Solange Berthiaume Technical Accounting and Reporting Manager, CPA Providence, 02906, United States [email protected] · (401) 555-0133
11 September 2026
Ms. Caterina Rowntree Corporate Accounting Ravensmoor Diagnostics Boston, United States
Application for Technical Accounting Manager, Ravensmoor Diagnostics
Dear Ms. Rowntree,
I am applying for the Technical Accounting Manager post at Ravensmoor Diagnostics. I am licensed as a CPA by the Rhode Island Board of Accountancy, active since 2022, and I currently own every accounting position documented by a publicly traded medical device manufacturer, along with the reporting calendar behind four filings a year.
The work I would bring across is the memo file. I write and maintain eleven technical memos, covering revenue recognition on multi-year supply agreements, the lease population and the discount rate, share-based compensation, and the accounting for a business combination we completed in 2025. Each one states the facts, the standard, the alternatives considered and the conclusion, and each is reviewed by our external engagement team before it is relied on. Alongside that I own the disclosure checklist and the tie-out binder; rebuilding the binder around a single linked source file took the tie-out cycle from six days to four, and we have not filed late in four years.
Your last annual report describes two acquisitions in the period and a new product line sold through distributors, which is the combination that tends to generate the most technical questions at once. If I joined, I would want to start on the revenue arrangements in the distributor channel, because that is where a documented position pays for itself fastest and where I have spent most of my last two years.
My license is active, my continuing professional education is current for the reporting period, and I can start with four weeks' notice. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, Solange Berthiaume, CPA
Summary
A CPA cover letter leads with the license, names the board that issued it and says what the credential is doing in the job. This guide gives you a full adaptable letter, the openings that work, the exact wording to use while you are still a candidate, and the claims that cost people offers when a board record does not match the letter.
CPA cover letter examples by experience level
A CPA cover letter is a one-page letter in which the license does real work rather than sitting after your name.
That takes three sentences. In short, the license and the board that issued it. The work it gates that you have actually done. One outcome from doing it. Most CPA letters say the credential exists and then never mention it again.
If no board has licensed you yet, the wording matters more, not less.
Guide to a CPA cover letter
Specifically, this guide and the corresponding CPA cover letter example will cover:
- First, how to structure the letter, paragraph by paragraph
- Then, why the issuing board belongs in the first sentence
- What to write while you are a candidate, and what you must not
- The claims a recruiter checks
- Finally, the openings that make a recruiter read a licensed candidate
How to write a CPA cover letter
| Paragraph | Its job | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Opening | The post, the license and its board, what it is used for now | 2 to 3 sentences |
| Evidence | One piece of gated work, one position you documented, one outcome | 4 to 6 sentences |
| Fit | Something specific about their reporting, and what you would take first | 3 to 4 sentences |
| Close | License status, CPE currency, availability, thank you | 2 sentences |
Name the board, not just the letters
"I am a CPA" leaves the reader with a question they must resolve later. "I am licensed as a CPA by the Rhode Island Board of Accountancy" answers it in six extra words, and signals that you know the license is a state instrument, not a national one.
If the role is in a different state from your license, address it in the same sentence. NASBA states that a CPA's mobility is now determined by individual qualifications in education, examination and experience rather than by home-state substantial equivalency with the target state, with implementation dates varying by jurisdiction (NASBA, 23 December 2025).
A CPA cover letter example you can adapt
Dear Ms. Rowntree,
I am applying for the Technical Accounting Manager post at Ravensmoor Diagnostics. I am licensed as a CPA by the Rhode Island Board of Accountancy, active since 2022, and I currently own every accounting position documented by a publicly traded medical device manufacturer, along with the reporting calendar behind four filings a year.
The work I would bring across is the memo file. I write and maintain eleven technical memos, covering revenue recognition on multi-year supply agreements, the lease population and the discount rate, share-based compensation, and the accounting for a business combination we completed in 2025. Each one states the facts, the standard, the alternatives considered and the conclusion, and each is reviewed by our external engagement team before it is relied on. Alongside that I own the disclosure checklist and the tie-out binder; rebuilding the binder around a single linked source file took the tie-out cycle from six days to four, and we have not filed late in four years.
Your last annual report describes two acquisitions in the period and a new product line sold through distributors, which is the combination that tends to generate the most technical questions at once. If I joined, I would want to start on the revenue arrangements in the distributor channel, because that is where a documented position pays for itself fastest and where I have spent most of my last two years.
