Short answer
The Chicago metro area has 4,171 accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll offices with paid employees, employing 44,446 people (Census County Business Patterns, 2023). Cook County has 2,328 of them, and 1,789 across the metro are CPA offices. Twelve offices have 500 or more employees. Illinois licenses CPAs and CPA firms through the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), which counted 1,053 licensed public accounting firms statewide in October 2026.
- 4,171 offices employ 44,446 people in the metro at average pay of $100,559; 71% have fewer than five employees.
- Cook County has 56% of the offices and 73% of the jobs; DuPage is second with 639 offices.
- IDFPR counts 28,762 licensed CPAs, 11,413 registered CPAs and 1,053 licensed firms in Illinois.
- The IRS preparer listing has 7,650 CPAs and 2,090 enrolled agents with a metro business address.
- The metro has about as many financial managers (41,590) as accountants and auditors (41,360).
On this page
This report is for Chicago-area companies and households looking for an accountant, accountants weighing a move between firms, and vendors who sell to accounting firms. It covers the Census count, what each kind of firm does, how Illinois licenses CPAs and firms, and how to prospect them.
How many accounting firms Chicago has
County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023 covers NAICS 5412 (accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services) in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metro Area (CBSA 16980), 13 counties in Illinois and Indiana.
| Measure (2023) | Chicago metro |
|---|---|
| Establishments | 4,171 |
| Employees (week of March 12) | 44,446 |
| Annual payroll | $4,469,460,000 |
| Average employees per establishment | 10.7 |
| Average annual pay | $100,559 |
| Share of US establishments | 3.04% of 137,069 |
| County | Establishments | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| Cook, IL | 2,328 | 32,335 |
| DuPage, IL | 639 | 5,159 |
| Lake, IL | 337 | 2,186 |
| Will, IL | 239 | 1,152 |
| Kane, IL | 201 | 1,446 |
| Lake, IN | 164 | 1,106 |
| McHenry, IL | 123 | 417 |
| Porter, IN | 49 | 181 |
CBP counts establishments with paid employees, not companies, so a firm with a Loop office and an Oak Brook office counts twice, and self-employed accountants with no staff are left out. Cook County offices average 13.9 employees; DuPage offices average 8.1.
The size of Chicago's accounting offices
| Employees | Offices |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 2,976 |
| 5 to 9 | 672 |
| 10 to 19 | 273 |
| 20 to 49 | 146 |
| 50 to 99 | 52 |
| 100 to 249 | 37 |
| 250 to 499 | 3 |
| 500 to 999 | 6 |
| 1,000 or more | 6 |
Every class is published here. Cook County's own classes put 11 of the 12 offices with 500 or more employees there: 5 with 500 to 999 and 6 with 1,000 or more. Census doesn't name them; the Big 4 accounting firms page covers the largest firms in the country. The 198 offices with 20 to 99 employees are the size of a typical regional CPA firm.
SEC EDGAR has no public accounting companies to list here: its industry codes have no accounting category (SIC 8721), and the big firms are privately owned partnerships.
Which kind of firm you need
| You need | Look for | Metro offices (NAICS) |
|---|---|---|
| An audit or review for a lender or investor | A licensed CPA firm | 1,789 CPA offices (541211), 29,574 employees |
| Monthly books, invoicing or billing | A bookkeeping or accounting service | 1,425 other accounting offices (541219) |
| An individual or small business return | A tax preparer or CPA | 822 tax preparation offices (541213) |
| Paychecks and payroll tax filings | A payroll service | 135 payroll offices (541214), 4,596 employees |
Definitions are from NAICS 2022. CPA offices can also do tax, payroll and bookkeeping, but only a CPA firm can sign an audit report.
Licensed or registered: Illinois's two kinds of CPA
Illinois splits the job. The Illinois Board of Examiners (ILBOE) certifies candidates who pass the CPA exam; IDFPR issues the license. ILBOE tells candidates that only with an IDFPR license can they "legally hold yourself to the public as a CPA."
IDFPR's active license report for 1 October 2026 shows, statewide:
| IDFPR license type | Active |
|---|---|
| Licensed certified public accountant | 28,762 |
| Registered certified public accountant | 11,413 |
| Public accountant firm license | 1,053 |
Before you engage a firm, look up both the firm and the CPA who will sign your work in IDFPR's online license lookup. Lake and Porter counties are in Indiana, where the Indiana Board of Accountancy licenses CPAs and firms.
