Accountant (CPA) prove that you possess the necessary financial skills , knowledge, and experience to apply for this role! Don’t be too overconfident though. Ensure you back your certification with performance metrics that depict you as a diligent and hard worker.

Accounting Analyst Resume

As you tailor your accounting analyst resume hoping to get the job, include your measurable impact in expediting accounts, invoices, and response to ad-hoc request processing times.

Fund Accountant Resume

Felix’s example is the best answer to that question. Everything is displayed for the recruiting team to see and make a quick decision. Follow this lead to boost the chances of your application sailing through.

Accounting Specialist Resume

Cost Accountant Resume

What was your impact in similar or related roles? Tap into you quantifiable achievements, such as accuracy rates, reduction in operational expenses, and workflow improvements.

Staff Accountant Resume

Beyond just your education section, you can include your progress in a resume objective or a resume summary .
A great way to do this is through the use of action verbs like “owned,” “led,” and “advised.”
It’s also a good idea to show how you’ve made a positive difference in the company. Use metrics to strut your stuff!
For example, did you increase revenue or efficiency? Discuss it with numbers and percentages that show your impact.

Forensic Accountant Resume

Unlike a resume objective , a summary statement focuses on leveraging the abilities you’ve learned throughout your career.
Make sure your summary statement includes your years of experience in accounting and the company to which you’re applying (plus the job title).
Start by putting your work experience in reverse-chronological order, meaning that your most recent work experience will be listed at the top of the page.
Then you can consider things like alignment, color, and consistency. Whatever you do, make sure your resume is easy to read at a glance!

Financial Analyst Accountant Resume

Have you joined or started a group for accountants? Maybe you’ve written a personal finance book? Or perhaps you occasionally discuss financial trends at events outside of work? These are on-point examples of using your skills in unique ways, so they’re perfect resume components.
Focus on including projects and volunteer experience that can demonstrate essential skills (like collaboration and communication).
Look for similar structures, word usage, and metrics to see how you can make your resume pop.

Management Accountant Resume

Make sure that your management accountant resume shows your most relevant experience. Include your most significant accomplishments, like if you’ve led any projects or saved your company a lot of money.
Although your goal is to show your most relevant work, having a cohesive career progression is more important. Employers want to see that you’ve been consistently working.
Look for specific skill keywords and responsibilities listed in the job description and incorporate them into your work experience and skills section to make the best impact.

Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Resume

To keep to a single page, make your bullet points short. Ideally, every point should be one sentence and a maximum of three lines long .
List accomplishments and achievements by all means, but don’t clutter your space with empty adjectives or adverbs. Words like “successfully” and “as needed” are generally assumed, so leave them out.
Certifications need their own section, but you don’t need to add much more than the name of your certificate. You can include the organization that offers the certificate, but most hiring managers will know that information already, so don’t stress about it.

Onboarding Accountant Resume

However, your resume is not your cv . As hard as it is to break up with your old jobs, it’s for the best. The best resumes include just three to six of your most relevant work experience roles.
Put yourself in the shoes of the hiring team reviewing 100+ resumes. What work experience would stand out and be the most relevant for the position?
And if you’re worried about forgetting or losing information from your work history that could be relevant later on, don’t sweat it. You can create a separate document with a “master list” of work experience that you can pull from for different jobs.

Accounting Clerk Resume

Think of the skills section of your resume as a peek into your technical prowess with accounting software. Any tools that help you do your job better are worth adding to this part of your accounting clerk resume .

Tax Accountant Resume

In this resume example, the candidate’s last job was as a tax accountant—the same position they’re applying to. Putting it at the top highlights what you’ve been able to achieve at your previous job.

Public Accounting Resume

Do you hold a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certification? If you’ve completed your CPA, it’s proof that you have a license and the knowledge to provide accounting services to the public.

Related resume guides

Bank Teller
Accounts Payable
Financial Analyst

Job seeker reviews qualifications and accomplishments to build job application for next role

As an accountant, you know that precision matters. You’re expected to be an analytical expert who can produce reliable research and solve complex legal and financial problems. So, think of your resume not only as a place to highlight your experience but also as a place to demonstrate your attention to detail and high standard of work.

