Accountants and auditors
SOC Code: 13-2011
Accountants and auditors carries a 87% AI exposure score (Very High automation risk), with a median annual wage of $81,680 and +4.6% projected employment growth from 2024 to 2034 (BLS), affecting approximately 1,579,800 workers. Full task breakdown, skills, and employer data are below.
Proportion of tasks susceptible to AI automation (O*NET analysis)
At 87% AI exposure, Accountants and auditors sits 50 points above the 37.2% average across 832 U.S. occupations - among the most AI-exposed occupations tracked. It is one of just 21 occupations above the 70% high-exposure line.
Career outlook score
53/100
Accountants and auditors, weighted across 3 of 3 tracked dimensions
A weighted composite of median wage, projected growth, and AI-automation security (inverted exposure), each benchmarked against every other tracked occupation. It describes this occupation's standing across those three dimensions, not a guarantee of future outcomes.
- Median wage B+ $81,680
Annual median wage, percentile rank vs all tracked occupations
- Projected growth B +4.6%
Projected employment change, 2024-2034, BLS Employment Projections
- AI exposure (inverted) F 87% exposure
Lower O*NET task-automability scores lower risk; this dimension scores security, not exposure
Home health and personal care aides is #1 of 832 occupations by employment (4.3M, AI exposure rank #392 at 35%) vs. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks #1 by AI task exposure (95%, employment rank #17 at 1.6M).
Automation-risk inventory
Exclusive cut of 832 occupations by PlainWorkforce automation-risk band. Orthogonal to the continuous AI-exposure distribution chart below and to this occupation's single risk badge, this is the corpus band mix, with Accountants and auditors in the Very High band.
Credential × growth standing
Bachelor's band with mid-pack BLS pace
Accountants and auditors shares the Bachelor's gate with 178 peer occupations and lands in Average (378 of 832). Neither the rarest nor the most crowded growth shelf - use wage and AI desks on this page for the differentiator.
Where Accountants and auditors sits among all occupations
AI-exposure score distribution across 832 U.S. occupations (O*NET task analysis). This occupation is marked in rose.
Where Accountants and auditors sits by AI exposure
AI-exposure score distribution across U.S. occupations (O*NET task analysis)
87% Higher than most higher than 99%+ of 832 occupations
Occupations, banded by AI-exposure score
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more occupations. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source O*NET task data (U.S. Department of Labor) · BLS 2024–2034
Source: O*NET task data (U.S. Department of Labor); AI-exposure scores are PlainWorkforce's analysis. As of BLS 2024–2034.
Accountants and auditors vs. its occupational neighbors
AI exposure (horizontal) vs projected 2024–2034 growth (vertical) for occupations in the same SOC group. Accountants and auditors is marked in rose; the top-left corner is the most future-proof.
Source: BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 (growth) and O*NET (AI-exposure analysis by PlainWorkforce).
Employment Projections
Where This Score Comes From
Accountants and auditors's Very High automation-risk tier is computed from O*NET Database 30.0 task-level analysis, where each documented task the occupation performs is evaluated against current generative AI, robotic process automation, and machine-learning capabilities. A score above 70% signals that the majority of core duties are already technically automatable, workers in these roles face the steepest near-term displacement pressure.
The employment, wage, and education figures above come from a second, separate federal source: BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034, matched to the O*NET task data by Standard Occupational Classification (SOC 13-2011) code, with the wage figure cross-validated against the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 survey. BLS figures are presented exactly as published, with no adjustment on our part; the SOC-code match is what lets Accountants and auditors be compared directly against every other tracked occupation on the same basis, not just roles that happen to share a job title.
For career planners, this profile should be read alongside the task, skill, and knowledge breakdowns below and the list of employers whose workforce composition includes Accountants and auditors. Adjacent occupations shown further down offer lateral moves that preserve industry knowledge while potentially reducing exposure.
Education & Entry Requirements
Top Tasks (O*NET)
- 1. Prepare detailed reports on audit findings.
- 2. Report to management about asset utilization and audit results, and recommend changes in operations and financial activities.
