No, accounting is not math, but it does use math in its processes. You do not have to be an expert at math to be a good accountant. Math, although important, is not necessarily the main skill needed to be a successful accountant.

Automatically apply for jobs with Zippia

Upload your resume to get started.

Accounting internship skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Curtis Nicholls Ph.D.,

Lynne Zelenski Ph.D.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical accounting internship skills. We ranked the top skills for accounting interns based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 14.3% of accounting internship resumes contained reconciliations as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills an accounting internship needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 accounting internship skills for your resume and career

1. Reconciliations

Here's how accounting interns use reconciliations:

Recorded monthly Account Payable activities and performed General Ledger and bank reconciliations for an affiliated non-profit organization.
Performed reconciliation for accounts receivable for all parent companies and assisted with preparation of bank reconciliations.

2. Data Entry

Data entry means entering data into a company's system with the help of a keyboard. A person responsible for entering data may also be asked to verify the authenticity of the data being entered. A person doing data entry must pay great attention to tiny details.

Here's how accounting interns use data entry:

Assisted financial manager in data entry and analysis for end-of-month report and account revenue procedures.
Worked closely with certified personal accountants, responsible for data entry and administrative tasks.

3. Payroll

Payroll is the sum of all the compensation that an organization has to pay to employees at a specified time. Payroll is managed by the finance or HR department while small business owners may handle it themselves. Payroll isn't fixed as it varies every month due to sick leaves, overtime, etc.

Here's how accounting interns use payroll:

Provided administrative support to management: Payroll, food/beverage inventory, making employee schedules and correspondence.
Assisted accountants in completing tax returns while simultaneously entering payroll taxes into accounting program

4. First Hand

Here's how accounting interns use first hand:

Assisted impoverished, local citizens with job searching and basic resume building while learning about local economy first hand.
Gained first hand experience living and working abroad for a firm specializing in tax law and consulting

5. Work Ethic

Here's how accounting interns use work ethic:

Rehired for a second summer internship based on a strong work ethic and outstanding performance.
Performed presentations on rudiments of bank accounting and work ethics for new employees.

6. Account Reconciliations

Here's how accounting interns use account reconciliations:

Computed account reconciliations and generated bank deposit reports in Excel linking data to a complex company coding system.
Summarized visual financial material into Excel worksheets including account reconciliations, accountability reports, and fee requests

Choose from 10+ customizable accounting internship resume templates

Build a professional accounting internship resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your accounting internship resume.

7. Internal Audit

Internal audit is an evaluation process that ensures that a company's risk management, governing body, and other internal processes are running effectively. People who perform internal audits must be highly qualified, have experience, and knowledge to work accordingly with the international standards and the code of ethics.

Here's how accounting interns use internal audit:

Performed internal audit procedures including analyzing current business processes, interviewing personnel and comparing results with internal control objectives.
Performed campaign processing internal audit functions by reviewing input from donor companies and reconciling dollars and other pertinent information.

8. General Ledger Accounts

A general ledger account is a practice to keep a record of a company's total financial accounts. The accounts included in a general ledger lists the assets, liabilities, owners' equity, expenses, and income or revenue. It forms the basis of reporting a business's financial statements.

Here's how accounting interns use general ledger accounts:

Audited and reconciled general ledger accounts, which included a detailed analysis of expenditures for proper account coding and accuracy.
Assist in compiling and analyzing financial information to prepare entries to general ledger accounts, documenting daily operational transactions.

9. Individual Tax Returns

Here's how accounting interns use individual tax returns:

Completed year-end financial statements; corporate and individual tax returns -Prepared payroll returns and monthly reports for businesses
Developed a mastery level of understanding of preparing individual tax returns using Drake

10. QuickBooks

Here's how accounting interns use quickbooks:

Managed QuickBooks accounting information system - Developed an efficient special orders managing system - Strengthened the company's financial position
Performed bank reconciliation, bookkeeping, and prepared financial statements for corporations by using QuickBooks.

11. CPA

Here's how accounting interns use cpa:

Examined, analyzed and interpreted financial statements and prepared for CPA review
Prepared Profit and loss Statement, cooperated with CPA firm on filling tax documents, and proposed suggestions on inventory control.

