Hawthorne, N.Y. (Jan. 9, 2004) -- Although accountants' salaries vary widely, the CPA license is still a major factor in determining salary -- CPAs are more than twice as likely as their non-CPA counterparts to have a salary of $60,000 or more, according to a survey by SmartPros.
Nearly half (48 percent) of the 2,100 respondents to the online survey, conducted from October through December 2003, have a CPA license. Of those who are CPAs, 65 percent made $60,000 or more, compared to 27 percent of non-CPAs. Respondents included bookkeepers, chief financial officers, controllers, managing partners and staff accountants.
Half of the 276 sole practitioners in public practice made $100,000 or more regardless of their years of experience, according to the survey results. Overall, however, more years of work experience translated into higher salaries for most respondents.
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Most of those who had three years or less of experience (68 percent) earned between $30,000 and $59,999. Of those with four to nine years of experience, most earned between $40,000 and $69,999. More than half (54 percent) of respondents with 10 to 15 years of experience earned between $60,000 and $99,000, with 16 percent earning $100,000 or more.
-- WebCPA staff
