INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bookkeeper positions are at a -3% growth rate, which is negative. With that said, there are currently 1,620,000 jobs in the market right now. The total number of jobs is expected to decrease by -48,100 to 1,571,900 in the period of 2020-30.
What’s more, the median annual wage for the Bookkeeper jobs was $42,410 in May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $27,050, and the highest 10% more than $63,900.
Our conclusion? The Bookkeeper job market is facing competition due to decreasing demand.
Top bookkeeper sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
Writing a job-winning experience section: Bookkeeper resume edition
Bookkeeper resume experience section: dos and don'ts
- List 4-6 bullet points per position;
- Include only relevant job experience;
- Make sure to highlight your strongest skills by focusing on the challenges you’ve faced and the results you’ve achieved;
- Don’t use buzzwords that carry no meaning;
- Don’t share confidential information about your previous employers.
If you prefer to be led by example, check out some great Bookkeeper resume experience section snippets below!
- General bookkeeping
- Bank and credits reconciliation
- Accounts receivable / Accounts payable
- General ledger maintenance
- Ad-hoc reports
- Booking General Ledger transactions - accounts payable, AR
- Bank statement reconciliation
- Expense report processing
- Receive and crosscheck invoices to goods receiving logs
- Prepare invoices for data entry and payments
- Prepare, manage & record daily check runs
- Maintain accounts payable and receivable listing
- Payroll, deductions, superannuation guarantee, PAYG and payroll tax payments
- Assisting with quarterly Financial Reports reviews
- Preparation of monthly IAS and quarterly BAS
- Assisting & prepare Individual & Company Income Tax Returns
- Preparations of Financial Statement for Reporting
- Monthly bank reconciliation
- Reviewing, training & mentoring of team members & new bookkeepers
- data entry and preparation of financial reports,
- banking, preparing the BAS statement,
- accounts receivable,
- accounts payable,
- payroll,
- reporting the management and the board, liaising with accountant.
- integrating new members,
- running pastoral groups,
- hospitality and building relationships with members (ages 10-25+).
- data entry and preparation of financial reports
- banking
- preparation of Quarterly BAS statements
- accounts receivable and payable
- payroll
- reporting to management and the board, liaising with accountant.
- Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable
- Management of group of payments, ensures timely payment of current liabilities.
- Manage relationships with all outside vendors and service providers, and maintain current list of approved vendors for reporting purposes.
- Reviewing, coding, and recording vendor invoices and credit card charges; printing checks for signature, using quickbooks.
- Validating documents
- Archiving documents
- Drawing up basic documents
- Organized data in the 1C:Enterprise Platform
- ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
- Administrative skills
- Time-management skills
- Boosted accuracy and efficiency by creating and implementing new reporting templates and procedures providing improved and timely report documentation.
- Improved report turnaround time though successful financial and data management protocols implementation.
- Meticulously accounted for revenue, expenses, assets, and liabilities through daily bank reconciliation, accurate invoicing, and accounts receivables timely turnaround.
- Increased revenue through aggressive collection efforts and cash flow management with a keen focus on inventory control
- Efficiently managed petty cash fund to decrease overhead and non-essential spending as well as monitored expense receipt claims for proper approval.
- Maintained day-to-day transactions, invoice preparation, and documentation, and office administration as required.
- Manage general house accounts using Preach Tree accounting system
- Prepare accurate, detailed cost and analysis reports for board meetings
- Organize information and prepare for annual audit
- Coordinated preparation of reports and analyzed data
- Produced and distributed over 30 weekly correspondence memos, letters and forms
- Provided customer support and solved supplier requests
- Ordered office and warehouse supplies
- Managed all financial transactions, posting debits or credits, and producing financial statements.
- Reached 15% increase in satisfying overdue accounts.
- Researched and resolved billing and collections dispute.
- We catered to different types of companies, from restaurant industry to construction companies.
