How to Become an Accountant

By Hollis Barnett, Principal Job-Search Strategist · Updated June 27, 2026 · ~11 min read

What an accountant actually does

An accountant makes an organization's money legible and trustworthy. Where a bookkeeper records transactions, an accountant interprets them — turning a stream of entries into financial statements, tax filings, and analysis that owners, executives, lenders, and regulators can rely on. The common thread across every accounting job is accuracy under rules: you're applying a defined framework (in the U.S., Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or GAAP) and a deadline to produce numbers other people will make decisions and sign their names on.

Day to day the work clusters into a few recurring activities. You record and reconcile — making sure the ledger matches the bank, the subledgers tie to the general ledger, and nothing is double-counted or missing. You close the books on a monthly, quarterly, and annual cycle, a deadline-driven sprint that produces the period's financial statements. You report and analyze — preparing the income statement, balance sheet, and cash-flow statement, then explaining what moved and why. And depending on your specialty you handle tax (preparing returns and planning to minimize liability legally) or audit and assurance (testing whether another organization's statements are fairly stated).

It helps to know the major branches before you pick a path. Public accounting firms serve many clients and split into audit, tax, and advisory; it's the classic CPA training ground. Corporate or industry accounting means working inside one company's finance team — general ledger, financial reporting, payroll, or cost accounting. Government and nonprofit accounting follows its own fund-accounting rules. And specialties like forensic accounting, tax, and internal audit branch off from there. Most people start in public accounting or as a corporate staff accountant and specialize once they see which work they like.

Is accounting right for you?

Before you commit to the degree, gut-check the fit. Accounting rewards people who are genuinely conscientious — a transposed digit or a wrong account can ripple into a misstated report — and who can stay calm and organized through deadline-heavy stretches like month-end close and, in tax or audit, the brutal but finite "busy season." You don't need to love math; you need to like order, precision, and the satisfaction of things balancing exactly.

It's a strong fit if you're detail-oriented, trustworthy with sensitive information, and comfortable following defined rules while still thinking critically about edge cases. It tends to be a weaker fit if you crave constant novelty or dislike documentation and process. One underappreciated point: accounting is unusually stable and portable — every organization in every industry and region needs accountants, which makes it one of the more recession-resistant and geographically flexible professional careers. For people who value security and a clear ladder, that's a real draw.

Education: the degree you need

Unlike some careers where you can be fully self-taught, accounting has a clear educational on-ramp. A bachelor's degree in accounting is the standard requirement, and a degree in finance, business administration, or economics with enough accounting coursework can also qualify you for many roles.

What the degree covers

An accounting program builds the foundation employers expect: financial accounting (the external-reporting framework), managerial/cost accounting (internal decision-making), taxation, auditing, accounting information systems, and business law, on top of core business and economics. This coursework isn't just a checkbox — it's also the prerequisite knowledge tested on the CPA Exam, so taking it seriously pays off twice.

Associate degrees and adjacent roles

You don't always have to start with a four-year degree. An associate degree or accounting certificate can get you into bookkeeper, accounting clerk, or accounts-payable/receivable roles, which are legitimate entry points and a way to earn while you finish a bachelor's. But to hold the title "accountant" at most employers — and certainly to pursue the CPA — a bachelor's is the practical baseline.

The 150-hour rule & the CPA

Here's the single most important thing to understand early, because it surprises people who plan poorly: in most U.S. states, becoming a licensed CPA (Certified Public Accountant) requires 150 semester hours of college credit — roughly 30 hours beyond a standard 120-hour bachelor's degree. A bachelor's alone is enough to start working as an accountant, but not enough, on its own, to be licensed in most jurisdictions.

There are three common ways to reach 150 hours, and the smart move is to choose one before you graduate:

• A master's in accounting (MAcc) or taxation. The cleanest route — it satisfies the credit requirement and deepens your knowledge, and many firms favor or even sponsor it.
• An integrated five-year program. Some schools offer a combined bachelor's-plus-master's or a five-year accounting track designed to hit 150 hours directly.
• Extra undergraduate coursework. Additional credits — a double major, a minor, or simply more classes — can get you there without a separate graduate degree.

