How to move from Accounts Payable to a staff accountant role
AP and AR experience is often discounted as clerical rather than substantive accounting work, causing employers to pass over applicants for candidates with direct staff-level backgrounds. This leaves experienced professionals stuck making hundreds of applications without receiving responses or getting turned down at the interview stage.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Applying broadly and hoping for responses
- 2Targeting ERP system administrator or accounts payable manager roles
- 3Transitioning to accounts payable at a large company and networking horizontally
- 4Volunteering for tasks outside the standard job description to earn trust internally
- 5Seeking resume advice and feedback
- 6Relying on recruiter assurances during initial screenings
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I am stuck in entry level roles despite a ton of experience and a degree.”source ↗
“I've been applying for staff accountant type jobs, but I'm having the hardest time even getting a response at this point.”source ↗
“I want to move up and out of these entry level jobs and I honestly don't know how anymore.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 3How to get tax experience without an entry-level job
- 14What other career paths are there with an accounting degree?
- 6Does starting in private accounting ruin your career?
- 10Is moving from accounting to corporate finance too stressful?
- 5How to get an accounting job without a CPA
- 25How to break into accounting as an international student with a low GPA