Accounting Intern: What is the cost of hiring?

What is an Accounting Intern?

An Accounting Intern supports an organization’s accounting tasks under the guidance of full-time Accountants. Candidates are typically either college students close to finishing an accounting program or recent graduates who apply what they learn in a practical setting. They often perform various accounting tasks, such as entering data into accounting software and preparing financial documents, with increasing responsibility as they gain relevant experience.

Why hire an Accounting Intern?

You might hire an Accounting Intern to help your organization manage certain aspects of the accounting department, as interns can handle the repetitive work that takes time. Hiring an Accounting Intern also gives your employees the opportunity to become mentors and potentially benefit from the fresh perspective of a new team member. 

You might benefit from an Accounting Intern if a senior staff member needs help with entry-level accounting tasks. You might also seek applicants if you already have a well-established internship program that needs more participants.

Contributions of a great Accounting Intern:

• Reduced workload for the current accounting staff
• Increased learning opportunities for all team members
• Renewed focus on accounting principles and methods 

Defining your hiring needs for an Accounting Intern

As you decide how to hire an Accounting Intern, defining your hiring needs helps guide the selection process. Identify the contract type and internship duration, which are typically part-time or short-term, depending on the workload and your budget for support.

Clarify the scope of responsibilities to make sure the tasks fit an intern-level role. Consider whether the internship could serve as a pipeline for future full-time hires within your accounting or finance department.

What are the types of Accounting Interns?

Accounting internships may focus on a particular type of accounting. Choosing the type of Accounting Intern you want to hire can help you find interns who may be strong candidates for your needs. Examples of Accounting Intern types include:

• Public Accounting Intern: Works with a wide range of clients, which could include individuals or companies
• Tax Accounting Intern: Performs tax-related accounting duties, such as completing tax returns or helping organizations plan for their tax obligations
• Forensic Accounting Intern: Uses their accounting skills to investigate potential financial crimes
• Corporate Accounting Intern: Works for one company and handles only their accounting needs

When writing your Accounting Intern 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 Accounting Intern jobs, according to Indeed data:

• Accounting internship
• Internship
• Accounting intern
• Finance internship
• Intern
• Summer internship
• Finance intern
• Accounting internship summer 2025
• Internship summer 2025

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Where to find Accounting Interns

Accounting Interns can be sourced through college job boards, accounting clubs, professional associations, networking events and online platforms. Partnering with local universities or attending career fairs focused on finance can help you connect with students seeking internships.

To find the right Accounting Intern for your team, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• College partnerships: Interns are typically still in college or just finishing their program, so working with career centers at universities is beneficial
• Accounting associations: Committed accounting majors may already be part of professional organizations, such as the American Accounting Association
• Referrals and networking: Business owners or community members might know accounting college students seeking internship opportunities 
• Social media: Social media posts allow college students and universities to learn about your opportunities and share them with others
• Post your job online: Try posting your Accounting Intern job on Indeed to find and attract quality candidates

Skills to look for in an Accounting Intern

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

• Familiarity with a variety of accounting software programs, such as QuickBooks, FreshBooks and Sage Intacct
• Ability to create basic financial documents, such as income statements, cash flow statements and balance sheets
• Auditing and financial analysis skills
• Understanding of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) or International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)

Writing an Accounting Intern job description

Now that you know the key skills, salary expectations, popular job seeker terms and hiring insights for an Accounting Intern, you’re ready to write a job description.

An Accounting Intern 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 want to include information about your company culture, benefits and perks to attract candidates to your open role.

Ready to get started? Check out our full guide for writing Accounting Intern job descriptions.

Interviewing Accounting Intern candidates

Strong candidates for Accounting Intern positions will be confident answering questions about:

• How to use common accounting software programs
• Reconciling accounting errors in financial statements
• Details of balance sheets, income statements and other standard financial documents
• Basic accounting principles

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