Short answer
The Boston metro area has 1,863 accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll offices with paid employees, employing 24,022 people (Census County Business Patterns, 2023). Middlesex County has the most offices (611), but Suffolk County's 213 offices employ 12,368 people, about half the total, and hold all four with 1,000 or more staff. 823 are CPA offices. CPAs and firms are licensed by the Massachusetts Board of Public Accountancy, or New Hampshire's board for the two New Hampshire counties.
- 1,863 offices employ 24,022 people at average pay of $108,824.
- Suffolk County offices average 58 employees; the other counties average about 5 to 9.
- The metro has 37,150 accountants and auditors, 1.47 times the national concentration, at a median of $100,150.
- The IRS listing has 4,191 CPAs and 1,554 enrolled agents with a metro business address.
- Two counties, Rockingham and Strafford, are in New Hampshire and fall under its board.
On this page
This report is for Boston-area businesses, nonprofits and households choosing an accountant, accountants and graduates looking at local employers, and companies that sell to accounting firms. It covers the Census count by county, the jobs data, how to check a firm in Massachusetts or New Hampshire, and prospecting.
Boston's accounting market
County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, NAICS 5412 (accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services), Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro Area (CBSA 14460):
| Measure (2023) | Boston metro |
|---|---|
| Establishments | 1,863 |
| Employees (week of March 12) | 24,022 |
| Annual payroll | $2,614,181,000 |
| Average employees per establishment | 12.9 |
| Average annual pay | $108,824 |
| Share of US establishments | 1.36% of 137,069 |
By our ranking of the CBP metro file, Boston is 14th among US metro areas by number of accounting offices. CBP counts establishments with paid employees, not firms, and leaves out the self-employed.
Suffolk County: few offices, big ones
| County | Establishments | Employees | Per office |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middlesex, MA | 611 | 4,561 | 7.5 |
| Norfolk, MA | 361 | 2,779 | 7.7 |
| Essex, MA | 304 | 1,911 | 6.3 |
| Suffolk, MA | 213 | 12,368 | 58.1 |
| Plymouth, MA | 195 | 959 | 4.9 |
| Rockingham, NH | 148 | 1,287 | 8.7 |
| Strafford, NH | 31 | 157 | 5.1 |
| Employees | Offices (metro) |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 1,165 |
| 5 to 9 | 370 |
| 10 to 19 | 180 |
| 20 to 49 | 98 |
| 50 to 99 | 21 |
| 100 to 249 | 17 |
| 250 to 499 | 6 |
| 500 to 999 | 2 |
| 1,000 or more | 4 |
The Census Bureau marks the metro's 500 to 999 cell as not published; the 2 shown is the total less the published cells. Suffolk County's own classes hold all 6 offices with 250 to 499 employees and all 4 with 1,000 or more. Census doesn't name them; the Big 4 accounting firms are the largest networks, and SEC EDGAR has no listed accounting companies to add because it has no accounting industry code.
By type (NAICS 2022), the metro has 823 CPA offices with 16,953 employees, averaging 20.6 each; 548 bookkeeping and other accounting offices with 3,826; 426 tax preparation offices with 2,099; and 66 payroll offices with 1,144. Only CPA firms can audit or review financial statements. A nonprofit that needs an audit for a funder, or a company whose bank wants reviewed statements, should start with the CPA offices; a household with a straightforward return or a small business that wants its books kept monthly can usually pay less at a tax or bookkeeping office.
A metro of accountants
Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates for May 2025, Boston-Cambridge-Newton metro:
| Occupation | Employed | Concentration vs US | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accountants and auditors | 37,150 | 1.47 | $100,150 |
| Financial managers | 21,650 | 1.48 | $209,780 |
| Bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks | 21,170 | 0.89 | $60,960 |
| Tax preparers | 1,110 | 0.83 | $59,630 |
Concentration is BLS's location quotient: the occupation's share of local jobs divided by its share nationally. Most of those accountants work outside accounting firms; CBP counts 24,022 jobs of every kind at the metro's accounting offices. For job seekers, CPA offices pay $127,950 per employee in CBP, our calculation from payroll.
