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Senior staff accountant skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Dr. Richard Hale,

Thomas King

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical senior staff accountant skills. We ranked the top skills for senior staff accountants based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 13.5% of senior staff accountant resumes contained reconciliations as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a senior staff accountant needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 senior staff accountant skills for your resume and career

1. Reconciliations

Here's how senior staff accountants use reconciliations:

Managed month end close process including journal entries, departmental analysis and preparation of consolidated financial statements and account reconciliations.
Process Improvement: Reviewed existing reconciliations and provided improved methodologies for processing of journals to increase accuracy and timeliness.

2. Account Reconciliations

Here's how senior staff accountants use account reconciliations:

Take on special projects as needed including automation of vendor payments, automation of account reconciliations, and financial reporting improvements.
Performed general ledger accounting functions including preparing monthly journal entries, account reconciliations, and calculation of necessary accruals.

3. CPA

Here's how senior staff accountants use cpa:

Aided managers in performing AP duties, generated financial reports for CPA, and reconciled bank accounts for corporate office.
Cultivated productive, trustful relationship with external CPA firm, critical to producing successful audits and year-end reporting.

4. GAAP

Here's how senior staff accountants use gaap:

Analyzed financial statement accounts and made necessary adjustments for GAAP and related Statutory reporting requirements.
Prepared balance sheet reconciliations and general ledger analysis in accordance with GAAP.

5. 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 senior staff accountants use general ledger accounts:

Prepared reconciliation and year-end work papers pertaining to balance sheet and income statement categories and related general ledger accounts.
Review detailed analyses of fixed asset general ledger accounts, and forecast depreciation expenditure on a monthly basis.

6. Balance Sheet Accounts

Here's how senior staff accountants use balance sheet accounts:

Reconcile all balance sheet accounts monthly including preparing and posting depreciation and prepaid/amortization entries along with correcting/adjusting entries and accruals.
Perform reconciliations of all balance sheet accounts for various business units, including research and resulting disposition/correction of reconciling items.

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7. Fixed Assets

Here's how senior staff accountants use fixed assets:

Entered approved fixed assets into Enterprise 1 program, reconciled and produced monthly depreciation analysis and journals.
Updated/maintained the Fixed Assets Sub-Ledger Mainframe system and prepared related reporting for internal & external purposes.

8. External Auditors

Here's how senior staff accountants use external auditors:

Applied critical accounting problem solving skills as a consultant to consolidated acquired companies' financial records for external auditors.
Responded timely to inquiries from management and promptly researched and resolved issues raised by Superiors or external auditors.

9. Accruals

Here's how senior staff accountants use accruals:

Worked as a primary accounting contact for monthly expenses and purchase accruals; maintained relationships with inter-departmental purchasers.
Prepared accurate financial statements, which included reconciliation of accounts, calculating accruals and researching discrepancies.

10. Internal Controls

Here's how senior staff accountants use internal controls:

Partnered with other departments to ensure all internal controls are adhered to and financial statements are fairly and accurately presented.
Improved procedures to ensure proper authorization of commission bonuses and customer refund policies which resulted in stronger internal controls.

11. Payroll Processing

Here's how senior staff accountants use payroll processing:

Introduced comprehensive Chart of Accounts and conceptualized, developed, and rolled out computerized payroll processing.
Documented all procedures related to payroll processing activities and time reporting process.

12. 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 senior staff accountants use close process:

Assisted with month-end close process including asset management and development fees, bank reconciliations, liability reconciliations and reallocation of expenses.
Performed review procedures of internal control structures and financial statement close processes and presented recommendations to management which generated extra billings.

13. Strong Analytical

Here's how senior staff accountants use strong analytical:

Prepared financial statements Key Achievement: Consistently met deadlines while demonstrating strong analytical and problem-solving skills to achieve corporate objectives.
Recognized as a result-oriented and solution-focused employee ready to take initiatives while possessing strong analytical and organizational skills.

14. Financial Data

Here's how senior staff accountants use financial data:

Collaborated with managers in preparing budgets, financial reports and analyzing financial data, enabling business leaders to grow divisions profitably.
Conducted financial data analysis, assisted executive team in annual budgeting to ensure smooth business operation and growing profitability.

15. SOX

Here's how senior staff accountants use sox:

Maintained the MarrStar database to ensure accuracy and timely availability of information for properties to provide transparency for SOX.
Assisted accounting manager with compiling SOX documentation and verification of completeness of compliance efforts.

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What skills help Senior Staff Accountants find jobs?

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

What skills stand out on senior staff accountant 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 senior staff accountants 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 senior staff accountants?

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 senior staff accountant skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Stephen Moehrle Ph.D.

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

In the spirit of continuing education I would recommend the following: First and foremost, successfully complete the cpa exam. This is a huge difference-maker in the marketplace. If the young professional has already accomplished that, I would consider developing expertise consistent with their long-term career goals. Potential areas of expertise include data analytics, information systems controls and security, taxation, SEC reporting, or management accounting. There are certificate programs in each of these skills at universities across the country. The internet is also replete with free or relatively inexpensive materials for self-starters.

What type of skills will young senior staff accountants need?

Elizabeth Gordon

Chair and Professor, Temple University

Preparing accounting students for their future means focusing their education on developing their critical thinking, decision making, and judgment, and truly thinking like an accountant requires critical thinking skills to be able to make judgments, to create and to use the information to solve problems and make good decisions. After all, accounting is not about rote memorization or data processing - tasks that do not require a university education. A university accounting education should foster curious and adaptive problem solvers with strong analytical skills and technical knowledge of accounting.

What technical skills for a senior staff accountant 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 senior staff accountant skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a senior staff accountant resume and required skills for a senior staff accountant to have include:

Reconciliations
Account Reconciliations
CPA
GAAP
General Ledger Accounts
Balance Sheet Accounts
Fixed Assets
External Auditors
Accruals
Internal Controls
Payroll Processing
Close Process
Strong Analytical
Financial Data
SOX
Excellent Organizational
Income Statement

ERP
Variance Analysis
QuickBooks
Financial Analysis
Account Analysis
Balance Sheet Reconciliations
Sage
Credit Card
Real Estate
Cash Flow
Bank Accounts
Process Improvement
Cash Management
Bank Statements
Revenue Recognition
Audit Schedules
HR

Ledgers
Sarbanes-Oxley
Financial Statement Preparation
Sales Tax Returns
Management Reports
Intercompany Accounts
Accounts Payables
Trial Balance
General Ledger Entries
ACH
Financial Reports
Taxation
General Ledger
Reconcile General Ledger
Cash Flow Analysis
Expense Reports

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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