One of the main challenges in purchase accounting is properly detailing the complex acquisitions and integrations of assets in a way that stands out to potential employers. Our comprehensive guide is tailored to help you navigate this obstacle by offering clear examples and strategies to effectively showcase your skills and experiences in your resume.
- Aligning the top one-third of your purchase accounting resume with the role you're applying for.
- Curating your specific purchase accounting experience to get the attention of recruiters.
- How to list your relevant education to impress hiring managers recruiting for the purchase accounting role.
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Purchase accounting resume format made simple
You don't need to go over the top when it comes to creativity in your purchase accounting resume format .
What recruiters care about more is the legibility of your purchase accounting resume, alongside the relevancy of your application to the role.
That's why we're presenting you with four simple steps that could help your professional presentation check all the right boxes:
- The reverse-chronological resume format is the one for you, if you happen to have plenty of relevant (and recent) professional experience you'd like to showcase. This format follows a pretty succinct logic and puts the focus on your experience.
- Keep your header simple with your contact details; a headline that details the role you're applying for or your current job; and a link to your portfolio.
- Ensure your resume reaches an up-to-two-page limit, only if you happen to be applying for a more senior role or you have over a decade of relevant experience.
- Save your purchase accounting resume as a PDF to retain its structure and presentation.
Consider the local standards – Canadian resumes, for example, may have a different format.
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PRO TIP
Mention specific courses or projects that are pertinent to the job you're applying for.
Recruiters' preferred purchase accounting resume sections:
- A header with relevant contact information and headline, listing your current job title
- A resume summary or objective pinpointing what is most impressive about your expertise (that aligns with the role)
- An experience section highlighting the specifics of your responsibilities and achievements
- A skills sidebar to intertwine job advert keywords with your unique talents
- An education and certifications sections to serve as further accreditation to your professional experience
What recruiters want to see on your resume:
- Demonstrated experience with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and expertise in purchase accounting procedures.
- Proven ability to manage and oversee integration of acquired company financials and adjustments post-acquisition.
- Strong analytical and financial modeling skills, including experience with valuation and impairment testing.
- Familiarity with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and financial consolidation software, such as SAP or Oracle.
- Experience with due diligence processes, including reviewing and verifying the accuracy of financial statements and identifying potential liabilities.
Advice for your purchase accounting resume experience section - setting your application apart from other candidates
Your resume experience section needs to balance your tangible workplace achievements with job requirements.
The easiest way to sustain this balance between meeting candidate expectations, while standing out, is to:
- Select really impressive career highlights to detail under each experience and support those with your skills;
- Assess the job advert to define both the basic requirements (which you could answer with more junior roles) and the more advanced requirements - which could play a more prominent role through your experience section;
- Create a separate experience section, if you decide on listing irrelevant experience items. Always curate those via the people or technical skills you've attained that match the current job you're applying for;
- Don't list experience items from a decade ago - as they may no longer be relevant to the industry. That is, unless you're applying for a more senior role: where experience would go to demonstrate your character and ambitions;
- Define how your role has helped make the team, department, or company better. Support this with your skill set and the initial challenge you were able to solve.
Take a look at how real-life purchase accounting professionals have presented their resume experience section - always aiming to demonstrate their success.
- Led a team of accountants to manage post-acquisition financial integrations for mid-sized tech companies, increasing financial reporting efficiency by 30%.
- Negotiated terms with vendors and suppliers, ensuring favorable contracts that cut company expenses by 15% over a two-year period.
- Implemented a comprehensive purchase accounting system for tracking assets across multiple acquisitions, ensuring compliance with GAAP standards and enhancing reporting accuracy.
- Streamlined the financial due diligence process for prospective acquisitions, reducing time spent per evaluation by 20%.
- Coordinated closely with M&A teams to ensure smooth assimilation of purchase accounting procedures, facilitating uninterrupted operations during transitions.
- Orchestrated the inventory evaluation protocol post-acquisition, leading to a more accurate assessment of stock valuations by 10%.
- Implemented a new ERP system tailored for acquisition accounting, improving data accuracy and reducing monthly close cycles by 5 days.
- Optimized the process for recording acquired intangible assets, which led to a more precise goodwill amortization schedule and tax savings of $200,000 annually.
- Facilitated cross-functional workshops to educate stakeholders about purchase accounting implications, which improved inter-departmental collaboration and understanding.
- Conducted thorough asset purchase valuations, identifying undervalued assets and advising on strategic buyouts which improved asset turnover ratio by 25%.
- Collaborated with legal teams to ensure compliance with SEC requirements during acquisitions, resulting in zero non-compliance issues across 5 major transactions.
- Developed and maintained a comprehensive purchase price allocation report for executive review, clarifying financial impacts and investment returns.
