Accounting CV examples to help you succeed

Accounting is a term that refers to a variety of positions. To impress recruiters in this field, you’ll need to display more than just your accountant skills. You’ll need to know how to create a professional CV that highlights your best qualifications. Here are a few ways you can turn great accounting into a great accounting CV.

Generally, the CV tips on this page will work best for these and similar occupations:

• Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
• Senior accountant
• Entry-level accountant
• Staff accountant
• Accounting manager
• Financial analyst

If you predominantly work with an individual’s or corporation’s finances, then these tips should be of benefit. If your work leans more towards banking, however, then a banking CV might be more up your alley.

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So, what should you showcase in a CV for an accounting position? You typically want hiring managers to understand you have both the technical skills necessary to manage accounts and the soft skills necessary to work with colleagues and interact with clients. Here’s how you can showcase these things and prove yourself to a potential employer.

Skills

Your skills section needs to showcase both hard and soft skills. Here are a few accounting-related skills in both categories you can use to flesh out your CV skills section:

• Financial reporting
• Microsoft Office Excel
• QuickBooks
• Account reconciliation
• Bookkeeping
• General ledger knowledge
• Reading financial statements
• Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)
• Communication skills
• Time management

These are skills you can include throughout your CV as well, not just in your skills section. For instance, you can describe duties and accomplishments in your work history that make use of these skills (e.g., “Performed bookkeeping duties for firm handling 300 accounts” or “Managed account reconciliation for accounting firm with Fortune 500 clients”). Note how these examples use action verbs to energise them.

Work experience/Work history

Past experience in the accounting field helps hiring managers to know that you’ve succeeded here before, and you may be able to do it again. However, you can also spotlight jobs that might not be ordinarily associated with accounting as long as they relate to the job. For example, if you were a customer service representative but handled accounts payable and receivable records at a previous job, you can cite these experiences. You can also mention academic experience, volunteer experience and internships, as long as they apply to the job you want.

Achievements and awards

If you’ve ever won any awards for accounting, whether recognition through an external organisation or recognition at an internal level, then you can list these on your CV. Depending on the CV format you use, you may even have a special section just to list achievements and awards.

Certifications

There are many certifications out there for accounting, including these:

• AAT Foundation Certificate in Accounting
• AAT Advanced Diploma in Accounting
• CIPFA Professional Accountancy Qualification
• Associate Chartered Accountant
• ICAS Chartered Accountant
• Chartered Institute of Management Accountants

The above is just a sampling. Do some research into certifications common in your industry and if you have them, list them on your CV.

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If you want to know how to start your accounting CV, then look no further than the CVHelp CV builder. Not only can this CV builder help you with your CV writing, but you can also find hundreds of CV examples to use for your CV writing process. This can help you get the perfect CV by discovering accounting CV samples on which to base your CV.

Tips for creating your accounting CV:

• Include as many CV keywords as possible. More and more frequently, companies are using applicant tracking systems (ATS) to screen CVs before they get to a hiring manager, and including keywords – the important skills and requirements for a job that are mentioned in the job posting – in your CV will ensure it gets through an ATS scan.
• Tailor your education section to your CV. If you have a degree in something that isn’t related to accounting, then you can still list it; but, try to showcase coursework that could be beneficial to your accounting position.
• Be specific when listing your key achievements. Don’t be vague and write, “Increased customer returns.” Use numbers to illustrate your accomplishments, and describe the role you played. For example: “Created a process that allowed the firm to increase customer returns by 25%.”

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