Boosting your resume’s potential requires special attention to these four areas:

Listing accounting skills
Formatting your accountant resume properly
Quantifying your previous impact
Customizing your resume to each job

List the right accountant skills

When recruiters post an accountant job description , it’s not unheard of for them to receive upwards of 100 resumes. With the sheer number of applicants, companies can’t carefully review every accountant’s application. The applicant tracking system (ATS) software helps weed out applicants before a recruiter reviews them, which saves time and gets rid of candidates without the right experience.

Applicant tracking systems work by using algorithms that match keywords from the company to keywords in your resume. So even if you’re highly qualified for a job, your resume may be thrown out if it doesn’t include the right keywords. To avoid this, you need to know how to include job-appropriate skills on your resume (keywords).

What are the right skills? The right skills will vary depending on the accountant role. Read this excerpt from a sample accountant job description and see if you can pick up on the essential skills:

Greenhill is seeking a certified accountant who can tackle every level of the accounting process, from balancing ledgers to researching the law and analyzing data to ensure efficient and effective operations. This position is ideal for candidates who are jacks of all trades! Must possess strong public speaking and collaboration skills while demonstrating initiative and the capacity to conduct independent work.

Based on this small sample, we can create a list of essential skills customized for the job. You do not want to take exact words from the job description or lie about your skill level . Instead, use the accountant job description as a jumping-off point to think about the most relevant skills you possess:

Accounting applications: Quickbooks, ERP, Concur, Taxjar
Tax accounting
Expense reporting
State law compliance
Accounts payable/receivable
Collaboration and communication
Data analysis and research presentations

On other accountant job postings, you can expect to see different skills emphasized, such as:

Choose the best resume format

It’s not just about what you write on your accountant resume; it’s about how you write it. Your resume format is important for ensuring that your resume is visually appealing, easy to read, and easy for the ATS to recognize. For these reasons, we always suggest the reverse-chronological format to keep your most recent job experience listed at the top of your resume, but there are some other aspects of resume formatting you need to know.

Here are some other essential elements of resume formatting that you should pay attention to:

Resume length: Always ensure your resume is a full, single-sided page.
Bullet points: Break up large text sections about your work experience with classic round bullet points.
Avoiding icons/images: The ATS does not seem to appreciate icons/images; neither will recruiters.
Listing the title of the position you’re seeking: Specialize your resume for each job you apply for to show respect and genuine interest in the job. (This is especially useful for a company that may be hiring for multiple positions.)
Objective/Summary: Only use one when necessary (hang tight—we’re about to cover this in-depth).

Remember these formatting tips, and you’ll be confident that your resume is ATS-friendly and easy to read for recruiters.

Understand the elusive resume objective and summary

All right, back to the objective and summary. A resume objective is one of the most misunderstood sections of your resume. Most people think objectives are outdated and pointless, but that’s only the case if you don’t tailor them and keep them short.

But what exactly is a resume objective? And what’s the difference between that and a resume summary? Let’s dive in!

A resume objective and summary statement are both short, two to three-sentence paragraphs at the top of a resume to express your interest in a position or a brief career synopsis. Both require customization and should be avoided if you don’t plan on writing a new one for every job application.

However, these two types of paragraphs differ in how they communicate interest in the job. An objective describes the value you’ll add to a company and why you want the job . Objectives are best suited to accountants who are just starting their careers or going through a career change (like from a staff accountant to an accounts payable specialist).

A resume summary highlights your past work experience , leveraging it to prove your qualifications and skills . Because the summary relies on many past job experiences, it’s only recommended for senior accountants with many years of industry experience.

Let’s work through a few examples together, so you can better understand all the moving parts:

Poor resume objective: Years of experience in the industry, looking for a full-time job in the accounting field with benefits.

