Many senior finance professionals gain their experience and climb the ranks through internal promotions. If it’s been several years since you last looked at your CV, the prospect of rewriting it can feel daunting.
Today, employers handle hiring with precision and speed. A wealth of experience is a massive asset, but only if it is packaged to instantly demonstrate highly sought skills, such as strategic impact or a strong commercial track record.
At Distinct, our Midlands and Northern teams regularly partner with qualified finance and accountancy professionals. Based on our years of market experience, here is how we recommend structuring or refreshing a senior finance CV for today’s market
Jump to: Personal statement | Education and qualifications | Employment history | Longevity with one employer | Client experience | Free CV template and guide
Personal statement on a finance CV
Given your job title, qualifications and key skills will be instantly recognised upon an initial CV scan, a personal statement at the top isn’t strictly necessary. In addition, your Distinct recruitment representative will be “selling you” to the client to quickly establish your suitability for the role.
However, a topline summary is a prime opportunity to quickly articulate your value and deliver the key strategic takeaways you want a hiring manager to remember. If you choose to include one, here are our top tips:
- Keep it punchy. Aim for three to four sentences and clearly lead with your core credentials (i.e. CIMA / ACCA / ACA) and current leadership scope
- Highlight the commercial value you drive, such as M&A, restructuring, or profitability
- Tailor it to the specific role you’re applying for, highlighting how your skills and experience meet the employer’s needs
- Avoid corporate phrases like “results-driven leader” or “works well under pressure.” Your achievements further down the page will prove these qualities contextually
- For example: “CIMA-qualified Finance Manager with close to 10 years’ progressive experience built entirely within a large retail group. Experience spans core accounting, FP&A, strategy, transformation and working capital.”
Positioning qualifications and education
As an established finance professional, your practical expertise and professional achievements carry more weight than your early academic career. However, it’s vital to present your relevant qualifications prominently on your CV.
- If you hold a primary professional qualification, such as ACA, ACCA, CIMA, or CIPFA, ensure it is highlighted clearly within a dedicated qualifications section, ideally at the top of your CV
- This upper section is also the perfect place to include your technical expertise and systems proficiency (such as SAP, Oracle, or advanced Excel modelling) to ensure immediate visibility
- Your formal education section should follow further down the page, listing your university degree and any post-graduate qualifications. At this stage in your career, it is not necessary to list individual A-Level or GCSE subjects. Simply stating the qualifications achieved and the institution is more than sufficient.
Guidelines for employment history
Prospective employers want to know if you have the right skills to hit the ground running. Since your current or most recent position largely defines this, ensure the bulk of this role sits firmly on the front page of your CV.
- List six to eight detailed bullet points outlining your current responsibilities or ongoing projects, followed by a dedicated list of 3 to 4 key achievements
- For every employer on your CV, briefly outline the sector, corporate structure (e.g., PE-backed, PLC, SME), and rough annual turnover. This helps a prospective employer to gauge your responsibilities at scale
- Use this section to elaborate on the financial systems, ERPs, or software you use. Even if a prospective employer uses a different platform, demonstrating fluency in one proves you have the technical skills to pick up another quickly
- Finally, remember to include dates of each employment (including the month and year employed to ensure your timeline is easy to follow). It might sound obvious, but many candidates accidentally leave these off.
Structuring longevity with one employer
If you have been with the same employer for a long time, the biggest pitfall to avoid is presenting your career as a static block of time. Hiring managers want to see how you grew alongside the business and evidence of your impact.
To prevent your CV from looking stagnant, implement these structural guidelines:
- Treat internal moves like new jobs. Break down a long tenure into sub-headings for every promotion or expanded remit to show an upward trajectory. Even a company milestone or restructure can pivot your role and prove your willingness to take on new challenges
- Dedicate the majority of your CV’s professional experience to the most recent 5–7 years of your career. You can then condense your early-career history into a summary of one or two lines, keeping the focus firmly on your senior capabilities
- Hiring managers want to see the numbers behind your actions, so lead your experience with quantifiable achievements. Rather than listing duties within your role, frame your impact with hard data.
- For example: “Delivered £1.5m in cost savings within a single financial year through targeted efficiency initiatives; a tangible, board-level result.”
Highlighting accountancy experience in your CV
Alongside your standard employment history, your CV may need to highlight the hands-on experience that comes with servicing clients, especially in management or financial accounting.
To do this effectively, add an “Overview of client work” section directly below your professional history. This way you can treat each featured account like a mini job entry. Within this, you can outline the client’s sector and size, your responsibilities and any key achievements on their account.
How many clients should you include?
- If you’ve had one long-standing role: Detail three to five accounts to prove the variety of your experience
- If you’ve had multiple roles or promotions: Pick just one or two standout accounts that explicitly demonstrate new skills.
The ultimate goal here is to avoid repetition. If your duties were identical across the board, there’s no need to list individual clients. Instead, weave that impact into your main job description (e.g., “Led financial auditing for a portfolio of 12 retail clients”).
Download our qualified finance career resources
If you are starting to look at the finance job market and want to ensure your career history or experience is properly positioned, we have compiled the following tools for qualified finance professionals to help you get started.
Ready for a confidential career conversation?
At Distinct, we specialise in senior finance & accounting recruitment across the midlands and The North, connecting talented professionals with a variety of firms and businesses.
Whether you are ready to make a move after a long, successful tenure or simply want an objective opinion on how your profile stacks up in the current market, please get in touch with our finance recruitment team today.
