Industry group, 5412
Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services
1,091,370 people work in this industry in the US, at mean pay of $93,230 a year (BLS, May 2025). What follows is how much of their working time the best AI models could finish, when, and in which jobs and tasks. Estimates.
of the paid hours. Estimate.
a year: 776 million hours at what they cost. Not a forecast of savings.
- 80%
- 8%
- 12%
of the paid hours are within reach now in tasks people already bring to Claude. Another 23% is within reach in tasks not yet seen there.
Across the US: 24% within reach now and 39% by the end of 2028, on the long-run pace at four in five.
Share of the paid hours within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this industry's paid hours were within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 2%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 30%. Today's estimate: 35%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Where the hours are
Jobs by hours within reach now. The 40 largest jobs hold 91% of the people.
| People | Pay here | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks | 98,500 | 76% | 157 million | $49K |
| Tax Preparers | 72,250 | 80% | 121 million | $52K |
| Accountants and Auditors | 330,500 | 9% | 60 million | $81K |
| Billing and Posting Clerks | 29,230 | 77% | 47 million | $46K |
| Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel | 28,010 | 69% | 40 million | $82K |
| Office Clerks, General | 31,530 | 58% | 38 million | $45K |
| Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive | 34,290 | 39% | 28 million | $48K |
| Customer Service Representatives | 18,920 | 67% | 26 million | $47K |
| Financial Managers | 59,650 | 19% | 23 million | $169K |
| Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks | 14,010 | 76% | 22 million | $50K |
| Receptionists and Information Clerks | 12,320 | 83% | 21 million | $39K |
| First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers | 21,020 | 47% | 21 million | $74K |
People: BLS counts for this industry, May 2025. Pay here: the median paid for the job in this industry, else its mean, else the national median. 133 smaller jobs (92,460 people) count in every total but are not listed. Task data covers 98% of the industry's people; the rest are in BLS "all other" groups with no task list, or in counts BLS does not publish.
The tasks with the most hours within reach by the end of 2028
Across the whole industry, on the chosen pace and reliability.
- Prepare, examine, or analyze accounting records, financial statements, or other financial reports to assess accuracy, completeness, and conformance to reporting and procedural standards.Accountants and Auditors88 million hours98% of the task within reach
- Prepare detailed reports on audit findings.Accountants and Auditors52 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Prepare or assist in preparing simple to complex tax returns for individuals or small businesses.Tax Preparers49 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Inspect account books and accounting systems for efficiency, effectiveness, and use of accepted accounting procedures to record transactions.Accountants and Auditors45 million hours99% of the task within reach
- Compute taxes owed and prepare tax returns, ensuring compliance with payment, reporting, or other tax requirements.Accountants and Auditors42 million hours96% of the task within reach
- Evaluate taxpayer finances to determine tax liability, using knowledge of interest and discount rates, annuities, valuation of stocks and bonds, and amortization valuation of depletable assets.Accountants and Auditors41 million hours96% of the task within reach
- Examine records and interview workers to ensure recording of transactions and compliance with laws and regulations.Accountants and Auditors39 million hours96% of the task within reach
- Develop, implement, modify, and document recordkeeping and accounting systems, making use of current computer technology.Accountants and Auditors35 million hours38% of the task within reach
- Operate computers programmed with accounting software to record, store, and analyze information.Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks32 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Compute taxes owed or overpaid, using adding machines or personal computers, and complete entries on forms, following tax form instructions and tax tables.Tax Preparers25 million hours100% of the task within reach
Scan a typical company in this industry
The industry's largest jobs, in the proportions BLS counts across the whole industry, at the pay it pays, run through the company scan. A starting point before you have a roster, or a benchmark for the one you have.
Next to this industry
Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Computer Systems Design and Related Services2,445,140 people26% now, 71% by 2028
- Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services1,872,730 people26% now, 69% by 2028
- Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services1,719,390 people19% now, 62% by 2028
- Legal Services1,224,710 people26% now, 64% by 2028
- Scientific Research and Development Services931,790 people17% now, 58% by 2028
- Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services881,820 people29% now, 47% by 2028
- Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services481,600 people29% now, 67% by 2028
- Specialized Design Services151,930 people29% now, 72% by 2028
How it is built: BLS counts the people in each job in this industry; each job's tasks and their lengths give its share within reach at a date; the industry's share is those shares weighted by people. Value is pay times 1.43 for benefits and payroll costs. Seen in Claude use splits today's share by whether Anthropic saw people bring each task to Claude in 2025; other AI tools are not counted. How it works