Staff accountant resume example

What recruiters look for

• Close tasks you own: which accounts, how many entries and reconciliations, and how fast.
• Clean work: no audit adjustments, small true-ups, few review notes. Accuracy is the job.
• The ERP: NetSuite, SAP, Oracle, Sage Intacct or Dynamics 365. Many ads ask for one by name.
• Excel strength: lookups, pivot tables and building a clean reconciliation from raw data.
• CPA progress: sections passed and when you plan to finish. Many employers pay for the exam and promote on it.

Writing the summary

Your years, the size and type of company, the close areas you own and your CPA status in plain words. If you came from public accounting, say so; controllers like audit-trained staff.

Bullet points that work

Strong lines for this role, beyond the ones in the example. Borrow the shape and put in your own numbers.

• Reconciled 25 balance sheet accounts monthly with no unexplained difference over $1,000 for 18 months.
• Shortened the prepaid and accrual close from 3 days to 1 with a standard template linked to the trial balance.
• Cleared $160,000 of old reconciling items from the intercompany accounts in one quarter.
• Recorded and documented 22 leases under ASC 842 during a system change.
• Prepared monthly sales and use tax returns for 9 states with no penalties.
• Built a flux analysis template that explains every income statement change over 10% to the controller.
• Helped move the books from QuickBooks to NetSuite, mapping 400 accounts and testing 3 months of parallel closes.
• Answered 90 auditor requests during year-end fieldwork with an average turnaround of one day.
• Trained 2 new staff accountants on the fixed asset and accrual processes.

Skills to list

Certifications and licenses worth listing

• CPA (in progress): list sections passed and target dates, such as “CPA candidate: FAR and AUD passed; REG scheduled December 2026”. The exam is three core sections (AUD, FAR, REG) plus one discipline (BAR, ISC or TCP).
• Certified Management Accountant (CMA): an option if you prefer management accounting to public accounting.
• Nothing else is expected at this level.

Length and format

One page. Summary, experience (current role with four bullets, internship with two), education with GPA if it is 3.3 or higher, then skills and CPA status. Put CPA progress in the summary too, because many managers screen on it.

Common mistakes

• Writing “responsible for month-end close” without saying which accounts or how many entries.
• Putting “CPA” after your name before you are licensed. Write “CPA candidate” or “CPA exam: 2 of 4 sections passed” until your state board issues the license.
• Leaving out the ERP and close tools, which are common search terms in job ads.
• Long internship descriptions that bury the current role.
• No sign of accuracy. Audit results and small true-ups prove it better than “detail-oriented”.