How to Become an Accountant

Accountants and auditors prepare and examine financial records, identify areas of opportunity and risk, and provide solutions for businesses and individuals. BLS says they ensure that financial records are accurate, that financial and data risks are evaluated, and that taxes are paid properly, and they assess financial operations to help organizations run efficiently.^[5]

BLS lists the typical duties as examining financial statements for accuracy and compliance with laws and regulations; computing taxes owed and preparing returns; inspecting account books and systems and identifying risks of fraud; organizing, analyzing, and maintaining financial records; assessing financial operations and recommending best practices to management; and suggesting ways to reduce costs and improve profits. They also have to explain their findings, in written reports and in face-to-face meetings with managers and clients.^[5] O*NET's highest-rated task agrees: preparing, examining, or analyzing accounting records and financial statements to assess accuracy, completeness, and conformance to reporting and procedural standards.^[6]

The job divides into types, and the type decides the day. BLS describes public accountants, who handle accounting, auditing, tax, and consulting work for corporations, governments, individuals, and nonprofits; management accountants, who prepare budgets and evaluate performance for internal use; government accountants, who check that public revenues are received and spent according to law; external auditors, who tell investors and regulators that statements are free of material misstatement; internal auditors, who do similar work for the organization that employs them; and IT auditors, who review the controls behind financial and nonfinancial data.^[5] Some public accountants specialize in forensic accounting, investigating fraud and financial crimes, and often work with law enforcement and appear as expert witnesses.^[5] Picking among these is the real career decision, and it matters more than the degree title.

O*NET's work-context survey describes an indoor desk job built on precision. Sixty-nine percent of respondents said being exact or accurate is extremely important and another 28 percent said very important. Forty-one percent said repetitive mental activities, such as checking entries in a ledger, are extremely important to the job, and 34 percent said very important.^[6] If the idea of checking the same kind of figure a few hundred times sounds tedious, take that seriously: it is a core part of the work.

The work is communication-heavy too. Ninety-seven percent of respondents use email every day, 72 percent have phone conversations every day, and 66 percent have face-to-face discussions daily. Most spend long periods seated, with 59 percent sitting continually or almost continually and another 34 percent more than half the time.^[6] Teamwork matters: 38 percent called it extremely important and 41 percent very important. BLS adds that accountants usually work in teams, although some work alone, and that some may travel to clients' places of business.^[5]

Autonomy is limited. Only 14 percent said they have a lot of decision-making freedom without supervision and 52 percent some; 62 percent said they have some freedom to set their own tasks, priorities, and goals and 24 percent limited.^[6] Accounting runs on standards and review chains, so most of the job is doing the work to the rule rather than deciding what the rule should be. That changes with seniority, and it is one reason the supervisory path matters.

O*NET ranks the work activities that matter most. Getting information tops the list at 91 out of 100, followed by working with computers at 90, analyzing data at 81, evaluating information to determine compliance with standards and processing information at 79 each, and making decisions and solving problems at 78.^[6] Selling or influencing others scores just 24. This is analytical, systems-based work, not sales.

O*NET rates dozens of tasks by importance. After examining records for accuracy, the next highest are processing invoices for payment (89), reviewing accounts for discrepancies and reconciling differences (87), computing taxes and preparing returns (82), and preparing adjusting journal entries (82). Inspecting account books and systems comes at 80 and preparing detailed reports on audit findings at 77.^[6]

The list shows the shape of an entry-level week: reconciliations, invoices, journal entries, and the reports that go up the chain. Further down the list are tasks that belong to senior staff, such as supervising audits and deciding the scope of an investigation (72), conferring with company officials about financial and regulatory matters (70), representing clients before taxing authorities (66), and directing personnel who file, record, and compile financial records (62).^[6] The progression from the first list to the second is the career. Our guide to accounting degree jobs shows where each set of tasks leads.

BLS lists the largest employers by share of jobs: accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll services at 21 percent, finance and insurance at 8 percent, government (excluding state and local education and hospitals) at 8 percent, management of companies and enterprises at 6 percent, and the self-employed at 5 percent.^[5] In the wage survey, accounting and tax firms alone employ 330,500 accountants and auditors and corporate headquarters 105,120, with the rest spread across real estate, consulting, banking, and government.^[1]

Where you work changes the job and the pay. At a public accounting firm the work is for clients and the calendar follows the audit and tax seasons. In-house at a company, you serve one business and do more budgeting and performance analysis. In government, the work is auditing and reporting to a regulator or a public body. Pay follows the setting: computer systems design firms pay a median of $98,750, accounting and tax firms $81,490.^[1] The industry table in our salary guide lists each of the largest employers.

