One resume challenge you may encounter in functional accounting is effectively showcasing your diverse skills and experiences without getting lost in industry-specific jargon. Our guide will help you articulate your qualifications clearly and persuasively, ensuring that potential employers recognize your full value.
- Utilize real-life examples to refine your functional accounting resume;
- Effectively write the experience section of your functional accounting resume, even if you have minimal or no professional experience;
- Incorporate the industry's top 10 essential skills throughout your resume;
- Include your education and certifications to highlight your specific expertise.
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Simple guide to your functional accounting resume format and layout
Successful functional accounting resumes all have one specific characteristic - candidates have invested in a simple resume layout . One that is easy to read, makes a good first impression, and is adapted to their professional experience. There are three distinct resume formats to help you focus on your:
- professional experience - use the reverse-chronological resume format;
- skills and achievements - via the functional skill-based resume format;
- both experience and skills - with a hybrid resume format .
What is more, keep in mind that your resume may be initially assessed by the ATS (Applicant Tracker System) (or the software used by companies in the hiring process). The functional accounting resumes that suit the ATS:
- have a header that includes either a role keyword or the job you're applying for;
- should be no longer than two pages;
- be submitted as PDF, unless specified otherwise.
Align your resume with the market’s standards – Canadian resumes may have unique layout guidelines.
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PRO TIP
List your educational qualifications and certifications in reverse chronological order.
The five (plus) definite sections your resume for a functional accounting job should include are:
- Header with your headline, contact details, and/or a preview of your work
- Summary (or objective) to pinpoint how your success aligns with the role
- Experience with bullets of your most relevant achievements in the field
- Skills to integrate vital job requirements (both technical and personal)
- Your further dedication to the field, showcased via relevant higher education and/or certifications
What recruiters want to see on your resume:
- Demonstrated proficiency in accounting software (e.g., QuickBooks, SAP, Oracle)
- Strong understanding of financial regulations and tax laws
- Relevant certifications (e.g., CPA, CMA, ACCA)
- Experience in budgeting, financial reporting, and analysis
- Detail-oriented with a track record of accurate and timely financial record keeping
Essential tips for crafting your functional accounting resume experience section
The experience section is indeed the core of your functional accounting resume. It's where you present your past and current job roles. But how should you approach this crucial part?
A common error is treating the experience section as merely a list of job duties. Many candidates fall into the trap of detailing what they did without illustrating the impact of their actions.
To effectively write your functional accounting resume experience section, consider these guidelines:
- Emphasize your achievements, supported by concrete metrics such as percentages, revenue increases, or customer satisfaction rates;
- Avoid using generic buzzwords like communication, hard work, or leadership. Instead, demonstrate how these skills added value in your previous roles;
- Begin each bullet point with a strong action verb, followed by a skill, and then the result of your actions;
- Tailor your resume for each job application by selecting the most relevant experiences, responsibilities, and successes.
We have an array of resume examples that illustrate how to optimally curate your functional accounting resume experience section.
- Led a team in implementing a new financial reporting system for mid-sized manufacturing processes, improving reporting accuracy by 25%.
- Managed accounts payable and receivable, consistently maintaining records for over $10M in monthly transactions.
- Spearheaded the financial analysis for a new product launch that increased the company’s market share by 4% within the first year.
- Designed and executed operational budgets for cross-functional teams, leading to a 15% cost reduction in departmental expenses.
- Oversaw regulatory compliance reporting, reducing audit completion time by 30% through strategic process improvements.
- Negotiated with vendors to decrease supply costs by 10%, directly impacting the bottom line in a high-expenditure department.
- Conducted detailed variance analysis and monthly forecasting that helped identify a critical financial discrepancy, saving the company approximately $500,000 annually.
- Coordinated with international teams to consolidate financial statements, which improved group reporting timelines by 20%.
- Played a pivotal role in the financial due diligence process for a merger that expanded the company’s assets by $25M.
- Developed a custom, streamlined financial reconciliation process for cash flow management, enhancing operational efficiency by 35%.
- Led quarterly tax preparation and filing for a firm with annual revenues exceeding $50M, ensuring 100% accuracy with zero penalties.
- Instrumental in revamping the payroll system, which resulted in a 20% reduction in payroll processing time.
- Pioneered a real-time financial dashboard for senior management, which provided key metrics and performance indicators, boosting strategic decision-making efficiency.
