Senior cost accountant resume examples from 2026
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How to write a senior cost accountant resume
Craft a resume summary statement
A well-written resume summary is basically an elevator pitch. You are summing up your skills and experience in a few sentences to wow recruiters, hiring managers, and decision makers into giving you an interview. Here are some tips to putting your best foot first with your resume summary:
Step 1: Mention your current job title or the role you're pursuing.
Step 2: Include your years of experience in senior cost accountant-related roles. Consider adding relevant company and industry experience as relevant to the job listing.
Step 3: Highlight your greatest accomplishments. Here is your chance to make sure your biggest wins aren't buried in your resume.
Step 4: Again, keep it short. Your goal is to summarize your experience and highlight your accomplishments, not write a paragraph.
These four steps should give you a strong elevator pitch and land you some senior cost accountant interviews.Please upload your resume so Zippia’s job hunt AI can draft a summary statement for you.
List the right project manager skills
Your Skills section is a place to list all relevant skills and abilities. Here is how to make the most of your skills section and make sure you have the right keywords:
- Start with the job listing. Frequently, the keywords looked for by recruiters will be listed. Be careful to include all skills in the job listing you have experience with.
- Consider all the software and tools you use on a daily basis. When in doubt, list them!
- Make sure you use accurate and up to date terms for all the skills listed.
Here are example skills to include in your “Area of Expertise” on a senior cost accountant resume:
- Reconciliations
- Variance Analysis
- GAAP
- Account Reconciliations
- SR
- SOX
- Financial Analysis
- Margin Analysis
- Internal Controls
- Financial Reports
- PPV
- Inventory Valuation
- Calculation
- Gross Margin
- Accruals
- Cost Analysis
- External Auditors
- Manufacturing Industry
- Cycle Counts
- Absorption
- Inventory Control
- Cost Accounting Standards
- Fixed Assets
- Obsolete Inventory
- Close Process
- General Ledger Accounts
- Balance Sheet Accounts
- Hyperion
- Inventory Analysis
- BOM
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How to structure your work experience
Next you should include your work experience. Structure your work experience section by listing your most recent experience first, followed by earlier roles in reverse chronological order.
Start with your job title, company name, city, and state on the left. Align dates in month and year format on the right-hand side.
Include only recent, relevant jobs. Avoid including work experience over 20 years to avoid ageism.
Beneath each job, you should have bullet points to emphasize why you're the perfect fit for the senior cost accountant.
How to write senior cost accountant experience bullet points
Your resume is your chance to show your biggest accomplishments. Don't just list your job responsibilities, instead take the opportunity to show why you're really good at what you do. Here is how you do that:
- Start with strong action verbs like managed, spearheaded, created, etc. Your goal is to show what you did and verbs will help demonstrate your contributions.
- Use numbers to quantify your achievements. Did you save time with a new report? Increase revenue? How large was the team you managed?
- Keep it concise. You're highlighting your achievements. Consider if all details you are sharing are relevant, or can be written more efficiently.
Here are great bullet points from senior cost accountant resumes:
Work history example #1
Payroll Processor
Volt Information Sciences
- Composed and typed memos/correspondence regarding changes in payroll or benefits.
- Updated and maintained payroll accounts for military service members utilizing military payroll systems.
- Searched and sent data for registration to ADP of new jurisdictions to be setup as per payroll reports generated from PeopleSoft.
- Reviewed and updated loan repayment calculations through payroll monthly.
- Researched and resolved payroll discrepancies by collecting and analyzing data.
Work history example #2
Finance Technician
University of Illinois at Chicago
- Mentored students and temporary staff to familiarize them with departmental procedures.
- Created Student Aid Disbursement Procedures Manual.
- Advised faculty, staff and administrators regarding applicable policy and procedures and recommend courses of action.
- Produced computerized procedures for balancing university financial funds, impress funds, and payroll accounts.
- Provided Human Resources support for all ESTES-related personnel in the areas of recruitment, interviewing and payroll.
Work history example #3
Chief Accountant
Robert Half International
- Assisted busy CPA firm during tax season with compilation of individual and corporate tax returns.
- Developed and updated accounting procedures to capture cost data for a wireless service provider.
- Tracked capital projects, performed actual vs. budget analysis with project manager/controller and evaluated their capitalization per US GAAP.
- Staffed various temporary accounting positions including auditing for a small CPA Firm
- Provided useful analysis of income statement and balance sheet variances to senior management as requested.
Work history example #4
Staff Auditor
Johnson & Johnson
- Performed detailed evaluation of contracts and disbursement transactions for potential FCPA violations.
- Helped affiliates with their annual SOX certification.
- Developed and maintained comprehensive SOD solution for JDE ERP using ACL.
- Worked in Mercury Quality center for running tests and as a depository for Sarbanes-Oxley documentation.
- Completed electronic evidence and population completeness work for external auditor while being very proficient with Oracle business modules.
Zippia’s AI can customize your resume for you.
Add an education section to your resume
Here is the best way to format your education section:
- Display your highest degree first.
- If you graduated over 5 years ago, put this section at the bottom of your resume. If you lack relevant work experience, the education section should go to the top.
- If you have a bachelor's or master's degree, do not list your high school education.
- If your graduation year is more than 15-20 years ago, it's better not to include dates in this section.
Here are some examples of good education entries for resumes:
Bachelor's Degree in accounting
DePaul University, Chicago, IL
2002 - 2005
Bachelor's Degree in business
Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ
2001 - 2004
Highlight your senior cost accountant certifications on your resume
Certifications can be a crucial part of your resume. Many jobs have required certifications.
To list, use the full name of the certification and the organization that issued it, along with the date of achievement.
If you have any of these certifications, be sure to include them on your senior cost accountant resume:
- Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
- Certified Management Accountant (CMA)
- Certified Resume Specialist: Accounting and Finance (CRS+AF)