As a director of accounting, articulating complex financial leadership experience in a concise way that stands out can be a daunting challenge. Our guide provides you with structured tips and examples to effectively communicate your strategic expertise, ensuring your resume rises to the top of the pile.
- Format your director of accounting resume to ensure that it balances professionalism with creativity, and follows the best practices.
- Match the director of accounting job requirements by including industry keywords on your resume.
- Use various resume sections to showcase your skills and achievements to answer why you're the best candidate for the director of accounting role.
Take inspiration from leading director of accounting resume examples to learn how to tailor your experience.
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The importance of format and layout in your director of accounting resume
Consider you're an HR professional at company X, evaluating two director of accounting candidate resumes. John Smith presents a simple, traditional, and easy-to-read resume. Edward Price, however, uses a non-conventional, often illegible format. Whose resume would you spend more time on to understand their experience? This scenario underscores the importance of your director of accounting resume’s design. It should be simply formatted and clearly communicate why you are the ideal candidate for the role.Achieve this balance by:
- Listing your experience, beginning with the most recent and relevant, in reverse chronological order;
- Ensuring your header contains essential information, such as contact details, a headline, and a portfolio link. Include a professional photo in the director of accounting resume header if you have one;
- Including only the most important and relevant resume sections to showcase your expertise and stand out from other candidates;
- Editing your director of accounting resume to be no longer than two pages if you have extensive relevant experience. Use your limited resume space judiciously.
Also, remember that your director of accounting resume might initially be scanned by an Applicant Tracker System (ATS).
When it comes to ATS:
- Opt for simple and legible fonts like Raleway, Rubik, Lato, etc., making your experience easy for the ATS to scan;
- Use serif and sans-serif fonts, both of which are ATS-friendly;
- Avoid overused options like Arial and Times New Roman, which, while suitable, may lack personality.
Contrary to a common myth, our recent study shows that the ATS can effectively process both one-column and two-column resumes. Learn more about this in the ATS myths guide.
Finally, when submitting your director of accounting resume, always export it as a PDF to ensure all information remains intact, making the document easier to print, read, and scan.
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PRO TIP
Highlight any significant extracurricular activities that demonstrate valuable skills or leadership.
Director of Accounting resume sections to answer recruiters' checklists:
- Header to help recruiters quickly allocate your contact details and have a glimpse over your most recent portfolio of work
- Summary or objective to provide an overview of your career highlights, dreams, and goals
- Experience to align with job requirements and showcase your measurable impact and accomplishments
- Skills section/-s to pinpoint your full breadth of expertise and talents as a candidate for the Director of Accounting role
- Education and certifications sections to potentially fill in any gaps in your experience and show your commitment to the industry
What recruiters want to see on your resume:
- Proven experience in leading an accounting team and managing complex financial systems and budgets
- Demonstrated expertise in accounting principles, financial reporting, and compliance with GAAP and other accounting standards
- Strong background in developing, implementing, and evaluating financial policies and procedures
- Expertise in using advanced accounting software and systems, with an emphasis on technology integration for efficiency
- Track record of successful financial audits, process improvements, and strategic financial planning and analysis
The director of accounting resume experience section: a roadmap to your expertise
The resume experience section provides you with an opportunity to tell your professional narrative.
Recruiters, reading between the lines of your resume, use the experience section to better understand your unique skill set, accomplishments, and what unique value you bring about.
Discover five quick steps on how to write your experience section:
- Curate only relevant experience items to the role and include the company, description, and dates; all followed by up to six bullets per experience item;
- Each experience item should feature tangible results of your actions - if you can include a number or percent, this will further highlight your aptitude;
- If you've received any managerial or customer feedback, use short excerpts of it as further social proof of your technical or people skills;
- Make sure you're using the appropriate verb tense when listing your responsibilities;
- Within the description for each role, you could summarize your most noteworthy and relevant achievements.
Now, take note of how a real-world director of accounting professional received opportunities at industry leaders with these resume experience sections:
- Oversaw financial operations and managed a portfolio valued at $50 million, achieving a 15% reduction in costs through strategic vendor negotiations.
- Implemented new financial reporting systems that improved the monthly close process by 40%, increasing overall team efficiency.
- Spearheaded a cross-departmental budget analysis project that identified $600,000 in annual savings without compromising on service quality.
- Played a pivotal role in the successful merger with a Fortune 500 company, integrating financial systems and processes smoothly.
- Directed an international finance team of 25, ensuring compliance with both US GAAP and IFRS standards across all operations.
- Launched a company-wide financial literacy program that improved internal stakeholder understanding of budget implications and boosted financial performance transparency.
- Managed a team of 40 accountants overseeing financial statements, resulting in a 20% year-over-year growth in financial accuracy.