Geographically, the jobs concentrate in big states. California (175,360), Texas (116,470), New York (109,830), Florida (91,000), and Illinois (54,930) hold 37.8 percent of the 1,449,500 jobs in the wage survey.^[1] But accounting is available everywhere, and most states pay below the national median; the state table shows the job count and median for each. After adjusting for prices with BEA parities, District of Columbia, Delaware, and New York lead and California falls to 15th.^[7]

1. Earn a bachelor's degree (about four years). BLS says accountants and auditors typically need at least a bachelor's degree in accounting or a related field such as business.^[5] Some universities offer specialized programs in forensic accounting, internal auditing, or tax accounting.^[5]

2. Get an internship. BLS notes that students may gain practical experience through internships with public accounting or business firms.^[5]

3. Take the first job. BLS lists no related work experience and no on-the-job training as typical for entry.^[2] O*NET sets a higher bar in its own job-zone description, saying an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered fully qualified, which describes the experienced end of the occupation rather than the entry point.^[6]

4. Decide on the license. The CPA is optional for many roles but required for anyone who files reports with the SEC. It means more coursework, a four-section exam, and experience set by your state board. The licensure section below walks through it.^[5]

5. Specialize. BLS describes public, management, government, forensic, and IT specializations, as well as external and internal auditing, and the employers and hours differ by choice.^[5]

Put together, the federal requirements describe a path of about four years of school to a first accounting job. The CPA adds coursework to reach 150 semester hours, 30 beyond the usual bachelor's degree.^[5]

CPAs are licensed by their state's board of accountancy. Becoming one requires passing a national exam and meeting other state requirements.^[5][8] The AICPA's page says the same: you must meet education, examination, and experience requirements, and the details may differ by jurisdiction.^[3] That sentence is the reason to be wary of any guide quoting one set of numbers for every state. Check your board before you plan your credits.

Education. BLS says all states require CPA candidates to complete 150 semester hours of college coursework to be licensed, 30 hours more than the usual four-year bachelor's degree. Many schools offer a five-year combined bachelor's and master's to meet the requirement, and a master's degree is not required.^[5] Some states let a number of years of public accounting experience substitute for a college degree.^[5] NASBA also features an item titled "New Pathways to Licensure" on its home page, so the 150-hour rule may not be the only route in every state; confirm what your board allows.^[8]

The exam. The Uniform CPA Examination is a four-section, 16-hour assessment with three four-hour Core sections and one four-hour Discipline section of your choice. The Core sections are Auditing and Attestation, Financial Accounting and Reporting, and Taxation and Regulation. The Discipline options are Business Analysis and Reporting, Information Systems and Control, and Tax Compliance and Planning. A minimum score of 75 is required on each section.^[3] The discipline choice lets you tilt the exam toward the work you want: tax compliance for a tax career, information systems for IT audit.

Why bother. BLS says certification as a CPA may improve job prospects and that employers may pay the cost of the exam.^[5] It does not publish pay by license, so we do not claim a dollar premium. What the evidence supports is access: SEC filings require a licensed CPA.^[5] Our CPA step-by-step guide covers the process in more detail.

Associate degree. BLS says some people with an associate's degree, and bookkeepers and accounting clerks who meet their employer's education and experience requirements, get junior accounting positions and advance by showing skills on the job.^[5] It is a real route in, but a narrower one, and the CPA still requires the 150 hours. Our associate in accounting ranking analyzed 774 programs.

Bachelor's degree. This is the standard entry credential. Our bachelor's in accounting ranking analyzed 1,132 accredited programs on graduation rate, cost, selectivity, and outcomes. BLS accepts a related field such as business, but if you are sure about accounting, the accounting major is the direct route.^[5]

Master's in accounting. BLS says some employers prefer a master's in accounting or in business administration with an accounting concentration.^[5] It is also one way to reach 150 credit hours, since many schools offer a five-year combined bachelor's and master's. Our master's in accounting ranking analyzed 513 programs.

MBA. An MBA is the broader management degree and fits accountants who want to move toward finance leadership; our ranking analyzed 978 programs. BLS does not publish accountant pay by degree level, so no federal figure shows what a graduate degree adds. If the license is the goal, a master's can serve both goals at once. If it is not, the MBA is better judged on its cost and the roles it opens.

