Also called: CPA Partner
A co-owner of an accounting firm who leads audits of big companies and brings in clients.
You sign off on the audit opinion for a public company after reviewing the riskiest areas, meet its audit committee and pitch your firm's services to a new client over lunch.
Partners at the Big Four (Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG) typically earn $400k-$1M+; partners at small local firms earn less.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 17 years after high school. Bachelor's in accounting plus 150 college credit hours, a CPA license and 12-15 years at the firm.
Ways in: 4-year college, Certification, Graduate school. Training cost: $60k – $150k.
Majors to look at: Accounting, Finance.
Growing faster than average (about 5% over 10 years). Tracks accountants and auditors.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. AI does more audit testing, so firms hire fewer juniors and the path to partner narrows; signing opinions and client trust stay human.
Classes: Accounting, AP Calculus or AP Statistics, Speech, Business law.
Official data: O*NET occupation 13-2011.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.