Employment Outlook
Accountant
Average wage for
Employment Levels
Around 199,200 people are currently employed as Accountants in Australia. This is set to increase slightly to 207,200 people by 2023, according to the Department of Employment.
Employment by State
39.3% of all Accountants are employed in NSW. The area with the lowest number of Accountants is NT, with only 0.6%.
Gender Split
This is an evenly split industry with 51.8% of Accountants being male and 48.2% female.
Age Brackets
The most popular age for people working as Accountants is 25-34 years old, with 31.9%. A small percentage (4.6%) of people get into this career path older, aged 65 and over. There is also a number of people who enjoy a career as Accountants, with 6.2% aged 20-24.
Hours Worked
Accountants work an average of 39.6 hours a week which is 0.4 hours lower than the average for all occupations.
Education Level
The majority of Accountants have a Bachelor Degree qualification (56.9%) or are at a Post Graduate/ Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate level (25.2%). 2.7% of people have a Cert III or IV, whilst 6.4% have a qualification which is Year 12 or lower.
Accountant Duties & Tasks
Assisting in formulating budgetary and accounting policies
Preparing financial statements for presentation to boards of directors, management, shareholders, and governing and statutory bodies
Conducting financial investigations, preparing reports, undertaking audits and advising on matters such as the purchase and sale of businesses, mergers, capital financing, suspected fraud, insolvency and taxation
Examining operating costs and organisations' income and expenditure
Providing assurance about the accuracy of information contained in financial reports and their compliance with statutory requirements
Providing financial and taxation advice on business structures, plans and operations
Preparing taxation returns for individuals and organisations
Liaising with financial institutions and brokers to establish funds management arrangements
Introducing and maintaining accounting systems, and advising on the selection and application of computer-based accounting systems
Maintaining internal control systems
May appraise cash flow and financial risk of capital investment projects
*The information provided on this page is from the Department of Employment’s Job Outlook website. All salary ranges are from Payscale. Where jobs are not exact matches, job areas have been used. This information is to be used as a guide only.
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