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Role hub · Accountants and Auditors

Accountant: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.

The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.

Maid DizdarevicCareer coach · 8x LinkedIn Top Voice
Updated Oct 24, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
Pay ladder · select a percentile
Median percentile pay

Half of accountants earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$83,680
Hourly
$40.23
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Accountants examine, analyze, and interpret accounting records to prepare financial statements, give advice, or audit and evaluate statements prepared by others. The median pay is $83,680 a year ($40.23 an hour) (BLS, May 2025).

Median pay
$83,680
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
1,449,500
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 4 of 5
considerable preparation

Data Government data groups this job as Accountants and Auditors (O*NET-SOC 13-2011.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.

Explore the role

Every page for Accountants

SalaryAccountant salary

Pay by percentile, state and metro, with a negotiation script.

Open →ResumeAccountant resume

Keywords, bullet formulas and the skills to prove.

Open →Interview questionsAccountant interview questions

Questions with what they test, plus practice mode.

Open →Career changeAccountant career change

Where these skills transfer, with skill match and pay change.

Open →Free toolCheck your resume

Parsed text, evidence per bullet, fixes first.

Open →
The work

What accountants do day to day

Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).

  1. Prepare, examine, or analyze accounting records, financial statements, or other financial reports to assess accuracy, completeness, and conformance to reporting and procedural standards.
  2. Process invoices for payment.
  3. Review accounts for discrepancies and reconcile differences.
  4. Compute taxes owed and prepare tax returns, ensuring compliance with payment, reporting, or other tax requirements.
  5. Prepare adjusting journal entries.
  6. Inspect account books and accounting systems for efficiency, effectiveness, and use of accepted accounting procedures to record transactions.
  7. Prepare detailed reports on audit findings.
  8. Collect and analyze data to detect deficient controls, duplicated effort, extravagance, fraud, or non-compliance with laws, regulations, and management policies.
Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.

Reading ComprehensioncoreComplex Problem SolvingcoreJudgment and Decision MakingcoreActive ListeningWritingCritical ThinkingSpeakingMathematicsSocial Perceptiveness

Knowledge areas: Economics and Accounting, English Language, Mathematics, Law and Government, Administration and Management, Customer and Personal Service.

Tools and technology

Software accountants use

Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.

  • Epic SystemsMedical softwareHot technology
  • IBM SPSS StatisticsAnalytical or scientific softwareHot technology
  • Intuit TurboTaxTax preparation softwareHot technology
  • MEDITECH softwareMedical softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft VisioProcess mapping and design softwareHot technology
  • SASAnalytical or scientific softwareHot technology
  • Teradata DatabaseData base management system softwareHot technology
  • 1099 ProsSoftwareTax preparation software
  • ACCUCertCompliance software
  • ACL Audit ExchangeAnalytical or scientific software
  • ACL Business Assurance AnalyticsFinancial analysis software
  • ADP Super Report WriterData base reporting software

Also called: Auditor, Accounting Officer, Audit Partner, Cost Accountant, CPA (Certified Public Accountant).

Method

How this page is built

Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the correlation between the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level, subtract the average across all occupations, and correlate the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 or below means unrelated. Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.

What this page can't tell you
  • How a specific employer defines the job.
  • Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
Sources
  1. O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).