How to tailor an accountant resume to the job
Accounting posts are precise: close cycle, reconciliations, standards, systems, certification. Use their terms for what you actually do, and the right reader will find you.
What accountant posts usually ask for
Not every post asks for all of these, and the order changes. Check which ones the post you're applying to lists first or repeats.
- Month-end close. Your part in it, and how long it took.
- Reconciliations and journal entries. Which accounts, and how many.
- Standards. GAAP or IFRS, and any audit work.
- Systems. NetSuite, QuickBooks, SAP, Excel. Name them.
- Certification. CPA, ACCA, CMA, or progress toward one.
What to put first
Lead with the close and reconciliation work at a company of similar size and industry.
A tailored line, before and after
Before: Did accounting for the company. Month-end, reconciliations, journal entries. Used NetSuite.
After: Ran month-end close in NetSuite for a $40M distributor, reconciling 25 balance sheet accounts and cutting close from 10 to 6 days.
The company size, account count and close times were in the person's notes. The rewrite uses the post's words, "month-end close" and "balance sheet accounts". This is an invented example.
Gaps, and how to handle them honestly
- CPA. If you aren't one, don't suggest it. If you've passed sections, say which.
- Public accounting or audit. If your experience is in-house, say what audits you supported.
Posts often list more than the job needs. If you clearly show most of the main requirements, it's usually worth applying.
Wording that often appears in these posts
Use these where they describe what you've actually done, in sentences about that work. A list of terms you can't back up reads badly to recruiters, and they ask about every line in an interview.
month-end closereconciliationsjournal entriesGAAPgeneral ledgeraccounts payableaccounts receivableNetSuiteExcelCPA
Tailor yours to a real post
Paste the post you're applying to, and cvagent.ai lists what it asks for, marks which of those your resume shows, and rewrites your resume for it using only what's in your resume. Every change is shown next to your original, and anything it can't trace back to your resume is flagged. Or start with the free resume check, which needs no account and saves nothing.