Accountant CV: example and tips

What accounting firms and finance departments look for

Accountants work either at an accounting firm with many clients, or in the finance department of a company, municipality or organisation. At a firm, the job is about a client portfolio, fixed deadlines and advice to clients. In a company, it is about month end closing, reconciliations and reports to management. Job ads ask for someone who is “accurate”, “structured” and “client focused”, with “good system skills”.

Accounting jobs often attract many applicants with similar education, and many employers use applicant tracking systems that sort by the words in the ad. With the ATS score you can see which words from the ad are missing from your CV, and if you create your CV with Selja, the words are worked in where they match what you have done. Most ads in Norway are in Norwegian, so it helps to know terms such as avstemming (reconciliation), reskontro (ledger) and mva (VAT). These words come up again and again:

• Ongoing bookkeeping, processing vouchers and approving invoices.
• Accounts payable, accounts receivable and reconciliations.
• Accruals, month end closing and reporting.
• VAT returns, payroll and the monthly a-melding (employer's report).
• Year end closing, annual accounts and tax returns for businesses.
• Client responsibility, client portfolio and advice to small and medium sized businesses.
• Systems such as Tripletex, Visma, PowerOffice, Xledger or Unit4.

Formal requirements: when you need to be state authorised

You can work as an accountant without authorisation. But under the Accountants Act, in force since 1 January 2023, keeping accounts for others as a business may only be done by an accounting firm, and each engagement must have a state authorised accountant in charge. You also need authorisation to run your own accounting business as a sole trader. The title state authorised accountant (statsautorisert) may only be used by someone approved by Finanstilsynet. If you are, put it in the title at the top of your CV and under authorisations, with the year.

According to Finanstilsynet, authorisation requires a bachelor's or master's degree in business administration with at least 60 credits in accounting subjects, or a completed auditing degree. With a bachelor's degree you need at least three years of relevant experience, of which at least two years at an approved accounting firm. With a master's degree the requirement is two years, of which at least one year at an accounting firm. At least one year of the experience must be gained after you finished your degree, and it must cover bookkeeping, annual accounts and tax returns for businesses. You must also be found suitable and present a police certificate.

State authorised accountants must complete at least 80 hours of continuing education over three years, covering financial accounting, tax and VAT law, company law and bookkeeping. Include the most important courses in your CV. If you are working towards authorisation, say how far you have come, for example “two years of experience at an accounting firm, master's completed 2025”, so the employer sees it at once.

Example of a summary for an accountant CV

The summary is the three to five sentences at the top of your CV. It should say who you are, what you can do and what you are looking for. Here is a made up example you can use as a pattern:

Example: “State authorised accountant with seven years of experience at an accounting firm. Permanently responsible for 35 clients in construction, retail and property, covering ongoing bookkeeping, payroll, VAT and year end closing. Moved the clients over to automated voucher processing in Tripletex and set up fixed routines for month end closing. Looking for a role with more advisory work and responsibility for a small team.”

If you are a recent graduate, the summary can focus on your subjects, experience and systems, for example “Recent graduate with a bachelor's in business administration specialising in accounting. Worked part time for two years entering vouchers and doing reconciliations at an accounting firm.” Replace the numbers with your own. You will find more examples in our guide to writing a CV summary.

Bullet points with results: weak versus strong

An accountant works with numbers every day, so the CV should have numbers too: number of clients, company types, vouchers per month, deadlines and time saved. Start with a strong verb in the past tense, and say what you did yourself.

• Weak: “Kept accounts for clients.” Strong: “Permanently responsible for 30 clients with ongoing bookkeeping, VAT and year end closing, and filed every tax return on time in 2024 and 2025.”
• Weak: “Payroll.” Strong: “Ran payroll and the a-melding every month for 12 clients with 180 employees in total.”
• Weak: “Reconciliations.” Strong: “Introduced monthly bank and ledger reconciliations for every client in the portfolio, catching errors before year end rather than after.”
• Weak: “Worked with systems.” Strong: “Led the move from paper vouchers to automated voucher processing in PowerOffice for 20 clients, saving around two hours per client each month.”
• Weak: “Year end closing.” Strong: “Prepared annual accounts and tax returns for 25 limited companies and 15 sole traders every year.”
• Weak: “Client contact.” Strong: “Was the main contact for clients, advising on invoicing, VAT and deadlines, and kept every client in the portfolio over three years.”

Skills, systems and courses worth including

In accounting, system skills are often listed as a requirement in the ad. Name the system, how long you have used it and what you did in it. This also makes it easier for the applicant tracking system to find you.

• Accounting systems by name: Tripletex, Visma, PowerOffice, Fiken, Xledger, Unit4 or SAP.
• Payroll systems, the a-melding, expense claims and reimbursements.
• Excel: reconciliations, pivot tables, VLOOKUP and reports for management.
• Specialist areas: VAT, tax, year end closing, group accounts or public sector accounting principles.
• Courses and continuing education, for example year end or VAT courses, with the year.
• Industry knowledge: construction, retail, property, healthcare or voluntary organisations.

New to the field, or many years as an accountant

If you are a recent graduate, your subjects, experience and systems matter most. Write your degree with its specialisation, and mention subjects that fit the job, such as financial accounting, tax law and VAT. If you have worked part time or had a summer job at an accounting firm or finance department, put it at the top under experience. Cashing up in a shop or serving as treasurer in a club also shows that you are accurate with numbers. Our guide to finding relevant work experience as a student has more ideas, and the guide to a CV for recent graduates shows how to structure your CV.

If you have many years in the field, your portfolio and responsibilities are what count. Show how many clients you have had, in which industries, whether you have been the accountant in charge of engagements, and whether you have trained new starters or led a system change. Cut older roles down. If you are aiming for controller or finance manager, highlight reporting, budgeting and analysis. Our guide to an economist and controller CV shows how.

Common mistakes in an accountant CV

An accountant's CV is read by people who are used to looking for errors. Look out for these in particular before you send it:

• The authorisation is far down the page or has no year.
• No numbers for the portfolio, such as number of clients, company types and tasks.
• “Good system skills” without naming the systems.
• Numbers and dates that do not match each other.
• Client names or confidential figures from clients. Write the industry and scope instead.
• The same CV for a firm and a company, even though they look for different things.

Faster with Selja: a CV and cover letter for the accounting job

A job at an accounting firm asks for client responsibility and advisory work. A job in a finance department asks for month end closing, reconciliations and reporting. Rewriting your CV for every ad takes time. With Selja you paste in the job ad and upload the CV you already have, and in under a minute you get a professional, ATS-friendly CV and cover letter tailored to the job, with the keywords where they match what you have done.

Selja never adds experience or skills you do not have. If the ad asks for experience with Xledger or group accounts and your CV does not show it, Selja asks you first and only uses what you confirm. It is free to start: take a free ATS check to see which words are missing, or check your CV for free. Get started when you want to create the application.

The application and next steps

The cover letter for an accounting job should be short and precise, like your work. Say why you are applying to this particular firm or company, for example the industry, the clients or the systems, and how you meet the most important requirements. See our example of a job application for a template you can build on.

In the interview you may get technical questions about VAT, accruals and year end closing, and sometimes a practical task. Practise with the interview questions for the role. Before you negotiate, check the level with the free pay check and read our guide on how to negotiate your salary.