- As a company we were responsible to file any weekly, monthly, and/or quarterly reports on time to meet our deadlines.
- Created profit and loss statements, balanced out books, filed Tax returns.
- I as the office manager made sure all associates had every tool accessible to them to achieve efficiency and reach deadlines.
- Learning new softwares
- Working with different types of clients
- Allowing me to apply my skills and education in to practise.
- Only working on Friday mornings
- Manage payroll of the company
- Accurate with QuickBooks computer program
- Excellent skills at data entry
- Organized and Detail oriented with reciepts
- Performed entry of accounting information into database (QuickBooks Pro, Peachtree),
- Bank and Credit Card reconciliation, resolved discrepancies,
- Account receivable transactions, including: invoicing, collections, payment receipt, and posting,
- Account payable transactions, including: check generation, matching purchase orders against invoices, and reconciling vendor statement,
- Completed bookkeeping and filing tasks to implement a more efficient recordkeeping system
- Reduced time required to transfer ownership of titles at the point of sale
- Designed and advertised online ads for all inventory which lead to an increase in sales
- Supervised office & production staff, and oversaw production dept., which included mailing out over 1 million surveys a year and hundreds of packages.
- In charge of purchasing supplies and inventory for mailing out surveys.
- Took over accounting tasks from CEO, which included all aspects of AP and PR including all associated tax filings (W2s, 1099s, etc.)
- Go to person for customer finance related queries
- Reconciliaition
- Responding to Customer support tickets
- Assisting with month-end as required
- Generation of invoices to send to customers
- Financial Modelling to find risks and to save costs
- Accounts payables and receivables
- Meet agreed upon KPI’s
- Helping improve efficiency of TourRadar
- Managed bookkeeping including invoices, bills, banking, etc
- Successfully filed tax returns before due date
- Saved 5% on taxes by managing and tracking expenses
PRO TIP
Make sure to relate your experience to your job description, but never lie. That’s not tolerated and will show up in the face-to-face interview later on.
Action verbs for your bookkeeper resume
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An impressive skills section for your bookkeeper resume
Writing a skills section that stands out:
- Check the job advert for keywords that you can use: this will help you pass ATS;
- Focus on relevant and valuable skills that will support your application;
- Make sure to include both hard and technical skills, leaving soft skills for other sections of your Bookkeeper resume;
- Don’t list skills you don’t have.
Top skills for your bookkeeper resume
Windows OS
Intel Retail
AMD Retail
Xero
QuickBooks
QBO
Microsoft Excel
Scrum
Linux
Communication
Negotiation
Critical thinking
Problem solving
Collaboration
Flexibitly
Resilience
Dedication
Empathy
PRO TIP
Don’t feel obliged to spend a separate section for your soft skills - you can weave them throughout your job experience or career summary. But, don’t just write empty words - back them with examples.
Recommended reads:
Bookkeeper Resume Header: Tips, Red Flags, and Best Practices
Checklist for your bookkeeper resume header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Some companies, states, and countries have policies about identifying information like photos on your Bookkeeper resume. Be sure to check all the relevant rules before submitting yours. If you’re in doubt, you can always try contacting the company’s HR department to ask for their policy.
The bookkeeper resume summary: tips and tricks
Making a strong first impression.
- Keep your summary section short and easy to read; avoid long sentences;
- Highlight your total years of experience in the field;
- Mention 1-2 of your biggest achievements and strengths;
- Add a couple of keywords from the job advert.
Resume summary formula:
PRO TIP
Include a link to your portfolio in your resume header. Most companies will require that you include one in your resume, and even if they don’t, it’s an excellent opportunity to directly show them your proudest projects.
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Bookkeeper Resume: A strong education section
What to include in your education section:
- Your highest education degree (incl. major, duration, name of institution);
- A bit more about the certifications you’ve got (if they are relevant to what you’re applying for);
- Some extracurricular activities that have helped you develop and strengthen your skills;
- If you’re an entry-level applicant: Relevant courses and projects.
