Accountant Resume Template

Free accountant resume template for Word and Google Docs. CPA status sits right under the summary, then the standards and ERP a controller checks.

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What is in the file

[Your Name]

[Staff, Senior or General Ledger Accountant] · [CPA, CPA candidate or CMA] · [Corporate or public accounting]

[City, State] · [email@example.com] · [(555) 555-0100] · [LinkedIn or portfolio URL]

Summary

[Accountant with N years in (general ledger, revenue, cost or audit) for (company type and size). Own (the close, a set of entities, a reconciliation calendar) in (ERP). One result a controller would ask about (e.g. close shortened from X to Y days, audit with no adjustments).]

Licenses and Certifications

[Certified Public Accountant], [State board], [YYYY] · [or: CPA candidate, passed (FAR, AUD), remaining (REG, BEC or discipline section) by (Mon YYYY)]

[CMA, CIA or CFE if held], [Issuing body], [YYYY]

[150-credit requirement: met or expected (Mon YYYY), if you are not yet licensed]

Skills

Accounting: [Month-end close, account reconciliations, accruals, fixed assets, intercompany, consolidations: the ones the posting names, first]
Standards: [US GAAP, ASC 606, ASC 842, SOX controls: only the ones you have applied in a real file]
Systems: [NetSuite, SAP, Oracle, Sage Intacct or QuickBooks; Excel with XLOOKUP, pivot tables and Power Query; BlackLine or FloQast]

Experience

[Job title, e.g. Senior Accountant], [Company], [Industry]

[City, State] · [Mon YYYY] – [Present]

[Own the (month-end or quarter-end) close for (N entities, N balance sheet accounts) and deliver (trial balance, flux analysis) by business day (N)]
[Reconcile (cash, AP, AR, prepaid, intercompany) accounts each month; cleared (N aged items or $ amount) and (what that prevented)]
[Prepared (roll-forwards, PBC schedules, lease or revenue schedules) for the (annual audit or review); result: (adjustments proposed, fieldwork weeks, follow-up requests)]
[Automated or rebuilt (a recurring entry, template or report), saving (hours per close) or removing (an error source)]

[Previous title, e.g. Audit Associate], [Firm or company]

[City, State] · [Mon YYYY] – [Mon YYYY]

[Tested (revenue, payables, inventory, controls) for (N clients) in (industries), each with revenue of about ($ range)]
[Found or documented (a control gap, misstatement, process issue) that (the client fixed or the senior raised)]
[Trained, reviewed or led (N associates, a busy-season workstream, a new procedure)]

Education

[B.S. in Accounting or M.Acc.], [University], [YYYY]

[Second degree or graduate certificate in tax, data analytics or finance, if relevant]

A controller screening accountants answers three questions before reading any bullet: is this person licensed or on the way to it, have they worked in our ERP, and have they owned a close or only fed one. This template puts those answers in that order. Licensure has its own block directly under the summary, the systems and standards come next, and the experience slots are built around the close calendar, the reconciliations and the audit.

The bracketed lines are instructions, not filler. Swap each for your own fact, cut any slot you cannot back with a real number, and keep the standard headings so a keyword search finds them. The file is one column with no tables, which matters in finance hiring, where many employers run every application through the same screening portal.

The experience slots are written for corporate accounting by default. If you work in public accounting, rename the bullets around engagements, clients and industries instead of entities and accounts; the guide below says how. For a finished version with every bracket replaced, read the accountant resume example.

Updated 2026-10-13.

How to fill in each section

Summary: area, ownership, one clean result
Open with your years and your corner of accounting: general ledger, revenue, cost, tax or assurance. A controller hiring for revenue recognition reads past a generalist summary. Then say what you own rather than what you help with, and in which ERP. Finish with a single result that a finance manager can verify in an interview, such as days cut from the close or a clean audit. Write CPA in the first line if you hold it.
Licenses: state, year, and exam progress
List the license with the issuing state and the year, because firms and companies in regulated industries confirm it with the board. If you are mid-exam, name the sections passed and the date you expect to finish; *CPA candidate* alone leaves the reader guessing whether you have started. Put the 150-hour status here too, since eligibility is a question for every unlicensed applicant. Drop certifications that have lapsed rather than listing them without a year.
Skills: process, standard, system
Split the block into what you do, which standards you work under, and which tools you do it in. Accounting postings are specific about the ERP, so write *Sage Intacct*, not *cloud accounting software*. Name a codification topic only if you have built the schedule yourself; an interviewer will ask you to walk through an ASC 842 lease or a 606 contract. Excel deserves a line of its own with the functions you use, since many teams test it live.
Experience: close day, account count, audit outcome
Accounting results are rarely revenue, and that is fine. Measure in the units a controller tracks: business days to close, entities and accounts reconciled, aged items cleared, PBC requests delivered on time, proposed adjustments, hours of manual work removed. Public accountants swap those for engagement counts, client industries and size bands, and the areas tested. Lead each role with the bullet closest to the posting, whether that is consolidation, revenue or audit support.
Education: degree and credit hours
Give the degree, school and year. A master's in accounting or taxation goes on its own line because it often explains how you met the credit requirement. Recent graduates can add a relevant honor or a Beta Alpha Psi role; drop GPA after your first two years of work. Coursework is worth listing only when you are changing into accounting from another field and the classes fill a gap the posting names.

See it filled in

The accountant resume example uses this structure with a realistic candidate, with versions for entry, mid and senior level.

Read the accountant resume example

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Start from the same content in the Professional design, tailor it to a posting and export a PDF. Free to start.

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Questions about the accountant resume template

Why does this accountant template put licenses above experience?

Because license status decides which pile your resume goes in. Many senior and public accounting roles require a CPA or a near-term path to one, and the reader checks that first. Placing it second means they see it before they judge your bullets.

How should a public accountant fill the experience slots differently?

Replace entity and close language with engagement language: the number of audit or tax clients, their industries and revenue bands, the areas you tested or the returns you prepared, and the busy seasons you led. Corporate hiring managers reading a public resume look for one engagement you owned from planning to report.

Can I use this template if I am moving from bookkeeping into accounting?

Yes. Lead with the work that already looks like accounting: closes, accruals, reconciliations to the trial balance, and year-end packages for the outside CPA. List any accounting coursework or degree in progress with an expected date. The bookkeeper resume template is the better fit while most of your work is still transaction-level.

What if I am a new graduate with only internships?

Use the second experience slot for your audit or tax internship and the first for any part-time finance work, even outside a firm. Keep the licenses block, showing your credit hours and planned exam dates. The accounting student resume example shows the earlier-stage version.

Is it free?

Yes. The Word files and the Google Docs copy are free to download, edit and use for any application. There is no signup and no email.

Will it read correctly in an applicant tracking system?

The layout is one column with standard headings and real text: no tables, text boxes, icons, columns or images, which are the parts parsers most often misread. Keep it that way as you edit.

Word or Google Docs?

Use whichever you edit in. The Word file opens in Microsoft Word, Pages and LibreOffice. The Google Docs link asks you to make a copy in your own Drive; the original stays blank for the next person. Send the posting the format it asks for, usually .docx or PDF.

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