Business and finance
Accountant resume example
Accounting resumes get read for accuracy and scope: which parts of the close you own, how big the books are, and which systems you know. This example states those plainly and uses the exact terms (reconciliations, GAAP, month end close) that tracking systems look for.
Opens in the Sembis editor with this example filled in, on the free Classic template. Replace the details with yours and download an ATS friendly PDF. No card needed.
An example: the person and employers are made up.
Accountant resume summary examples
Two or three sentences at the top of your resume that say who you are, what you’re good at and what you’ve achieved. Pick the one closest to your level and swap in your own facts.
Accounting graduate with internship experience in accounts payable and bank reconciliations. Detail oriented, strong in Excel and QuickBooks, and sitting for the CPA exam this year.
CPA with 6 years in corporate accounting and audit. Cut the month end close from 9 days to 5 while keeping audits free of material findings.
Accounting manager with 12 years leading close, consolidation and audit for multi entity businesses up to $500M. Manages a team of five and owns technical accounting positions.
More in the guide: how to write a resume summary.
Bullet points for a accountant resume
Strong bullets start with an action verb, say what you did, and end with a result someone can measure. Use these as patterns, with your own numbers.
Stuck for the first word? See 180+ resume action verbs.
- Cut the month end close from 9 days to 5 across three entities
- Prepared monthly balance sheet reconciliations for 80 accounts
- Achieved zero material audit findings three years in a row
- Automated the accruals workbook, saving 12 hours every close
- Tested internal controls and documented SOX compliance
- Reduced aged payables 40% by cleaning up vendor records and approvals
- Led the move from QuickBooks to NetSuite with no disruption to reporting
- Prepared variance analysis for the monthly management pack
Skills to put on a accountant resume
Tracking systems match your resume against the words in the job posting, so list the skills you really have using the posting’s own terms. Hard skills belong in a skills section; show soft skills through your bullet points.
Hard skills
- Month end close
- Account reconciliation
- Journal entries
- Accruals
- US GAAP
- IFRS
- SOX compliance
- Financial reporting
- Variance analysis
- Audit
- NetSuite
- SAP
- QuickBooks
- Excel
Soft skills
- Accuracy
- Deadline management
- Confidentiality
- Process improvement
- Communication
- Teamwork
How to write a accountant resume
01
State the scale of the books
Revenue, number of entities and number of accounts tell a hiring manager what you're ready for.
02
Use standard accounting terms
Tracking systems search for phrases like "month end close", "reconciliations" and "GAAP". Write them out in full.
03
Show you made the process better
Faster closes, automated workbooks and clean audits stand out, because they show more than keeping up.
04
Check what a tracking system sees
Before you apply, run your finished resume through the free ATS resume checker to see the exact text a parser pulls out, and fix anything that comes out scrambled.
Tailor it to each accountant job
Paste a job posting into Sembis to see which of its keywords your resume is missing, and let AI suggest rewrites you approve one by one.
