Accounting Clerk Resume Examples to Help You Build Yours

Accounting clerks are important for managing business finances. How do you create a great resume that shows you can handle this responsibility?

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What to Highlight in an Accounting Clerk Resume

From filing expense reports to tracking bank deposits and preparing financial statements, accounting clerks play an important role in managing personal and business finances.

Because of the competitive nature of the financial and accounting market, becoming an accounting clerk might not be easy. To give yourself the best chance at producing the perfect resume, you need to highlight your in-depth knowledge of accounting clerk duties such as finding financial discrepancies, managing spreadsheets, knowing the difference between accounts payable and accounts receivable, and more!

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Structure of an Accounting Clerk Resume

The way your accounting clerk resume is organized depends on the type of resume format you choose. Professionals can choose from a chronological, functional, or combination format.

If you have years of experience working in an accounting department, choose a chronological resume so you can focus on your experience. If you’re a recent graduate with little experience but have valid qualifications or certifications, select a functional format. Combination resumes are a great option for candidates with many years of experience and skills. Regardless of the format you choose, your professional resume will have the following sections dedicated to skills, experience, and education.

Contact information

The resume header section atop your resume contains your contact information. You should put your name, address, phone number, and email address in this section. This helps the hiring manager contact you to schedule you for an interview. If you’re a seasoned professional, you can also include a link to professional networking sites, like LinkedIn. This is a great way to provide the hiring manager or recruiter with more information, especially if you can’t fit it all in your resume or cover letter.

Resume summary

Your resume summary section is an opportunity for you to grab the hiring manager or recruiter’s attention. The best summary provides a strong introduction to the candidate, including their most impressive skills and experience, and is two or three sentences long. Think of this section as a precursor to your accounting clerk cover letter, which allows you to go into further detail about your impressive qualities.

Skills

If you have a recent associate’s degree or bachelor’s degree in accounting or finance, you might not have a lot of experience to reference in your resume. To tackle this, you can choose the functional resume, which allows you to present more skills to compensate for your lack of work experience.

Recruiters and hiring managers are likely to look for resumes that have a good combination of hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills are role-specific skills that allow candidates to fulfill primary responsibilities. Soft skills are transferable across multiple industries and consist of general life skills like communication, teamwork, and collaborative skills.

Regardless of the resume format you choose, a skills section is still important for all job seekers from all backgrounds. Here are some accounting skills and related soft skills to consider:

Data entry
Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel)
Accounting software, such as QuickBooks, FreshBooks
Financial report writing
Problem-solving
Time management
Account management
Communication skills
Analysis of financial data
Financial record-keeping
Organizational skills
Tracking purchase orders
Team player
Mathematical skills
Reconciling bank statements
General ledger
Year-end financial statements

Work history

If you have previous experience in an accounting clerk job, then your resume should highlight this. Your work history section provides a record of your previous experience and primary duties. You can provide bullet points to explain your key accomplishments.

You should list your experience in reverse-chronological order, starting from the most recent job. Consider providing the company name, location, and the dates you started and finished.

Education

Accounting clerks usually need an associate degree to qualify for a position. They might also need a bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, or economics. In the education section, you can also include additional professional certifications. Here are some examples you can include:

Certified Management Accountant
International Accredited Business Accountant
Certified Public Accountant (CPA)

You’ll need to state the title of your qualification, followed by your college name and the year you graduated.

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Do’s and Don’ts for an Accounting Clerk Resume

Here are some additional tips for creating your accounting clerk resume:

Do:

Proofread your resume once you have finished. Nothing will get your resume tossed in the trash faster than spelling and grammatical errors.
Research the job posting to pick out keywords related to skills and requirements to use in your resume. This helps your resume pass applicant tracking systems (ATS). Use these keywords throughout your resume to increase your chances of getting through an ATS.
Use a resume template and resume builder to give your document structure.

Don’t:

Include job titles that are irrelevant or over a decade old. This can clutter your resume.
Forget to include how your previous experience has made a difference to clients. Use quantifiable numbers to back up your claims.
Use overly complex language in your resume. Your resume presents your communication skills, so you need to put your best foot forward.

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FAQ: Accounting Clerk Resume Examples

Q: Should I use a cover letter in my application?

Yes! Cover letters are a great tool to further explain why you’re the ideal candidate for the role. Because you can’t go into extreme detail in your resume, a cover letter is a good chance for you to explain your specialist skills and knowledge that make you a better candidate. You can talk in greater depth about accounting principles and how you intend to enforce them in your cover letter. This will grab the hiring manager’s attention and increase your chances of success.

Q: What are the qualifications of an accounting clerk?

If you’re looking at accounting clerk roles in your job search, you may see some required qualifications. To gain the necessary qualifications, you can get a degree in accounting or business or receive an associate degree to learn the basics of taxation and other accounting clerk primary duties.

Q: How do I change my accounting clerk resume to apply to different jobs?

If you’re applying to many different jobs in your job search, you should tailor each resume by selecting keywords specific to the role (e.g., specific skills or experiences listed in the job posting). This will also help in getting through an ATS. The skills that you add to your resume should be taken directly from the job posting. This will help the hiring manager match you to the role.

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