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Top Accounting Resume Samples & Pro Writing Tips

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Experts at the Bureau of Labor Statistics have estimated that the accounting industry is going to grow at a faster-than-average rate. Even with this fast growth, you may have difficulties getting a job as an accountant, clerk, or auditor because of the sheer number of applicants for each position. If you want to succeed as a jobseeker, you need to set yourself apart from the competition. The best way you can do that is to refer to resume samples and write your own standout resume.

When it comes to resume writing, you may come across plenty of different guidelines. The fact is, how you write yours should vary based on the job you want to get. You can use the popular accounting resume samples we have gathered to learn about the industry-specific elements you may want to include in your own professional document.

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Accounting Resume Samples


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If you are looking for a job as an account executive, your resume has to show that you have the knowledge and experience necessary to advise clients and manage finances. You may be more comfortable creating portfolios than resumes, but that doesn’t mean you can’t impress recruiters with your document. You can use our accounting resume samples as a place to start.

  • For:
  • Experienced account executives who have knowledge of sales and wish to maintain and create client relationships to drive sales and increase revenue.
  • Accounting Skills To Include:
  • Degree from a four-year college
  • Strong initiative and go-getter attitude
  • Excellent customer relations
  • Fast decision-making skills
  • Honed written and verbal communication skills

More Information: Have a look at our account executive resume sample for more information.


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As an accounting assistant, your life may revolve around numbers and spreadsheets. While employers may appreciate this, you may struggle to translate those day-to-day tasks into content recruiters actually want to see. Hiring managers need to learn about your skills, experiences, and accomplishments through your resume if you want a chance at landing a job.

  • For:
  • Experienced or entry-level accounting assistant looking to make a contribution to a team effort at an accounting firm or in a financial department.
  • Accounting Skills To Include:
  • General knowledge of payroll and bookkeeping
  • Accounting degree or equivalent experience
  • Advanced knowledge of spreadsheet and accounting programs, such as Excel and QuickBooks
  • Strong organizational skills
  • Team-oriented frame of mind

More Information: Get the information you need to build your own document by reviewing our accounting assistant resume sample.


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Internal auditor positions may attract a lot of well-qualified candidates. If you want to make your fit for the position clear, you have to create a resume that demonstrates your qualifications and accomplishments. Not only does this document have to show off your experiences, but it also has to impress hiring managers.

  • For:
  • Entry-level or experienced internal auditor interested in working as part of a team of auditors for a large corporation or organization.
  • Accounting Skills To Include:
  • Proficient written and verbal communication skills
  • Familiar with financial statement, tax filings, and budget plans
  • Bachelor’s degree in accounting or finance
  • Strong computer skills
  • High-level professionalism and integrity

More Information: See a resume in action by reviewing our internal auditor resume sample to learn more about how to write your own.


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Getting a job as an accounting clerk may have extra challenges because this particular area of the accounting industry is not expected to have much job growth according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Whenever you have an opportunity to apply, you need to wow hiring managers with an easy-to-read, informative resume. Use our accounting resume samples to get a better idea of the information employers may be looking for from you.

  • For:
  • Entry-level accounting clerks hoping to get some experience in the industry while working toward a higher degree or more certifications.
  • Accounting Skills To Include:
  • Skilled with computers, including spreadsheets and bookkeeping software
  • Previous bookkeeping experience or completion of accounting courses
  • Strong organizational skills
  • Comfortable with basic arithmetic
  • High degree of professionalism and integrity

More Information: If you want to learn more about writing your own resume, check out our accounting clerk resume sample.


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Want to find a job at an accounting firm as an account manager? If so, your resume has to concisely show your experiences, accomplishments, and skills that make you right for the job. Make sure you use the best format to help hiring managers understand you have what it takes to succeed by reviewing the accounting resume samples.

  • For:
  • Experienced accountants looking to take on more responsibilities as an account manager.
  • Accounting Skills To Include:
  • Bachelor in Accounting or Finance
  • Self-motivated worker with ability to multitask
  • Strong team leadership and motivation skills
  • Excellent communication abilities
  • Technical knowledge of math, tax processes, and spreadsheets

More Information: Find out more about how you can build a standout document by looking at our account manager resume sample.

Popular Accounting Resume Questions

1. What should I do to make sure my accounting resume makes it past an ATS?

Many companies use an applicant tracking system to make finding top candidates easier. An ATS screens hundreds of resumes to look for key phrases important to the hiring manager. If you fail to use keywords from the job description, chances are you won’t make it past the first round of review. You can increase your chances of a hiring manager actually looking at your resume by incorporating as many keywords as you can, avoiding the use of tables or graphs, and keeping your layout simple.

2. What’s the best length for an accounting resume?

Most of our accounting resume samples stick to a single page because that’s what hiring managers like to see. Of course, the length of your resume is not only dictated by industry. Instead, you also have to consider your years of experience. If you have an executive-level job and decades of experience, you may not be able to fit all of your skills, qualifications, and accomplishments on one page. In this situation, it may work better for you to use two pages. Most experts suggest avoiding anything longer unless hiring managers have specifically requested it.

