30 Accountant Resume Examples That Worked in 2026

How to Write an Accountant Resume

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: 

Highlighting keys skills on your accountant resume

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: 

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:

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. 

How to build an accurate contact information header

From your name to your LinkedIn profile, you should include all basic details that the employer will need to reach out to you. As a rule of thumb, make sure you have the following information:

• Full Name
• Phone Number (Current)
• Address
• Email
• LinkedIn (optional)

While a LinkedIn profile isn’t necessary, a fleshed-out contact header will give you more credibility, especially if you’re a CPA.

How to 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.

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

What are good action verbs for accountants?

We know working with numbers is your strong suit, so allow us to tell you which action words best suit this role:

• Analyzed
• Reconciled
• Forecasted
• Audited
• Reported
• Calculated
• Reviewed

These are just a few examples of the many different verbs you can use. While checking your resume, ensure they appear at the start of each bullet point.

How to include accounting-related education?

Education reinforces your credibility and shows employers that you’re a trained professional. Here, you should include your degree, institution, location, and graduation year. Here’s an example of how you can format it:

Bachelor of Arts in Accounting

University of Texas

Aug 2006 – May 2010

Austin, TX

While not necessary, pairing your education qualifications with certificates boosts your authenticity, which brings us to our next point.

How do you list accounting certifications (CPA, CMA) on a resume?

Make a separate section using an AI resume builder to list all your accounting certifications and licenses. You can even have specific sections for both, but it’s best to have them under one heading to avoid wasting space.

From the top, list your most recent licenses or certs and continue downwards. It’s best to have your licenses first and then any certificate programs later on. Some good examples to include here are:

• Certified Public Accountant License (CPA)
• Certified Management Accountant (CMA)
• Certified Internal Auditor (CIA)

How to 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.

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: 

Tax vs. corporate accounting resume

Tailoring your resume to a tax or corporate accounting role isn’t difficult, as it mainly depends on which quantified metrics you emphasize. Here’s how you can customize a resume for both cases:

• Tax-based role: Emphasize compliance, regulations, and client relations.
  Corporate accounting: Keep focus on forecasting, reporting, and strategic analysis

Accountant resume 

• Do you have experience in general ledger (GL) accounting? 
• Try to demonstrate your knowledge of accounting basics, including balance sheets, accounts payable/receivable, and accounting software.
  • 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 

• As a senior accountant, focus on customizing your resume to demonstrate skills beyond just the basics.
  • 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. 
• Have you worked on complicated accounts, perhaps with payment discrepancies that required your action on the part of the company’s interest?
  • Highlight your attention to detail and how it has saved revenue for companies you’ve worked for in the past.

Entry-level accountant resume 

• Hiring managers do understand that everyone starts somewhere, so you don’t need to have tons of accounting experience right out of the gate (although that is preferred).
  • 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

• As a staff accountant, you’ll generally have more responsibility and focus on more specific work than general accountants.
  • 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!