If you’re currently looking to land an accountant role, it’s essential for your CV to stand out.
Grabbing a recruiter’s attention with a well-structured and engaging CV that highlights your in-demand skills, is the first step to landing that dream role.
So, I created this guide including 2 accountant CV examples and a step-by-step guidance that will help you write a CV that gets noticed.
Whether you’re looking to land a finance analyst role or an accounting director position, this post will ensure you get the interviews you want.
Guide contents
- Accountant CV examples
- Structuring and formatting your CV
- Writing your CV profile
- Detailing work experience
- Your education
- Vital skills for an Accountant CV
Accountant CV example 1
Accountant CV example 2
The above is a great example of an experienced accountant CV that demonstrates their array of skills and knowledge within accountancy in a professional yet easy-to-read manner.
Now, I will relay the process of how to produce your own accountancy CV, which will get you noticed by recruiters.
Accountant CV structure & format
The structure and format of your CV are just as important as the content, as they determine its appearance and how the information is digested.
Facilitate ease of reading by correctly structuring and formatting your CV in a way that allows recruiters to easily navigate the document and find key information.
The below infographic details what sections you should be adding to your CV and how to order them.
Formatting Tips
- Avoid large blocks of text, and instead break up information with bold headers, sections and bullet points
- Keep your CV to 2 sides of A4, as long CVs can become tedious to read – potentially meaning important information is not seen.
- Stick to a simple colour pallet, clear font, and avoid using imagery, such as company logos or profile pictures, as these don’t add any value, and distract from the key information in your CV.
Structuring your CV
Break your CV into clearly defined sections below:
- Contact details – Avoid your contact details being missed by keeping them close to the top of your CV
- Profile – This is an introductory paragraph that should summarise your relevant skills and experiences, grabbing recruiters’ attention at the top of the page
- Work experience / Career history – A list of your previous employment, working backwards from your most recent or current position
- Education – A record of any qualifications or courses you’ve attained
- Interest and hobbies – This is an optional section, only to be include if your hobbies are relevant to your work
Below I will talk you through each of these sections in more detail.
CV Contact Details
This may be the simplest section of your CV but it’s important to make sure the information you provide is optimal.
Firstly, keep your contact details to the top of the page, making it easy for recruiters to get in touch with you.
When adding your contact details, keep to the essentials:
- Telephone number
- Email address (make sure this is professional avoiding any childish nicknames)
- Location
- If you have a good one, provide a link to your LinkedIn profile
There is no need to add your full address – also avoid adding information such as marital status, date of birth or profile pictures. – they are surplus to requirement and will waste space.
Quick tip: If the information isn’t needed within the decision making process of shortlisting you as a candidate – leave it out of your CV.
Accountant CV Profile
Your CV profile should be a short paragraph between 5-10 lines that displays your relevancy for the sector you’re applying to.
It’s placed at the top of the CV to act as a quick sales pitch, and reel recruiters and hiring managers in.
When producing your accountant CV profile keep these tips in mind:
- It needs to be concise, so be specific in the detail you provide – you will be able to expand on your experience later in your CV
- Stand out from the competition by avoiding clichés – Avoid generic terms such as “I am a dedicated individual” or “I give 110%” and focus on industry specific skills instead
- Research target roles before putting together your profile, adding any keywords you see in job adverts will make it easier for recruiters to match you to the role
Things to include in your accountant CV profile
- Types of companies worked for – Accounting firms? Directly for clients? Any particular industries?
- Level of experience – Are you a new graduate? Do you have a few years experience? Are you an accounts assistant?
- Accounting qualifications – University degrees / ACA / AAT / CIMA
- Accounting specialisms – e.g. Bookkeeping, management accounting, finance transformations, reporting
Quick tip: If you struggle with written English, try using our quick-and-easy CV Builder to eliminate the risk of making mistakes.
Core skills section
Add a core skills section under your CV profile which should be made up of two or three columns of bullet points.
List your most in-demand skills here, ensuring these are matched to the skills required in the accountancy sector and your target jobs – this will ensure that they are not missed by readers.
At quick glance this section can help highlight your suitability to a recruiter and make sure they stick to the CV.
Work experience/Career history
When listing your work experience, start with your most recent or current position and then work backwards through your career history.
As you work backwards, you can shorten your role descriptions, reserving more space for your recent positions.
Structuring your roles
The way you structure each of your roles is important to ensure key info is highlighted, holding recruiters‘ attention and helping them understand your impact within the roles.
Avoid large blocks of text and break the information into three sections, like the example below.
Outline
Give some context to recruiters by providing a brief summary of the role, and the company or the department you worked within.
E.g.
“Supported the Global Travel Retail arm with commercial/marketing financial analysis, financial reporting, governance and compliance systems/process improvements.”
Key responsibilities
This is a bullet pointed list of your responsibilities in a previous role, documenting your involvement and demonstrating who you interacted with.
E.g.
- Frequent liaison with Country BDMs to analyse variances against budget and forecast and providing expertise for business case development.
- Consolidated and validated data for monthly/quarterly results to improve accuracy of information.
Key achievements
Key achievements help to demonstrate the value you added to a previous employer, so add them to the bottom of your roles and quantify them to show the scale of your impact.
E.g.
- Collaborated with the Asia Pacific Commercial Director to optimise control of a £8m advertising and promotion budget.
Education
At the bottom of your CV list your qualifications, with a focus on your accounting studies such as ACA, AAT, CIMA, accounting degrees etc.
Then list other qualifications with less detail if you have space.
Interests and Hobbies
This is an optional section of your CV, only add it if your hobbies will assist a recruiter in the decision making process.
Avoid common hobbies such as socialising or reading and instead reflect on hobbies that showcase your applicable skills and strengths.
For example, charitable projects could display your ability to organise, communicate effectively and would benefit a career in accountancy if you were responsible for tracking donations and the overall cost of the event.
Essential skills for your accountant CV
Although every Accountancy position will differ, there are a set of core skills that will be important across many accounting roles
- Forecasting – using information and data to find patterns and pot trends – a valuable skill when looking at company budgets and profitability
- Bookkeeping – Recording company spending and revenue – calculating profit
- Management Accounting / Reporting– Creating accounting reports for company management
- Financial analysis – Using financial figures to spot patterns and trends
- Tax planning – Using knowledge of tax to legally reduce tax bills
- HMRC submissions – Submitting tax returns and other official documents to HMRC
Conclusion – writing your accountant CV
When writing an accounting CV it’s vital to prove you have the right skills and knowledge to perform the roles you are applying for.
By creating a CV that is not only visually pleasing but highlights your applicable strengths and experiences in a way that is easy to navigate, you’re more likely to stand out from the competition.
Remember that creating a strong CV is all about researching your chosen field and matching yourself to that criteria, making it easier for a recruiter to see why you’re the ideal candidate.
Check out our accountant cover letter examples to ensure your CV gets opened.
Good luck with your job search!