Accounting Student Resume Example

An accounting student resume is read by firm recruiters who hire two years ahead and care about three things: your path to the 150 credit hours the CPA license needs, your grades in the core accounting courses, and whether you have already touched real books. Put those on the page before anything else.

The Sample resume below belongs to a junior in Salt Lake City who finished a busy-season tax internship at a regional CPA firm, keeps the books for a student accounting society and volunteers at a free tax clinic. The internship bullets count returns and reconciliations, the clinic entry states the certification level, and the education block says exactly when the 150 hours arrive.

Accounting recruiting runs early: audit and tax internships for the following January or summer are filled by October, often through the campus accounting society and a meet-the-firms night. Have this resume ready in September of your junior year. For the full-time version of the role you are heading toward, read the accountant example, the auditor example and the bookkeeper example. The general rules for a student page are on the business student example.

Updated . The person and employers in this Sample resume are fictional.

Accounting Student sample resume

Mei-Lin Aguirre

Accounting Student, CPA Track | Busy-Season Tax Intern | 150 Hours by May 2028

Salt Lake City, UTmeilin.aguirre@example.com(801) 555-0122

Summary

Junior accounting major at Wasatch Valley University with a 3.8 GPA, on track to complete 150 credit hours through the integrated Master of Accountancy by May 2028. Completed a January-to-April tax internship at a regional CPA firm preparing individual and partnership returns, and serve as treasurer of a 90-member accounting society. Seeking an audit or tax internship for summer 2026 with a path to a full-time offer after the master's year.

Experience

Tax Intern, Busy Season, Hollister & Vance CPAs

–

Salt Lake City, UT

  • Prepared 85 individual returns and 14 partnership returns in UltraTax under a senior's review, including Schedule C, Schedule E and multi-state filings for Utah, Idaho and Nevada.
  • Reconciled year-end bank and credit card statements for 11 small-business clients in QuickBooks Online and prepared adjusting entries for the preparer to approve.
  • Caught a duplicated depreciation schedule on a rental property return that would have overstated the client's deduction by about $3,100, and documented the fix for the file.
  • Worked 28 hours a week during the semester while carrying 12 credits and keeping a 3.8 GPA.
Treasurer, Ledger Scholars Society, Wasatch Valley University

– Present

Salt Lake City, UT

  • Keep the books for a 90-member student accounting society with about $11,000 in annual revenue from dues and firm sponsorships, closing each month within five business days.
  • Moved the society from a shared spreadsheet to a simple general ledger with monthly bank reconciliations and a treasurer's report read at every meeting.
  • Coordinated sponsorship invoicing for the fall meet-the-firms night with eight firms, collecting every payment before the event for the first time in three years.
Volunteer Tax Preparer, VITA Campus Site, Wasatch Valley University

–

Salt Lake City, UT

  • Passed the IRS VITA Advanced certification and prepared 42 federal and state returns for low-income and elderly taxpayers over 11 Saturdays.
  • Explained the Earned Income Tax Credit and education credits in plain language to clients, several of whom had not claimed them in prior years.
  • Served as the site's quality reviewer for the last three Saturdays, checking other volunteers' returns before e-file.

Education

Bachelor of Science in Accounting, integrated Master of Accountancy (150 credit hours expected May 2028)

Wasatch Valley University, Salt Lake City, UT

GPA 3.8, accounting courses 3.9. Dean's List, five semesters. Completed: Intermediate Accounting I and II, Federal Income Tax, Cost Accounting, Accounting Information Systems. In progress: Auditing, Advanced Accounting. CPA exam plan: FAR and REG in summer 2027, AUD and a discipline section in the master's year.

Skills

  • Individual and partnership tax preparation
  • UltraTax CS
  • QuickBooks Online
  • Bank and credit card reconciliations
  • Adjusting and closing entries
  • Excel (PivotTables, XLOOKUP, data validation)
  • Fixed asset and depreciation schedules
  • Multi-state returns
  • Workpaper documentation
  • GAAP fundamentals
  • Internal controls basics

Certifications

  • VITA Advanced Certification, Internal Revenue Service,
  • QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor, Intuit,

Start yours from this example

Opens this sample in the editor, in one of the templates below. Swap in your details, then tailor it to each posting in about two minutes.

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Templates for the accounting student resume

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How the resume changes with experience

The same accounting student resume, written at three levels: a summary and three bullets for each.

Entry level

Zero to two years, or a first role in the title

Sophomore accounting major who has finished Financial and Managerial Accounting with A grades, holds a part-time cashier job and joined the student accounting society, applying for a first bookkeeping or tax-season internship.

  • Balanced a cash drawer of up to $2,000 at the end of every shift for 18 months with two recorded variances, both under $5.
  • Finished Financial Accounting with the top score on the final in a section of 140 students.
  • Signed up for the VITA Basic certification in my second year so there would be a tax bullet on the page before internship recruiting.

Mid level

Three to seven years, owns a process or a workload

Junior on the CPA track with a completed busy-season tax internship, a treasurer role and two seasons of VITA volunteering, applying for summer audit and tax internships ahead of the master's year.

