Accounting is one of the largest and steadiest hiring lanes there is, and right now LiftmyCV tracks 5,340 open accounting roles that refresh every day. The catch for a newcomer is not a shortage of jobs. It is knowing which kind of accountant you are trying to become, because the work splits into a few very different tracks.
Get that choice right and the rest of the path, the skills, the resume, even the interview, lines up behind it. Get it wrong and you apply as a generalist to roles that want a specialist. This guide walks the practical route into accounting, including the entry-level and no-degree paths that most articles skip.
What an Accountant Actually Does
Most accounting hiring falls into four lanes, and they hire for different things:
- ›Staff accountant and general ledger: month-end close, journal entries, reconciliations, and financial statement prep.
- ›Accounts payable: invoice processing, payment runs, and vendor records at volume.
- ›Accounts receivable: billing, collections, and cash application.
- ›Payroll: pay runs, deductions, and compliance records.
Pick the lane before anything else. A resume built for accounts payable reads very differently from one built for staff accountant work, and trying to cover all four at once is the fastest way to look unfocused.
What You Need to Become an Accountant
Across the accounting roles we track, employers keep asking for the same core competencies. Show these and you are ready to apply:
- ›Month-end close, journal entries, and account reconciliations, bank reconciliations included.
- ›General ledger, financial reporting, and financial statement preparation.
- ›Accounts payable, accounts receivable, invoice processing, and payroll.
- ›Tax preparation, audit support, internal controls, and GAAP.
- ›Software: Excel with pivot tables and VLOOKUP, QuickBooks, and an ERP such as NetSuite, SAP, Oracle, or Workday.
A degree in accounting or finance is the common route. It is not the only one. Our listings carry a large entry-level tier, and plenty of people move into accounting from adjacent work rather than a fresh diploma. When your resume is ready to send, an AI resume builder can reshape it for each posting so the lane you are targeting reads first.
Pro Tip
Name the exact software you have used, not “ERP experience.” A recruiter scanning for NetSuite or QuickBooks will skip a resume that only says “accounting systems,” even when you know the tool.
Steps to Become an Accountant
Here is the path that maps to how these roles actually get filled:
- Choose a lane: general ledger and staff accountant work, accounts payable, accounts receivable, or payroll.
- Build the core skills above and name the exact systems you have used. Employers screen hard on Excel, QuickBooks, and ERP exposure.
- Shape the resume to the lane. For staff or GL roles, lead with month-end close, reconciliations, journal entries, and ERP work. For AP or AR, lead with invoice processing, payment runs, collections, cash application, and the volume you handled.
- Aim at the right level. Our salary data splits accounting into 816 entry roles, 2,151 mid roles, and 2,373 senior roles, so apply where your experience fits.
- Then apply at volume. With thousands of openings live at once, steady applications beat one polished attempt.
Stop Retyping the Same Accounting Application
Set your target roles once, and LiftmyCV tailors your resume and applies to matching accounting jobs while you spend your time preparing for interviews.
How to Get Into Accounting Without a Degree or Experience
No accounting degree? Aim at the transactional roles. Accounts payable, accounts receivable, invoice processing, and payroll are where teams hire on demonstrated skill instead of credentials alone. A background in bookkeeping or payroll carries over almost one to one, because those jobs already run on reconciliations, ledgers, and the same software.
If you have closed a month, chased an invoice, or cleaned up a messy spreadsheet, you have more relevant experience than you think. Lead with the tools you can already use, the reconciliation or data-entry work you have done, and your accuracy under a deadline. The 816 entry-level accounting roles we track are the realistic place to start, and many of them do not ask for years of prior accounting experience at all.
How Long It Takes to Become an Accountant
There is no single answer. The degree route takes the longest. The transactional lanes let many people start far sooner, especially when they are moving over from bookkeeping, payroll, or finance support work. Accounting is also one of the most common targets for career changers, since much of the day-to-day is learnable on the job. The faster path is simple: build the core skills, pick a lane, and start applying to entry-level roles instead of waiting for every credential to line up.
Entry-Level Accounting Jobs and Pay
Entry-level accounting is a real, sizeable market. Of the roles we currently track, 816 are entry level. Based on those listings, entry pay sits near $43k at the 25th percentile, $54k at the median, and $78k at the 75th. Mid-level roles run $64k to $108k, and senior roles $101k to $165k. The full ranges update continuously in the salary section on our accounting jobs board.
Before you send anything, it pays to get the format right. A clean, scannable layout matters as much as the content, and our resume template guide covers what works for a career-change or entry-level move.
Did You Know?
816 of the accounting roles we track are entry level, so the field is far more open to beginners than its reputation suggests. Prefer to work from home? See remote accounting jobs.
FAQ
Can I become an accountant without a degree?
Often, yes, through the transactional lanes. Accounts payable, accounts receivable, invoice processing, and payroll roles hire on demonstrated skill with reconciliations, ledgers, and software such as Excel and QuickBooks. Bookkeeping and payroll backgrounds carry over directly.
What is the easiest accounting job to start with?
The high-volume transactional roles, meaning accounts payable and accounts receivable. They are the most common entry points, and they build the reconciliation and ledger experience that staff accountant roles look for next.
Do accounting jobs require specific software?
Commonly, yes. Employers expect Excel and QuickBooks, and many roles also ask for an ERP such as NetSuite, SAP, Oracle, or Workday. Naming the systems you have actually used is one of the strongest signals on an accounting resume.
Are there remote accounting jobs for beginners?
There are. Remote accounting roles appear across experience levels, entry level included. We keep them on a dedicated remote accounting jobs page.
Written by
Ruslan Nazarov is an SEO specialist focused on the careers and job search space. He writes about AI job search, resume optimization, and getting more interviews, drawing on hands-on work growing career and recruitment websites.
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