Becoming a CPA then has three pillars, often summarized as the "three E's": Education (the 150 hours, with specific accounting and business credits), Examination (passing the Uniform CPA Examination), and Experience (typically one to two years of qualifying work, often under a licensed CPA, set by your state board). Requirements vary by state, so always check your specific state board's rules.

The CPA Exam itself is a rigorous, multi-part exam. Under its current structure it has three core sections every candidate takes plus one of several discipline sections you choose — covering financial accounting and reporting, auditing and attestation, taxation and regulation, and a chosen specialty. Candidates usually study several hundred hours and pass the sections over a window of months. It's hard, the pass rates reflect that, and clearing it is precisely why the credential carries weight.

The core skills to build

The degree gives you the theory; these are the practical skills that make you employable and promotable. Build them deliberately alongside your coursework.

• Accounting principles & the accounting cycle. A genuine command of GAAP, double-entry bookkeeping, debits and credits, accruals, and how a transaction flows from journal entry to financial statement. This is the bedrock everything else sits on.
• Financial statements. Reading and preparing the income statement, balance sheet, and cash-flow statement, and understanding how they connect. You should be able to explain what a number means, not just where it goes.
• Excel and spreadsheets. Still the universal tool of accounting. Master formulas, lookups, pivot tables, and clean, auditable models — fluency here is genuinely valued and a frequent screening point.
• Accounting & ERP software. Hands-on familiarity with systems like QuickBooks (small business), NetSuite, SAP, or Oracle (mid-market and enterprise). You won't know the exact platform an employer uses, but demonstrating you can learn one fast matters.
• Reconciliation & the close. Tying accounts to source data, finding and resolving discrepancies, and working a structured month-end checklist under a deadline.
• Tax & audit fundamentals. Even outside a tax or audit specialty, knowing the basics of how returns are prepared and how statements are tested makes you more versatile and credible.
• Analytical reasoning & attention to detail. Spotting what's off, asking why a variance exists, and being meticulous because other people rely on your numbers being right.
• Communication & ethics. Explaining financial results to non-accountants, and exercising the integrity and professional skepticism the field is built on. Ethics isn't a soft extra here — it's load-bearing.

Certifications & licenses

Accounting is one of the few business fields with a true license at its center. Here's how the credentials stack up and which to target.

• CPA — Certified Public Accountant. The gold standard. A state-issued license (not just a certificate) required to sign certain audit opinions and public-company filings, and broadly expected on the senior public-accounting and controller track. If you'll do public accounting or want the widest options and the strongest pay trajectory, the CPA is the credential to pursue. It demands the 150 hours, the CPA Exam, and qualifying experience.
• CMA — Certified Management Accountant. Focused on corporate finance, cost management, and strategic decision support. A strong fit if you see yourself inside a company's finance team rather than in public accounting or audit.
• EA — Enrolled Agent. A federal credential from the IRS centered on taxation, with full rights to represent taxpayers. The natural certification for a tax specialty, and notably it doesn't require a specific degree.
• CIA — Certified Internal Auditor. The leading credential for internal audit, governance, and controls work.

You don't need to collect these. Pick the one that maps to where you want to work: CPA for public accounting and the broadest career optionality, CMA for corporate/management accounting, EA for tax, CIA for internal audit. For most new accountants aiming high, the CPA is the single highest-leverage investment.

The step-by-step path

Here's the whole journey as an ordered sequence. The early steps overlap with school, and planning ahead — especially around the 150 hours — saves you the most pain later.

A realistic timeline

Here's an honest sequence for someone starting from a fresh bachelor's. The exact pace depends on whether and how fast you pursue the CPA.

• Years 1–4The degree. Earn your bachelor's in accounting, take the core financial, managerial, tax, and audit coursework, and complete at least one internship — ideally one that converts to a full-time offer.
• Year 4–5Reach 150 hours. If pursuing the CPA, complete a master's, a fifth year, or extra coursework to hit the credit requirement. Many start a staff role here in parallel.
• Months 0–12 on the jobFirst role & CPA Exam. Start as a staff accountant or associate, get reps on real closes and engagements, and begin studying for and sitting the CPA Exam sections.
• Years 1–2 on the jobLicense & specialize. Finish the CPA Exam, complete the experience requirement, get licensed, and start moving toward a senior role and a chosen specialty.