There are multiple issues at play here. First, it’s uninformative. The applicant doesn’t list anything that provides concrete evidence of their skills. Secondly, it’s not specific. They don’t mention a particular job title, applicable skills, or the company to which they’re applying. Lastly, this candidate is only focused on what the job will do for them . You need to mention why you’ll be an asset to the company, not what the job will provide for you personally.

Better resume objective: Detailed junior accountant with 4+ years of experience working for Big Four accounting firms. Seeking an opportunity as a staff accountant at a smaller-scale operation like Fender Co., where my specializations in optimizing pricing through software adoption and systems streamlining would positively impact sales.

This resume objective makes the case that the applicant is valuable to the company by highlighting relevant skills and years of experience. Furthermore, it’s customized to the specific job the candidate is seeking, which is a major green flag for employers.

Poor summary statement: Experience as an accountant for 3 businesses. My role, which was providing organized, detailed work for all 3 companies, positively impacted the companies.

This statement is vague and confusing, not to mention it’s poorly worded. Would you trust this person with your company’s financial accounts?

Better summary statement: Data-driven certified accountant with specialized work in small and mid-size businesses for 22 years. Dedicated to providing services that adhere to GAAP standards while optimizing operations and financial performance. Expertise in many types of accounting software relevant to business size, including Xero, QuickBooks, Zoho, and SAP. Experience supervising and collaborating across cross-functional teams and departments while increasing ROI by 5%+ YTD.

This summary statement provides specific metrics, specialized skills, and a job title. It’s a great example of a strong statement that would impress a hiring team.

Quantify your positive impact as an accountant

If you want to prove to a company that you’re an excellent accountant, you’ll want to focus on numbers. Quantifying your impact on your accountant resume provides concrete proof that you’re an asset to the company.

Fortunately, as an accountant, there are many ways to quantify your impact, such as:

Internal company operations: Have you worked with company executives to propose financial incentives to improve employee retention? Have you instituted software adoption that reduced error rates?
Leadership: Do you manage, mentor, or collaborate with a team? Do you work across several departments?
Work with vendors: Do you assess vendor invoicing or review vendor statements? Do you manage accounts payable for vendors?
Clients: How many clients do you advise if you work with individual clients? How long have you retained these clients?
Revenue: How much revenue does the company you work for generate? How many assets do you oversee? How much have you saved in potential penalty costs?
Reductions in error rates: Have you reduced errors during employment at your past jobs? Do you use specific types of software to minimize mistakes?

Based on the above, check out these examples that demonstrate how metrics can fuel your bullet points:

Proactively identified and communicated potential problem areas related to a client’s reporting issue, saving the client $2K+ in penalty fees
Supported management in executing an employee equity compensation plan to improve employee retention by 11%
Led a team of 2 junior accountants, providing mentorship and feedback through weekly 1:1 sessions
Reconciled vendor statements in QuickBooks, investigating and correcting any discrepancies within 48 hours

Optimize your accountant resume for each job

Unfortunately, you can’t just have one copy of your resume that you submit for every accountant job application. Every application deserves a tailored resume.

With the job description in view, these are the areas you’ll need to pay special attention to:

Objective/summary statement: Remember how we encouraged you to include specific company names? One of an applicant’s worst mistakes is failing to change the company name on multiple job applications. Make sure you read over your statement (if included) before submitting your resume, changing the job title, skills, and company name.
Skills: To customize your skills section, read the job description. Often, hiring managers will overtly say what skills are important for the specific accounting job (but be careful not to plagiarize).
Job description bullet points: Are you applying to a job that needs you to interface with clients? Or maybe you’ll be working behind the scenes with data? Think about how you can shift how you discuss your work experience to highlight what’s important for each particular job.

We know it’s frustrating to focus on customizations when you want to submit multiple applications in a short amount of time. Consider creating a document with a master list of job description bullet points and skills, sorted into groups based on the skills you need to highlight (e.g., one section that demonstrates your accuracy, another for client interactions, another for public speaking, etc.). Then, you can pick and pull things from this document to create fully customized resumes in no time.

For now, we think you’ll find something to help you get started on your accountant resume, no matter the exact role:

Accountant resume

Do you have experience in general ledger (GL) accounting?
Remember, you don’t need to include all of these accounting skills in each position, but they must be covered at least once somewhere on your accountant resume.

