Staff Accountant Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this Staff Accountant resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
Accountants play an important role in any organization by preparing financial reports, monitoring cash flow, and ensuring that companies are in compliance with tax laws. If you’re interested in a career that offers stability and security, but also plenty of opportunity for growth, you might want to consider becoming an accountant.
Before you can land your dream job as an accountant, though, you’ll need an impressive resume that showcases your skills and experience. Follow these tips and resume example to write a fantastic staff accountant resume that hiring managers will love.
How to Write a Staff Accountant Resume
Here’s how to write a staff accountant resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
The best way to make your resume stand out is to use strong, specific language. Rather than saying you “managed accounts payable,” you could say you “managed $10M accounts payable for 200+ vendors, ensuring timely payments and accurate invoicing.”
The second bullet point is much more specific and provides more detail about what exactly you did and the results of your work. And that level of detail will make it much easier for a hiring manager to picture you in the role.
Related: What Is a Staff Accountant? How to Become One
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
Keywords are important for resumes because they help hiring managers find relevant candidates. Most applicant tracking systems (ATS) scan resumes for specific terms related to the job opening. If your resume doesn’t have enough of the right keywords, the ATS might filter out your application.
To make sure your resume makes it past the ATS, use the most relevant keywords from the job posting in your resume. You can find them by reading through the job description and paying attention to words that are used multiple times.
- Accounting
- Financial Reporting
- Financial Accounting
- Accounts Payable
- Account Reconciliation
- Journal Entries
- General Ledger
- Bank Reconciliation
- Financial Analysis
- Microsoft Access
- Auditing
- Accounts Receivable (AR)
- Financial Statements
- Finance
- Finance Functions
- Bookkeeping
- Accounts Payable & Receivable
- A/R Processing
- Accounts Payable & Receivable Reconciliation
- Journal Entries Preparation
- Invoicing
- Payroll
- Fixed Assets
- SAP Products
- Variance Analysis
- Variance Analysis Reporting
- Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)
- Trial Balance
- Internal Controls
- Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)
Showcase Your Technical Skills
Staff accountants rely on a variety of software programs to complete their work, so it’s important to list any relevant technical skills you have. Programs like Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), QuickBooks, and Peachtree are essential for staff accountants, as they allow them to manage their finances and track their transactions. Additionally, staff accountants may be called on to use specific software programs relevant to their industry, so it’s important to be familiar with as many programs as possible.
Related: How Much Does a Staff Accountant Make?
Remember The Basics
As you draft your resume, there are a few basic rules to keep in mind.
Create Scannable Sections
There are a few things you can do to make your resume more legible and easy to understand. First, use left alignment instead of centered text. Align your dates and locations to the right. Use plain fonts and avoid all caps and bolding. Try to use no more than 2 lines per bullet point. Finally, include some white space on the page to make the document easier to scan.
Be Concise
There is no set length for a resume, but a one-page resume is generally the preferred length. New graduates and those early in their careers should aim to keep their resumes to one page, while those with more experience can go up to two pages. When trimming down a resume, be selective about the information that you include to avoid making it too long. Formatting and design can also help to keep your resume concise.
Check Your Work
Proofreading your resume is an important step in ensuring that it looks its best. There are a few key things to watch for: spelling mistakes, punctuation mistakes, and grammatical mistakes. You should also be aware of easily confused words, such as their/there/they’re and to/too/two. Spell checking your resume is a good start, but you should also have someone else proofread it for you to catch any mistakes that you may have missed.
Use a Summary
A resume summary statement can be an extremely useful way to introduce yourself and your experience to potential employers. By highlighting your most relevant skills and experiences, you can show how you would be a valuable addition to their team. Additionally, a well-written summary can help to clarify your intentions and showcase your transferable skills, making it easier for employers to see how you would be a good fit for the role you’re interested in. If you’re wondering how to write a resume summary statement, the examples above should give you a good starting point.
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