Accountant Cover Letter - Sample, Tips, & Free Download

Accounting Cover Letter Example

Good at numbers but need assistance auditing your accountant cover letter? View the sample and tips below to learn how to improve your cover letter for an accountant role and land your next interview.

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[Today’s Date]

[Hiring Manager’s Name]

123 Company Address
Company’s City, State, Zip Code
(xxx) xxx-xxxx
hiring.manager@gmail.com

Dear [Mr./Ms./Mx.] [Hiring Manager’s Last Name],

I’m thrilled to be applying for the position of Accountant that was advertised on [Company Name]’s website. I believe that my education, skill set, and experience make me a suitable candidate for this vacancy.

I’m a highly organized and self-driven individual and have been passionate about developing my career in the field of Accounting since starting my career as a corporate banker in May 2017. My commitment can be gauged from the fact that I’m an accredited holder of an MBA degree with a specialization in Finance from Poloma College.

Equipped with my CPA and possessing more than 5 years of experience of working in diverse financial positions with multiple companies, I’ve gained extensive insight in the field of Accounting. My key competencies include, but are not limited to:
• maintaining financial records
• managing budgets
• performing risk assessments
• conducting business strategy reviews

In my current position as a Financial Analyst with Langford Partnership, I lead a team of 5 and have gained a specialist’s understanding of financial instruments and accounting software such as Oracle, SAP, and Intuit QuickBooks.

I’m seeking a challenging but rewarding position, which is why I’m drawn to this exciting opportunity. Please feel free to contact me by phone at (xxx) xxx-xxxx or via email at your.email@gmail.com. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Your Name

Accountants are professionally trained to examine and prepare financial reports for clients. But to land a job as a finance expert, you’ll need to prepare a professional accountant cover letter to show employers you have the knowledge, qualifications, and experience they seek.

Below are three tips for writing an impressive accounting cover letter that highlights your expertise and helps you stand out from other applicants:

1. Highlight your accounting skills

Hiring managers look for accountants who possess a combination of hard and soft skills, and your accounting cover letter is a great place to provide these details.

Hard skills are the technical abilities you’ve learned from previous schooling, training, and on-the-job experience.

Employers want to know they can rely on you to analyze financial data and accurately communicate these findings with clients. As accountants review and interpret financial records, include examples of times when you showed strong analytical skills and knowledge of complex financial processes.

Here’s an example of a statement describing an applicant’s specific contributions to their company’s growth:

An example of an applicant discussing their financial expertise using dollar amounts and percentages in their accountant cover letter — Your accountant cover letter should include your top accomplishments.

Below are some other technical skills to include in your accounting cover letter:

Google Drive and Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, and Outlook)
Oracle PeopleSoft, Microsoft Dynamics, SAP
Intuit QuickBooks
Sage 50 Accounting
Microsoft Access, Microsoft Project
Structured Query Language (SQL)
Complying with financial regulations
Bookkeeping

By contrast, your soft skills convey your ability to relate well with clients and colleagues.

For instance, your ability to turn complex data and numbers into accurate reports and presentations is important, but being able to communicate this information effectively is also a critical skill employers seek in their accountants.

Additionally, discussing a number of financial matters with clients, stakeholders, or your internal team such as audits, tax returns, or purchase orders are part of an accountant’s key responsibilities, so try writing about your people skills.

Here’s an example of an accountant applicant mentioning their ability to work well with their colleagues:

A statement describing people skills on an accountant cover letter

As the sole Accountant at DGT Digital, I worked closely with all 10 members of our startup and provided them with up-to-date information and suggestions about streamlining our accounting processes, which resulted in our team saving $10,000 last May.

Here are some soft skills to include in your cover letter that present you as an effective accountant:

Attention to detail
Communication skills
Interpersonal skills
Time management skills
Organizational skills
Adaptability
Analytical and critical thinking skills
Decision-making
Problem-solving
Teamwork

2. Use proper cover letter formatting

Accounting work requires being detail-oriented, and your cover letter for an accounting role should convey this quality. Even with impressive qualifications, a hiring manager will immediately lose interest with a lengthy or disorganized cover letter.

So using a professional cover letter format that’s well-organized and easy to follow is essential for writing a successful accounting job application.

Here’s how to structure an accounting cover letter:

Your accounting cover letter format should include your contact details, a salutation, an introductory paragraph, 1–2 body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
Set the margins to between ½” and 1” so your cover letter doesn’t look too empty or too busy.
Use an appropriate cover letter font such as Times New Roman, Arial, and Verdana so employers can read your typed writing easily.
Keep your font size between 10.5 and 12 points so hiring managers don’t have to strain their eyes.
In the closing paragraph, thank the hiring manager for their time and include a call-to-action to set up a meeting by including your email address and phone number.

3. Use hard numbers to quantify your achievements

Working as an accountant means you’re constantly managing money and working hard to help a company gain profits and reduce losses.

Communicating to your target employer that you’ve made a positive impact to your previous companies’ bottom line will encourage them to continue reading the rest of your application and consider you for an interview.

So include your top accomplishments throughout your accounting cover letter. Providing examples of your previous achievements by including metrics proves you’re results-driven and will be an asset to your target company.

So as you’re writing your cover letter statements, don’t forget to state the:

number of clients or teams you worked with
accounts you worked with
amount of money you worked with daily, monthly, or quarterly
number of financial statements and reports you compiled

Our accounting applicant includes these two statements where they provide several hard numbers:

I solely handled payroll for 25 employees and saved our company $150,000 in one year.

In 2022, I successfully negotiated with 5 vendors and helped our team save $42,000 in annual expenses so we no longer needed to rely on a $1 million line-of-credit.