How To Become An Accounting Supervisor: What It Is and Career Path

What is an accounting supervisor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Stephen Moehrle Ph.D.

An accounting supervisor oversees and coordinates the daily running of the accounts department. Your responsibilities include ensuring all accounting operations run smoothly, recruiting and training accounting staff, reviewing the work of junior staff, reconciling general ledger accounts, and assisting in preparing payroll accounts.

You will also be required to analyze financial statements ensuring accuracy and quality. Some of your other responsibilities include ensuring all operations of the organization remain within the stipulated budgets and preparing taxes, and coordinating the payment of taxes promptly. You will also be required to prepare regular updates of the company's finances to the management.

You must have a sound knowledge of accounting principles and practices. Other important skills are proficiency in Microsoft Excel and accounting software, leadership and management skills, and attention to detail. You will need a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, or business administration. Accounting supervisors commonly earn $68,032 annually, which is approximately $32.71 per hour.

What general advice would you give to an accounting supervisor?

Stephen Moehrle Ph.D.

Professor and Chairman of Accounting, University of Missouri - St. Louis

It was a great time to be entering the accounting industry, before the pandemic. Our students were serving in internships in huge numbers and our graduates were enjoying 100% placement, usually with multiple offers. The entry-level professionals were entering a profession marked by emerging and evolving technologies that made even the entry-level duties especially interesting. Further, our tech-comfortable young professionals were experiencing quick advancement because of their ability to employ the new technologies.

Most of the above remains true so the only open question is job availability. It would be unrealistic to say things are great. However, it seems that job prospects for accounting majors will be better than for those of virtually every other entry-level profession during difficult times. I have been speaking with firm leaders across the spectrum of firms and most do intend to be on campus in the fall recruiting season. Of course, they have a lot of time to learn more about the economy over the next few months, but we are cautiously optimistic. Again, I am confident that whatever the state of job availability for young CPAs-to-be, prospects will be better for accounting graduates than virtually any other profession.

They will be entering the profession at a fascinating moment in time. Of course, the technological advances assure this regardless of economic conditions. However, there are business disruption-related issues that will provide rich opportunities for making a difference. For example, audit staff will be working with clients to see them through these troubling times. Lamentably, I fear that these young professionals will learn more about the going concern determination than they desire to know. Tax staff will help clients to optimally use the tax loss carrybacks and carryforwards that are arising by the day. Entry level professionals in corporate accounting will get a day-to-day front row seat in business management through crisis. While lamentable times, these are times when young professionals can make a difference that saves jobs.

ScoreAccounting SupervisorUS Average

Salary

5.4

Avg. Salary $68,923

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.4

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.46%

Asian 12.19%

Black or African American 8.59%

Hispanic or Latino 10.93%

Unknown 3.96%

White 63.87%

Gender

female 60.29%

male 39.71%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

5.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.7

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an accounting supervisor

Explore accounting supervisor education requirements

Most common accounting supervisor degrees

Bachelor's

73.3 %

Associate

11.8 %

Master's

11.0 %

Start to develop specific accounting supervisor skills

Skills	Percentages
Reconciliations	11.47%
GAAP	5.90%
Account Reconciliations	5.83%
CPA	5.81%
Customer Service	5.50%

Complete relevant accounting supervisor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New accounting supervisors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an accounting supervisor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real accounting supervisor resumes.

Gain additional accounting supervisor certifications

Accounting supervisor certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific accounting supervisor certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for accounting supervisors include Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Management Accountant (CMA).

More About Certifications

Research accounting supervisor duties and responsibilities

Initiate ongoing departmental projects to automate daily tasks which include the calculations for income distributions and the daily income account reconciliation.
Audit ledgers to ensure they contain correct information, such as billing addresses and invoice numbers.
Review the monthly account reconciliations for all GL accounts including inter-company and validate accuracy and substance of schedules supporting the reconciliations.
Process all student account updates and maintain student ledgers.

Prepare your accounting supervisor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your accounting supervisor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an accounting supervisor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable accounting supervisor resume templates

Build a professional accounting supervisor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your accounting supervisor resume.