Accounting & Finance
Examples for accountants, auditors and financial analysts, with the terminology and certifications ATS software looks for.
Accountant CV Example
An accountant's CV gets scanned for three things: the software you know, the kind of accounts you've handled, and your professional certifications. Precision is itself part of the assessment here — any error in the figures or dates inside the CV reads to a hiring manager as a signal about your work.
- financial accounting
- financial statements
- bank reconciliation
- SAP
Senior Accountant CV Example
On a CV, what separates an accountant from a senior accountant isn't years — it's the type of responsibility: supervising a team, owning the month-end close, and dealing directly with auditors and management. Your CV needs to show that shift clearly.
- month-end close
- financial analysis
- budgeting
- SAP FICO
Internal Auditor CV Example
Internal auditors are judged on independence, methodology, and whether their findings actually change anything. So your CV is measured by the number of audit engagements you've completed and the kind of risks you surfaced — not by how long you sat in the department.
- internal audit
- risk assessment
- internal controls
- compliance
An accounting CV is read twice: once by software looking for named systems and certifications, and once by a finance manager who wants to know the size of what you handled rather than a list of what you were responsible for. Most CVs that never arrive fail the first reading for one reason — the skill was written in one language and the advert was written in the other.
Name the system exactly as the advert does
Applicant tracking systems match text, not meaning. "Accounting software" does not match an advert asking for SAP, and "advanced Excel" does not match one asking for Power Query. Use the product name itself, in Latin script, even on an Arabic CV.
Better still, name the module rather than the platform: SAP FICO says more than SAP, and Oracle Financials says more than Oracle. A filter set on a specific module will not find you under the general name.
- ERP: SAP FICO · Oracle Financials · Microsoft Dynamics 365 · Odoo
- Excel, specifically: VLOOKUP · Pivot Tables · Power Query · financial modelling
- ZATCA e-invoicing (Fatoora) and VAT
- IFRS as applied in Saudi Arabia
Write certifications in full, then the acronym
Write "Saudi Organization for Chartered and Professional Accountants (SOCPA)", not one or the other. Adverts use both forms and a text match does not know they are the same thing — it is the cheapest point on the whole CV.
CMA is an ambiguous acronym in this market: it means Certified Management Accountant, and it is also the Capital Market Authority. If it is your certification, spell it out once so it is not read as an employer.
If you are still studying for it, say so with the parts passed and the next sitting. "SOCPA — 2 of 4 parts passed" is stronger than leaving it out and more honest than listing it bare.
Turn responsibilities into figures
"Responsible for accounts receivable" describes every accountant everywhere. "Managed SAR 4M in receivables across 120 accounts and cut average collection from 62 days to 41" describes one person.
The numbers a finance department reads instantly: portfolio size, number of clients or branches, month-end close duration, headcount supervised, and the value of the variances your reconciliations caught.
Common questions
- Should an accounting CV be in Arabic or English?
- In the language of the advert. Large corporates and the Big Four usually advertise and filter in English; government bodies and most mid-size firms advertise in Arabic. Keep both versions ready and send the matching one — and in either case leave software and certification names in Latin script.
- How long should an accountant's CV be?
- One page up to about five years' experience, two after that if you have supervision or system-migration work worth explaining. The second page genuinely does get read for senior finance roles — but only after the first one has done its job.
- What if all my experience is at a small accounting office?
- Lead with breadth instead of scale. Running the full accounting cycle for thirty small businesses exposes you to more sectors and more filing types than sitting in one department of a large company — state the number of files, the sectors, and the returns you prepared.