How to become an Accountant

Official title: Accountants

Also called: Accountant, Auditor, Certified accountant, Chartered accountant, Financial controller, Insolvency trustee, Management accountant, Tax accountant

Accountants plan, organize and administer accounting systems for individuals and establishments. Some occupations classified here examine and analyse the accounting and financial records of individuals and establishments to ensure accuracy and compliance with established accounting standards and procedures.

Main tasks

• Advising on, planning and installing budgetary, accounts controlling and other accounting policies and systems
• Preparing and certifying financial statements for presentation to management, shareholders and statutory or other bodies
• Preparing tax returns, advising on taxation problems and contesting disputed claims before tax officials
• Preparing or reporting on profit forecasts and budgets
• Conducting financial investigations in such matters as suspected fraud, insolvency and bankruptcy
• Auditing accounts and bookkeeping records
• Conducting investigations and advising management on financial aspects of productivity, stockholdings, sales, new products, etc.
• Devising and controlling systems to determine unit cost of products and services

Ways in

• University: Business & Commerce degrees, Offered by 33 universities in Hong Kong
• Licence or registration: Registering body: Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Law: Professional Accountants Ordinance (專業會計師條例), Cap. 50. Summary by Peernovo; check the body's current rules.

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

• Median pay: HK$48,000 a month
• About 1,542,900 people in 2025, and about 1,639,100 projected by 2028. (+6.2%)
• Generative AI could change many tasks in this job, which usually reshapes the work more than it replaces it, by the ILO's global estimate.

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Questions people ask

How do I become an Accountant?

Ways in include: Business & Commerce degrees.

Do you need a degree to become an Accountant?

Usually. 92% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

Will AI change the work of an Accountant?

Generative AI could change many tasks in this job, which usually reshapes the work more than it replaces it, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

• Census and Statistics Department (2021 Population Census): 2021 Population Census, Interactive Data Dissemination Service: working population by occupation (38 groups) and sex, age, education, income; median income and field of education (9 groups) (2021 Population Census), retrieved 4 October 2026
• Census and Statistics Department (General Household Survey): Median monthly employment earnings by occupation (9 groups), excluding foreign domestic helpers (Table 210-06317A); employed persons by occupation, age and sex (210-06307A) and by industry (210-06308A) (2025 annual (series to 2026-07)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• Labour and Welfare Bureau; tables published by C&SD: Mid-term Update of Manpower Projection to 2028: supplementary statistical tables (5 occupation groups, 17 selected industries) (2025 to 2028 (published 2026-09)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Updated 4 October 2026