Overview of this occupation
Accountants provide services relating to financial reporting, taxation, auditing, insolvency, accounting information systems, budgeting, cost management, planning and decision-making by organisations and individuals; and provide advice on associated compliance and performance requirements to ensure statutory and strategic governance.
What they do:
- Analyse business or financial data and information
- Calculate tax information
- Develop business or financial information systems
- Develop financial or business plans
- Direct or supervise staff
- Examine financial records or processes to monitor operations, identify improvements, or detect issues
- Prepare financial documents or reports
- Reconcile records of sales or other financial transactions
- Report information to managers or other staff
What technology tools they use:
- Accounting and financial management systems
- Business intelligence and decision support software
- Business process management and automation systems
- Financial analysis software
- Inventory management software
What their interests are:
- Corporate – they enjoy organising, working indoors, understanding numbers and data.
- Scientific – they enjoy investigating, experimenting, discovering new ideas and analysing data.
Source: Australian Skills Classification, job and Skills Australia, Commonwealth of Australia. Used under Creative Commons BY 4.0 licence and Jobs and Skills Australia, ABS Census 2016, Customised Report.
Quick facts
Accountants
All employees nationwide 1
The number of people employed in an occupations as their main job across all Australian states.
Projected growth 2
The projected increase in employment in Australia from May 2023 to May 2028.
Working in NSW 3
The distribution of people employed in an occupation in NSW.
Median weekly earnings before tax 4
Earnings are before tax and include amounts salary sacrificed.
Median age of all workers 5
This shows the median age of all workers in this occupation.
Part-time workers 6
Those who usually work less than 35 hours per week.
See footnotes for source details and additional information.
Skills and knowledge
What are they good at?
This table lists skills and knowledge categories according to how relevant they are for this occupation.
High expertise | Intermediate |
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Source: Australian Skills Classification, Jobs and Skills Australia, Commonwealth of Australia. Used under Creative Commons BY 4.0 licence.
Education and qualifications
Accountants – Skill level 1
Occupation at Skill Level 1 have a level of skill commensurate with a bachelor's degree of higher qualification .
At least five years of relevant experience may substitute for the formal qualification
Source: Conceptual basis of ANZSCO, ABS Survey, Release Nov 2021.
Qualifications in this workforce
This table shows the distribution of employment by highest qualification completed (in any field of study).7
Year 12 and below
Certificate III or IV
Diploma or Advanced Diploma
Bachelor`s degree
Post-graduate
Source: ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on place of usual residence.
Use this as a guide for understanding what qualifications are the most common in this field. For personalised support on your education journey, talk to a Careers NSW specialist.
Talk to one of our specialists
At any career stage you can talk with a specialist from Careers NSW about your goals and how you can achieve them.