Senior Accounting Manager Skills: Add to Improve Your Resume!
Does your
resume include the Senior Accounting Manager skills employers expect to see?
When you're
ready to advance your career in accounting and take on a senior management
role, it's important to make sure your resume delivers the right message to
prospective employers. To make a powerful impression, you'll need to focus on
ensuring you include the key Senior Accounting Manager skills hiring managers
will be looking for as they review candidate resumes.
But which of
the many Senior Accounting Manager skills should you highlight to demonstrate
you're the most qualified person for the job? Moreover, what's the right way to
add those core competencies to your resume?
In this
Senior Accounting Manager skills guide, we'll explain why these core
competencies are so vital for your resume and examine some examples of the
types of skills you should consider. We'll also provide some helpful tips you
can use to add these skills in a way that improves your resume.
What are
Senior Accounting Manager skills?
Senior
Accounting Managers play a vital role in a company's financial operations and
may be responsible for everything from overseeing financial department
activities to supporting the executive team and offering advice for strategic
planning. These professionals are tasked with guiding their teams in the
creation of vital presentations, financial reports, and strategies. They also
review revenue and expenses, conduct audits, and make sure that financial
regulations and laws are followed at all times.
Obviously,
that wide array of duties and responsibilities can only be fulfilled by those
who possess the right skill set. To compete for that role, you'll need to
showcase a balanced mix of essential hard skills and soft skills. The Senior
Accounting Manager skills you choose to include in your resume will help
convince employers that your core competencies can add real value to their
company's bottom line.
Related
reading: What Are Skills? (With Examples and Tips on How to Improve
Them)
Why are
Senior Accounting Manager skills important for your resume?
They say you
only get one chance to make the right impression. When it comes to the job
search process, your resume is the vehicle used to introduce yourself to
employers and make a lasting impression. Without the right Senior Accounting
Manager skills in your resume, there's almost no chance you'll be offered an
interview – which means you'll never get the opportunity to convince them
you're the right person for the job.
Just remember
this: when hiring managers skim your resume, they're looking for those key
qualifications to determine whether it's worth their time to read the rest of
the document. If they don't see those vital Senior Accounting Manager skills,
they'll likely toss your resume onto the rejection pile and move on to the next
candidate.
Related
reading: Make the Perfect First Impression With Your Resume
Which
Senior Accounting Manager skills do employers prioritize?
So, how do
you figure out which types of Senior Accounting Manager skills employers expect
to see? First, you should always check with the job posting to see which skills
the company has listed as qualifications. Once you've done that, you should
consider the core functions of the job, paying attention to the role's specific
responsibilities – and any key skills you'll need to possess to fulfill those
job requirements.
Senior
Accounting Manager's responsibilities include:
- Managing corporate accounting
activities, including ledgers, reconciliations, and monthly close
processes
- Overseeing regulatory and legal
compliance
- Establishing and implementing
accounting policies and procedures
- Analyzing compliance with
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)
- Collaborating with auditors
- Leading and participating in
strategic financial projects
- Periodically improving
efficiencies in systems and business practices
- Preparing regular financial
reports
- Providing advice and guidance to
executive teams
- Assist with and oversee tax
return preparation
- Develop, review, and communicate
complex projections for cash flow, revenue, and profitability
- Supervise and motivate accounting
team, providing needed support to achieve their common goals
Key Senior
Accounting Manager skills for your resume
As you select
the right Senior Accounting Manager skills for your resume, always remember
your goal is to emphasize the value you can bring to the firm. By listing both
hard and soft skills in your resume, you can demonstrate you have the technical
proficiencies needed to perform your duties and the interpersonal skills that
will enable you to successfully interact with others.
To help you
decide which core competencies to include, we've created a list of some of the
most popular Senior Accounting Manager skills job seekers highlight when
they're seeking this role.
Hard
skills for a Senior Accounting Manager Skills resume
1. Certified
Public Accounting (CPA)
Employers
will want to know that you have passed your CPA exam, which demonstrates you
have the expertise needed to conduct and oversee a wide array of accounting
duties. Regardless of whether you see this particular hard skill listed in a
job description, it should have a prominent place in your resume.