Senior accountant resume

Underscore things like extensive improvements in efficiency rates, accuracy, and year-to-year financial growth.
Have you collaborated with upper management to set company-wide standards or implement internal policies or financial work incentives?
Highlight your ability to step into leadership and mentorship roles.

Accounts payable resume

Hone in on what matters by discussing payment processing and review, tracking business expenses (such as vendor invoices), and ensuring GL and GAAP compliance.
Highlight your attention to detail and how it has saved revenue for companies you’ve worked for in the past.

Entry-level accountant resume

You can leverage almost any job position to highlight particularly relevant skills in accounting. For example, a restaurant server can still balance payments, check receipts against bills, etc.
Read the job description carefully, noting what skills are most important to the hiring team and emphasizing your capacity to work in accounting based on their requirements.

Staff accountant resume

Your staff accountant resume should focus on general ledger maintenance/oversight, tax revenue billing, accounts payable/receivable, reports, and general record-keeping.
Don’t forget to showcase your potential for job advancement down the road by highlighting any aspects in which you provided management/supervisory work.

Final takeaway for improving your accountant resume

The hardest part of writing your accountant resume is getting started, so congratulate yourself on starting your resume journey! You’re one step closer to creating your best-ever accounting resume. We’ve laid out all the essential tips, including optimizing your skills section, formatting, metrics, and resume customizations, so you can write an amazing resume in no time.

We also have a host of tools to make resume writing easier. See how your resume stacks up against our AI-powered tips. Or, if it’s time to write your resume for the first time, you can use our resume builder with built-in formatting standards and corresponding recommendations to keep the process stress-free, easy, and quick—leaving you time also to craft a killer accountant cover letter for your dream role.

No matter what stage you’re at, we’re here to help, and we wish you the best of success!

Accountant Resume - Writing Guide & Example for 2024

As an accountant, you’re a trusted individual that requires accuracy at all times.

You’ll be faced with many challenging tasks that you must get right, but perhaps you didn’t expect to face one so soon.

Your resume!

What does a good accountant resume look like, anyway?

With so many individuals competing for the top roles, you can’t leave any questions unanswered.

But don’t worry, this guide has you covered!

An example of a finished account resume that works
How to write an accountant resume that’ll fill up your interview diary
How to make your accountant resume stand out [with top tips & tricks]

Before we get into the details, here’s an example of a finished accountant resume, created with our very own resume builder :

Looks good, right?! Follow the steps below to create an accountant resume that get results, just like the above example.

Check out these related resume examples if you're on the lookout for a different position in the field:

Bookkeeper Resume
Business Analyst Resume
Financial Analyst Resume
Bank Teller Resume
Banking Resume
Executive Assistant Resume
Consultant Resume
Administrative Assistant Resume
Office Assistant Resume
Career Change Resume

How to Format an Accountant Resume

Before you can impress the hiring manager with your accounting talents, you need pick the best format.

So which resume format should you choose?

The “ reverse-chronological ” format is the most used, and we understand why. The format is easy to read and allows the hiring manager to immediately see why you’ll make a great accountant.

The following resume formats can also work:

Functional Resume – If your accountancy skills are stronger than your on-the-job experience, this resume format is recommended. It’s also ideal if you have gaps in your employment history or have changed career path
Combination Resume – This format is a hybrid between the “Functional” and “Reverse-Chronological” formats. As such, it values both skills AND work experience. People use a combination resume when they have a lot of experience

Once your format is ready, you need to organize your resume layout .

Use an Accountant Resume Template

As an accountant, you present data in a structured way.

Your resume is no different.

You can try creating your own resume with Word, but you will likely run into a bunch of formatting issues.

This is why we recommend accountants to use a resume template .

What to Include in an Accountant Resume

The main sections in an accountant resume are:

Work Experience
Contact Information

Want to go a step further? You can also add these optional sections:

Awards & Certification

Interests & Hobbies

Read on to learn what to write for each of these sections.