- Supervised the successful integration of purchase accounting processes post-merger, involving assets worth over $500 million.
- Enhanced the procurement strategy for acquired inventory, improving cost savings by 20% through careful supplier negotiations.
- Designed and rolled out a robust training program for new accountants in purchase accounting procedures, which reduced onboarding time by 30%.
- Played a pivotal role in the financial restructuring of assets after acquisition, enabling a more strategic deployment of the company's $300 million investment.
- Provided expert financial projections and reports that guided the executive team's decision-making on potential acquisitions.
- Led the initiative to automate aspects of the purchase accounting process, shaving off approximately 40 hours of manual work per month.
- Responsible for auditing post-acquisition financials, preventing overstatement of assets by $2 million through meticulous examination of purchase agreements.
- Key contributor to the development of a company-wide guideline booklet on acquisition accounting best practices, improving consistency across departments.
- Managed and successfully reconciled intercompany transactions after acquisitions, thereby maintaining clear and accurate financial records.
- Expertly oversaw the financial integration of a $1 billion acquisition, ensuring seamless transition with no interruption to financial reporting cycles.
- Drove a project to centralize purchase accounting functions, resulting in a 35% reduction in overhead costs and a 45% increase in process speed.
- Pioneered the adoption of predictive analytics in evaluating the performance of acquired assets, enhancing investment strategies for future acquisitions.
Quantifying impact on your resume
- Analyzed financial statements and identified key purchase price allocation adjustments, enhancing reported net asset values by 15%.
- Completed accurate goodwill and intangible asset impairment tests for over 20 acquisitions, ensuring compliance with GAAP standards.
- Streamlined the purchase accounting process, reducing closing cycle time by 25% and increasing team efficiency.
- Reconciled purchase accounting discrepancies which resulted in a $1.2 million correction to the initial purchase price allocation.
- Implemented a new financial reporting system for acquired entities that reduced manual entry errors by 30%.
- Conducted in-depth fair value assessments of acquired assets and liabilities, affecting over $50 million in transactional value.
- Managed cross-functional teams in the integration of accounting systems post-acquisition, involving assets totaling $100 million.
- Developed training material on purchase accounting procedures that was adopted company-wide, leading to a 20% increase in process adherence.
Action verbs for your purchase accounting resume
Purchase accounting resume without experience: a walk-through guide
If you don't happen to have any relevant experience yet, you can substitute this with:
- Short-term gigs and stunts - like month-long internships, that you have done during your university days
- Contract work - be specific about the relevance and outcomes of each role you include
- Resume format that prioritizes your skills - the functional-skill-based format or hybrid format could work
- Research roles - feature those especially prominently if you've participated in a noteworthy project or your role was of utmost importance to the project's success.
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PRO TIP
Showcase any ongoing or recent educational efforts to stay updated in your field.
Featuring your hard skills and soft skills on your purchase accounting resume
The skills section of your purchase accounting resume needs to your various capabilities that align with the job requirements. List hard skills (or technical skills) to showcase to potential employers that you're perfectly apt at dealing with technological innovations and niche software. Meanwhile, your soft skills need to detail how you'd thrive within your new, potential environment with personal skills (e.g. resilience, negotiation, organization, etc.) Your purchase accounting resume skills section needs to include both types of skills to promote how you're both technical and cultural fit. Here's how to create your bespoke purchase accounting skills section to help you stand out:
- Focus on skill requirements that are listed toward the top of the job advert.
- Include niche skills that you've worked hard to obtain.
- Select specific soft skills that match the company (or the department) culture.
- Cover some of the basic job requirements by including important skills for the purchase accounting role - ones you haven't been able to list through the rest of your resume.
Get inspired with our purchase accounting sample skill list to list some of the most prominent hard and soft skills across the field.
Top skills for your purchase accounting resume:
SAP
Oracle Financial Services
Microsoft Excel
QuickBooks
NetSuite
Sage 100
Tableau
Power BI
Apex
Python for data analysis
Attention to detail
Analytical thinking
Communication skills
Problem-solving
Time management
Team collaboration
Adaptability
Organizational skills
Critical thinking
Interpersonal skills
PRO TIP
If you failed to obtain one of the certificates, as listed in the requirements, but decide to include it on your resume, make sure to include a note somewhere that you have the "relevant training, but are planning to re-take the exams". Support this statement with the actual date you're planning to be re-examined. Always be honest on your resume.
Education section and most popular purchase accounting certifications for your resume
Your resume education section is crucial. It can indicate a range of skills and experiences pertinent to the position.
- Mention only post-secondary qualifications, noting the institution and duration.
- If you're still studying, highlight your anticipated graduation date.