- Reduced audit completion time from 3 months to 6 weeks by reevaluating audit procedures and utilizing data analytics software.
- Collaborated with IT to develop a customized ERP system, which led to a 25% improvement in data retrieval efforts for accounting purposes.
- Orchestrated the turnaround of the company’s financial health, reversing a projected 5% loss to a 10% profit in one fiscal year.
- Developed rigorous cash flow forecasting models that predicted financial performance with 98% accuracy.
- Initiated an expense control plan that cut operating costs by $2 million annually by identifying inefficiencies.
- Led the restructuring of the finance department to align with strategic objectives, increasing departmental KPIs by 30%.
- Initiated and managed the transition to cloud-based accounting software, which resulted in a 50% reduction in process turnaround times.
- Improved quarterly financial projections with the establishment of a comprehensive analytics dashboard, assisting in more informed decision-making.
- Led the initiative to automate invoice processing using AI technology which reduced processing time by 70% and saved the company over $300,000 annually.
- Managed annual budget planning for a $1 billion revenue company with a high degree of precision, keeping variances under 1%.
- Implemented a risk assessment framework that decreased financial discrepancies by 40%, fortifying the company’s internal controls.
- Directed a successful company-wide ERP implementation that increased financial reporting speed by 50% and accuracy by 35%.
- Facilitated the acquisition of a smaller competitor by leading due diligence processes that ensured a smooth transition and integration of financial systems.
- Introduced a comprehensive tax strategy that resulted in a 5% decrease in effective tax rate, preserving $10 million in revenue.
- Managed and optimized a $200 million budget across multiple departments, achieving a decrease in costs by 12% through tactical fiscal planning.
- Led a digital transformation project in the accounting department that lead to a reduction in paper usage by 95%, aligning with the company's sustainability targets.
- Conducted a successful negotiation during a high-stakes audit, saving the company $5 million in potential fines and reinforcing compliance stature.
Quantifying impact on your resume
- Specify the size of budgets you have managed, showing your ability to handle substantial financial responsibilities.
- Highlight the number of reports or projects you have overseen to demonstrate your workload capacity and organizational skills.
- Quantify cost savings or revenue increases you directly contributed to, indicating a strong understanding of profitability and cost-efficiency.
- Include the percentage by which you were able to reduce closing times for monthly, quarterly, or annual financial reports to showcase efficiency and timeliness.
- Detail the number of internal or external audits you have successfully guided to reflect compliance and due diligence capabilities.
- Mention the size of the team you've supervised or led to present your leadership and team management competencies.
- List any financial system implementations or upgrades you have managed, noting the scope and success of these major projects.
- Indicate any specific key performance indicators (KPIs) that improved under your tenure to show your strategic influence on the business.
Action verbs for your director of accounting resume
What to do if you don't have any experience
It's quite often that candidates without relevant work experience apply for a more entry-level role - and they end up getting hired.
Candidate resumes without experience have these four elements in common:
- Instead of listing their experience in reverse-chronological format (starting with the latest), they've selected a functional-skill-based format. In that way, director of accounting resumes become more focused on strengths and skills
- Transferrable skills - or ones obtained thanks to work and life experience - have become the core of the resume
- Within the objective, you'd find career achievements, the reason behind the application, and the unique value the candidate brings about to the specific role
- Candidate skills are selected to cover basic requirements, but also show any niche expertise.
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PRO TIP
The more time and effort you've put into obtaining the relevant certificate, the closer to the top it should be listed. This is especially important for more senior roles and if the company you're applying for is more forward-facing.
Defining your unique director of accounting skill set with hard skills and soft skills
In any job advertisement, a blend of specific technologies and interpersonal communication skills is typically sought after. Hard skills represent your technical expertise and indicate your job performance capacity. Soft skills, on the other hand, demonstrate how well you would integrate within the company culture.
Incorporating a balanced mix of both skill types in your director of accounting resume is crucial. Here's how you can do it:
- In your resume summary or objective, incorporate up to three hard and/or soft skills. Make sure to quantify these skills with relevant or impressive achievements; less
- The skills section should list your technical know-how.
- The strengths section is an ideal place to quantify your competencies by focusing on the achievements facilitated by these skills.
Top skills for your director of accounting resume:
Financial Reporting
Accounting Principles
Budget Management
Tax Compliance
Financial Analysis
Audit Management
GAAP
ERP Software Proficiency
Cash Flow Management
Strategic Planning
Leadership
Communication
Problem-Solving
Decision-Making
Attention to Detail
Analytical Thinking
Time Management
Integrity
Strategic Thinking
Stakeholder Management
PRO TIP
The more trusted the organization you've attained your certificate (or degree) from, the more credible your skill set would be.
