Adding achievements to your CV can be the perfect way to help you stand out from other applicants. This is because achievements help you to demonstrate how you can add real value to a business.
The problem is, it can be tricky to decide what classifies as “CV-worthy” for an accountant.
You also need to know how to highlight these effectively on your CV.
The good news is we’re here to help. In this guide, we’ll talk you through how you can add achievements to your accountancy CV to make you stand out from the crowd.
How achievements can maximise your accountant CV
It’s all well and good listing your skills, but these don’t mean much to the recruiter if you don’t demonstrate how you’ve applied them to impact previous employers. This is why adding achievements can maximise your CV, as they help the recruiter to get a very real understanding of the value you can bring to an organisation.
They also prove that you aren’t just going about your daily tasks to get them done, but instead you’re getting real results and helping to drive the business forward in some way. This is what will ultimately impress employers, and encourage them to progress you through to interview stage.
To give you a better understanding of what we mean, here’s an example of simply listing your responsibilities versus sharing your subsequent achievements.
Responsibility: Used reports to create a budget for each department
Responsibility + results: Generated a budget for each department based on their reports from the previous year, decreasing business overheads by 37% overall
10 types of achievements you can include
To make things easier for you we’ve pulled together a list of 10 types of achievements you might want to include on your CV. You could give examples of times when you have:
- Achieved financial gain
- Saved the company from spending money
- Built and maintained strong client relationships
- Advised clients on important issues like tax liabilities or fund security
- Exceeded your monthly targets
- Used financial forecasting to reduce risks
- Implemented new systems or software to cut time and costs
- Produced reports and made changes with the results in mind
- Evaluated accounts and business plans
- Achieved stand-out grades or vocational qualifications during your time in education or employment
Before you begin writing your accountancy CV it’s a good idea to refer to the suggestions above and make note of any of your own personal achievements that reflect these.
Still feeling unsure how to do this? Don’t panic! In the next section we’ll provide some real examples for you to tailor for your application.
Real examples of achievements for your accountancy CV
While the suggestions above are a good place to start, these are still too vague. On your CV you will need to use facts and figures to show how you’ve made an impact. Here are some examples you can refer to:
- Implemented a new financial accounting system which proved to be 56% more efficient than the previous one
- Oversaw the training of 10 junior accounting staff and achieved a 100% pass rate of induction period, ensuring all were qualified to consultant level
- Arranged and conducted a financial review to identify 10 key areas of overspending and reduce outgoings by £5k per month.
Where to include your achievements
You’ll have several opportunities to include your achievements throughout your CV. Any stand-out achievements or anything that you’re particularly proud of can be included in your personal profile, but this section needs to be short and sweet so don’t include too many.
If you’ve got plenty to shout about you might want to add a specific ‘achievements’ section under your personal profile. Otherwise, add a smaller ‘key achievements’ section under each role in your employment history.
Andrew Fennell is the founder of CV writing advice website StandOut CV – he is a former recruitment consultant and contributes careers advice to websites like Business Insider, The Guardian and FastCompany.
