Bookkeeping remains a large U.S. occupation, with 1,613,400 bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks employed in 2024. The field combines established recordkeeping requirements with rapid adoption of automation and artificial intelligence. These bookkeeping statistics show the occupation’s pay distribution, projected employment, state concentration, tax-record practices, and the operating environment reported by accounting and bookkeeping firms.
Contents
- Pay and wage distribution
- Employment outlook
- Where bookkeeping jobs are located
- Bookkeeping systems and recordkeeping
- Automation and artificial intelligence
- Practice performance and client conditions
Pay and wage distribution
The median annual wage for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks was $49,210 in May 2024, according to the [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook]. The median divides the occupation into two equal groups: half earned more and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $34,600, while the highest 10 percent earned more than $72,660.
For context, the median annual wage for all occupations was $49,500 in May 2024. That placed the bookkeeping-clerk median slightly below the overall occupational median. The median annual wage for financial clerks was $47,370 during the same month.
The BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program reported a mean hourly wage of $23.84 and an annual mean wage of $49,580 for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks in May 2023. The mean and median describe different points in the distribution, so they should not be treated as interchangeable measures.
The 2023 hourly wage percentiles show how pay varied across the occupation:
| May 2023 wage point | Hourly wage |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $15.61 |
| 25th percentile | $18.65 |
| Median | $22.81 |
| 75th percentile | $27.90 |
| 90th percentile | $33.11 |
These figures describe U.S. bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks as a broad occupational group. Individual pay can differ by industry, location, experience, responsibilities, and employer.
Industry also mattered in the May 2024 BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook wage figures. Construction was the top-paying listed industry at a median annual wage of $51,670. Professional, scientific, and technical services paid a $50,180 median. Healthcare and social assistance and wholesale trade each reported a $48,810 median, while retail trade reported $45,030.
Employment outlook
The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook counted 1,613,400 bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks in 2024. It projected employment of 1,519,100 in 2034, a projected decline of 6 percent from 2024 to 2034. In absolute terms, that projection represents 94,300 fewer clerks over the decade.
The outlook differs from the broader labor market. Employment for all occupations was projected to grow 3 percent from 2024 to 2034, compared with a projected 6 percent decline for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks. Employment for financial clerks was projected to decline 7 percent over the same period.
A declining total does not mean that hiring disappears. The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook projected about 170,000 openings for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks each year, on average, over the decade. Those openings can result from workers leaving the occupation as well as from newly created positions.
The 2023 BLS OEWS estimate counted 1,501,910 bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks in total U.S. employment. Because the 2023 OEWS estimate and the 2024 Occupational Outlook Handbook count come from different BLS programs and measurement years, they should be read as separate reference points rather than a direct one-year change calculation.
Where bookkeeping jobs are located
The BLS OEWS state chart reported the following employment counts for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks in May 2024:
| State | Employment |
|---|---|
| California | 154,980 |
| Texas | 130,770 |
| Florida | 107,210 |
| New York | 93,920 |
| Pennsylvania | 54,580 |
| Illinois | 53,340 |
| Ohio | 48,280 |
| North Carolina | 48,160 |
| New Jersey | 40,560 |
| Tennessee | 40,360 |
California had the largest employment count among the states listed, followed by Texas, Florida, and New York. The figures are employment counts, not wage rankings, and they do not indicate that every job in a state belongs to the same type of employer.
For small-business readers, the state distribution is a reminder that bookkeeping demand exists across different regional economies. Construction, professional services, healthcare, wholesale, and retail all appear in the BLS industry wage data, while the state chart shows that employment is spread across both large and mid-sized labor markets.
Bookkeeping systems and recordkeeping
The IRS describes more than one workable bookkeeping structure in Publication 583. A single-entry system can use a daily summary of cash receipts. It can also use monthly summaries of cash receipts and disbursements. The IRS says a double-entry bookkeeping system uses journals and ledgers, and that total debits must equal total credits after transactions are posted to the ledger.
The IRS says businesses generally should record transactions on a daily basis. That daily practice supports a timely record of receipts and disbursements and reduces the need to reconstruct activity later. The exact system a business uses can depend on the business’s transactions and recordkeeping needs.
Publication 583 also describes how long records are generally needed. The IRS lists a 3-year recordkeeping period in the ordinary case. It lists 6 years when income is omitted and the omission exceeds 25 percent of gross income. There is no limit for recordkeeping after a fraudulent return, according to the IRS. Employment tax records must be kept for at least 4 years after the tax becomes due or is paid.
The publication includes practical examples rather than only general rules. Its example petty cash fund is fixed at $50. Its example daily cash-sales total is $267.80, including $263.60 of cash sales and $4.20 of sales tax. The example monthly net sales for January are $4,865.05. These are IRS examples for illustrating recordkeeping, not typical or required amounts for every business.
Automation and artificial intelligence
Technology adoption is a central theme in recent accounting-practice surveys. Intuit’s QuickBooks Accountant Technology Survey says 95% of firms adopted automation technologies in the past year, while 64% of accounting professionals planned to invest in or upgrade artificial intelligence over the next year. The survey also says 46% of respondents use AI daily and 93% have used AI to enhance strategic business advisory services.
Among the automation uses reported by Intuit, payroll processing was cited by 47% of respondents. Accounts payable and accounts receivable automation was cited by 46%, and data entry and transaction processing automation by 43%. Respondents also reported improvements associated with automation: 98% said it improved accuracy, 97% said it improved efficiency, and 95% said it improved client-service quality.
The survey’s respondent mix included 36% who owned an accounting or bookkeeping business and 64% who were employed as accountants or bookkeepers within a firm. Those percentages describe the survey participants, not the entire profession.
Xero’s U.S. State of the Industry report found that 80% of practices felt AI would have a positive effect, while 73% of accountants were ready to incorporate AI into their workflows. Xero also reported that more than 250,000 accountants and bookkeepers use Xero in their practice through its partner program. These figures describe Xero-reported survey or program populations and should not be generalized to every bookkeeping business.
Sage’s Practice of Now 2024-2025 report adds a workflow perspective. It says 89% believed automating processes would free up time, but only 37% were already automating processes. Forty-one percent of accountants and bookkeepers wanted to dedicate more time to upskilling themselves or their team. Two in five spent less than a tenth of their time on client management, and only 21% described their work as human or personal.
Practice performance and client conditions
Xero reported that 74% of accounting and bookkeeping practices had higher revenue in 2025, 73% had higher profit, and 56% had added more clients. Its report also said 79% of firms were optimistic or very optimistic, with large firms reaching 91% optimism.
Small-business conditions can affect the work performed by bookkeepers and accounting practices. FreshBooks’ 2025 State of U.S. Small Business reported that 47% of U.S. small-business respondents found customer acquisition harder than in previous years. Forty-three percent raised prices to offset rising expenses. Supply costs increased for 30% of respondents and for 45% of businesses most reliant on imported goods.
FreshBooks also reported that 57% said time management and work-life balance became harder in 2025. At the same time, 76% were satisfied with their current business situation, three-quarters said financial health was the same or better than a year earlier, and 56% felt somewhat or very positive about their business finances. Only 5% planned to leave their business.
Together, these figures describe a mixed operating environment: many practices reported growth and optimism, while small businesses also reported pressure from customer acquisition, supply costs, and time management. For bookkeeping work, accurate daily records and clearly maintained journals, ledgers, receipts, and disbursement summaries remain relevant alongside newer automation tools.