My license is active, my continuing professional education is current for the reporting period, and I can start with four weeks' notice. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, Solange Berthiaume, CPA
Openings that work
| Instead of | Use |
|---|---|
| I am a CPA with several years of accounting experience | I am licensed as a CPA by the Rhode Island Board of Accountancy, active since 2022 |
| I am detail oriented and work well under deadline pressure | I own the reporting calendar behind four filings a year, with no late filing in four years |
| I am seeking a role that uses my CPA credential | Your last annual report describes two acquisitions and a new distributor channel, where I have spent two years |
Writing the credential before the board licenses you
However, this is where letters go wrong, and the accurate version is not weak.
| Where you are | Write this | Never write this |
|---|---|---|
| Education requirements met | "150 semester hours completed; I meet the education requirements to sit in Rhode Island" | "CPA eligible" with no state named |
| Sections passed | "I have passed Financial Accounting and Reporting and Auditing and Attestation, with Regulation scheduled for February 2027" | "CPA in progress" or CPA after your name |
| All four passed, license pending | "I have passed all four sections of the Uniform CPA Examination and my license application is with the Rhode Island board" | "CPA" unqualified |
The rule underneath every row is the same: nothing that reads as CPA goes near your name until a board has issued the license, which state boards of accountancy do across the 55 US jurisdictions (NASBA, accessed 13 September 2026). Similarly, an inactive license takes the same care.
For example, "I have passed two of four sections and sit the third in February" reads as organized and honest. "CPA (in progress)" reads as a person testing what they can get away with.
What the license lets you say about the job
In addition, naming one of the things the license genuinely changes turns the credential from decoration into an argument.
Filings are the clearest. For instance, BLS records that "any accountant who files a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is required to be a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA)" (Occupational Outlook Handbook, published 27 August 2026). Representation is the second: the IRS states that "enrolled agents, certified public accountants, and attorneys have unlimited representation rights before the IRS", while other preparers may only represent clients whose returns they prepared and signed (IRS, page last reviewed 29 January 2026). Finally, attest work is the third: signing authority in public accounting depends on the license.
The license is scarcer than the job market it sits in
NASBA's Accountancy Licensee Database recorded 650,667 actively licensed CPAs as of 27 August 2026, aggregated from 53 of the 55 licensing jurisdictions (NASBA, accessed 13 September 2026). BLS counted 1,595,200 accountant and auditor jobs in 2025 and projects about 115,300 openings a year to 2035 (Occupational Outlook Handbook, published 27 August 2026). The two figures sit on different bases, but the direction is clear: most people doing this work are not licensed.
The AICPA's 2025 Trends report counted 28,082 new candidates entering the examination pipeline in 2024 against 42,626 in 2023 (AICPA, 27 October 2025). If you hold the license, do not bury it in paragraph three.
Claims a recruiter checks
Name the board that issued your license and say it is active. Tie the credential to one thing in the posting. Say your continuing professional education is current. Write exam progress as sections passed with the next one scheduled.
Do not write CPA before a board has issued it, in any form, including "CPA in progress" or "CPA pending". Do not describe a license as active if it is inactive or lapsed. Do not claim representation rights your credential does not carry.
In practice, license status is public in most jurisdictions and takes a recruiter a minute to look up. As a result, a recruiter does not read a discrepancy between a letter and a board record as carelessness.
Length, format and sending it
Overall, one page, four paragraphs, 250 to 400 words. PDF unless the portal says otherwise, named for yourself and the post: solange-berthiaume-technical-accounting-manager-cover-letter.pdf.
Address a named person. Also, finance leadership is usually public, and "Dear Hiring Manager" on an otherwise precise letter reads as a template.
Make the license line identical to the one on your resume. Our CPA resume example uses the wording here.
Key takeaways
- First, lead with the license and the board that issued it, not the letters alone.
- Name one thing the license gates that you have actually done.
- Then give one outcome from that work, with a period attached.
- Say your continuing professional education is current.
- If you are a candidate, write sections passed with the next one scheduled.
- Never write anything resembling CPA before a board has issued the license.
- Address a license in another state in one accurate clause.
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CPA cover letter questions, answered
Should the CPA go after my name in the letter signature?
If you are licensed, yes: "Solange Berthiaume, CPA" is the standard. If you are not, no, in any form, including a signature block, an email footer or a file name.
How do I write a CPA cover letter for a job in another state?
Address it in the opening. Name your license and its board, then state your position on the target state: an application already filed, or reliance on the mobility rules there. NASBA describes mobility as determined by an individual's own education, examination and experience rather than by home-state substantial equivalency (NASBA, 23 December 2025), so state your facts and let the employer's counsel apply their rules.
What if my license is inactive?
Say so, and say what you would do about it. "My Rhode Island license is on inactive status and I would return it to active on appointment" is a complete answer, and far better received than an unqualified CPA that a recruiter finds inactive on a board lookup. Each state board sets its own requirements for returning to active, so check yours before promising a date.
Does a CPA cover letter need different content from an accountant cover letter?
The opening and the evidence paragraph change. An accountant's letter argues scope: what you own and what you improved. A CPA letter argues the license and its uses: filings, signed positions, representation, attest work. If it would read the same with the credential deleted, it is an accountant's letter with three extra letters in it.
Is it worth writing a cover letter if the posting says CPA required?
Yes, and it is the easiest letter to write. The posting has told you what the reader is screening on, so the first sentence resolves it and the rest is free to argue what the resume cannot: which documented positions you would bring, and what you would work on first.