Here are the keywords and skills that appear most frequently on recent Payroll Accountant job postings. In other words, these are the most sought after skills by recruiters and hiring managers. So try to include them on your resume where possible.
Remember that every job is different. Instead of including all these keywords on your resume, identify the keywords most relevant to the job you're applying to and include those. Use the free Targeted Resume tool to help with this.
Where on my resume do I add these buzzwords?
Add keywords directly into your resume's work experiences, education or projects. Alternatively, you can also include a Skills section where you can list your technical skills in order of your proficiency.
Only include these technical skills or keywords into your resume if you actually have experience with them.
Paste your resume below and our AI will identify which keywords are missing from your resume from the list above (and what you need to include). Including the right keywords will help you get past Applicant Tracking Systems (i.e. resume screeners) which may scan your resume for keywords to see if you're a match for the job.
Go through the Payroll Accountant posting you're applying to, and identify hard skills the company is looking for. For example, skills like Payroll Administration, Accounting and Personal Administration are possible skills. These are skills you should try to include on your resume.
The following word cloud highlights the most popular keywords that appear on Payroll Accountant job descriptions. The bigger the word, the more frequently it shows up on employer's job postings. If you have experience with these keywords, include them on your resume.
Here are examples of proven resumes in related jobs and industries, approved by experienced hiring managers. Use them as inspiration when you're writing your own resume. You can even download and edit the resume template in Google Docs.
Senior accountants don’t always supervise other employees, but they are typically experienced professionals who have worked in accounting for a number of years. As a senior accountant, you’ll do some typical accounting tasks, but you’ll also do higher-level analyses of your company’s financial standing. Your resume should show your aptitude for data analysis and your ability to make complex business decisions that lead to positive outcomes.
In your years of accounting, you’ve probably gained experience with software such as QuickBook, Oracle, RSM Auditor Assistant, and others. You’re likely also familiar with concepts such as generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), auditing, and financial analysis. Use a separate skills section to list technical and other hard skills you’ve acquired over the course of your career.
Strong action verbs are an effective way to introduce achievements from your former jobs. Verbs like “conducted”, “automated”, and “implemented” all demonstrate proactivity, and they paint a clear picture of the role you played in each accomplishment.
Senior payroll specialists supervise their colleagues’ work by ensuring payroll operations are accurate and following legal compliance. They also authorize payments and make the necessary corrections to ensure payroll processes follow corporate standards. It is important to demonstrate your trustworthiness and confidentiality on your resume since this is a high-level position, and you handle sensitive information.
As a senior payroll specialist, you should have a deep understanding of payroll compliance. It means that you should adhere to all government and local regulations regarding employees’ payment issuing. This is crucial because not following these laws could negatively affect any business.
There are numerous accounting and finance credentials that can help you certify your expertise and competencies. They are issued by industry-leading organizations so they’ll make you seem more authoritative and reliable. Some of the most relevant certifications are the Certified Payroll Professional (CPP), the Fundamental Payroll Certification (FPC), and the Certified Billing and Coding Specialist (CBCS).
This resume template is suitable for experienced hires or mid-level hires. The education contains two examples of an education experiences, but only include one (your most recent one) if you're a senior level employee.
It strikes the right balance between white space and content, and doesn't waste space on unnecessary images and icons. Remember, recruiters aren't looking at how creative you are when it comes to your template. Your content is core and should be the focus.
This job seeker uses resume bullet points that uses strong action verbs, and most importantly, contain numbers that demonstrate the significance of their accomplishments.
This template is clean, readable by resume screeners, and is effective at calling out key accomplishments and projects from specific work experiences. This would be useful if you have been at a company for a while, or been in a consulting-type of role, and want to point hiring managers to your most impressive accomplishments.
Action verbs are important on your resume are vital. They evoke strong imagery to your reader, and this resume does an excellent job by using words such as “spearheaded,” “managed,” and “drove.” These words will help you to put your achievements in perspective, in conjunction with measurable results. Use action verbs relating to the skills you want to highlight.
Many of your accomplishments will involve your responsibilities in your employer's high-level projects. Recruiters want to see what you’ve completed in previous roles -- such as the Operations Improvement Project and new iPhone app launch highlighted in this resume. The numbers make your experience real, rather than a vague “oversaw several teams for a project.” What did you do specifically? Be specific.
This two column resume template has been designed and created in Google Docs, and puts an emphasis on a skills section. You can download it in Word, or edit it directly in Google Docs.
The two-column in this Google Docs resume template prioritizes the work experience sections, while maximizing the content into the resume. Not all two column templates are ATS-compatible, but this one is when it is saved as PDF and passed through a resume screener.
Skills sections are a great way to include specific keywords and skills that you have, that haven't been included in other parts of your resume. This helps you get past resume screeners that scan your resume for specific keywords.
If you're a job seeker with a few years of experience under your belt, use a template like this one. It's simple, effective at highlighting our work experience, and minimizes the emphasis on the education section (the dates are omitted which is good to prevent ageism, especially if you graduated more than 10 years ago).
Minimal templates like this one are exactly what mid-to-senior level recruiters want to see - it shows professionalism, focuses on accomplishments, and makes full use of each page.
The first rule about including a resume summary is that it does not repeat accomplishments mentioned elsewhere on the resume. This resume stresses new software engineering and leadership skills right at the top of the resume, and includes an award too. If you include a summary, try to include a mix of both technical accomplishments (e.g. projects you developed or led), as well as career-related accomplishments (e.g. being promoted).
On top Payroll Accountant resumes, skills like Payroll Administration, Payroll, Human Resources (HR), Personal Administration, Payroll Processing, Discretion, Personnel Management and Accounting appear most often.
Depending on the exact role you're applying to, skills like Sage Products, Journal Entries, Account Reconciliation, Payroll Management and Accruals can also be effective keywords to include on your resume.
While the keywords above are a good indication of what skills you need on your resume, you should try to find additional keywords that are specific to the job. To do this, use the free Targeted Resume tool. It analyzes the job you are applying to and finds the most important keywords you need on your resume.
It is personalized to your resume, and is the best way to ensure your resume will pass the automated resume filters.
