CV Accountant

What finance recruiters scan first on an accountant CV

• Professional body membership — ACCA, ACA (ICAEW), CIMA, or AAT progression — with student/affiliate status if not yet qualified
• Sector depth: practice (audit/accounts), industry (management reporting), or financial services (regulatory reporting)
• ERP and close-tool proficiency: SAP S/4HANA, Oracle NetSuite, Xero, or Sage with evidence of month-end ownership
• Audit sign-off level if applicable: manager on statutory audits, group reporting under IFRS or UK GAAP FRS 102
• VAT, PAYE, and corporation tax compliance exposure with Making Tax Digital (MTD) implementation experience

Technical skills recruiters expect on an accountant CV

Core skills

• Month-end and year-end close with flux analysis
• Management accounts packs for board and investors
• Statutory accounts preparation under FRS 102 / IFRS
• External audit PBC schedules and query resolution
• VAT returns, EC sales lists, and partial exemption calculations
• Corporation tax computations and R&D relief claims
• Fixed asset registers and depreciation policies
• Treasury: cash forecasting and bank reconciliations
• Internal controls testing and SOX/ICOFR documentation
• Consolidation and intercompany eliminations for groups

Tools and methods

• SAP
• NetSuite
• Xero
• Excel Power Query
• CaseWare
• CCH Axcess

UK registration and checks for accounting roles

• ACCA/ACA/CIMA membership number and continuing professional development (CPD) compliance
• Anti-money laundering (AML) supervision registration if holding client money in practice
• Right to work in the UK for in-house and practice roles
• DBS only if the role includes schools or charities with regulated activity — cite when required

Professional profile examples for accountant CVs

Junior: Part-qualified ACCA accountant with 24 months in a Top 20 practice audit team. Completed planning and substantive testing on £15m–£40m turnover clients, prepared VAT and CT workings, and cleared 95% of audit queries within agreed PBC deadlines.

Senior: ACA-qualified financial controller with ten years across PE-backed SaaS and retail. Owns a five-day month-end close for a £28m revenue group, led NetSuite implementation, and reduced DSO from 58 to 41 days through credit-control redesign.

Experience bullet examples for accountant CVs

Junior examples

• Prepared statutory accounts and corporation tax for 22 SME clients with zero HMRC enquiry adjustments over two years
• Built rolling cash-flow model used by three portfolio companies during refinancing — variance to actual within 3%
• Automated bank reconciliation macros cutting weekly processing from six hours to 90 minutes

Senior examples

• Led first-year audit of a £60m turnover manufacturer; no material adjustments and clean management letter
• Implemented MTD for VAT across 140 clients with 100% on-time filing in the first quarter
• Designed month-end checklist adopted group-wide, shortening close from nine to five business days

Structuring an accountant CV for UK employers

Open with qualification status (part-qualified, newly qualified, fully qualified) and primary sector. Practice recruiters filter on audit hours and portfolio size.

Quantify clients, turnover bands, entities consolidated, and close timelines — not generic 'responsible for accounts'.

List systems next to the role where you were super-user; keep a separate Technical Skills section for standards (IFRS, FRS 102, VAT, CT).

Accountant CV — common questions

Should I list every exam passed for ACCA?

State papers remaining or completion date. Exam-by-exam lists waste space unless you are a recent graduate.

How do I show temp bookkeeping roles?

Group by agency with sectors covered (charity, construction, ecommerce). Highlight systems and close cadence.

Do I need a photo on a UK accountant CV?

No for practice and corporate finance teams. Use space for qualification and systems.

ESCO: http://data.europa.eu/esco/occupation/eda0d957-3c3c-4139-b89a-a18bc9e18897. ESCO CC BY 4.0; ONS ASHE earnings tables; ACCA / ICAEW / CIMA membership standards