Plan on roughly four years to start working and one to two more to be a licensed CPA. The technical timeline is well-marked; the variable that quietly decides outcomes is how well you run the job search — which firm and which team you land, not just whether you pass the exam.

How to break in

Accounting is genuinely one of the friendlier professions to enter, because firms — especially public accounting firms — recruit heavily at the entry level on a predictable annual cycle. The move is to convert that demand into the right first role.

• Treat the internship as the main door. A summer or busy-season internship during your degree is the most reliable on-ramp in the field, and a strong one frequently turns into a full-time offer before you even graduate. Pursue it early.
• Recruit on the cycle. Public accounting firms hire students well ahead of graduation through campus recruiting and on-campus interviews. Know the calendar and engage early, because the best entry roles fill far in advance.
• Use the right titles. Entry roles are titled "Staff Accountant," "Audit Associate," "Tax Associate," "Accounting Clerk," or "Junior Accountant." Searching the right terms surfaces openings a generic "accountant" search misses.
• Lean on adjacent roles if needed. Bookkeeper, accounts-payable/receivable, and accounting-clerk jobs are valid entry points that build real experience while you finish a degree or the CPA.
• Tailor every application and pursue referrals. A résumé rewritten to mirror each posting's language clears applicant-tracking systems, and a referral inside a firm turns a cold application into a real conversation. Getting your name to the hiring manager is often the actual difference between an interview and silence.

If you want the matching templates, our Accountant resume example shows exactly how to present your degree, coursework, software, and CPA progress, and the Accountant interview questions guide rehearses you for the technical, behavioral, and ethics rounds.

Salary & job outlook

Accounting pays solidly and the demand is durable. Compensation in the United States varies by location, industry, firm size, and credentials — a CPA reliably lifts pay — but the broad ranges look like this:

Figures run higher in major metros, at large public-accounting firms, and once you hold a CPA — treat these as ranges, not promises. On outlook, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects steady growth for accountants and auditors, with hundreds of thousands of openings each year as the profession both grows and replaces retirements. A well-documented shortage of new CPAs has made the credential especially valuable right now. Automation is absorbing more of the routine data entry, which doesn't shrink the field so much as shift it: the value moves toward accountants who can analyze, advise, and exercise judgment rather than just record. The ladder is unusually clear — staff → senior → manager → controller or director, or in public accounting all the way to partner.

A day in the life

No two days are identical, and the rhythm depends heavily on your specialty and the calendar. A corporate staff accountant's day often starts by reconciling accounts and reviewing the prior day's transactions, flagging anything that doesn't tie out. Around month-end the pace sharpens into the close: posting journal entries, reconciling subledgers to the general ledger, and racing a checklist to produce the period's financial statements on schedule.

Midday might mean preparing a portion of the financial statements, investigating a variance a manager asked about, or supporting a request from an auditor. In public accounting, a day looks different again — an audit associate is out testing a client's controls and balances, while a tax associate is preparing returns, and both feel the intensity of "busy season" in the late-winter and spring stretch. The afternoon usually tilts toward communication: explaining a number to a non-financial manager, documenting your work so it's auditable, and coordinating with colleagues to keep a close or an engagement on track. The throughline across every flavor of the job is the same — your output is numbers other people trust enough to act on.

Frequently asked questions

Earn the credentials yourself — then let a strategist run the search

Everything above is yours to earn — the degree, the 150 hours, the CPA. But here's the part the guides skip: once you have the credentials, the hardest stretch is getting the right firm and team to actually see you, on the right recruiting cycle, ahead of everyone else applying for the same associate seats. Most applications die in an applicant-tracking system before a human reads them. That's the gap Marqee closes. We're a Career Concierge — a real person who runs your job search for you. Your strategist finds the accounting roles that fit, tailors your résumé to each posting, reaches the hiring manager directly, and finds a referral inside the firm so you skip the pile. Use the free Career Path tool and the free Backstage tools to get ready; when you want it done for you, a strategist takes it from there.

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