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Accounting manager skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Dr. Richard Hale,

Thomas King

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical accounting manager skills. We ranked the top skills for accounting managers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 10.0% of accounting manager resumes contained reconciliations as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills an accounting manager needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 accounting manager skills for your resume and career

1. Reconciliations

Here's how accounting managers use reconciliations:

Directed financial reporting activities, compiled monthly financial packet, prepared journal entries, general ledger account and bank reconciliations.
Performed assorted bank, capital project and payroll reconciliations that focused on tying college-specific database totals to state database ones.

2. CPA

Here's how accounting managers use cpa:

Reconciled and reviewed Financial Statements with CPA for year-end Corporate Tax Return preparation for subsidiary company.
Assisted with the gathering of financial documents necessary for yearly audits conducted by CPA firms and the National Credit Union Administration.

3. GAAP

Here's how accounting managers use gaap:

Generated financial statements for multiple-entity, international film company, including consolidations for international parent from U.S. GAAP TO IFRS format.
Completed monthly closing procedures including general ledger activity analysis and supporting schedules/calculations for multiple property portfolios in accordance with GAAP.

4. Customer Service

Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.

Here's how accounting managers use customer service:

Supervised daily activities and responsibilities of Accounts Receivable Clerk, General Ledger Accountant, Collections/Customer Service Representative and Accounts Payable/HR Clerk.
Improved customer service by routine training and employed additional telephone operators to service incoming calls during peak hours of operation.

5. Payroll Processing

Here's how accounting managers use payroll processing:

Consolidated accounting functions for new acquisitions including assumption of General Ledger responsibility, AP and Payroll processing and converted financial systems.
Fulfilled additional HR management responsibilities including training personnel, payroll processing, and providing oversight for benefits administration and payroll processing.

6. Internal Controls

Here's how accounting managers use internal controls:

Established and maintained effective internal controls to ensure the financial reporting integrity and responsible for the safe-guarding of company assets.
Implemented and documented effective internal controls and processes to ensure system integrity and compliance with accounting system and Company requirements.

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7. External Auditors

Here's how accounting managers use external auditors:

Assisted in the preparation of the annual financial statements including drafting financial statement disclosures and providing information to the external auditors.
Prepared internal and external reports for management, internal and external auditors and federal, state and other regulatory agencies.

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 managers use general ledger accounts:

Prepared monthly account analysis and reconciliation of assigned general ledger accounts to ensure proper balance sand transactions are recorded and reported.
Prepared, reviewed and reconciled daily postings, general ledger accounts and bank statements to ensure accurate financial information is available.

9. Close Process

A close process is the necessary closing steps required to prepare the accounts for recording the transactions of the next period. Its purpose is to reset or close the temporary account balances on the general ledger, and the accounting system for a company's financial data including income statement and accounts payable.

Here's how accounting managers use close process:

Shortened month end close process by improving communication throughout division and developing stronger controls on revenue and cost recognition.
Full general ledger responsibility, including month-end close process, journal entry review and preparation, account reconciliations.

10. Account Reconciliations

Here's how accounting managers use account reconciliations:

Address tight deadlines and a multitude of accounting activities including general ledger preparation, account reconciliations, financial reporting and analysis.
Lead preparation of monthly Financial Statements, bank reconciliations, account reconciliations, and account analysis for corporate and subsidiary entities.

11. Fixed Assets

Here's how accounting managers use fixed assets:

Established a capitalization policy for fixed assets with industry standard benchmarks and detailed JE descriptions for determining the gain/loss on disposal.
Instituted cycle count procedures for fixed assets resulting in improved asset management and lower capital asset write-offs.

12. ERP

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is computer software used by major corporations and organizations for conducting their management and accounting tasks efficiently. ERP systems bind different business processes with each other allowing smoother flow of data between them resulting in swift project assessment and completion.

Here's how accounting managers use erp:

Identified root causes to perpetual inventory negatives to increase accuracy of ERP system inventory tracking.
Participated in the implementation of a new consolidation ERP system for internal and external reporting.

13. Financial Data

Here's how accounting managers use financial data:

Assist operations, facilities and marketing departments with financial and non-financial data to efficiently and effectively manage their respective departments.
Examine historical and projected financial data to provide management with valuable data upon which to make relevant financial decisions.

14. SOX

Here's how accounting managers use sox:

Established, modified, documented and coordinated implementation of accounting and accounting control procedures for SOX compliance and Corporate Financial Policy.
Identified and improved key controls and documented processes for SOX that assured attaining compliance validated through internal/external audit testing.

