Careers and Employment Outlook

The field of accounting offers stimulating and challenging work that is constantly evolving; all businesses and organizations require accounting services. You can work as a bookkeeping, accounting or auditing clerk, or in other accounting related positions.

Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks held about 1.7 million jobs in 2019. The industries that employed the most bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks were professional, scientific, and technical services; retail trade; wholesale trade; healthcare and social assistance; and finance and insurance. The professional, scientific, and technical services industry includes the accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll services sub-industry.

Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks work in offices. Bookkeepers who work for multiple firms may visit their clients' places of business. They often work alone, but sometimes they collaborate with accountants, managers, and auditing clerks from other departments.

Because bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks make up a large occupation, there will be a large number of job openings from workers leaving the occupation. Thus, opportunities to enter the occupation should be plentiful. The median annual wage for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks was $41,230 in May 2019. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $25,870, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $62,410.

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/office-and-administrative-support/bookkeeping-accounting-and-auditing-clerks.htm (visited March 16, 2021).