2. GAAP
standards expertise
GAAP is an
acronym for Generally Accepted Accounting Principles – a term that encompasses
a variety of industry best practices and standards. Senior Accounting Managers
rely on these and other standards to guide them in the performance of many
duties, including the preparation of financial statements, departmental
reports, audits, and the monthly closing report process.
3. Data
and statistical analysis
Your resume
may also include data and/or statistical analysis as a hard skill. Senior
Accounting Managers need to be skilled in these analytical abilities to
research, examine, and interpret data involving everything from revenue and
expenses to waste, financial loss, and potential opportunities. These skills
are also essential for identifying risks, possible rewards, and strategies that
can be implemented to mitigate potential downside or maximize opportunities.
4. Forecasting
While Senior
Accounting Managers may not be oracles in the traditional sense, they are
expected to possess skills that can help them anticipate future financial
possibilities. These forecasting abilities involve the use of an array of
analytical and critical thinking skills to forecast everything from potential
future sales to revenue trends and changes in the industry.
5. Regulatory
compliance
Great
candidates for the Senior Accounting Manager role should also be experts in
regulatory compliance. The modern regulatory state is complex, with a host of
laws and bureaucratic regulations that tightly govern the financial
responsibilities of many industries. Expertise in regulatory compliance
continues to be one of the most important Senior Accounting Manager skills, as
they are responsible for making sure their company's finances are managed and
reported in accordance with government mandates and standards.
6. Risk
management
There's more
to accounting leadership than just gathering, analyzing, and reporting
financial data. Senior Accounting Managers also need to possess keen risk
identification and mitigation expertise so that they can quickly identify risks
before they become problems. These skills include the ability to identify
trends, potential challenges, and emerging risks so that solutions can be
created and implemented to avoid or minimize any potential obstacles.
7. Financial
reporting
No manager
can effectively oversee other accountants without a deep understanding of the
best practices for financial reporting. As a Senior Accounting Manager, you'll
need to be well-versed in those practices and skilled in creating accurate
financial reports that are consistently maintained and managed in alignment
with compliance standards. You'll also need to be proficient with a variety of
accounting software technologies used in crafting these reports.
8. Account
reconciliation
Account
reconciliation is another of the core Senior Accounting Manager skills you will
likely want to add to your resume. Reconciliation skills are used to audit and
verify accounting records, manage ledger systems, verify transactions and
documentation, and approve expenditures. This expertise is vital for
maintaining accurate records and managing an organization's broader accounting
systems.
Soft
skills for a Senior Accounting Manager Skills resume
1. Communication
Senior
Accounting Managers also need to be adept communicators to interact with their
teams, superiors, and other stakeholders. It's important to highlight these
vital skills in your resume so that hiring managers can see you possess those
core qualifications.
Related
reading: 11 Best Communication Skills for Your Resume (With Examples)
2. Collaboration
Like other
high-level employees in every industry, a great Senior Accounting Manager must
be able to work well with others. Whether it's leading the accounting team in
data analysis, financial reporting, and forecasting or interacting with
executives and clients, these accounting experts rely on effective
collaboration to achieve the best results for their companies.
3. Problem-solving
Every skilled
Senior Accounting Manager needs to be able to understand and analyze problems
to devise workable solutions that benefit their company, teams, and clients.
Whether it's problematic data forecasts, complex tax issues, or breakdowns in
financial processes, great managers have the skills needed to quickly resolve
any challenge.
4. Critical
thinking
Critical
thinking is a skill that all good accountants and finance professionals need to
possess. These skills include the ability to examine and consider available
facts, objectively identify core issues that need to be addressed, and apply
relevant knowledge to solve problems.
5. Organization
Without
organizational skills, no accountant or manager can ever succeed in their job
role. Organization includes the ability to compartmentalize tasks, set
priorities, oversee subordinates, and establish and meet deadlines for
projects. Hiring managers will always want to know that a job candidate
possesses these vital skills.
6. Adaptability
Adaptability
is quickly becoming one of the key Senior Accounting Manager skills, as the
economy continues to become ever more complex. Regulations, financial
processes, and technology are advancing at breakneck speed, and today's
managers need to be flexible enough to adapt to any changes.