Top certificates for your bookkeeper resume
QuickBooks Online for Beginners: Small Business & Bookkeeper
The effective, no-nonsense approach to learning QuickBooks Online from QuickBooks tutorial experts, Simon Sez IT
Bookkeeping Basics Explained (Bookkeeping & Accounting)
Bookkeeping and accounting explained. Bookkeeping and accounting basics is easy. Simple Bookkeeping and accounting.
Bookkeeping Job Search Guide
Bookkeepers qualifications, qualities and soft skills. Expedite your job search and be in control of your career path.
Start a Bookkeeping Business (Bookkeeping & Accounting)
Bookkeeping business is profitable. Bookkeeping is in high demand. How to start a bookkeeping business now.
Quickbooks Online - Level 2 Bookkeeping
Use quickbooks online to perform bookkeeping tasks that an entry level bookkeeper should be able to do.
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PRO TIP
There are dozens of certifications that you can claim as a Bookkeeper. But, some are more effective than others. That’s why you mustn’t include every certificate other applicants might have. Try instead to earn and list a few of the difficult ones.
Bookkeeper resume: How to choose the right format
The content of your resume is necessary for showcasing your expertise, skills, and education. Great formatting, on the other hand, is essential for highlighting your attention to detail, creativity, and ability to stand out.
There are three basic resume formats to choose from:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional skills-based resume format;
- Combination (or Hybrid) resume format.
Which one of these you choose depends on a couple of things, but most importantly: the industry and your level of experience.
The reverse-chronological resume format, for example, is great if you’re a Bookkeeper with many years of experience and no career gaps. It doesn’t really matter if your company of choice is a multinational corporation or an early-stage startup – this resume format is considered to be a safe bet.
If you’re someone with little or no experience, however, we advise you to go for a functional skills-based resume format. It focuses on skills, competencies, and education, rather than experience. This makes it great for entry-level applicants, career changers, and graduate students.
And if you’re tired of traditional formats and want to go over the top when it comes to your application, the combination or hybrid resume format is here to help. Here, you can focus on both your experience and your skills, there’s even space for you to highlight your most spectacular personality traits. If you want to give a modern feel to your Bookkeeper resume, this resume format is just what you need. Add a ‘my life philosophy’ section for additional bonus points!
Looking for ways to perfect your Bookkeeper resume layout and style?
- Don’t risk it: choose standard 1-inch resume margins;
- Go for traditional resume fonts (sized 10-12p);
- Match the length of your Bookkeeper resume with your years of experience – choose a one-page template if you’ve got less than 10 years of experience; otherwise, opt for a two-page resume;
- To be on the safe side, save your resume in PDF. This will help you avoid formatting issues and unauthorized editing.
Recommended Reads:
PRO TIP
Sometimes you’ll want to go after a job which requires more experience than you have. Instead of using a typical Bookkeeper resume layout, you can use a creative layout. Getting noticed is the most important challenge and a creative resume layout might help you get invited for an interview as most of other accountants have boring resume designs.
Your bookkeeper resume: Other sections to include
Tired of resumes that focus only on your professional side? Want to show you’re an actual human being with a real personality that goes beyond your work experience? Then add some other sections to your Bookkeeper resume!
Depending on the industry, company, and position, you can go for a more creative or less creative approach. Choose 1-2 of the following:
Making your bookkeeper resume shine
In a pile of boring black and white resumes, a creative Bookkeeper application feels like a breath of fresh air. And trust us, recruiters love this.
There are two ways to add a splash of creativity to your resume. You can either go for a creative layout (bright colors, modern fonts, etc.) or add some creative sections (e.g. ‘what my typical day looks like’).
It’s up to you! Just make sure to keep the position, company, and industry in mind. Otherwise, you risk going over the top. And that’s not always a good idea.
What makes a great bookkeeper resume: key takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