The first job usually comes from the internship pipeline. BLS recommends internships with public accounting or business firms as practical experience, and accounting firms are the largest single group of employers.^[5] Entry-level public accountants advance to senior positions as they gain experience and take on responsibility.^[5]

Management accountants, BLS says, often start as cost accountants, junior internal auditors, or trainees for other accounting positions.^[5] Those entry titles are worth searching for, along with the titles O*NET lists as reported for the occupation: general accountant, financial reporting accountant, cost accountant, and internal auditor.^[6] Accounting firms are the largest employer group, and they pay $81,490 at the median, a little under the national figure.^[1]

Whichever you choose, what matters next is what you own. A junior accountant who runs a monthly close or a full audit section has done part of the senior's job, and that record decides promotion more than the starting title. Pick the first job for the training it gives, not for the first paycheck.

BLS names five qualities as important: analytical and critical-thinking skills, communication skills, attention to detail, math skills, and organizational skills.^[5] It says accountants may use advanced math, such as calculus and statistical analysis, for some tasks.^[5]

O*NET's work-style ratings give the personality profile. Attention to detail scores 100 out of 100, integrity 98, dependability 88, and cautiousness 85, followed by intellectual curiosity at 67 and achievement orientation at 61. Leadership orientation scores 28, innovation 17, and social orientation 17.^[6] That profile fits a profession built on trust: employers and regulators rely on accountants not to cut corners. If you are happiest improvising, accounting will feel confining. If you like getting things exactly right, it will feel like a good fit.

On tools, O*NET lists accounting software such as QuickBooks and SAP Concur, enterprise resource planning systems including SAP, Workday, and Oracle PeopleSoft, spreadsheet software such as Excel and Google Sheets, business intelligence tools such as Tableau and Alteryx, and database tools including SQL.^[6] It also lists XBRL, the format used for business reporting, and Visual Basic for Applications for automating spreadsheets.^[6] Most of these are learned in school and on the job. A business analytics course load is a good complement to the accounting major.

BLS says accountants seek certifications from a variety of professional societies, and that certification shows professional competence in a specific field of accounting and auditing.^[5] The CPA is the best known, but it is not the only option.

The Certified Management Accountant, from the Institute of Management Accountants, is the main alternative for accountants who work inside companies. It requires active IMA membership, a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or a related professional certification, and two continuous years of professional experience in management accounting or financial management. The experience may be completed before or within seven years of passing the exam. The exam has two parts, which can be taken in any order, and candidates have three years to pass both after enrolling. Exams are computer-based and offered in three testing windows a year.^[4] Holders report 30 hours of continuing professional education annually, with at least two hours in ethics, and must keep their IMA membership active.^[4]

Both credentials are optional. BLS does not publish pay by certification, so treat each as a way to signal depth in a lane: the CPA for public accounting and audit, the CMA for corporate finance and management accounting. Our accounting certifications guide compares these with the Certified Internal Auditor and Enrolled Agent, and CFA vs. CPA covers the investment-side choice.

Most accountants and auditors work full time in an office, and some work from home. BLS says longer hours are typical at certain times of the year, such as for quarterly audits or during tax season.^[5] O*NET puts a number on it: 50 percent of respondents reported more than 40 hours in a typical week and 46 percent exactly 40.^[6] Deadlines are a feature of the job; 31 percent said they meet strict deadlines every day and another 28 percent once a week or more.^[6]

BLS ties the longer periods to quarterly audits and tax season, so the type of work you pick decides how those weeks fall. Ask any employer what a normal February or a quarter-end looks like before you accept.

BLS lays out the progression. Public accountants advance from entry level to senior positions as they take on responsibility, and those who excel may become supervisors, managers, or partners, open their own firm, or move into executive positions in management accounting or internal auditing at private firms. Management accountants may become accounting managers, budget directors, chief cost accountants, or managers of internal auditing, and some go on to be controllers, treasurers, financial vice presidents, or chief financial officers.^[5]

Moves between types are possible but not symmetrical. BLS says public accountants often move into management accounting or internal auditing, and management accountants and internal auditors may move between those two, but it is less common for management accountants or internal auditors to move into public accounting.^[5] If you think you may want a public accounting career, start there.

