Accounts Assistant CV Example

Accounts assistants provide support to accountants and bookkeepers by maintaining financial records, preparing reports, and completing data entry tasks.

Here’s how to write an accounts assistant CV that highlights your best qualities as a finance professional:

1. List relevant skills on your accounts assistant CV

Preparing reports, identifying discrepancies in financial records, as well as processing and recording transactions requires a diverse skill set.

To excel as an accounts assistant, you’ll need both hard skills (abilities developed through training and practice) and soft skills (qualities tied to your personality).

Here are some skills you can add to your CV that employers look for in accounts assistant candidates:

• Report drafting
• Data entry
• Bank reconciliation
• Attention to detail
• Payroll services
• Maths
• Time management
• Interpersonal skills
• Accounting software (Intuit QuickBooks, Zoho Books, FreshBooks)
• Organisation
• Computer skills
• Knowledge of accounting principles
• Analytical skills

The skills section of your CV gives employers an easy overview of your top skills, like in this example:

However, you should also give context to your skills by highlighting them in your experience section, like how this candidate illustrates their effective organisational skills:

• Collected and maintained information with 100% accuracy on new accounts using accounting software

By providing examples of how you’ve applied your skills in a professional setting in the past, you show employers you’re a capable candidate and what abilities you’ll bring to their team if hired.

2. Highlight your qualifications

A degree in business or accounting isn’t required to secure a job as an accounts assistant. However, acquiring additional qualifications can help your job application stand out, especially if you’re new to the field.

Consider getting one of the following qualifications to strengthen your accounts assistant CV:

• AAT in Accounting (level 2, 3, or 4)
• ACCA
• CIMA
• NVQ in Bookkeeping and Accounting
• IAB level 3 certificate in Bookkeeping and Accounting

3. Tailor your CV to the job description

Tailoring your accounts assistant CV to the job description for the target role you want is one of the most effective ways to set yourself apart from the competition.

An accounts assistant CV that meets the requirements of the specific company you’re applying to is going to be more convincing than a generic CV that you use to apply for positions at multiple companies.

To tailor your CV to the role, look for keywords in the job description. This can be specific skills, qualities, work experience, or qualifications that describe the employer’s ideal candidate.

Here’s an example of a job description with relevant keywords in bold:

This role suits someone with a desire to learn all about the world of finance, has strong attention to detail, and superior communication skills. Whether you’ve got a degree in business or are simply passionate about finance and accounting, this position will help you kick-start your career in the field.

And here’s how one candidate incorporated some of these keywords into their CV personal statement:

Detail-oriented professional with 6+ years of experience providing administrative support to accountants. Possess a degree in business and a history of creating diverse reports while maintaining high accuracy of financial information. Strong communicator and expert at managing payroll, general ledger, bank reconciliations, invoices, accounts receivable and payable, as well as analysing annual profit and loss of the company.

This personal statement signals to the employer that the candidate understands what their target company seeks in their ideal candidate, and how they can specifically address those needs.