How To Become An Accounting Consultant: What It Is and Career Path

What is an accounting consultant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Thomas King

As an Accounting Consultant Administrative, you will provide clients, companies, and individuals with services that help them analyze their financial information. Your information allows clients to make important business decisions and analyze their financial information. You will need a strong background in finance, regulations, and accounting procedures to qualify for this role. Opportunities in this field exist in professional services firms. You can also offer consulting services in your own business.

If you would like to be an Accounting Consultant Administrative, you will need a bachelor's degree in finance or accounting plus knowledge of accounting principles, regulations, and financial reporting.

Many companies will prefer a graduate degree plus a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) credential. You will also need verified accounting work experience. You can make an average yearly salary of $40,000 to $116,000.

What general advice would you give to an accounting consultant?

Thomas King

Department Chair, Director, Master of Accountancy Program, Professor, Accountancy, Case Western Reserve University

Be dependable. Reputations form quickly after people join organizations. A newly hired professional who demonstrates the ability to get things done rapidly and accurately will soon become a "go-to" person when new opportunities arise. Such exposure early in a career is invaluable.

ScoreAccounting ConsultantUS Average

Salary

4.9

Avg. Salary $62,830

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.4

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.46%

Asian 13.36%

Black or African American 8.46%

Hispanic or Latino 10.79%

Unknown 3.95%

White 62.98%

Gender

female 50.66%

male 49.34%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

5.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.7

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an accounting consultant

Explore accounting consultant education requirements

Most common accounting consultant degrees

Bachelor's

72.6 %

Master's

15.8 %

Associate

8.7 %

Start to develop specific accounting consultant skills

Skills	Percentages
CPA	14.83%
GAAP	11.44%
Reconciliations	7.98%
ERP	4.19%
Shared Services	4.07%

Complete relevant accounting consultant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New accounting consultants learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an accounting consultant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real accounting consultant resumes.

Gain additional accounting consultant certifications

Accounting consultant certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific accounting consultant certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for accounting consultants include Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Management Accountant (CMA).

More About Certifications

Research accounting consultant duties and responsibilities

Work independently on line of business projects to automate derivative processes and system enhancement testing.
Share oversight for recruitment, human resources and advertising.
Provide support to accounts payable department in tagging and recording of fix assets during an ERP system transition
Work with governance and internal audit team ensuring SOX compliance during monthly & quarterly reviews as well as the annual audit.

Prepare your accounting consultant resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your accounting consultant resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an accounting consultant resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable accounting consultant resume templates

Build a professional accounting consultant resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your accounting consultant resume.