The end of the path pays well. Financial managers earn a median of $166,570, and BLS lists 5 years or more of related experience as typical for entry, which is where an accounting background becomes an advantage.^[1][2] BLS does not publish pay by years of experience, so the percentile range is the best federal guide to how far the job goes: $67,020 at the 25th percentile, $83,680 at the median, and $144,090 at the 90th.^[1] Our financial manager career guide covers the destination.

Five occupations sit closest, and their outlooks diverge. Over 2025 to 2035, BLS projects growth of 5 percent for accountants and auditors, 9.7 percent for financial managers, 7.2 percent for financial and investment analysts, 9.3 percent for financial examiners, 4.7 percent for tax preparers, and -5.6 percent for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks, against 3.5 percent for all occupations.^[2]

Financial analysis is the nearest alternative for someone who likes the numbers. Analysts earn a median of $102,740 against $83,680 for accountants, and the entry profile is the same: a bachelor's degree and no prior experience.^[1][2] See our financial analyst career guide and the accounting vs. finance comparison. Financial examiners earn $94,160 and are projected to grow faster, but the job needs long-term on-the-job training after the degree.^[1][2]

The role to approach with care is the one below. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks earn $50,670 and are projected to lose jobs even as 144,100 openings a year arise from people leaving.^[1][2] BLS says bookkeepers and clerks with the right experience can reach junior accounting positions, so it is a way into the field, not a place to stay.^[5]

BLS addresses technology directly. It says accountants and auditors may use artificial intelligence and robotic process automation to increase productivity, and that automating routine tasks lets them focus on analysis and other high-level responsibilities.^[5] In its outlook, BLS expects cloud computing, AI, and blockchain to automate some routine accounting tasks but says this is not expected to reduce overall demand; instead, the automation of tasks such as data entry will make advisory and analytical duties more prominent.^[5]

The data supports that split. The clerks who do data entry and basic bookkeeping are projected to decline 5.6 percent over the decade, while accountants and auditors are projected to grow 5 percent.^[2] O*NET's tool list shows where the job already leans on software: ERP systems, business intelligence, SQL, and spreadsheet automation.^[6] The practical reading is that production work, the keying and matching and reconciling, is the most exposed, and judgment work the least. An accountant who can explain what the numbers mean, assess risk, and advise management is doing the part of the job the outlook expects to hold up.

The median annual wage was $83,680 in May 2025, with the middle half earning between $67,020 and $109,810.^[1] Employment is projected to grow from 1,595,200 to 1,674,600 jobs between 2025 and 2035, about 115,300 openings a year including replacements.^[2] BLS expects growth to track the overall economy and says automation will shift the work toward advisory and analytical duties without reducing demand.^[5]

The spread is wide. The lowest-paid 10 percent earn less than $56,020 and the highest-paid 10 percent more than $144,090.^[1] Even the bottom of that range is above the $50,980 median for all occupations.^[2] The salary guide breaks the pay down by state, industry, and cost of living.

The case for it. The median wage is $32,700 above the median for all occupations, no experience is required to start, and the job is available in every state.^[1][2] The field is growing faster than the workforce, and publicly traded companies are required to have CPAs sign the documents they submit to the SEC.^[5] The skills transfer into finance, tax, risk, and management.

The case against. Busy seasons are real: half of O*NET respondents reported more than 40 hours a week.^[6] The work is repetitive and exacting, and 28 percent of respondents said their decisions carry very important results, which means errors have consequences.^[6] Decision freedom is limited at the junior level. The license adds coursework beyond the bachelor's degree and a 16-hour exam.^[5][3] And the clerical end of the field is shrinking.^[2]

O*NET's interest profile is a useful self-check. On its 100-point scale, the occupation rates 100 for Conventional interests (following procedures and organizing data), 48 for Enterprising, 43 for Investigative, 19 for Social, and 2 for Realistic.^[6] If you want to lead, persuade, and sell, a financial advisor or management path may suit you better. If you like order, accuracy, and being relied on, accounting suits you.

Accounting suits people who like rules that have right answers, who are comfortable with a few weeks a year of long hours, and who want a credential-backed career with many exits. It does not suit people who want creative freedom, who dislike detail work, or who want to start by managing people; BLS lists no related work experience as typical for entry, but the supervisory roles come after years of doing the work.^[5][2]

If you are still deciding on a degree, start with our accounting degree rankings at every level, and read accounting vs. finance if you are torn between the two. If you are weighing how much a master's or license adds to the picture, the CPA guide lays out the steps.