How to create an effective accountant cover letter
Accountants hold many essential responsibilities within all businesses, both large and small. From basic bookkeeping to helping to prepare taxes and payroll, accountants ensure a company’s financial records are always well organized and managed properly.
In this guide, we will teach you everything you need to know about earning a job as an accountant. Keep reading to learn how to:
- Properly format your accountant cover letter header & headline
- Personalize the greeting on your accountant cover letter
- Effectively grab employers’ attention in the cover letter introduction
- Showcase your professional value as an accountant
- End your accountant cover letter with a powerful closing statement
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1. Properly format your accountant cover letter header & headline
To begin writing your accountant cover letter, the first key step to take is to create a properly formatted header and headline.
A cover letter header is the block of text most often found in the upper left corner of the document that includes all the necessary information about the applicant and the company they are applying to.
As for the cover letter headline, this is similar to a title and serves a key role in helping to attract the attention of employers immediately.
To help demonstrate how to craft each of these cover letter elements, we have included more in-depth explanations and examples below:
Formatting the header
The header of your cover letter is the first piece of information an employer will see. As such, it should clearly identify who you are and the company and department the letter is intended for.
Your header should include:
- The name of the company & department you are applying to
- Your name and professional title
- Your professional contact information (phone number, email address, etc.)
Altogether, this information should form a header that looks similar to this example
To: McMillan Legal Group, Financial Department
From: Joe King, Professional Accountant
(123) 456-7890 | joeking@email.com | linkedin.com/in/joe-king
Writing the headline
In the headline of your accountant cover letter, you should always use a keyword related to the position, an eye-catching number or trigger word, a powerful adjective or verb, and a promise.
Here is an example of an effective headline from an accountant cover letter, followed by a brief breakdown of its key components
My 3-Step Approach as an Accountant & How It Can Simplify Your Company’s Financial Record System
Trigger Word/Number: 3-Step Approach
Keyword: Accountant, Financial Record System
Adjective/Verb: Simplify
Promise: Your Company – the addition of this statement within your cover letter headline informs the employer that you will specifically explain how your skills can benefit their company.
2. Personalize the greeting on your accountant cover letter
Whenever you write a cover letter as an accountant, it is crucial to use a personalized greeting to start off your letter strong.
A personalized greeting will address a specific person or department within a company by name, showing the employer that you have great attention to detail and have thoroughly researched their business before submitting your cover letter.
If you are unable to discover the exact person or department who will review your application, try out one of the following alternatives:
To the [Company Name] Team
Or
To the [Company Name] Hiring Manager
3. Grab employers’ attention with your accountant cover letter introduction
When well-written, the headline and greeting of your cover letter will help to initially hook an employer’s attention. However, it is the introduction of your cover letter that will ensure that an employer remains attentive and intrigued by the document.
For the introductory paragraph of your accountant cover letter, you should include:
- A brief overview of your professional history and goals
- A statement on why you are enthusiastic about applying to this company
- A mutual acquaintance (when possible)
Here is an example to help demonstrate how to write an accountant cover letter introduction
To the [Company Name] Hiring Manager,
I am a professional Accountant with 5+ years of experience working in a corporate FinTech office. Our mutual acquaintance and tax services expert, Jack Smith, recommended me for this position after I assisted him in developing a new digital accounting platform.
4. Showcase your professional value as an accountant
Following your introduction are the body paragraphs of your cover letter. You should aim for between 2 to 4 body paragraphs that answer these 4 key questions:
- What excites you about working at this company?
- What do you hope to learn from working at this company?
- What accomplishments or qualifications make you stand out as an applicant?
- What key skills do you possess that are relevant to the position?
Pay special attention to how you include and describe your relevant accomplishments, as they can help immensely in showing employers the real-life value you can bring to the company.
Here is an example of how to describe an accomplishment in a cover letter
As an Accountant for [Former Client], I optimized their tax filing system and assisted in filling out the necessary deduction paperwork. In the 3 years I helped with this company’s taxes, I improved their record-keeping system which resulted in a 30% decrease in total value owed in taxes annually.
5. End your accountant cover letter with a powerful closing statement
To conclude your accountant cover letter, you will need a powerful closing statement that includes:
- An enthusiastic sentence saying you are looking forward to hearing from them
- An additional sentence stating you will follow up, including how you will contact them or how they can contact you
- A formal sign-off
Here is an example of an effective closing statement from an accountant cover letter
I am eager to further discuss how I can apply my accounting talents for the benefit of your company, and would like to schedule a direct in-person or virtual meeting within the next two weeks. I am available every weekday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and the best way to reach me is at my office number – (123) 456-7890.
Appreciatively,
[Applicant Name]
Follow this cover letter outline for maximum success.
