Bookkeeper Resume Example

Also called Accounting Clerk, Accounts Payable Clerk, Full Charge Bookkeeper.

Small businesses hire bookkeepers they can trust with their money and their deadlines. Show how many clients or accounts you keep, the software you use, and that the books you hand over are right.

Use this exampleBrowse all templates

Opens in the builder with this text in place, ready for you to replace with your own.

What this example does well

  • The number of clients and their revenue range show the breadth of her work.
  • A regular delivery date for reports proves reliability better than a claim would.
  • The cleanup project shows she can rescue messy books, which many clients need.

Updated

Karen Mitchell

Full Charge Bookkeeper

Summary

Bookkeeper with eight years of experience keeping the books for small businesses in construction, retail and professional services. Handles 14 client accounts in QuickBooks Online and Xero, from bank feeds to payroll and monthly reports, and delivers every month-end pack by the fifth working day.

Experience

Bookkeeper, Bayside Bookkeeping Services

Jan 2020 – Present · Tampa, Florida

  • Keep the books for 14 small business clients with revenues from $400,000 to $6 million.
  • Reconcile bank and credit card accounts monthly and deliver profit and loss and balance sheet reports by the fifth working day.
  • Run payroll for 120 employees across six clients through Gusto, with no late payments.
  • Cleaned up two years of backlogged books for a new client in six weeks, ready for their tax filing.

Accounts Payable Clerk, Suncoast Building Supply

Mar 2017 – Dec 2019 · Clearwater, Florida

  • Processed about 400 vendor invoices a month, matching them to purchase orders and receipts.
  • Took early-payment discounts that saved about $30,000 a year.
  • Answered vendor questions and resolved billing disputes.

Education

Associate of Science in Accounting Technology, Hillsborough Community College

2015 – 2017 · Tampa, Florida

Skills

QuickBooks Online, Xero, Bank reconciliations, Accounts payable and receivable, Payroll (Gusto), Month-end reports, Sales tax filing, Excel

Certifications

  • Certified Bookkeeper (CB) — American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers, 2021
  • QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor — Intuit, 2025
An example: Karen Mitchell is not a real person, and the details show the kind of thing to write rather than a real career. Shown in the Compact template. Words that postings for this job often use are marked in yellow.

How do you write a summary for a bookkeeper resume?

Two to four lines at the top that say what you do, for how long, and what you are best at. Here is one for each stage of a career.

  • Entry level

    Detail-minded person looking for a first bookkeeping role. Completed an accounting technology certificate and kept the books for my family's landscaping business in QuickBooks for two years, including invoicing and bank reconciliations.

  • Experienced

    Bookkeeper with five years of experience in accounts payable, receivable, payroll and reconciliations. Works in QuickBooks and Xero and delivers accurate monthly reports on time.

  • Senior

    Senior bookkeeper and office manager with fifteen years of experience. Runs the full books for a multi-company group, supervises two clerks and works with the outside CPA on year-end and tax filings.

How to write a resume summary, with more examples

What are good bullet points for a bookkeeper resume?

Each starts with a verb and says what was done. Change the details and numbers to your own; a number you cannot explain in an interview is worse than none.

  1. Recorded daily transactions and kept the general ledger up to date.

  2. Reconciled bank and credit card accounts every month.

  3. Processed vendor invoices and payments on schedule.

  4. Sent customer invoices and followed up on overdue payments, reducing late payments by 35%.

  5. Ran payroll and filed payroll tax returns.

  6. Prepared monthly profit and loss statements and balance sheets.

  7. Filed sales tax returns on time.

  8. Worked with the outside accountant on year-end adjustments and tax preparation.

  9. Cleaned up and reconciled backlogged accounts for new clients.

  10. Set up bank rules and categories that cut manual entry in half.

Which skills should a bookkeeper put on a resume?

Pick the ones the job posting asks for and that you can back up with an example from your work.

Hard skills

  • Accounting software (QuickBooks, Xero, Sage)
  • Bank reconciliations
  • Accounts payable and receivable
  • Payroll processing
  • Sales and payroll tax filings
  • Financial reports
  • Excel
  • Basic accounting principles

Soft skills

  • Accuracy
  • Confidentiality
  • Reliability
  • Organization
  • Clear communication with owners

Licenses and certifications

  • Certified Bookkeeper (AIPB)
  • Certified Public Bookkeeper (NACPB)
  • QuickBooks Certified User or ProAdvisor

Which keywords belong on a bookkeeper resume?

The words recruiters and applicant tracking systems search for.

  • QuickBooks
  • Xero
  • reconcile
  • payroll
  • invoices
  • month-end
  • profit and loss
  • balance sheet
  • clients

Use the ones that are true for you, written the way the posting writes them, and put each where it shows something you did. A list of keywords with nothing behind it helps nobody. To keep them readable by software, choose an ATS-friendly template, and read how applicant tracking systems read a resume.

What should a bookkeeper resume focus on?

Trust and reliability. Show the number of clients or accounts you handle, when you deliver reports, and any errors or late payments you prevented.

Name your software and certifications prominently. Owners and firms often search for QuickBooks or Xero experience first.

How do you describe freelance bookkeeping?

List it as a job: "Self-employed bookkeeper" with dates, the number of clients and the industries you serve. Describe the services you provide and one result.

Name clients only with their permission. Otherwise, describe them by industry and size.

What do finance employers look for in a resume?

  • Accuracy is the job, so show it: clean audits, reconciliations with no unexplained differences, a month-end close that got shorter.
  • State the size of the numbers you worked with, such as ledger volume, revenue covered or the cash you balanced each day.
  • List qualifications with their status. "CPA" and "CPA candidate, two sections passed" are both useful; leaving it vague is not.

All finance and accounting resume examples

Questions about a bookkeeper resume

Do bookkeepers need a degree?

No. Experience, software skills and a certification are usually enough.

Is the QuickBooks ProAdvisor certificate worth it?

Yes for bookkeepers who work with small businesses. It is free and widely recognized.

Should I list payroll experience?

Yes. Many small businesses want one person to handle both the books and payroll.

How long should a bookkeeper resume be?

One page.

Make this bookkeeper resume yours.

Start from the example, swap in your own jobs and numbers, and switch to any template without retyping a word.

Use this example