- Omit qualifications not pertinent to the role or sector.
- If it provides a chance to emphasize your accomplishments, describe your educational background, especially in a research-intensive setting.
Recruiters value purchase accounting candidates who have invested their personal time into their professional growth. That's why you should include both your relevant education and certification . Not only will this help you stand out amongst candidates, but showcase your dedication to the field. On your purchase accounting resume, ensure you've:
- Curated degrees and certificates that are relevant to the role
- Shown the institution you've obtained them from - for credibility
- Include the start and end dates (or if your education/certification is pending) to potentially fill in your experience gaps
- If applicable, include a couple of job advert keywords (skills or technologies) as part of the certification or degree description
If you decide to list miscellaneous certificates (that are irrelevant to the role), do so closer to the bottom of your resume. In that way, they'd come across as part of your personal interests, instead of experience. The team at Enhancv has created for you a list of the most popular purchase accounting certificates - to help you update your resume quicker:
The top 5 certifications for your purchase accounting resume:
- Certified Public Accountant (CPA) - American Institute of CPAs
- Certified Management Accountant (CMA) - Institute of Management Accountants
- Certified Purchasing Professional (CPP) - American Purchasing Society
- Certified in Supply Management (CSM) - Institute for Supply Management
- Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM) - Institute for Supply Management
PRO TIP
Mention specific courses or projects that are pertinent to the job you're applying for.
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The ideal purchase accounting candidate resume summary or objective
You may have heard that your resume top one-third plays an important part in your application.
It basically needs to show strong alignment with the job advert, your unique skill set, and your expertise.
Both the resume summary and resume objective could be used to ensure you've shown why you're the best candidate for the role.
Use the:
- Resume objective to pinpoint your current successes, that are applicable to the field, and your vision for your career. Remember to state how you see yourself growing within this new career opportunity.
- Resume summary as an instrument to pinpoint what is most applicable and noteworthy form your professional profile. Keep your summary to be no more than five sentences long.
At the end of the day, the resume summary or objective is your golden opportunity to shine a light on your personality as a professional and the unique value of what it's like to work with you.
Get inspired with these purchase accounting resume examples:
Resume summaries for a purchase accounting job
- Seasoned finance professional with over 12 years of experience in purchase accounting, embodying robust skills in financial analysis and GAAP compliance. Recognized for leading the successful acquisition integration of a $50M company, showcasing exceptional problem solving and team leadership abilities.
- Dynamic CPA and purchase accounting specialist with 9 years at Fortune 500 companies, skilled in leveraging advanced Excel and SAP for meticulous financial reporting. Awarded for redesigning the asset acquisition protocol leading to a 30% efficiency increase in post-merger reconciliations.
- Enthusiastic financial analyst eager to transfer demonstrated expertise in equity research and Python proficiency into the specialization of purchase accounting. Brings a strong analytical mindset and a proven track record of generating actionable insights from complex data sets in a fast-paced tech firm.
- Meticulous auditor with a strong foundation in regulatory compliance seeking to pivot into purchase accounting. With over 8 years at a top-tier auditing firm, armed with data analytics mastery and a penchant for precision, ready to apply a detail-oriented approach to managing acquisitions and mergers financials.
- With a deep-rooted passion for finance and a recent magna cum laude graduation in Accounting, I aim to contribute a fresh perspective and innate mathematical prowess to excel in purchase accounting tasks while eagerly assimilating the intricacies of financial consolidations and asset valuation.
- As an ambitious self-starter graduating with honors in finance, my objective is to establish a foothold in the purchase accounting field by leveraging my internship experience with high-volume transactional data and my enthusiasm for comprehensive fiscal management and strategic acquisition analysis.
Extra sections to include in your purchase accounting resume
What should you do if you happen to have some space left on your resume, and want to highlight other aspects of your profile that you deem are relevant to the role? Add to your purchase accounting resume some of these personal and professional sections:
- Passions/Interests - to detail how you spend both your personal and professional time, invested in various hobbies;
- Awards - to present those niche accolades that make your experience unique;
- Publications - an excellent choice for professionals, who have just graduated from university or are used to a more academic setting;
- Volunteering - your footprint within your local (or national/international) community.
Key takeaways
We trust that this Enhancv guide has been informative and useful. To summarize the essential points:
- Opt for a simple and readable format, focusing more on your purchase accounting achievements rather than just duties;
- Emphasize your accomplishments in the purchase accounting experience section over mere responsibilities;
- If lacking relevant experience, utilize various resume sections like education and volunteering to demonstrate your suitable skill set;
- Never overlook the significance of pertinent higher education, training, and certifications;
- Incorporate diverse sections in your resume to highlight not just your skills expertise but also your personality.
