Building a successful CPA resume

As you get ready to start your accounting career, you must confront the task of putting your resume together to land an accounting-based job. Writing a great Certified Public Accountant (CPA) resume is an opportunity to tell the story of your professional and personal achievements, which means moving beyond a basic list of your skills and experience. From knowing what skills to include to how to list CPA on a resume, learn how to craft an effective CPA resume that can help you get noticed by prospective employers. 

Table of contents

1. CPA resume format
2. How to list CPA on your resume
3. How to make your CPA resume stand out
4. Help employers see your CPA resume
5. CPA resume mistakes to avoid 
6. Boost your CPA resume with CPE 

CPA resume format 

To begin creating your CPA resume, outline these major sections to include:  

Personal information 

Make sure employers can contact you! So don't forget to include your name, phone number, email address, and any other contact information. You could also include your preferred pronouns, but steer clear of more personal details like your age, relationship status, etc. 

Education 

Be sure to include the details of your higher education, starting with your most recent degree. List your degree earned, area of study, and year of graduation (or “In progress”, if that is the case). It’s also good to include the name of the institution where you earned your degree, although not all employers require it. 

Experience 

Like education, list your previous jobs starting with the current or most recent first. Include your job title, employer, dates during which you held this position, and a short list of your duties and achievements. 

Skills and certifications 

This section is where you will include your CPA license or candidacy, along with other skills or qualifications you’ve acquired. It’s important to consider CPA-relevant skillsets, like including technology skills such as proficiency in Excel or Python. Keep in mind that CPA positions also involve analysis, critical thinking, and precision. If you have solid presentation, research, or investigative skills, you can also highlight these on your CPA resume. 

How to list CPA on your resume 

If you’re a newly licensed CPA or a CPA candidate, you may not yet have a wealth of professional experience. If that’s the case, your CPA licensure or CPA Exam progress can be especially valuable to highlight on your CPA resume. 

If you’re currently a CPA, you could list the credential at the top of your resume, after your name (i.e., “Taylor Smith, CPA”). 

If you’re currently a CPA candidate, you could highlight the success you’ve had so far on the CPA Exam. If you scored particularly high on specific section or you won an Elijah Watt Sells award, make sure it’s mentioned prominently on your CPA resume. Include the exam sections you have already completed and those that you have scheduled to complete. That could look something like this: 

Candidate for CPA License 

• Passed AUD and REG sections of Uniform CPA Exam 
• Scored 97 on AUD 
• Testing appointment for FAR on 11/29/2024 

How to make your CPA resume stand out 

1. Format for readability 

Keep your margins wide — one inch on all sides is considered standard, but try not to go smaller than 0.5 inches — and keep your font size between 10 points and 12 points. With this format, your resume will be easier to scan for significant details. 

2. Customize it 

As with jobs in any profession, it’s crucial to understand what skills, qualifications, and other qualities potential employers are looking for. Make sure to tailor your resume to each job for which you apply, highlighting pertinent skills and experiences. This process can also help you determine whether you would be a good fit within the company’s culture. 

3. Be specific 

When writing the descriptions for your previous roles, ask yourself exactly what you did and what you accomplished. This may include the types of accounts you worked on and the types of goals you achieved. Underlining specific data points helps transform your resume from a simple recitation into a story of your accomplishments. This will allow you to move from phrases such as, “duties included managing accounting activities,” to “oversaw a $50 million budget for a 200-employee department. Cut overall expenses by $300,000.” Pointing out your notable and quantifiable accomplishments will help to illustrate your experiences more vividly.

4. Lead with strong verbs 

As with any writing assignment, strong verbs bring life to your prose. This also helps with the previous tip of adding specificity to your work history. Try to avoid passive phrases such as, "duties included project management." Use the active voice and with a strong verb to transform the above into a more descriptive phrase like "Supervised project timelines and resources." 

Help employers find your CPA resume 

Some recruiters use an Applicant Tracking System, or ATS, to scan your resume for keywords that match a job opening. 

Be sure to read the job description and take note of the words used to describe the duties required. When writing your resume, include those keywords as they apply to your history, rather than general descriptors like “team player” or “self-starter” that the ATS won’t flag.

CPA resume mistakes to avoid 

1. Salary requirements 

While negotiating for a starting salary is a helpful skill, we recommend addressing this topic during the interview process, not on your CPA resume. 

2. Grammatical or spelling mistakes 

Strict attention to detail is an essential part of a CPA’s job, so spelling and grammatical errors on your CPA resume won’t inspire confidence in prospective employers. If you’re not confident in your proofreading skills, find someone who is to review your resume. 

3. Long and wordy descriptions

Recruiters review lots of resumes for each open position, on top of the many other tasks they complete in a day. Make sure that your CPA resume doesn't include superfluous information or wordy descriptions that recruiters won't take the time to read. Keep it concise and on a single page.  

Boost your CPA resume with CPE 

Writing an effective CPA candidate resume is the first step toward helping you embark on your new career. But now that you’re a CPA (or close to it!), you’ll also want to include the new skills and certifications that you earn with your continuing professional education (CPE) requirements. 

CPA resume example 

Download this CPA resume example to use as a guide!