- Conducted comprehensive training programs for new accounting software adoption, leading to a 50% improvement in user proficiency.
- Successfully managed the financial integration of two corporate acquisitions, maintaining continuous operation and employee satisfaction.
- Facilitated the transition of the accounting system to a cloud-based platform, allowing for a 25% increase in remote workforce productivity.
- Orchestrated a risk assessment project which identified potential savings of $200K in operational risks.
- Optimized the monthly close process, cutting the timeline by five business days and reinforcing the timeliness of financial reporting.
- Managed the transition of all financial reporting to adhere to new IFRS standards, ensuring compliance ahead of the regulatory deadline.
- Championed a financial literacy initiative among non-finance department heads that enabled better budget management across the company.
- Provided key financial insights that informed the investment strategy leading to a diversified portfolio and 18% return on investment in 2014.
- Leveraged advanced data analytics to provide predictive financial models, which aligned with company growth strategies and drove a revenue increase of $10M in 2023.
- Collaborated across departments to streamline budgeting processes, yielding a 20% quicker allocation of resources to priority projects.
- Played an instrumental role in developing a sustainable cost-cutting initiative that trimmed unnecessary expenses by $1.5M without compromising on service delivery.
Quantifying impact on your resume
- Detail reductions in processing time for month-end closings, demonstrating efficiency improvements.
- Highlight the amount of money saved through cost-cutting measures you initiated or contributed to.
- Specify the size of the budgets you have managed to showcase financial responsibility.
- Quantify any increases in revenue linked directly to your financial policies or interventions.
- Evidence the number of financial reports and analyses you've generated to display expertise.
- Mention the percentage decrease in outstanding debts due to your accounts receivable strategies.
- State the number of compliance audits you've successfully navigated to reflect adherence to regulations.
- Include figures related to any investment strategies that led to financial growth for the business.
Action verbs for your functional accounting resume
How to shift the focus from your functional accounting resume experience section to your professional profile
If you're at the start of your career journey or transitioning industries, you might be concerned about the lack of professional experience while crafting your functional accounting resume.
How can you effectively present your functional accounting resume experience section under these circumstances?
Rather than a traditional, extensive experience section, demonstrate your expertise through:
- Emphasizing your education. Your academic background might impress recruiters, especially if it includes recent, industry-relevant knowledge;
- Creating a compelling objective statement. The first few sentences of your resume should map out your motivations and career aspirations, offering insight into your goals;
- Highlighting your transferable skills. For example, if you've honed communication skills through volunteering, illustrate on your functional accounting resume how these can benefit a potential employer;
- Detailing your technical background in certifications and skills sections. As a recent graduate, your technological foundations might be particularly attractive to employers looking to develop these skills further.
It's important to remember that employers sometimes prefer candidates with less experience but who are a better cultural fit for their organization.
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PRO TIP
Highlight any significant extracurricular activities that demonstrate valuable skills or leadership.
Featuring your hard skills and soft skills on your functional accounting resume
The skills section of your functional accounting resume needs to your various capabilities that align with the job requirements. List hard skills (or technical skills) to showcase to potential employers that you're perfectly apt at dealing with technological innovations and niche software. Meanwhile, your soft skills need to detail how you'd thrive within your new, potential environment with personal skills (e.g. resilience, negotiation, organization, etc.) Your functional accounting resume skills section needs to include both types of skills to promote how you're both technical and cultural fit. Here's how to create your bespoke functional accounting skills section to help you stand out:
- Focus on skill requirements that are listed toward the top of the job advert.
- Include niche skills that you've worked hard to obtain.
- Select specific soft skills that match the company (or the department) culture.
- Cover some of the basic job requirements by including important skills for the functional accounting role - ones you haven't been able to list through the rest of your resume.
Get inspired with our functional accounting sample skill list to list some of the most prominent hard and soft skills across the field.
Top skills for your functional accounting resume:
SAP
Oracle Financial Services
Microsoft Excel
QuickBooks
SQL
Tableau
Hyperion
Sage
Microsoft Power BI
Xero
Analytical Thinking
Attention to Detail
Communication
Problem-Solving
Time Management
Team Collaboration
Adaptability
Critical Thinking
Organizational Skills
Ethical Judgment
PRO TIP
If the certificate you've obtained is especially vital for the industry or company, include it as part of your name within the resume headline.
Maximizing your functional accounting resume: education and certification sections
To effectively showcase your industry knowledge in your functional accounting resume, it's important to properly list your education and certifications.
