How to Become an Accountant

Accounting is a highly rewarding career that involves working with numbers, problem solving, and financial decision making. In this article, we’ll walk through the steps it takes to build a career in accounting.

Please note: this is just a general guideline. The more specialized your accounting career becomes, the more requirements there will be.

Accountant vs. CPA
First, it would be helpful to discuss the differences between an accountant and a CPA.

What is a CPA?
CPA means, “Certified Public Accountant.” These professionals have been licensed by the state to perform public accounting. It takes more education, testing, and experience to become a CPA (more on that later!).

In most organizations, certified public accountants have more analytical and strategic duties than regular accountants. Budgeting, forecasting, financial strategic planning, and advising leadership are all things organizations assign to CPAs.

With the added responsibility, CPAs have much higher earning potential than regular accountants. CPAs also typically have more flexibility when searching for jobs, and often find it easier to land jobs in:

• Local, state, and federal government
• Corporate in-house
• Non-profit in-house
• Public accounting

What is a non-CPA Accountant?
Non-CPA accountants, on the other hand, have not passed the CPA exam, but likely have an educational background in accounting. A non-CPA accountant’s ceiling is usually lower than a CPA in earning potential, job duties, and leadership roles. An accountant’s day-to-day activities normally consist of:

• Day-to-day journal entries
• Reconciling accounts payable and receivable
• Reconciling bank statements

Though it may sound like being a CPA is the better choice, it’s not always so cut-and-dry. First, many CPAs spend years as accountants gaining experience and working towards passing the CPA exam, so it shouldn’t necessarily be viewed as a situation where you choose one path or the other.

Secondly, the requirements to become a CPA can be daunting, with the CPA exam being an especially difficult barrier. There will be more information about these requirements below, but some may find that being a non-CPA accountant is easier to attain and less stressful day-to-day.

Time Commitment
How long does it take to become a non-CPA accountant?
This is typically done with a four-year college degree.

How long does it take to become a CPA?
There are many factors that affect the timeline, but the average time it takes to become a certified public accountant is five to seven years. However, each state has their own requirements, so it is crucial that you understand your state’s process.

It should also be noted that the requirements for CPA licensure change over time, and currently (as of 2026), there is a push to reduce requirements. This is due to the current shortage of CPAs in the United States.

Here is an overview of the typical requirements to become a licensed CPA:

• Complete your educational requirements
• Pass the CPA exam
• Pass an ethics exam (not required in every state)
• Be at least 21 years of age (not required in every state)
• Most states require 1,600-2,000 hours of accounting work, supervised by a licensed CPA

Why it takes some people 5 years and others 7 years.
Some students are able to enroll in college and work in an accounting setting at the same time. This allows them to gain the necessary work experience while they are still in school. However, some states require prospective CPAs to finish their degree and pass the CPA exam before they can tackle their work experience requirement.

Secondly, the number of educational hours required is in flux across the nation. Some states require an additional year of study after an undergraduate degree, some do not. The next section will examine this in detail.

Finally, note that studying for the CPA exam is often done while either going to school or working, and juggling these three tasks (school, work, and studying for the CPA exam) is not easy. So, while it’s technically possible to get your CPA license in 5 years in a lot of states, it may not be advisable to take on such a challenging schedule.

Educational Requirements to be a CPA
In the very recent past, most states had an educational requirement of 150 hours. An undergraduate degree is 120 hours, and the extra 30 hours amounted to an additional year of study in a postgraduate collegiate program. That means it took 5 years’ worth of coursework plus the time it takes to study and pass the CPA exam to become an accountant.

It should be noted that some states required the full 150 hours to be completed before candidates were allowed to take the CPA exam, while other states required 120 hours before being allowed to take the exam, but the full 150 hours had to be completed before licensure was approved.

Currently, many states are implementing legislation to reduce the educational requirement to 120 hours.

Whether your state requires 120 or 150 credit hours, most have the stipulation that a predetermined amount of hours must be spent on business and accounting courses.

• 24-30 hours of upper-level accounting coursework
• 24 hours of business coursework

Lastly, given that educational requirements for licensure are experiencing change across the U.S., it is crucial to understand your individual state’s requirements.

Passing the CPA Exam
If you’re just starting your CPA journey, you may not know that this exam is hard! In January 2024, it was expanded to include 3 sections:

• Auditing and Attestation (AUD)
• Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR)
• Taxation and Regulation (REG)

The rule of thumb is 150 hours of study for each section. If the number of hours is hard to visualize, the other rule of thumb is to study for 6 months to a year before taking the CPA exam.

Studying for this exam is obviously a massive undertaking that could add a year to your timeline! That’s why most aspiring CPAs study for the exam while they are still in school or working. It is certainly a burden to study for an exam while working or going to school full time, but it is a common sacrifice prospective CPAs make, so it is important to prepare yourself for it.

The Ethics Exam
Most states, but not all, require applicants to pass an ethics exam before they are granted CPA licensure. The standard ethics exam is the AICPA Professional Ethics Comprehensive Course, and the standard passing score is 90%. Some states do administer their own test instead of the AICPA one.

Notable states that do not require an ethics exam are Florida, New York, Indiana, and Hawaii. However, this is not a comprehensive list, and state requirements are subject to change, so always check your state’s CPA licensure requirements.