Do accountants still need a cover letter in the UK?

For controller and senior roles, usually yes, and recruiters often ask for one before putting you forward. Keep it to one page and tie it to the advert's two or three main asks.

Should I mention salary expectations in the letter?

Only if the advert asks for them. If it does, give a range in a single sentence at the end, not in the opening.

How do I explain a move from practice to industry in the letter?

Present audit experience as an asset: you know what auditors will ask for, so you can prepare the papers that make the audit go smoothly. One concrete example is enough.

Accountant cover letter example

Accountant cover letter example from the UK: opening on the close and the audit, proof from a Dynamics 365 migration, and a British letter's sign-off.

Resume for this role

Hannah Whitworth

ACCA Chartered Certified Accountant | Group Reporting, Month-End Close and Audit

Leeds, West Yorkshire

30 October 2026

Samira AkhtarFinance DirectorAire Valley PackagingBradford

Re: Group Financial Controller

Dear Ms Akhtar,

Your advert for a Group Financial Controller at Aire Valley Packaging asks for someone who can shorten the close and get a clean audit. Those are the two things I have been doing since 2021 at Pennine Foods Group, a four-company manufacturing group with £140m of combined turnover.

When I joined, month-end took 9 working days and the previous audit had produced 11 adjustments. I set a fixed timetable for accruals and intercompany recharges, rebuilt the balance sheet reconciliations and agreed a list of prepared-by-client papers with our auditors in advance. The close now takes 5 days, and the last two audits closed with no adjusted misstatements.

I also led the finance workstream when we moved from Sage 200 to Dynamics 365, which is the system your advert says you are implementing next year. The migration covered 2,300 nominal codes, and I know where these projects go wrong: mapping the chart of accounts, carrying opening balances across and keeping the old ledger readable for the auditors.

My 9 years combine audit practice at Harlow & Price, where I ran fieldwork on 14 statutory audits a year, with in-house reporting for a multi-site manufacturer. I qualified as an ACCA accountant in 2020, and I now supervise two assistant accountants and a purchase ledger clerk, which matches the team of three your advert describes.

I would be glad to talk through how I would approach your first year end, and the order in which I would tackle the system change alongside it.

Yours sincerely,

Hannah Whitworth

Fictional candidates and employers. Any resemblance to a real person or company is coincidental.

Now for your own experience and a real posting

Jobiko writes a cover letter from what you have actually done, for the posting you choose, and shows it to you before anything is sent.

Write my cover letter →

How this letter works

What each part of the letter above does, and how to do the same in yours.

The opening

It opens by naming the two outcomes the advert asks for, a shorter close and a clean audit, and says they are what Hannah already delivers. Finance directors read for evidence of control, so the first lines promise it.

Whom to address

In UK finance roles the letter usually goes to the finance director or the recruiter named in the advert. With a name, the British convention is "Dear Ms Akhtar" without a full stop after Ms, closed with "Yours sincerely".

Requirements matched to proof

The posting asks forRun a fast, reliable month-end close: The letter showsClose cut from 9 working days to 5 with a fixed accruals and intercompany timetable.
The posting asks forManage the external audit: The letter showsTwo consecutive audits with no adjusted misstatements, after 11 the year before.
The posting asks forSupport a system implementation: The letter showsLed the finance side of a Sage 200 to Dynamics 365 move covering 2,300 nominal codes.

Length

Five paragraphs, within the usual 250 to 400 words and on one page. An accountant's letter should read like a good set of notes to the accounts: one point per paragraph, each with a figure.

This letter: 250 words.

The closing

The last paragraph offers to discuss the first year end and the system change, the two things the new controller will be judged on. "Yours sincerely" matches a letter that opens with the recipient's name.

Mistakes to avoid in this letter

Listing exams instead of outcomes
The CV shows the qualification. The letter should show what you did with it: a close shortened, an audit cleaned up, a system moved.
Vague claims about accuracy
"High attention to detail" is assumed in accounting. Audit adjustments going from 11 to none is the version a finance director believes.
Mismatched sign-off
In the UK, a letter to a named person ends "Yours sincerely"; one to "Dear Sir or Madam" ends "Yours faithfully". Mixing them is a small error finance readers notice.

Questions about this cover letter

Do accountants still need a cover letter in the UK?: For controller and senior roles, usually yes, and recruiters often ask for one before putting you forward. Keep it to one page and tie it to the advert's two or three main asks.
Should I mention salary expectations in the letter?: Only if the advert asks for them. If it does, give a range in a single sentence at the end, not in the opening.
How do I explain a move from practice to industry in the letter?: Present audit experience as an asset: you know what auditors will ask for, so you can prepare the papers that make the audit go smoothly. One concrete example is enough.

More examples

← All cover letter examples