3. What should I include about my accomplishments on my accounting resume?

Hiring managers want to see your accomplishments. These unique job experiences point out how you handle stressful projects, lead teams, or take initiative. You can incorporate your accomplishments into your work history section or create a standalone section. Using metrics to describe your biggest achievements can make it easier for recruiters to really understand what you did. Some examples of impressive accounting accomplishments could include the amount of money you were able to save your client because you found and fixed an error, the number of people you manage, or the percentage of efficiency improvement in the office after you introduced a new computer program.

4. What do I put on an accounting resume for my first job?

Writing a resume as an entry-level employee comes with its own unique set of challenges. How can you show employers you have what it takes to be an accountant when you don’t have any relevant experience? You need to focus more on your education and skills. Look at the entry-level accounting resume samples to get a better idea of how to do this. Remember, just because you’re not focusing on your experience doesn’t mean you want to leave it off your document. Instead, use your work history section to show hiring managers how you built up the skills you need to succeed as an accountant through your unrelated jobs.

5. What’s the best resume template to use for an accounting resume?

Accounting doesn’t usually fall into the creative industry category, which means you may want to stick to basic templates. Some formats go over the top with graphs, pictures, and colors. This can work well for some job searches, but most accounting hiring managers won’t care about the fluff of the design. As you sit down to write your resume, look over the accounting resume samples one more time to get a clear idea of the templates that work best for this industry.

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How to write an Accounting Resume

To write an accounting resume, you should follow these guidelines. This should serve as a guideline for how a sample accounting resume should be structured. Many accountant resume samples that you will find on the Internet do not provide the level of detail needed to help you to structure yours. We recommend you include the following sections in your accounting resume:

Contact Details

Include your full name, your telephone numbers, including a cell phone number and your email address. It is also wise to include your address. For students, this will include both home address and your address at the university.

Objective

Accounting resumes for less experienced candidates should include an objective. This is one concise sentence which states the goal of the applicant, and it should be tailored for each job. This accounting resume sample suggests something like:

Motivated self starter with accounting qualification seeking position with accounting company leader.

Profile

More experienced candidates will want to include a profile in their accounting resume. This usually consists of four sentences which provide a summary of the applicant’s most relevant skills and experience. Sample accounting resumes include profiles such as:

Versatile and highly self-motivated senior accountant with more than 10 years of leadership experience. Demonstrable experience supervising accounting staff and managing diverse teams. Expert in billings and collections with significant experience managing balance sheets and management status reports for blue chip organizations. Analytical thinker who brings a new approach to the management of accounts receivable.

As this sample accounting resume demonstrates, you can include some of your keywords in this profile, improving your resume’s chances of being found online. More on keywords below.

NOTE: Your accountant resume profile or objective will sit in the area of the page, which immediately commands the attention of the employer. The eye is naturally drawn to the top third of the page. Make sure that your resume stands out from the sea of other accounting resumes that the hiring manager receives, by paying attention to this important area.

Key Skills

For experienced accounting professionals, it is recommended to consider a list of key skills. This is another great place for keywords and phrases to sit. Our sample accounting resume suggests that you do it something like this:

  • Accounting Management
  • Accounting Team Leadership
  • Accounts receivables management
  • Managing billings and collections
  • Balance sheet Management
  • Preparing Financial Status Reports

Accounting Education

Your education section should be detailed in reverse chronological order. Make sure to include the following: subjects studied, educational institutes attended and their location, dates of graduation, any professional qualifications held.

Accounting Work Experience

Work experience should also be in reverse chronological order. DonӢt just list responsibilities. These days, employers want to hear about achievements, not just lists of tasks. Task lists will not make you stand out from the crowd. Our sample accounting resume suggests that you include bullet points that are listed in a similar way to these:

  • Led accounting team to introduce new customized computer software including selection of vendor through to driving the training of teams.

Or

  • Implemented changes to the A/R process, reducing debtor days by an average of 15 and significantly increasing cash flow in the organization.

Or for a more junior accounting resume:

  • Identified process issues with reporting method and proactively introduced new procedure for the operations department, improving report quality.

While working on these bullet points, make sure that you use the most powerful words that you can find to lead the sentence. Here, we”¢ve used ‘Led”, ‘Implemented”, and ‘Identified”. There are a great many other powerful action verbs that you can use to start off your bullet points.

Activities

For recent graduates, in this section you can mention relevant activities which might be of interest to the employer. Anything that demonstrates team working, leadership or communication skills may be important to include here. For more senior positions, accounting resumes may wish to include affiliations with professional organizations or community leadership. Again, make bullets powerful.

Keywords

Your accounting resume needs to include keywords and phrases which will be searched for by employers when looking for suitable candidates. A high quality sample accounting resume will contain all of the keywords and phrases that an employer will be looking for several times throughout the resume.

In summary, the above should provide you information about how sample accounting resumes are laid out. From this page you can also find a great number of sample resumes to get you started.

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