Bookkeeper resume example
A complete resume for a full-charge bookkeeper at a construction company and a dental group, plus summaries, bullet points, skills and the software to list.
What hiring managers look for
Owners, controllers and CPA firms hiring a bookkeeper want someone who keeps clean books without being chased. They look for the full cycle: accounts payable and receivable, bank and credit card reconciliations, payroll, sales tax and month-end close. They also check the size of the books (revenue, accounts, employees), the software you use, especially QuickBooks Online and Xero, and how quickly and accurately you close each month.
This example belongs to a full-charge bookkeeper with eight years at a home builder and a multi-office dental group. Each job states the company's size and the tasks owned end to end, and the bullets show faster closes, cleaner reconciliations and money recovered. AP and AR clerks, payroll specialists, accounting assistants and freelance bookkeepers with several clients can follow the same format.
Bookkeeper resume summary examples
Full-charge, 8 years
Full-charge bookkeeper with 8 years keeping the books for small and midsize businesses up to $14M in revenue. Handles AP, AR, payroll for 60 employees, 16 monthly reconciliations, sales tax and job costing, and closes the month by the 5th business day.
New bookkeeper
Accounting certificate graduate with a year as an office assistant handling invoices and deposits for a 12-person law office. Knows QuickBooks Online, double-entry basics and bank reconciliations, and is working toward the QuickBooks ProAdvisor certification.
Freelance bookkeeper
Independent bookkeeper serving 14 small businesses, from restaurants to a dental practice. Closes every client's books by the 10th, cleans up years of messy records and moved 6 clients from desktop software to QuickBooks Online.
Moving into accounting
Full-charge bookkeeper with 6 years of month-end close, payroll and sales tax experience, now finishing a bachelor's in accounting. Ready for a staff accountant role with more work on accruals, financial statements and audits.
Bookkeeper resume bullet points
Strong bullets start with what you did and end with what changed. Borrow the pattern, then use your own numbers.
- Found $22,000 in duplicate vendor payments during a cleanup and recovered all of it within 60 days.
- Lowered days sales outstanding from 52 to 34 by sending invoices same-day and calling at 30 days past due.
- Rebuilt a chart of accounts from 340 accounts to 120 so the owner could read the P&L at a glance.
- Filed sales and use tax in 3 states each month with no penalties over 5 years.
- Moved a 25-year-old company from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online with no lost history.
- Processed 1099s for 85 contractors each January, collecting every W-9 before year-end.
- Set up approval workflows in Bill.com that cut late payment fees to zero.
- Prepared weekly cash flow reports that helped the owner time a $400,000 equipment purchase.
Skills for a bookkeeper resume
Skills job postings ask for
- QuickBooks Online and Desktop
- Xero
- Accounts payable and receivable
- Bank and credit card reconciliations
- General ledger and journal entries
- Payroll processing
- Month-end close
- Sales tax and 1099s
- Financial statements (P&L, balance sheet)
- Excel (VLOOKUP, pivot tables)
- Bill.com or Expensify
Skills to show in your bullets
- Accuracy
- Confidentiality
- Organization
- Meeting deadlines
- Clear explanations to owners
List the skills a posting names in its own words, and only the ones you can talk about in an interview. Qualities like these read best as results in your bullets, not as a list.
Tips for writing a bookkeeper resume
- 1
Say what "full-charge" means for you
Owners want to know which parts of the books you handle alone. List AP, AR, payroll, reconciliations, sales tax and close, so there's no doubt.
- 2
Give the size of the books
Company revenue, number of accounts reconciled, invoices per month and employees on payroll show how much you can manage.
- 3
Show speed and clean results
A faster close, a backlog cleared, money recovered or a clean year-end with the CPA are the outcomes owners pay attention to.
- 4
Name your software by version
QuickBooks Online and Desktop are different, and many postings ask for one specifically. Add payroll and AP tools like Gusto, ADP or Bill.com.
Software and certifications to list
Bookkeeping jobs are often filtered by software before a person reads your resume. List each program you use, then any certifications that prove your skill. Neither certification is required, but both help, especially for remote and freelance work.
- QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop
- Xero, Sage or NetSuite
- Payroll tools: Gusto, ADP, Paychex
- AP and expense tools: Bill.com, Expensify, Ramp
- Certified Bookkeeper (AIPB) or Certified Public Bookkeeper (NACPB)
- QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor
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