  • Prepared 99 returns during a January-to-April internship, including multi-state and partnership filings, under senior review.
  • Found a duplicated depreciation schedule worth about $3,100 of overstated deduction before the return went out.
  • Chose the integrated master's over a double major because it gets to 150 hours and the CPA exam a year sooner.

Senior

Eight years or more, leads people, budgets or programs

Master of Accountancy candidate with 150 hours complete in May, two passed CPA exam sections and a summer audit internship that ended in a full-time offer, finishing the remaining sections before the October start date.

  • Audit internship covered inventory observation, cash and fixed-asset testing for three manufacturing clients with revenue from $20 million to $180 million.
  • Passed FAR and REG on the first attempt during the summer after junior year while interning full time.
  • Accepted the audit offer over a higher tax offer because the client exposure in audit matched the controller path I want in five years.

Skills to put on the accounting student resume

Hard skills

Tax or bookkeeping software you have used
UltraTax, Lacerte, CCH Axcess or QuickBooks on the page means a firm can staff you on live work in your first week.
Reconciliations and adjusting entries
They are the first tasks an intern gets in audit, tax or industry, and proving you have done them removes the training question.
Excel with lookups and PivotTables
Workpapers live in Excel, and recruiters ask about it in nearly every first-round interview.
The CPA 150-hour plan
Firms hire for a start date after you are exam-eligible, so stating when you reach 150 hours tells them which class you belong to.
Core course grades
Intermediate Accounting is the course recruiters ask about by name; a strong grade in it is worth more than the overall GPA.
VITA certification
It is free, it is the IRS, and it gives a sophomore with no internship a credible tax line.
Workpaper documentation
Audit and tax seniors review what you write, and a bullet about documenting a fix shows you understand the file matters as much as the number.

Soft skills

Accuracy under deadline
Busy season is the job, and a bullet that pairs volume with a caught error is the strongest thing a student can show.
Explaining numbers to non-accountants
Clients and club members do not read ledgers, and recruiters want staff who can be put in front of a client early.
Ethics and discretion
Interns see payroll, returns and bank statements; a treasurer role or a quality-review role shows you have been trusted with them before.
Stamina
Working 28 hours a week through a semester with a full course load is the closest preview of a 55-hour busy-season week.

Mistakes that cost accounting student interviews

  1. Not saying when you reach 150 hours

    Firm recruiters sort candidates by exam eligibility and start date. Write the expected date for 150 credit hours in the education entry and the headline, and say how you get there: integrated master's, extra undergraduate credits or a separate MAcc.

  2. Listing Financial Accounting as a skill

    Everyone in the stack took it. Replace course names in the skills list with what you can do: reconciliations, adjusting entries, tax preparation in a named program, multi-state returns, fixed asset schedules.

  3. Burying the club treasurer role

    Keeping real books for a student organization is accounting experience. Give it bullets with the revenue handled, the close timeline and anything you fixed, rather than a one-line membership mention.

  4. Writing busy season like a job description

    Prepared tax returns tells a recruiter nothing. Count the returns, name the forms and schedules, name the software, and include the error you caught. Firms hire interns who notice.

  5. Hiding the GPA when it is strong

    Accounting firms screen on GPA more than most employers, and many postings state a 3.0 or 3.2 floor. If yours is above 3.5, show both the overall and the accounting GPA. If it is below the floor, apply through the society's firm contacts and lead with the internship.

  6. Skipping the meet-the-firms calendar

    The best accounting resume does no good in November. Spring and summer internships are usually filled by mid-October through campus recruiting, so have the page finished in September of your junior year and bring printed copies to the firm night.

Questions about the accounting student resume

How do I write an accounting student resume with no internship yet?

Lead with education, including the accounting GPA and the courses completed, then VITA volunteering, a treasurer or bookkeeping role for any organization, and a job that handled money or records. Add the software you have used in class or on your own, such as QuickBooks or Excel, and a line about your CPA plan. A sophomore page built this way gets busy-season internships.

Should I put my CPA exam plan on the resume before I am eligible?

Yes, briefly. A line in education such as CPA exam plan: FAR and REG summer 2027 shows the recruiter you understand the timeline and intend to be licensed. Once you have passed a section, move it to certifications with the date.

Does the overall GPA or the accounting GPA matter more?

Firms look at both, and the accounting GPA often matters more when they differ. Show both if the accounting number is higher. Intermediate Accounting is the course recruiters ask about specifically, so a strong grade there is worth mentioning in an interview even if it is not on the page.

Is VITA volunteering real experience?

To accounting recruiters, yes. State the certification level (Basic or Advanced), the number of returns prepared and any quality-review or site-coordinator duties. It is the one tax credential available to every student for free and firms recognize it immediately.

What should the headline say for an accounting student?

Your major, the CPA track, the strongest thing you have done and the date you reach 150 hours, all in one line. For example: Accounting Student, CPA Track, Busy-Season Tax Intern, 150 Hours by May 2028. It answers the recruiter's first three questions before the summary.

Should I apply to audit or tax internships?

Apply to both unless you already know. A tax internship runs January to April and fits a lighter spring semester; audit internships are usually summer. Your bullets transfer either way, since both value reconciliations, documentation and attention to error. Decide after you have seen one.

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