12. GAAP

Here's how accounting interns use gaap:

Worked with Operating Management about income/ expense reports and payroll analysis, responsible for accounts classification by GAAP.
Prepared required audit schedules in accordance with GAAP and Sarbanes-Oxley regulations.

13. Fixed Assets

Here's how accounting interns use fixed assets:

Performed month-end balance sheet reconciliations, calculated and analyzed the depreciation of fixed assets.
Recognized and reconciled fixed assets to update accounting books and allocate overhead costs.

14. Financial Data

Here's how accounting interns use financial data:

Classified, recorded and summarized numerical and financial data for journal entries preparation and input to accounts receivable system.
Assisted in providing financial data to the Department of Finance required for various calculations utilized for assessments or subsidiaries.

15. Income Statement

Here's how accounting interns use income statement:

Worked closely with chief accounting officer and derivatives manager in reconciling Non-MBS balance sheet and income statement accounts.
Assisted in preparing financial statements including balance sheets and income statements.

5 Accounting Internship resume examples

Build a professional accounting internship resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 5+ resume templates to create your accounting internship resume.

Create my resume

Build a professional resume in minutes using this template.

What skills help Accounting Interns find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on accounting internship resumes?

Curtis Nicholls Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Accounting, Co-director of the Student Managed Investment Fund, Bucknell University

The obvious trends are going to become more pronounced: coding and technology-related skills. I think we are going to see an elevation in the coding expectations. In the future, I expect employers to begin providing coding assessments to potential candidates. This is a common feature of engineering and finance jobs, and I think we will see it with respect to claims about coding prowess.

Data skills will also continue to become more prevalent across all business disciplines. Employers are looking for experience with large data sets, data visualization software (e.g. Tableau, PowerBI, Alteryx, etc.) and statistical analysis. Data has become a major currency, and employees' ability to utilize data for decision making will be critical to success in the employment marketplace.

Beyond the obvious, I think the pandemic has also shifted focus to skills surrounding resilience and motivation. I've heard employers during the pandemic express surprise at the disparity of responses to the pandemic: some employees made the pivot to remote work seamlessly, others required significantly more support. Skills that demonstrate resilience, such as group work, honors programs, etc. will become more important.
I would encourage job seekers to highlight skills learned during the pandemic. I would anticipate a regular interview question inquiring about how the job seeker used their extra time during the pandemic. The most common answers will likely include lots of Queen's Gambit and Tiger King, but employers will look for answers surrounding the development of new skills or acquired certifications. Imagine the employer's thoughts when you suggest that you used the extra time to pursue a lifelong dream such as learning to play the piano or guitar. If you missed the early pandemic window of opportunity, take advantage now!

This line of questions may precede a dangerous trend for employers to look for indications of mental strength. I find this possibility disheartening as we could see employers screening employees with mental health challenges at a time when the solidarity of a job could provide much needed structure.

What soft skills should all accounting internships possess?

Lynne Zelenski Ph.D.

Director of Academic Services, Michigan State University

Communication skills, both written and verbal. Accountants need to be storytellers and be able to explain and interpret accounting information to non-accountants. Employers also emphasize the importance of leading and working in teams.

What hard/technical skills are most important for accounting internships?

Lynne Zelenski Ph.D.

Director of Academic Services, Michigan State University

Employers still seek strong Excel skills, and in addition, they want technologically savvy people. Most have internal systems, proprietary software, or certain systems/programs that they use. AND these will change! Thus, accountants need to be tech-savvy and able to learn and catch on quickly. For example, look at the variety in data visualization programs. If someone has experience in one, they will be able to figure out others pretty easily. The same goes for ERP systems.

What accounting internship skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Patty Goedl PhD

Professor of Accounting, Website

The best advice I could give a graduate beginning their career in accounting or another business field is to focus on obtaining practice work experience. If two graduates have the same degree, the next factor is typically practical work experience. Many programs, like the Bachelor of Business Administration Accounting degree program at the University of Cincinnati, offer or require a cooperative education (co-op education) experience. In fact, the University of Cincinnati invented co-op education over 100 years ago. Students who graduate with a degree and work experience are generally more marketable. For students who did not have the opportunity to complete a co-op or internship while in school, there are other options to get work experience. For example, I am the academic program coordinator for an Associate in Applied Business Accounting Technology degree at the University of Cincinnati. It is a fully online degree program geared toward non-traditional students. We do not offer a co-op education experience in the two-year accounting degree program. However, I work with accounting recruiting firms and local businesses to help my students get entry-level positions and gain practical working experience. Graduates often overlook recruiting organizations when they are looking for a job. In many cases, recruiters have access to jobs that are not posted anywhere else. Additionally, recruiters are usually willing to place students with degrees who need work experience.