- 3. Collect and analyze data to detect deficient controls, duplicated effort, extravagance, fraud, or non-compliance with laws, regulations, and management policies.
- 4. Inspect account books and accounting systems for efficiency, effectiveness, and use of accepted accounting procedures to record transactions.
- 5. Supervise auditing of establishments, and determine scope of investigation required.
- 6. Confer with company officials about financial and regulatory matters.
- 7. Examine and evaluate financial and information systems, recommending controls to ensure system reliability and data integrity.
- 8. Inspect cash on hand, notes receivable and payable, negotiable securities, and canceled checks to confirm records are accurate.
- 9. Examine records and interview workers to ensure recording of transactions and compliance with laws and regulations.
- 10. Prepare, examine, or analyze accounting records, financial statements, or other financial reports to assess accuracy, completeness, and conformance to reporting and procedural standards.
Key Skills Required
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Writing
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Monitoring
- Complex Problem Solving
- Mathematics
- Coordination
Knowledge Areas
- Economics and Accounting
- English Language
- Mathematics
- Administration and Management
- Customer and Personal Service
- Law and Government
- Administrative
- Computers and Electronics
- Personnel and Human Resources
- Education and Training
Frequently Asked Questions
Will AI replace Accountants and auditors?
Accountants and auditors has an AI exposure score of 87%, indicating a very high level of automation risk. Many tasks in this role involve routine data processing and pattern recognition that current AI systems can perform.
What is the job outlook for Accountants and auditors?
According to BLS Employment Projections 2024-2034, Accountants and auditors is projected to grow by 4.6% over the decade. Current employment stands at approximately 1,579,800 workers.
What skills are needed for Accountants and auditors?
Key skills for Accountants and auditors include Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Speaking, and others. Typical entry-level education is Bachelor's degree.
How much do Accountants and auditors earn?
The median annual wage for Accountants and auditors is $81,680, according to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2024). Actual earnings vary by location, experience, industry, and employer. The BLS publishes detailed wage percentiles by region in its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program.
What education is required for Accountants and auditors?
The typical entry-level education for Accountants and auditors is Bachelor's degree. Employers generally expect None of related work experience. On-the-job training typically involves None. Requirements can vary by employer and specialization.
Which companies employ Accountants and auditors?
Accountants and auditors roles exist across many industries and employers. Workforce composition is estimated from BLS industry-occupation employment distributions matched to SEC-registered public companies.
AI Exposure Rating
Very High automation risk based on 10 analyzed tasks. A majority of tasks in this occupation are susceptible to AI automation.
Nationwide occupations with similar workforce profiles
Two data-derived peer sets for Accountants and auditors: AI-exposure neighbors and BLS 2034 growth neighbors (distinct comparison neighborhoods, cross-occupation).
Similar AI exposure score
Nearest O*NET task-automability scores nationwide (87% here).
- Billing and posting clerks · AI exposure 88%
- Office clerks, general · AI exposure 84%
- Executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants · AI exposure 83%
- Financial managers · AI exposure 81%
Similar projected growth (2024–2034)
Nearest BLS employment change rates nationwide (+4.6% here).
- Administrative services managers · growth +4.6%
- Community and social service specialists, all other · growth +4.6%
- Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers · growth +4.6%
- Fence erectors · growth +4.6%
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on published BLS + O*NET metrics among occupations with ≥10,000 workers in 2024; corpus ranks above sort the full tracked set.
Related Occupations
What to do with this
Use Accountants and auditors' numbers above to compare, not just read in isolation.
- Compare Accountants and auditors side by side against another occupation on wage, growth, and AI exposure. Workforce comparison tool
- Understand how the AI exposure score above is actually calculated before treating it as a verdict. Reading AI exposure scores
- See the full ranked list of occupations with the lowest automation exposure nationwide. Safest occupations from AI
AI exposure scores estimate task automatability from O*NET data; they are not a certainty of job loss, and BLS growth projections are estimates, not guarantees.
Data sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2024–2034 and O*NET Database 30.0. Employment figures are rounded. Wage data from BLS Occupational Employment Statistics (OES).