Tax Accountant Resume Sample & Guide [20+ Tips]

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Emilia Mucha

Career Expert

Updated: June 17, 2024

Reviewed by:

Caio Sampaio, CPRW

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They say that the only two things in this world that are certain are death and taxes.

Well, there’s another one. And that is: you need a great resume to get a great job. Maybe your motivation to specialize in taxes was the job security. Maybe you actually sought excitement, like Frank J. Wilson, who moved from being a humble accountant to joining the Secret Service.

Anyway, before you try framing the next Al Capone for tax evasion, focus on your own career. Write a tax accountant resume that gets you closer to the job of your dreams.

This guide will show you:

A tax accountant resume example better than 9 out of 10 other resumes.
How to write a tax accountant resume that will land you more interviews.
Tips and examples of how to put skills and achievements on a tax accountant resume.
How to describe your experience on a resume for a tax accountant to get any job you want.

Want to save time and have your resume ready in 5 minutes? Try our resume builder. It’s fast and easy to use. Plus, you’ll get ready-made content to add with one click. See 20+ resume templates and create your resume here.

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Sample resume made with our builder—See more resume examples here.

One of our users, Brittanya, had this to say:

Zety really helped me create the best resume possible. It pointed out how things could be better on my existing resume and suggested many things to be re-worded or removed.

See more resume examples for finance positions:

Tax Accountant Resume Sample

Brooke Walker

Tax Accountant

brooke.walker@email.us

510-205-4129

linkedin.com/in/brookewwalker

Summary of Qualifications

A CPA tax accountant with 5+ years of experience in preparing federal, state, and local tax returns for small businesses and individuals. At GrowNow Inc. monitored company expenses for 40 ongoing projects and prepared multi-state tax returns compliant with tax law regulations. Detected a recurring error in balance sheets—which helped prevent the loss of $50.000. Assisted clients with IRS notices and provided taxation consultancy for clients of different industry sectors.

Work Experience

Tax Accountant

GrowNow Inc.

August 2016–May 2019

Key Qualifications & Responsibilities

Prepared multi-state tax returns in compliance with US federal and state law.
Researched tax regulations and analyzed financial statements to ensure documentation correctness.
Monitored monthly company expenses for 40 ongoing projects.
Took part in quarterly financial planning and implemented tax strategies to minimize the financial risks of the company.
Maintained consistent relationships with auditors and represented the company during audit checks.
Identified discrepancies in tax reports and transactions data.

Key Achievement

Identified recurring error in balance sheets that prevented the loss of $50.000.

Assistant Tax Accountant

Green & Co. Tax Services

July 2014–July 2016

Key Qualifications & Responsibilities

Prepared property, income, and occupation tax services for small businesses and individuals.
Researched complex tax issues to ensure all relevant deductions.
Coordinated the agenda of appointments with cross-functional teams and external clients.
Performed regular data checks to identify potential errors in documentation and procedures.
Provided taxation consultancy and explained the intricacies of tax laws to business and individual clients.
Assisted clients with IRS related procedures.

Key Achievement

Lowered year-end tax bill of a key client by 20% by identifying relevant deductible expenses under state tax regulations.

Education

MA, Accountancy

University of San Francisco

2011-2014

BA, Accounting and Science in Taxation

University of San Francisco

2008-2011

Skills

Financial statements
Payroll taxes
Corporate tax law
Tax returns
Mathematics
Attention to detail
Analytical skills
Problem-solving
Time management
QuickBooks, Microsoft Excel
Collaboration and teamwork

Certifications

Certified Public Accountant
Certified Tax Planner

Membership

American Taxation Association
National Association of Tax Professionals

Here’s how to write a tax accountant resume that proves you’re a vital asset:

1. Choose the Best Format for Your Tax Accountant Resume

Tax accountants manage tax obligations of companies and individuals, prepare tax documentation and assist clients in taxation audits. Your tax accountant resume needs to prove that you can deal with complex calculations, short deadlines, and tax law twists and turns.

To make your resume reflect all the above—

Use the best resume format.

A reverse-chronological layout usually works best as it promotes your recent achievements.

Start with a resume header that includes your name and current job title.
Divide the document into visible resume sections.
Wondering what font to use for a resume? Stick to the classics, don’t go too flashy.
Leave enough white space for readability. Remember that crammed doesn’t mean relevant.

Pro Tip: Save your resume file as a PDF, unless the job offer states differently. PDFs are ATS software-friendly and most of the companies prefer them.

2. Write a Tax Accountant Resume Summary or Objective

Financial statements are a child's play to you but writing a resume profile statement seems like a struggle?

Don't worry.

We’ll help you decide which resume statement is better for you: a resume summary or resume objective.

If you’re in the accounting business for more than 2 years, use a career summary. It focuses on your achievements and promotes your career best moments.

If you’re targeting an entry-level position, go for a career objective. It will highlight your skills and show the recruiting manager why you’re top dog.

