Assistant accountant CV Example & Writing Guide

Mastery of maths and Excel expertise may be vital for assistant accountant job seekers, but aren’t enough to turn hiring heads in your favour. The formula for an outstanding assistant accountant CV is to zero in on what employers are looking for and match that to your talents.

Resume.io’s growing body of advice on how to target hiring expectations includes dozens of occupation-specific CV examples and writing guides. 

What you’re reading now is a best-practices blueprint for an assistant accountant CV that adds up to success on all counts. Supported by wording you can adapt from an assistant accountant CV, we’ll cover this information step by step:

• The assistant accountant’s job role and outlook
• How to write an assistant accountant CV — the sum of five parts in a suitable format
• Your bottom-line message in each CV  section: header, profile, employment history, education, and skills
• A professional presentation — CV layout and design details.

What do assistant accountants do?

First up, let’s look at what assistant accounts do. Behind every successful accountant is the potential for an assistant to shoulder some of the workload. The professional support services of assistant accountants are valued by organisations of all sizes, across most industries. 

Cookie-cutter job descriptions seldom apply. From ledger entries, bank statement reconciliations, and invoicing to financial reports, budgets and payroll management, whether any task is too large or too small for an assistant accountant depends on the employer. The common denominator in all finance administration roles is about making life easier for bosses and colleagues. 

Account assistant job market and outlook

The ongoing shortage of accountants in the UK and higher future demand forecasts bode well for the assistant accountant employment outlook. While the current UK job market for assistant accountants still favours those seeking permanent, full-time positions, there’s been an uptrend in temporary contract opportunities.

How to write an assistant accountant CV

One step at a time is the least daunting way to approach any CV building task, and one job application at a time is an unbreakable rule. Essentially, your completed assistant accountant CV will be the sum of these of these five vital parts:

• Header
• Summary
• Employment history
• Education
• Skills

Each posted job advert you respond to calls for a different, custom-tailored version of your assistant accountant CV. That ad post happens to be the best source for precisely matching your CV content and wording to the listed job requirements. Scrutinise for clues about the employer’s hiring expectations. Be on the lookout for keywords that you can slot into different sections of your CV. This “square one” preparation point, where you should return at later CV writing stages, is crucial for the two following reasons: 

1. Addressing the specific hiring needs for each target position shows you’re taking the opportunity seriously enough to do your homework. Conveying from the get-go that you’re a perfect fit is the surest way to catch and hold the attention of busy hiring managers, who might otherwise not give your CV more than a passing glance.
2. The best assurance of your CV being seen by human eyes at all is to customise it using keywords and other terminology replicating what appears in the listed job requirements. Then it’s less likely to be rejected by the applicant tracking systems ( ATS) software used to screen online job applications.

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Choosing the best CV format for an assistant accountant

A small minority of assistant accountants might consider using the functional CV format, which emphasises transferable skills. It’s sometimes a good option for job seekers who are workforce newcomers, switching careers, or otherwise lacking relevant experience. It might also suit those who are self-employed and seeking contract work.

By and large, however, the most popular chronological CV format is recommended for anyone whose work experience follows a progressive path in employee positions. Hiring managers prefer this format, with job highlights listed under dated employer headings in reverse chronological order.

A third option, the hybrid CV format, combines both chronological and functional elements. 

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Your CV format will dictate which parts of your CV will stand out to an employer.

CV header

An attractive CV header sets the right professional tone for your assistant accountant job application. Achieve double the impact when your cover letter bears the same design elements.

This “personal brand” visually distinguishes your CV from all the rest. It also factors into a reader-friendly document layout. The prominence of your identifying information enables hiring managers to notice it right away and easily retrieve it when they want to contact you. Be sure to include your name, occupation or job title, email and phone number, plus a hyperlink to your LinkedIn profile if you have one.

CV summary example

You are likely familiar with the executive summary of a financial report — a high-level overview of key information contained within. Think of your CV profile the same way from a “why hire me?” perspective. It’s a value proposition to the hiring organisation that stands to benefit with you on its accounting team. 

Given the importance of communication and teamwork in any assistant accountant role, your CV profile (sometimes called the summary or personal statement) should demonstrate that you have a way with words, in addition to a passion for numbers.

In fact, economy of words is crucial here to optimise both the compact page space and dynamic impact. “Less is more” to catch the reader’s attention with an incentive to dig deeper for details. Use concise and precise language to form a connection between your past performance and future promise. As discussed earlier, the posted job advert should help you hit the most relevant high notes.

Below is an assistant accountant CV sample profile you can adapt for your own use.

Employment history sample

Approach this CV section like a balance sheet highlighting only assets and no liabilities. Employer relevance is your basis for adding or subtracting bullet points to tell an impressive story of career growth and development. Review the listed job requirements to focus on what matters most to the hiring organisation.

Selectively describe achievements and contributions you could replicate if hired as an assistant accountant. Frame these as problems solved or actions taken to achieve positive outcomes. Quantify with facts and figures — including dollar amounts, of course  — illustrating the significance in context. Mention instances where you showed initiative, met deadlines, and collaborated with others.

Energetic action verbs will guide readers smoothly through this section. Try to incorporate keywords here too. 

Below is an assistant accountant employment history CV sample you can modify.

Assistant accountant CV education example

Although degrees are not always essential for assistant accountant positions, some employers require or prefer qualifications such as:

• A university degree in accounting, finance, maths, or economics
• Completion of an apprenticeship
• Certification from professional bodies like the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) or Association of Chartered and Certified Accountants (ACCA)

In any case, list your academic credentials here in reverse chronological order, from highest to lowest level. Below is the education section from our assistant accountant CV example.

CV skills example

Assistant accountant skills that are explicitly required for any given role — check that job ad again — should take priority in your CV list of key skills. Otherwise, strive for a strong mix of hard skills and soft skills that might help you outshine other job contenders. 

Check out an assistant accountant CV sample for the skills section below.

CV layout and design

Just as your choice of interview attire would show you belong in this assistant accountant role, so should your CV document be “dressed for success.” Otherwise, a negative first impression could instantly sink your chances of landing that interview.

Polished and professional in every clean, streamlined and orderly sense is how your CV should appear at first glance. It sends the right message about your work habits and attitude. But that doesn’t mean “buttoned down” always equals bland and boring. Stick to these basic CV layout, design and formatting principles and you’ll seldom get the wrong result.

• Graphic elements and even touches of colour are fine when understated and used sparingly.
• Ensure adequate white space for ease of reading. Conform with the default one-inch margin width on all sides of the page, and loosen up the line and paragraph spacing.
• Legibility should also guide your choice of CV fonts, with two different styles being the limit — one for body text and another compatible style for header text and section titles.
• Proofread, proofread and proofread again — enlisting help from friends with impeccable spelling and grammar — so your CV is error-free.

Key takeaways for an assistant accountant CV

1. Diverse opportunities in the UK for assistant accountants will continue in the foreseeable future.
2. Customising your CV to fit each job application is a failsafe formula for success.
3. Take direction from the posted job ad to pinpoint priorities for relevant CV content and closely matched wording.
4. Using an expert-designed CV template helps ensure your document looks as good as it sounds.