For the education section, ensure you include:
- Higher education degrees pertinent to the industry or those at a postgraduate level;
- The start and end dates of your education, along with the name of the institution you graduated from;
- Your GPA and relevant coursework, but only if they are impressive and applicable to the role.
Additionally, create a separate certifications section to spotlight your most notable recognitions. Another excellent place to feature a leading industry certificate is in your resume header, right after your name.
Below is a list of key industry certifications that are often sought after by recruiters
The top 5 certifications for your functional accounting resume:
- Certified Public Accountant (CPA) - American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)
- Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) - CFA Institute
- Certified Management Accountant (CMA) - Institute of Management Accountants (IMA)
- Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) - Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA)
- Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) - American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)
PRO TIP
List all your relevant higher education degrees within your resume in reverse chronological order (starting with the latest). There are cases when your PhD in a particular field could help you stand apart from other candidates.
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Best practices to your functional accounting resume summary or objective
To start, how do you know if you should include a resume summary or a resume objective ?
- Resume summaries are ideal for functional accounting professionals with more experience, who'd like to give a quick glimpse of their biggest career achievements in the top one-third of their resumes.
- On the other hand, resume objectives serve as a road map for recruiters. Candidates use the objective to show how their experience aligns with the functional accounting role they're applying for while showcasing the North Star of their career (or where they want to be as a professional in the next couple of years).
The resume summary or resume objective could be the perfect fit for your functional accounting resume. The function of both is to highlight your professionalism succinctly. So, keep your writing specific: include no more than four sentences and target your application to the role. Here's how these specific resume sections help the functional accounting candidates stand out.
Resume summaries for a functional accounting job
- Seasoned accounting professional with over 10 years of experience specializing in corporate finance and managerial accounting for Fortune 500 companies. Adept at streamlining financial processes, leading cross-functional teams in the development of insightful financial reports, and driving profitability through strategic budget boosting measures. Successfully implemented a cost-saving initiative saving the firm $5 million annually.
- Diligent CPA with a strong background in public accounting, boasting 8 years of experience with a Big Four firm. Skilled in tax strategy, compliance, and consultation for a diverse client portfolio, including multinational corporations. Recognized for leading a tax optimization project that resulted in a 20% reduction in client liabilities over the course of three fiscal years.
- Eager and motivated former IT specialist aiming to pivot into accounting, bringing a unique blend of technological know-how and a recent Masters in Accounting. Strong foundational knowledge in accounting principles, financial analysis, and data interpretation, coupled with a proven background in optimizing IT systems for financial data management at a regional bank.
- Dynamic marketing professional with 5 years of experience looking to transition into the accounting field. Equipped with an MBA with finance concentration and exceptional analytical skills honed through data-driven marketing campaigns. Known for leveraging consumer insights to boost company revenue, which increased by 15% in Q4 2021 due to my strategic input.
- Pursuing an entry-level accounting position to apply my strong numerical aptitude and keen attention to detail acquired from my Bachelor's in Accounting. Dedicated to learning and applying the latest accounting software and methodologies to contribute to the financial efficiency and success of the organization.
- Recent accounting graduate eager to apply comprehensive knowledge of accounting principles, financial modeling, and GAAP standards gained through rigorous academic training. Looking forward to leveraging my internship experience with a mid-size firm and a passion for finance to grow alongside a thriving accounting department.
More relevant sections for your functional accounting resume
Perhaps you feel that your current resume could make use of a few more details that could put your expertise and personality in the spotlight.
We recommend you add some of these sections for a memorable first impression on recruiters:
- Projects - you could also feature noteworthy ones you've done in your free time;
- Awards - showcasing the impact and recognition your work has across the industry;
- Volunteering - the social causes you care the most about and the soft skills they've helped you sustain and grow;
- Personality resume section - hobbies, interests, favorite quote/books, etc. could help recruiters gain an even better understanding of who you are.
Key takeaways
- Invest in a concise functional accounting professional presentation with key resume sections (e.g. header, experience, summary) and a simple layout;
- Ensure that the details you decide to include in your resume are always relevant to the job, as you have limited space;
- Back up your achievements with the hard and soft skills they've helped you build;
- Your experience could help you either pinpoint your professional growth or focus on your niche expertise in the industry;
- Curate the most sought-after certifications across the industry for credibility and to prove your involvement in the field.