Checking a firm in Massachusetts or New Hampshire
- Use the right board. NASBA's directory lists the Massachusetts Board of Public Accountancy, at One Federal Street in Boston, and the New Hampshire Board of Accountancy, part of the state's Office of Professional Licensure and Certification, for Rockingham and Strafford counties. Each board licenses CPAs and CPA firms in its state, and NASBA's CPAverify searches license data supplied by the boards.
- Match the credential to the work. Audits and reviews need a CPA firm. For IRS representation in an audit, collection or appeal, the IRS recognizes only CPAs, enrolled agents and attorneys.
- Check the preparer. The IRS's August 2026 preparer listing, released under the Freedom of Information Act, has 12,580 preparers with a metro business address: 4,191 CPAs, 1,554 enrolled agents and 995 attorneys, with 5,481 (44%) holding no IRS credential or Annual Filing Season Program record. The city of Boston lists 3,482 preparers, 1,207 of them CPAs.
- Read the fee terms. The IRS warns against fees based on a percentage of your refund.
- For an SEC filer's audit, use a PCAOB-registered firm; 194 US firms issued public company audit reports in 2025.
Prospecting Boston accounting firms
Buying follows geography. Suffolk's big offices buy through firm-wide IT, procurement and security review, often outside Boston. The suburban practices in Middlesex, Norfolk and Essex counties are run by partners who sign their own contracts.
Illustrative example. The company and rates are invented; the counts come from the IRS listing and CBP.
Commonwealth CPE (commonwealthcpe.example) sells live continuing education to firms with enough CPAs to book a session in-house. Grouping the IRS listing by business name, 111 names in the metro list five or more CPAs, and 43 list ten or more. Commonwealth starts with the 43, removes the national firms that train centrally, and writes to the managing partner or HR lead at the rest in July, when firms plan fall training. At an illustrative 15% reply rate on about 35 firms, that's 5 conversations, then it widens to the 111.
Turning business names into firms and finding who books training takes time; Bebop finds the firms and researches each account. See the list of accounting firms for how firms buy and how many accountants there are for the IRS file.
Local sources
| Source | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| NASBA state board directory | Contact details and websites for the Massachusetts and New Hampshire boards |
| IRS PTIN listings | Free state files of tax preparers with business city and credential |
| Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce | The region's chamber |
Next step: if you're building a list of these firms, start with how to build a prospect list.
Sources
- County Business Patterns (CBP), 2023, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- North American Industry Classification System, 2022 (industries 541211 to 541219), US Census Bureau, 2022, accessed 30 October 2026
- State boards of accountancy directory, National Association of State Boards of Accountancy, accessed 30 October 2026
- Licensure and redesigned CPAverify and ALD sites, National Association of State Boards of Accountancy, 17 October 2025
- PTIN information and the Freedom of Information Act (preparer listings by state), Internal Revenue Service, updated 14 August 2026
- Understanding tax return preparer credentials and qualifications, Internal Revenue Service, accessed 30 October 2026
- Topic no. 254, How to choose a tax return preparer, Internal Revenue Service, accessed 30 October 2026
- 2025 Annual Report (registered firms as of 31 December 2025), Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, 2026
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: metropolitan area estimates, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, accessed 30 October 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many accounting firms are in Boston?
Census County Business Patterns counted 1,863 accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll establishments with paid employees in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton metro area in 2023, employing 24,022 people. Middlesex County had 611 offices and Suffolk County 213. 823 were CPA offices. These are offices with employees, not firms, and they exclude accountants working alone.
Who licenses CPAs in Massachusetts?
The Massachusetts Board of Public Accountancy, based at One Federal Street in Boston, licenses CPAs and CPA firms. In the Boston metro's New Hampshire counties, Rockingham and Strafford, the New Hampshire Board of Accountancy does the same. NASBA's CPAverify searches license data that state boards supply.
How much do accountants make in Boston?
Accountants and auditors in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton metro area earned a median of $100,150 a year in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, across 37,150 jobs. The metro has 1.47 times the national concentration of accountants. Financial managers earned a median of $209,780 and bookkeeping clerks $60,960.
What is the difference between a CPA and an enrolled agent?
A CPA is licensed by a state board and can audit or review financial statements, as well as prepare taxes and give advice. An enrolled agent is licensed by the IRS after a three-part exam and specializes in tax. Both, along with attorneys, have unlimited rights to represent you before the IRS. The Boston metro has 4,191 CPAs and 1,554 enrolled agents in the IRS listing.