MajorsMajor
Accounting: what you'd study and do
From public data · Every number cited
The short answer
Accounting is the study of how a business keeps track of its money: recording what comes in and goes out, turning it into reports people can trust, checking those reports and working out taxes. Students learn financial accounting (reports for people outside the business, such as owners and lenders), managerial accounting (numbers that help managers decide), tax, auditing and business law. It leads to jobs like accountant, auditor and budget analyst, and it's the usual road to the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license.
Try the job first
These lessons let you do a real task from the work. Those marked “Asks if you liked it” let you say so afterwards, and your answers collect in one place.
- Closing the books13 minFreeAsks if you liked it
- Follow a burger9 minFreeAsks if you liked it
- Margins: where each dollar goes14 minFree
- Controls and audits13 min(members-only)(included in your membership)Asks if you liked it
See what you've answered so far in Your major match.
What you'd study
Every college's program is a little different. These are the kinds of classes most of them have.
Business basics
Every college differs, but most accounting programs start with the same business classes: economics, statistics, finance, marketing, management and business law, plus a math class.
The accounting classes
Then they go deep: how to record and report a company's money, how managers use costs to decide, taxes, auditing (checking someone else's numbers), and the computer systems that hold it all. The US government's description of the major also lists budgeting, professional standards and ethics.
Learning by doing
Many programs ask for an internship, so you work with real books before you graduate.
Jobs it leads to
Median pay means half the people in the job earn more and half earn less. Pay also changes with the place, the employer and experience.
Accountants and auditors
A day at work
You make sure the numbers are right. You check records and reports for mistakes, match what the books say against the bank and the bills, record adjustments, pay invoices, and work out taxes and file returns. Auditors check other people's books. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) expects about 115,300 openings a year
. - Median pay
- $83,680
/year - Expected job growth
- 5%
The usual start
Usually a bachelor's degree in accounting or a related field such as business. Some employers prefer a master's degree. Accountants who file reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission must be CPAs.
Numbers from bls.gov ·2025
Budget analysts
A day at work
You help an organization plan its spending and stick to it. You read monthly spending reports, spot trends, check budget requests for mistakes and work out what a program will cost. It's a small field: BLS expects about 2,900 openings a year
, and growth of 2% from 2025 to 2035, which it calls slower than average. - Median pay
- $91,640
/year - Expected job growth
- 2%
The usual start
A bachelor's degree, in fields such as business, social science, psychology or mathematics. BLS says classes in accounting, economics and statistics help.
Numbers from bls.gov ·2025
Financial examiners
A day at work
You check that banks are safe and follow the law. You visit banks, read their balance sheets and loan files, meet their leaders, and write reports on how sound they are and what they must fix. BLS expects about 4,500 openings a year
and growth of 9% , which it calls much faster than average. - Median pay
- $94,160
/year - Expected job growth
- 9%
The usual start
A bachelor's degree, often in business, with classes in accounting or finance, then long on-the-job training.
Numbers from bls.gov ·2025
How to read the growth numbers
BLS expects all US jobs together to grow 3.5%
The pay on each card is the median: half of the workers earn more and half earn less. Pay changes a lot by place, company and experience.
Pay isn't everything
It's careful, detailed desk work. Among accountants and auditors who answered the work survey of O*NET, the US Labor Department's database of jobs, 69%
People who tend to enjoy it like getting things exactly right, finding the one number that doesn't match, and explaining what the numbers mean. Talking to people is part of it too: clients, managers and auditors. BLS lists being detail oriented, organized, analytical and good at explaining among the qualities that matter.
There are busy seasons. BLS says overtime is typical at certain times of year, such as quarterly audits and tax season. Budget analysts work extra hours around budget deadlines, which BLS says can be stressful.
The CPA license
You don't need a CPA license to be an accountant. You do need one to sign some kinds of reports: BLS says any accountant who files a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission must be a CPA.
Every state's license needs the CPA exam. The classes and years of work you need depend on the state, and several states changed their rules in 2025 and 2026. NASBA, the group of state boards, keeps a map of the states that have adopted the new paths; check it, and your state's board of accountancy, for the rule where you live.
After graduating
The New York Fed looked at people who majored in accounting, using Census survey data for 2024. Among full-time workers with only a bachelor's degree, the middle pay was $68,000
These are national middles: they say nothing about one college or one person, and pay is only one thing to weigh next to how the work feels day to day.
The College Scorecard, from the US Department of Education, shows what graduates of each college's accounting and related programs earned a few years later. Read it with its own warnings: it counts only students who got federal grants or loans, it leaves out graduates who didn't work that year or went back to school, and pay soon after college may not show pay later on. Results also vary a lot from college to college. You can look up any college at collegescorecard.ed.gov.
- Accounting, early career: $68,000
- All majors, early career: $58,000
- Accounting, mid-career: $97,000
- All majors, mid-career: $87,000
Dollars per year.
Median pay of full-time workers with only a bachelor's degree, 2024, New York Fed. Context, not a ranking.
Sources:newyorkfed.org ·2024
Licenses and rules
Some rules depend on where you live. Check the official page for your state.
In Ohio, since the start of 2026, someone with a bachelor's degree that includes the accounting classes the state board requires can get a CPA certificate after passing the CPA exam and two years of approved work experience. With a master's degree or higher, it's one year. Other states set their own rules, and several changed theirs in 2025 and 2026, so check your state's board of accountancy.
Check the official page(ohio.gov)(opens in a new tab)Last checked
NASBA's map shows which states have signed the new CPA licensure paths into law (current as of October 2026). Under the model law, each path needs the CPA exam plus a degree in accounting and one or two years of experience, depending on how much schooling you have.
Check the official page(nasba.org)(opens in a new tab)Last checked
You don't need this major to work here
You can keep books without this major: BLS says many bookkeeping clerks start with some college or a high school diploma and learn on the job, and people with an associate's degree may get junior accounting jobs and move up. Budget analysts and financial examiners come from many majors. To become a CPA, though, you'll need the accounting classes your state requires, whatever your major is called.
Related majors
Also related: Finance, Business administration, Economics, Information systems or business analytics.
Common questions
- Do I have to become a CPA?
No. Many accountants never do. A CPA license is required to sign some reports: BLS says any accountant who files a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission must be a CPA. Some people get it to open more doors or win clients.
- Do I need more than four years of college to become a CPA?
Not everywhere anymore. Some states, Ohio among them since 2026, now let you use a bachelor's degree plus more years of work. Rules differ by state, so check your state's board of accountancy.
- Is accounting just math?
It's more about care and judgment than hard math. You add, compare and use spreadsheets, and BLS lists math among the useful skills, next to being detail oriented, organized and good at explaining.
- What's busy season?
Times when the work piles up: tax season, and the weeks around quarterly audits. BLS says overtime is typical then.
- What's the difference between bookkeeping and accounting?
Bookkeepers record what comes in and goes out, and many start without a degree. Accountants check those records, turn them into reports and work out taxes, and usually have a bachelor's degree.
- Which college is best for accounting?
We don't rank colleges. The College Scorecard lets you look up any college's accounting program; read its warnings about who's counted.