Accountant: What is the cost of hiring?

Why hire an accountant?

Hiring an accountant can benefit your business at nearly any stage of growth. A skilled accountant’s expertise can save time, improve accuracy and reduce financial risk by ensuring that reporting complies with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

Contributions of a great accountant:

• Oversee your budget, cash flow, payroll processes, vendor payments and other daily financial tasks
• Develop realistic financial projections to help you make better business decisions
• Improve current systems and financial procedures to determine areas for growth

“When I’m advising business owners, I always remind them that an accountant isn’t just a number-cruncher—they’re a financial partner. The right accountant can help you spot cash-flow gaps, manage growth and prepare for challenges before they happen.”

—Ashlee Malet, MBA in accounting

Defining your hiring needs for an accountant

Before writing an accountant job description or interviewing candidates, it’s important to decide if you need a full-time, freelance or part-time employee, depending on budget and scope of work. When you have defined your scope, you can determine if hiring an accountant is the right fit. Other related roles to evaluate include bookkeeper, accounting clerk or controller.

What are the types of accountants?

When hiring an accountant, it’s important to understand the specific kind of accountant you require for your business. Here are some of the most common types and levels of accountants to help you find one that meets your needs:

• Accounting clerk: Performs data entry tasks to prepare financial records for accountants to analyze.
• Auditor: Reviews financial statements to ensure compliance with relevant regulations.
• Cost accountant: Helps improve financial efficiency by providing data-driven advice to company leadership.
• Senior accountant: Assumes a leadership role with more complex accounting tasks to review financial data to make forecasting decisions.
• Staff accountant: A mid-level accountant who is typically employed full-time at a company to take care of accounting tasks.
• Certified Public Accountant (CPA): Obtains a state licensure and works for either an accounting firm or a CPA firm with multiple clients.

When writing your accountant job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on Accountant jobs, according to Indeed data:

• Accounting
• Accountant
• Bookkeeper
• Accounts payable
• Staff accountant
• Finance and accounting
• Payroll
• Accounts receivable
• Bookkeeping
• Accounts payable clerk

Want more hiring insights for your Accountant? Sign in or create your free Indeed account.

Where to find accountants

Accountants can be sourced through job boards, professional associations and referral networks. Partnering with universities, business schools or professional platforms like Indeed can help expand your reach.

To find the right accountant for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Join a professional accounting association. There are many national and local accounting associations you can tap into to find candidates, such as the American Institute of CPAs or the National Society of Accountants.
• Ask for referrals. Reach out to professional contacts, friends, family members and current employees to ask whether they know or have worked with accountants they would recommend.
• Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit accounting and finance candidates who meet your education requirements.
• Post your job online. Try posting your accountant job on Indeed to find and attract quality accountant candidates.

Skills to look for in an accountant

A successful accountant candidate will typically have the following skills and competencies, which may be gained through a variety of experiences, training or education:

• Strong knowledge of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)
• Ability to explain complex financial information clearly to executives, auditors or clients
• Proficiency with accounting software such as QuickBooks, SAP or Xero
• Understanding of confidentiality, professional codes of conduct and ethical practices to protect sensitive financial data
• Analytical skills to identify trends, inefficiencies or risks using data to provide actionable insights
• Written communication skills to prepare and interpret balance sheets, income statements and cash flow reports

Writing an accountant job description

Now that you are familiar with the key skills, salary expectations, popular job seeker search terms and hiring insights for an accountant, you’re ready to write a job description.

An accountant job description typically includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position. You may also include information about your company culture and benefits to attract candidates for your open role.

Ready to get started? See our full guide for writing accountant job descriptions.

Interviewing accountant candidates

Strong candidates for accountant positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• Quality control in high-volume or deadline-driven environments
• Cross-functional collaboration with Auditors and external vendors
• Monthly account reconciliation, including preparing and interpreting financial statements
• Ethical decision making

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of Accountant interview questions for examples (with sample answers).