You can learn even more by viewing our guide on What to Put on a Resume .

How to Correctly Display your Contact Information

Just like your client’s accounts, this section just needs to be factually-correct.

Mistakes in this section can result in the hiring manager not being able to contact you – disaster!

The contact information section must include:

Title – Align this to the exact role you’re applying for, which is “Accountant”
Phone Number – Check this for accuracy
Email Address – Use a professional email address ([email protected]), not your childhood email ([email protected])
(Optional) Location - Applying for a job abroad? Mention your location
Edward Fakester - Accountant. 101-358-6095. [email protected]
Edward Fakester - Numbers king. 101-358-6095. [email protected]

How to Write an Accountant Resume Summary or Objective

Here’s a fact for you – recruiters only spend a few seconds on each resume !

But should we really be surprised by this?

Well, not when you consider the competitive nature of the accounting market.

This means you have to hook the recruiter in just a few seconds.

But how can you do this?

The answer is simple: use an objective or resume summary .

Essentially, these are powerful introductions that are placed on top of your resume.

So, what is the difference between the two sections?

A resume summary is a 2-4 sentence summary of your professional experiences and achievements.

Accountant with a history of accurately and efficiently supporting accounting activities for a diverse range of clientele. 5+ years of experience in presenting data, analyzing cost control, providing financial reports, and delivering profit and loss statements under time pressures. Achievements include saving Company X $52,000 by fixing a tax reporting error.

On the other hand, a resume objective is a 2-4 sentence snapshot of your professional goals and aspirations.

Motivated accountancy student looking for a junior accounting job at Company X. Passionate about attention to detail and numbers. Experience balancing the books for local food stalls while at University X. Skilled in MS Office, FreshBooks, QuickBooks, Sage, and Microsoft Dynamics

So, which one is best, summary or objective?

Generally, experienced accounts should go with a summary. An objective is suited to those accounting graduates who lack the industry experience.

How to Make Your Accountant Work Experience Stand Out

An accountant’s job is all about accuracy.

As such, the recruiter needs to know that you can do a perfect job.

The easiest way to do this is to list your work experience.

Here’s the best structure:

Position name
Company Name
Responsibilities & Achievements

DiscoverGrowthDigital

03/2016 - 07/2020

Corrected account errors, which saved a total of $94,000
Set-up a digital accountancy system for a 10% efficiency increase
Processed 230+ Final Account Statements annually
Complied with company procedures and federal laws

To make your work experience stand out from the crowd, you should focus on your most notable achievements. That way, your value is clear to see.

Instead of saying:

“In charge of accounts”

“Corrected account errors, which saved a total of $94,000”

Simply, the first statement is way too generic. It shows you were in charge of accounts, but it doesn’t show if you were successful or not.

The second statement shows that you saved the company $94,000. Hard numbers that prove your skills – nothing beats that!

What if You Don’t Have Work Experience?

Finished education and are now looking for your first accounting job?

Or maybe, you’ve learnt accounting from online courses, but have no real experience in the field?

No company wants to hire an inexperienced accountant.

But don’t threat – there are ways to show you have the skills to do a great job.

What really matters here is your accounting portfolio.

If you already have any examples of your accounting skills, feel free to upload them online and link it in your resume (we’re going to explain how in a bit).

If not, it isn’t too late.

Here are a couple of easy ways to build a portfolio (and get paid for it):

Use a freelance platform, like UpWork, to pick up some gigs
Offer your accounting knowledge to friends & acquaintances at a reduced price

If you’re a recent graduate, you might want to check out our guide on how to make a student resume !

Use Action Words to Make Your Accountant Resume POP!

…are just some of the words that are repeated in every single resume.

Do you want to separate your resume from the competition?

Then use some power words to make your achievements stand out:

Conceptualized
Spearheaded

How to Correctly List your Education

It’s important for an accountant to have relevant qualifications.

With that said, you can keep your educational section simple.

Simply enter your qualifications in the follow format:

Degree Type & Major
University Name
Years Studied
GPA, Honours, Relevant Courses.