15. Balance Sheet Accounts

Here's how accounting managers use balance sheet accounts:

Prepare reconciliations for various Balance Sheet Accounts with Income Statement Trend Analysis with variance analysis reporting to upper management.
Manage timely and accurate preparation of monthly account reconciliation and analysis of all balance sheet accounts.

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What skills help Accounting Managers find jobs?

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

What skills stand out on accounting manager resumes?

Dr. Richard Hale

Associate Professor of Accounting, Berea College

When we meet with practitioners, the most commonly requested skills are:
-The ability to think critically about situations
-Good communications skills in writing
-The ability to speak in public and present ideas
-Working well with others
-The ability to work independently

Notice that these skills are not dependent upon any particular technology or discipline.
An advantage we have at Berea College, a liberal arts college, is that we incorporate these foundational skills into all we do.
Indeed, we also have our students master working with spreadsheets, develop skills in data analytics, and study all aspects of the business from Management, Economics, Finance, and Marketing.
As accounting is the business language, our students have more excellent business knowledge than other studies.

A key distinction for Berea College students is that all students must work for the college while they attend.
These jobs may vary from raising livestock to working in Accounts Payable. But all Berea graduates have years of practical work experience.
A core component of a Berea College education is to value the labor experience. We believe they enter the post-collegiate workforce with a significant advantage over their peers.

What soft skills should all accounting managers possess?

Thomas King

Department Chair, Director, Master of Accountancy Program, Professor, Accountancy, Case Western Reserve University

The ability to develop working relationships with a wide range of colleagues who have diverse skills.

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

Thomas King

Department Chair, Director, Master of Accountancy Program, Professor, Accountancy, Case Western Reserve University

The ability to extract information from unfamiliar data sets and then explain conclusions reached in a clear, persuasive manner.

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

Dr. John McGowan

Professor of Accounting, Saint Louis University

A gap year shouldn't just be a break from everything where a student sits around doing nothing. That won't set them up for future success. Instead there should be a purpose.

After high school, students sometimes get involved with service programs like Job Corps or Teach for America.

In light of the tough job market now, one idea is to try and reach out, connect, and collaborate with professionals in great companies. This can be done with LinkedIn. I like the advice given by Jim Collins in his book, Good to Great, find a company that has achieved greatness and figure out a way to get onto that ship.

What type of skills will young accounting managers need?

Delvin Grant

Associate Professor, DePaul University

The ability to problem solve, which requires an understanding of the problem and a structured approach towards the solution. The ability to apply concepts learned in one discipline to another. Quite often, students are unable to see how a concept translates from one domain to another, and this stifles innovation.

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

Dr. JP Krahel Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Accounting, Accounting Department Chair, Loyola University Maryland

First, Excel. It's the most basic, essential tool for the accounting professional. If you can come in on Day 1 knowing essential keyboard shortcuts, proper formula and reference use, and how to format a spreadsheet properly, you'll have an immediate advantage over your peers.

Second, believe it or not, is writing. People think that accounting is all about numbers, but really, it's less about the math (which Excel does for you) and more about being able to explain the deeper meaning behind the results. Can you explain complex depreciation methods to an audit client? Give bad news to a tax client in an understandable way? These are big deals.

Third is data analytics. Given the immense volume of data now available to firms, someone who can extract, clean, and present that data using modern software tools will have an edge. It's really another form of communication, and one that early-career accounting professionals would do well to familiarize themselves with before entering the workforce.

Do you want to know more?

List of accounting manager skills to add to your resume

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

Reconciliations
CPA
GAAP
Customer Service
Payroll Processing
Internal Controls
External Auditors
General Ledger Accounts
Close Process
Account Reconciliations
Fixed Assets
ERP
Financial Data
SOX
Balance Sheet Accounts
Process Improvement
Accruals

Strong Analytical
Cash Management
Financial Analysis
Tax Returns
Variance Analysis
Bank Reconciliations
Revenue Recognition
Hyperion
Cash Flow
Sales Tax
QuickBooks
Human Resources
Taxation
Enterprise Resource Planning
Financial Statements
Balance Sheet Reconciliations
Credit Card

Sarbanes-Oxley
Treasury
Direct Reports
Accounts Payables
Financial Results
Bank Accounts
Account Analysis
Tax Filings
Management Reports
Financial Transactions
Financial Statement Preparation
ACH
Bank Statements
ADP
Budget Preparation
Inventory Control

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.

Updated January 8, 2025

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