What type of skills will young accounting internships need?

Nava Cohen Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, New Jersey City University

With so many employees working from home, it's never been more important to be aware of the most in-demand skills for the future of work.
Data and analytics skills become increasingly valuable. Companies are looking for accounting and finance professionals with predictive model forecasting skills, advanced revenue analytics, cost optimization, SQL programming, real-time model development, and data visualization.

People with healthy analytical and critical thinking abilities to suggest innovative solutions and ideas and solve complex problems will be needed to navigate the human/machine division of labor. It's crucial for accounting students to learn technology skills to stay relevant and competitive in the job market today. Despite their education, many accounting graduates do not have the necessary technical skill sets. As firms are looking for people with data analysis and data analytics, they hire more non-accountants out of school.

With technology leading the way in the accounting industry, it's essential to keep your soft skills up to date. All workers will need to adapt as demand grows for work requiring socioemotional (initiative-taking, growth mindset), creative, and higher cognitive skills. According to a Deloitte's study, while we've recently seen strong attention on technical skills, two-thirds of jobs will be soft-skill intensive by 2030.

Creativity is the most in-demand soft skill of the future since technology is replacing many mundane, process-related jobs. But machines currently can't compete with humans on creativity. In this constantly changing work environment, developing a growth mindset - improving continually - is an important skill. Moreover, having strong interpersonal skills should never be underestimated. Whether it's communicating effectively with co-workers or working with clients, communication is essential to the future of work. People should improve their ability to share effectively with others, which means being able to say the right things, using the right tone of voice and body language. People with high emotional intelligence will also be in demand. As our world and workplaces become more diverse and open, young graduates must have the skills to understand, respect, and work with others, despite differences in race, culture, age, gender, sexual orientation, political or religious beliefs, etc. This ability to understand and adapt to others improves how people interact within the company and leads to a more inclusive and successful company. These soft critical skills could be the deciding factor in your success.

The future of work will be about skills. Interestingly, it will be about hard skills and a broader and more holistic mindset. Employers look for more than just task-oriented or technical skills. It is our job and opportunity to incorporate these soft skills and technical skills into the curriculum and classrooms, to lead students toward successful careers and increase diversity amongst our workforce.

What technical skills for an accounting internship stand out to employers?

Jodi Olson

Assistant Accounting Professor, Winona State University

Accountants serve many industries and sectors, so a broad range of technical skills is required to be ready to meet the needs of employers. Graduates must be technically competent in areas such as accounting information systems, tax preparation, auditing, managerial/cost accounting, financial reporting, and financial statement analysis. Also, graduates are expected to have general business acumen in areas such as management information systems, business law, operations, strategic management, and ethics. All these skills are important for graduates, but the pandemic has made the accounting systems and management information systems skills operative in allowing graduates to deliver their other areas of technical expertise.

Do you want to know more?

List of accounting internship skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for an accounting internship resume and required skills for an accounting internship to have include:

Reconciliations
Data Entry
Payroll
First Hand
Work Ethic
Account Reconciliations
Internal Audit
General Ledger Accounts
Individual Tax Returns
QuickBooks
CPA
GAAP
Fixed Assets
Financial Data
Income Statement
Purchase Orders

Financial Analysis
Expense Reports
Administrative Tasks
Bank Statement Reconciliation
Internal Controls
SOX
Credit Card Statements
Pivot Tables
ERP
Sales Tax
Balance Sheet Accounts
Accounts Payables
Account Analysis
Bank Accounts
Accounts Receivables
Vendor Invoices

Financial Transactions
External Auditors
Customer Accounts
Payable Invoices
Taxation
Bank Deposits
Trial Balance
Reconcile General Ledger
Business Transactions
Tax Software
Physical Inventory
PeopleSoft
Peachtree
IRS
Journal Entries
Tax Forms

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Accounting Internship skills FAQs

Is accounting math?

Have more questions? See all answers to common office and administrative questions.

Search for accounting internship jobs

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse office and administrative jobs