B.A. in Accounting & Finance

Boston State University

Relevant Courses: Finance Accounting, Foundations of Microeconomics, Management Accounting, Advanced Taxation, Auditing, International Banking

If you have some questions unanswered, the following information may help you:

What if I am still in education?

Regardless of whether you’re a graduate of accountancy or still studying, you should still mention every year of education to date.

Should I include my education before degree level?

Generally, only include your highest education. So, include your high school education if you don’t have a relevant degree for accountancy.

What wins, education or experience?

Real accountancy experience trumps education, so work experience goes first on your resume.

Still not sure? Check out our guide on how to list education on a resume .

Top 25 Skills for an Accountant Resume

You need to do two things when writing a skills section:

Look at the required skills that are listed in the job description
Prove you have the skills

It’s as simple as that!

Here are some of the most common accountant skills:

Hard Skills for Accountants:

Financial Statements
Asset Management
State Tax Law
Tax Compliance
Corporate Tax
Account Analysis
Regulatory Filings
Revenue Projections
Account Reconciliation
Profit and Loss
Tax Returns
Payroll Taxes
General Ledger

Soft Skills for an Accountant:

Creative Thinking
Communication
Time-Management
Organization
Generally, only list your best soft skills. You see, every applicant puts a massive list of soft skills that are hard to back-up. Anyone can say they work well in a team, but not many are well-versed in tax compliance.

Here’s a more comprehensive list of 101+ must-have skills this year .

What Else Can You Include in an Accountant Resume?

So, those are the most important sections to put on an accountant resume.

But you can do even more.

Covering the most important sections should get you shortlisted, but adding a few extra sections can get your resume to the top of the pile.

Awards & Certifications

Have you won an award in an accountancy-related field?

Have you completed a course to improve your knowledge?

Whatever it is, make sure to mention it in your resume!

Here’s an example:

Awards & Certificates

“Financial Accounting Fundamentals” – Coursera Certificate
“Apprentice of the Year 2016” – LUCA Awards
“Critical Thinking Masterclass” – MadeUpUniversity

Even though accountants deal with numbers, not words, being able to speak multiple languages is a useful skill to have. As such, list your languages if you have space.

Rank the languages by proficiency:

Intermediate

Now, you’re likely thinking, “why do I need to tell the recruiter about my book club?”

Well, your personal interests give an idea into the person you are.

Hobbies show that you’ll be a good part of the team, especially if you enjoy social activities.

Here’s which hobbies & interests you may want to mention.

Include a Cover Letter with Your Resume

Want to separate your application from the competition?

Craft a compelling cover letter!

This personal piece of content shows the company that you want to work for them, which is in direct contrast to other applicants that send dozens of generic resumes.

Here’s how to structure a winning cover letter:

You should complete the following sections:

Personal Contact Information

Your full name, profession, email, phone number, and location

Hiring Manager’s Contact Information

Full name, position, location, and email.

Opening Paragraph

You don’t have long to catch the recruiters attention, so use concise language to mention:

The accountancy position you’re applying for
Your experience summary and best achievement to date

Once you’ve captured their interest, you can delve into the following specifics:

Why you want to be an accountant for the company
What you know about the company
How are your accounting skills relevant for the job
Which similar industries or positions have you worked in before

Closing Paragraph

End the letter in a friendly way, you should:

Conclude the main points of the letter
Thank the hiring manager for the opportunity
Finish with a call to action that allows the conversation to continue. We recommend, “At your earliest opportunity, I’d love to discuss more about how I can help company X”

Formal Salutations

End the letter in a professional manner. Something like, “Kind regards” or “Sincerely.”

For more inspiration, read our step-by-step guide on how to write a cover letter.

Key Takeaways

You’ve just given yourself the best chance of landing that accounting role.

But before you go, let’s total-up everything you’ve learned:

Format your accounting resume correctly. Prioritize the reverse-chronological format, and then follow the best practices on content layout
In your work experience section, highlight your best achievements, rather than your daily responsibilities
Defeat the competition with a convincing cover letter