Remember: write your tax accountant resume profile after you have other resume sections in place. It’s much easier to summarize the best things this way.

Pro Tip: If you’re about to start a career within the IRS, here's a list of jobs and divisions you can aim for: IRS divisions.

3. Create the Perfect Tax Accountant Job Description for a Resume

Talk is cheap. Want to know how to best sell yourself?

Put a number on everything when you describe your work experience on a resume.

Your tax specialist job description needs to prove that you’re perfect for the position.

And that you’ll excel exactly at what they’re looking for.

Tailor your resume to the job offer to highlight all relevant skills and experience:

Begin with your latest or current job, then move back in your career history.
For each position, add your job title, company name, location, and dates worked.
Put your duties and accomplishments on a bullet point list. Make each entry 6-7 bullets long.
Use resume action verbs, such as managed, reviewed, restructured, prepared, declared, etc.
Put numbers and percentages on your resume to back up your experience with quantifiable achievements.

Pro Tip: Writing a senior tax accountant job description? Remember to show your promotions on the resume. If you got promoted internally and your duties changed—create a separate entry with bullet points for each job title. Then put them under one umbrella header with your company name.

4. Make Your Tax Accountant Resume Education Section Great

Formal education is a must for tax accountants.

Apart from a bachelor's degree in accounting, additional training is usually necessary.

Prove that you're well-trained for the job with a great resume education section.

Here’s how to do it:

If you’ve been in business for over 5 years, stick to listing your highest degree, school name and location, plus graduation year.
If you’re a less experienced candidate, consider listing your GPA (if upwards of 3.5) and academic achievements. Relevant coursework and extracurricular activities are also valuable.

Note: Most tax accounting positions nowadays require a CPA designation and other relevant certifications. More on that later.

5. Highlight Your Tax Accountant Skills

Accounting is more than just crunching numbers.

Want that lucrative job? You need to show off your skills.

Prove them to the recruiter by creating a list of relevant job skills.

Your tax accountant resume should focus on hard skills and technical skills.

However, listing your soft skills is also important as tax accounting is not only about Excel spreadsheets. It’s also about great communication with people.

Use the list below to pick out your key tax accountant skills.

Top Skills for a Career in Accounting

Financial statements
Payroll taxes
State tax law
Corporate tax law
Income tax law
Social security tax law
Tax compliance
Tax returns
IT skills
Account analysis
Revenue projections
Account reconciliation
Profit and loss
Mathematics
QuickBooks
Invoices
Microsoft Excel, Access, and SQL bases
Attention to detail
Data entry
Analytical skills
Collaboration skills
Critical thinking
Decision making
Problem-solving
Time management

One last thing: Don't fudge your resume with too many skills. What you need are abilities relevant to the job description.

Based on an analysis of 11 million resumes created using our builder, we discovered that:

The most common skills for Tax Accountants are Registered Financial Planner (RFP), tax computing, internal tax policies, statement review, and Accredited Business Accountant/Advisor (ABA).
Resumes for Tax Accountants are, on average, 2.4 pages long.

Creating a resume with our builder is incredibly simple. Follow our step-by-step guide and use content from Certified Professional Resume Writers to have a resume ready in minutes.

Create my resume now

When you’re done, our easy resume builder will score your resume and our resume checker will tell you exactly how to make it better.

6. Add Other Sections to Your Tax Accountant Resume

By now you've covered all the crucial resume parts.

But... Here's how to kick your resume up a notch—

Use these extra resume sections to outshine the others:

Certifications: are you an Enrolled Agent or Certified Tax Coach? Any tax expert certification has a positive ROI. Make it prominent in a separate resume section.
Language skills: always an asset, especially for international accounting.
List of interests: it’s a nice change of pace on a technical resume. It shows more than your professional side.
List of accomplishments: improved a process or two and got an Employee of the Month award? Show it off in a separate section of your resume.

Pro Tip: Over 86% recruitment decision-makers find voluntary experience on a resume important. Create a resume section with voluntary gigs (bonus points if it's relevant in some way to the job ad.)

7. Attach a Tax Accountant Resume Cover Letter

Do you need a cover letter?

Yes, you do.

A well-written cover letter can accelerate your chances of winning an interview.

Use the tips below to write a first-rate cover letter:

Choose the best cover letter format for a job.
Set the encouraging tone with your cover letter intro.
Make an offer to the employer by addressing their specific needs.
Include a call to action in your cover letter conclusion.

Pro Tip: How long should a cover letter be? Three paragraphs, less than one page. This works best. Keep it short but focused.

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

Create my cover letter now

See more cover letter templates and start writing.

Easy as one, two, three!

That’s how you make a job-winning resume for a tax accountant.

Thanks for reading! What do you think of this sample tax accountant resume? Are you writing an entry-level or senior tax accountant resume? We’d love to hear from you, leave your comment below!

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Tax Accountant Resume Sample & Guide [20+ Tips]

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