What is standard beginning wage for a Certified Public Accountant?
Robert Half publishes a salary survey that breaks down accounting wages by specialty and geography. A starting accountant that will be sitting for the exam will make somewhere around $45 – $50K; once the exam is passed (which is by no means certain) it goes up from there depending on the firm, the capabilities of the candidate, etc. Once the candidate has passed the exam there are experience requirements (an apprenticeship) that vary from state to state, most including around two years of audit and attest function. The actual licensing is dependent on the candidate’s employer making a recommendation to the state licensing authority that states that the candidate is capable of attesting to the accuracy and completeness of financial statements. Once the experience requirement is met a CPA should be in the area of $65 – $70K, again depending on a number of things, including their own productivity at this point. There are many paths that a CPA can take from there, and those that remain in
