Accountant Resume Template : Everything you need to know!

What should your Accounting Resume look like?

Quite simply, it MUST be an easy to read document that clearly outlines your Qualifications, Skills and Employment History.

Your Resume should be a maximum of 4 pages. If it is longer then you need to edit or summarise information and/or consider reformatting. Have you included too much detail for each job? Is there too much wasted white space? As a rule of thumb, each job that you have performed should take up no more than a ¼ of a page.

What you put into your Accountant Resume is important, but so is what you leave out! To avoid unfair discrimination – which should not happen but does! – your Resume/CV should NOT include:

• Photo
• Date of Birth
• Nationality
• Marital Status
• Number of Children

One of the most common questions that we get asked as Professional Resume Writers, is ‘ What are the main Headings to include in my Accounting Resume?’

To assist with this, we have provided the following Accountant Resume Template. It includes the all of the Headings to include in your Accounting CV, what details to include under each Heading and expert Tips for each section. It is also perfect to be used by Accounting Graduates. Remember, that the Templates that we SELL here online, contain much more detail and have pre-written much of the content that you need.

FREE Accountant Resume Template suitable for all types of Accountants, Graduate Accountants and Bookkeepers/Accounts persons:

Contact Information

Name, Address, mobile phone number and email address.

Contact Information Tips:

• You DO NOT need to include your Home Telephone number, a mobile number is widely accepted as the best option for first point of contact nowadays.
• You DO NOT need a Cover Page, no-one uses these anymore!
• This information should not take up much room! Some people spread this across half a page. It only needs to be 1 or 2 lines at the top of the first page of your Resume!

Objective

Provide a quick summary of your career, qualifications, skills and what type of role you are looking for now.

Tips:

• Your Objective should only be a couple of brief paragraphs, you can include more detailed information in your Cover Letter.
• Be sure to mention how many years of experience that you have.
• If you are a Graduate, highlight any internships or projects with employers that you may have completed in your last year or vacation period.

Qualifications

Are you a CPA? Include your Registration Number.

Do you have a Diploma or Bachelor degree? List it here and don’t forget to put the year that you graduated.

Key Competencies

Create a table that simply lists your key Accounting Skills. List key aspects of your role such as Budgeting, Accounts Receivable Management, Accounts Payable Management, Preparation of BAS, new Business Development, Client Management.

DO NOT simply list every attribute that applies to the job. Stick to approximately 10-12 key skills that you are best at, or have the most experience with. This is your opportunity to make this skills stand out, and also ensure that Resume Scanning Software picks them up. Each of these terms should also be used elsewhere in your Resume e.g. in your job duties or Objective statement.

Skills & Abilities

Include ‘soft’ skills and abilities such as your excellent communication skills and sell some of your other qualities such as being honest and reliable.

Important Tip: Please, please, please do not write ‘highly motivated’!!! This is an overused phrase that has become meaningless on Resumes and is very quickly disregarded by Employers and Recruiters.

Training

In addition to your accounting or bookkeeping qualifications, what training have you completed? Have you completed any software training such as a MYOB or Quickbooks course? Do you have First Aid training? Include all of that here.

Information Technology Skills

Every Accountant or Bookkeeper need to use Information Systems as part of their job and it is VERY important to let employers know which software you have experience in using.

In particular this is important for Accounting Graduates to highlight. Your skills may even be better in this area than a more experienced Accountant!

If you are an expert user of software such as MYOB, Quickbooks, Xero make sure you have this in your Resume. Highlight it in your Cover Letter too!

Employment History

Start with your most recent employer. Include your Job Title, the Organisation Name, Location and the date range that you worked there. Then prepare a list underneath (between 5-10 dot points), include listing your key tasks,

Achievements

Have you won any awards – either during study or in the workplace? Don’t keep them secret, let your prospective employer know!

References

Include the Name, Job Title, Organisation Name and Mobile Number for at least 2 people that have been your Supervisor or Manager at a previous or current place of employment.

In Summary

We hope that the above Accountant/Bookeeper Resume Template has been useful to you. There are many elements to writing and presenting a successful Accounting or Bookkeeping Resume. It must look professional – because you are a professional! – and it must sell your best qualities and key skills to an Employer.

Remember that nowadays, Employers receive a large number of applicants for every role advertised. It is commonly accepted knowledge that most employers will spend just 10 seconds evaluating each Resume that they receive. YOUR Resume must impress them in 10 seconds if you are going to be successful in getting short-listed.

To achieve success, your Accounting Resume MUST be well-formatted, well-presented, and written in a clear and direct style so that it is easy to read.