diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/compute/api_vector.h b/cpp/src/arrow/compute/api_vector.h
index 00d38628e18bf..d02c505f3e59a 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/compute/api_vector.h
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/compute/api_vector.h
@@ -592,6 +592,13 @@ Result<Datum> RunEndEncode(
 ARROW_EXPORT
 Result<Datum> RunEndDecode(const Datum& value, ExecContext* ctx = NULLPTR);
 
+/// \brief Compute the cumulative sum of an array-like object
+///
+/// \param[in] values array-like input
+/// \param[in] options configures cumulative sum behavior
+/// \param[in] check_overflow whether to check for overflow, if true, return Invalid
+/// status on overflow, otherwise wrap around on overflow
+/// \param[in] ctx the function execution context, optional
 ARROW_EXPORT
 Result<Datum> CumulativeSum(
     const Datum& values,
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/compute/kernels/vector_cumulative_ops_test.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/compute/kernels/vector_cumulative_ops_test.cc
index 9ec287b537d64..3c6bb3c1d10d9 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/compute/kernels/vector_cumulative_ops_test.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/compute/kernels/vector_cumulative_ops_test.cc
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 
 #include "arrow/array.h"
 #include "arrow/chunked_array.h"
+#include "arrow/compute/api_vector.h"
 #include "arrow/testing/gtest_util.h"
 #include "arrow/testing/util.h"
 #include "arrow/type.h"
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@
 #include "arrow/array/builder_primitive.h"
 #include "arrow/compute/api.h"
 #include "arrow/compute/kernels/test_util.h"
+#include "arrow/type_fwd.h"
 
 namespace arrow {
 namespace compute {
@@ -344,5 +346,15 @@ TEST(TestCumulativeSum, HasStartDoSkip) {
   }
 }
 
+TEST(TestCumulativeSum, ConvenienceFunctionCheckOverflow) {
+  ASSERT_ARRAYS_EQUAL(*CumulativeSum(ArrayFromJSON(int8(), "[127, 1]"),
+                                     CumulativeSumOptions::Defaults(), false)
+                           ->make_array(),
+                      *ArrayFromJSON(int8(), "[127, -128]"));
+
+  EXPECT_RAISES_WITH_MESSAGE_THAT(Invalid, HasSubstr("overflow"),
+                                  CumulativeSum(ArrayFromJSON(int8(), "[127, 1]"),
+                                                CumulativeSumOptions::Defaults(), true));
+}
 }  // namespace compute
 }  // namespace arrow