Education section and most popular director of accounting certifications for your resume
Your resume education section is crucial. It can indicate a range of skills and experiences pertinent to the position.
- Mention only post-secondary qualifications, noting the institution and duration.
- If you're still studying, highlight your anticipated graduation date.
- Omit qualifications not pertinent to the role or sector.
- If it provides a chance to emphasize your accomplishments, describe your educational background, especially in a research-intensive setting.
Recruiters value director of accounting candidates who have invested their personal time into their professional growth. That's why you should include both your relevant education and certification . Not only will this help you stand out amongst candidates, but showcase your dedication to the field. On your director of accounting resume, ensure you've:
- Curated degrees and certificates that are relevant to the role
- Shown the institution you've obtained them from - for credibility
- Include the start and end dates (or if your education/certification is pending) to potentially fill in your experience gaps
- If applicable, include a couple of job advert keywords (skills or technologies) as part of the certification or degree description
If you decide to list miscellaneous certificates (that are irrelevant to the role), do so closer to the bottom of your resume. In that way, they'd come across as part of your personal interests, instead of experience. The team at Enhancv has created for you a list of the most popular director of accounting certificates - to help you update your resume quicker:
The top 5 certifications for your director of accounting resume:
- Certified Public Accountant (CPA) - American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)
- Certified Management Accountant (CMA) - Institute of Management Accountants (IMA)
- Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) - CFA Institute
- Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) - Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA)
- Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) - Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA)
PRO TIP
Highlight any significant extracurricular activities that demonstrate valuable skills or leadership.
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Should you write a resume summary or an objective?
No need to research social media or ask ChatGPT to find out if the summary or objective is right for your director of accounting resume.
- Experienced candidates always tend to go for resume summaries. The summary is a three to five sentence long paragraph that narrates your career highlights and aligns your experience to the role. In it you can add your top skills and career achievements that are most impressive.
- Junior professionals or those making a career change, should write a resume objective. These shouldn't be longer than five sentences and should detail your career goals . Basically, how you see yourself growing in the current position and how would your experience or skill set could help out your potential employers.
Think of both the resume summary and objective as your opportunity to put your best foot forward - from the get go - answering job requirements with skills.
Use the below real-world director of accounting professional statements as inspiration for writing your resume summary or objective.
Resume summaries for a director of accounting job
- With over 15 years of robust experience in financial management and accounting within the manufacturing sector, I possess a deep understanding of cost reduction strategies and budgetary oversight. My proven track record includes successfully overseeing a $30 million budget reduction without sacrificing quality, showcasing my astute ability to maximize efficiency and profitability.
- Former IT Director with 8 years of spearheading departmental operations transitioning into accounting leadership. Strengths include an analytical mindset and extensive project management skills, demonstrated by my pivotal role in implementing a $5 million systems upgrade, leading to a 20% increase in operational efficiency. Seeking to leverage these skills for high-stakes financial oversight and strategic planning.
- Accomplished sales manager with over a decade of driving revenue growth, eager to transfer my negotiation, analytical, and strategic planning skills into the realm of accounting management. I bring a fresh perspective to financial analysis and have a history of building strong, results-driven teams that surpassed annual targets by upwards of 25%.
- An aspiring accounting director armed with a Master's in Accounting and freshly acquired CPA certification, my objective is to integrate cutting-edge accounting practices with strategic business acumen to drive financial accuracy and compliance for a dynamic organization. Eager to contribute fresh insights and a disciplined approach to the financial team's success.
- Dynamic professional with extensive leadership experience in the nonprofit sector, I aim to bring a unique blend of fiscal responsibility, donor relations expertise, and a passion for community impact to the accounting management space. Keen to apply my strategic fundraising success of over $10 million to ensure rigorous financial health and integrity in a new setting.
- After a successful career as a professional consultant, I am now pursuing my passion for finance and accounting. Skilled in analytical problem-solving and armed with a data-driven approach, my goal is to apply my broad-based experience to enhance an organization's financial strategies, with a focus on detail-oriented assessments and process optimizations to drive success.
Recruiters' favorite additional director of accounting resume sections
When writing your director of accounting resume, you may be thinking to yourself, " Is there anything more I can add on to stand out? ".
Include any of the below four sections you deem relevant, to ensure your director of accounting resume further builds up your professional and personal profile:
Key takeaways
- The logic of your resume presentation should follow your career highlights and alignment with the role;
- Curate information within different sections (e.g. summary, experience, etc.) that helps highlight your strengths;
- Exclude from your resume irrelevant experience items - that way you'd ensure it stays no longer than two pages and is easy to read;
- Dedicate space within the summary, experience, and/or achievements to highlight precisely why you're the best candidate for the role via your previous success;
- Both your technical and people capabilities should also play a crucial role in building up your director of accounting application. Prove your skill set in various resume sections.