Tax preparers in the metro
The IRS's August 2026 preparer listing, released under the Freedom of Information Act, has 24,551 preparers with a business address in the metro's counties: 7,650 CPAs, 2,090 enrolled agents and 1,501 attorneys. Another 12,589 (51%) list no IRS-recognized credential and no Annual Filing Season Program record. Within the city of Chicago there are 9,476 preparers, 2,756 of them CPAs. Only CPAs, enrolled agents and attorneys can represent you before the IRS in every matter, so check the credential before an audit or collection case. The IRS also warns against preparers who base fees on a percentage of your refund.
For public company audits, only firms registered with the PCAOB qualify. Nationally, 194 US firms issued public company audit reports in 2025.
Working at a Chicago accounting firm
Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates for May 2025, Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro:
| Occupation | Employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Accountants and auditors | 41,360 | $82,360 |
| Financial managers | 41,590 | $168,810 |
| Bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks | 35,660 | $51,440 |
| Tax preparers | 1,020 | $48,670 |
Financial managers are 1.7 times as concentrated here as nationally, a sign of how many corporate finance teams the region has. For a public accounting career, the CPA offices pay an average of $120,844 per employee in CBP, against $66,545 at other accounting offices.
Selling to Chicago accounting firms
Illustrative example. The company and rates are invented; the counts come from CBP and the IRS listing.
Northpier IT (northpier.example) sells managed IT and security to CPA firms with 20 to 99 staff. CBP puts 198 offices of that size in the metro. Northpier removes an illustrative 30% as branches of national firms whose IT is bought at headquarters, leaving about 139 accounts, and uses the IRS listing as a check: grouped by business name, 72 names in the metro list ten or more CPAs. Two contacts per account, the managing partner and the firm administrator, makes 278 people; at an illustrative 6% reply rate, that's 17 conversations. Timing matters more than volume: write in May or November, outside the filing deadlines.
Matching names to firms and finding the administrator is the slow part; Bebop researches each account and finds the right contacts. The list of accounting firms covers how firms buy, and how many accountants there are explains the IRS file.
Local sources
| Source | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| IDFPR active license report | Monthly counts of every Illinois license type |
| Illinois Board of Examiners | How CPA certification and licensing fit together |
| Illinois CPA Society: find a CPA | A public directory of member CPAs |
| Indiana Board of Accountancy | Licensing for the metro's Indiana counties |
| World Business Chicago | The city's economic development organization |
Next step: turn the firms that fit into a contact list 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
- Active License Report as of October 1, 2026, Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, 1 October 2026
- The CPA license, Illinois Board of Examiners, accessed 30 October 2026
- 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 Chicago?
Census County Business Patterns counted 4,171 accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll establishments with paid employees in the Chicago metro area in 2023, employing 44,446 people. 2,328 were in Cook County, and 1,789 across the metro were CPA offices. The figures count offices, not firms, and leave out accountants who work alone without employees.
How do I check if an Illinois CPA is licensed?
Use the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation's online license lookup, which covers licensed CPAs, registered CPAs and public accounting firms. Illinois is a two-tier state: the Board of Examiners certifies exam candidates, and IDFPR issues the license. IDFPR counted 28,762 licensed CPAs and 1,053 licensed public accounting firms in October 2026.
What is the difference between a licensed and a registered CPA in Illinois?
They are separate license types at the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, which listed 28,762 licensed and 11,413 registered CPAs in October 2026. The Illinois Board of Examiners says a license from IDFPR is what lets you hold yourself out to the public as a CPA. If you're hiring someone to sign an audit or practice for the public, confirm a current license in IDFPR's lookup.
What are the largest accounting firms in Chicago?
Census data doesn't name firms, but it shows 12 offices in the metro with 500 or more employees, 11 of them in Cook County, and 37 with 100 to 249. The largest accounting networks in the world are the Big 4. Rankings of Chicago firms by revenue or headcount are published by business magazines, and the official way to confirm any firm's license is IDFPR's lookup.
How much do accountants make in Chicago?
Accountants and auditors in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro area earned a median of $82,360 a year in May 2025, across 41,360 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Financial managers, which include controllers, earned a median of $168,810. In Census data, pay per employee at Chicago-area CPA offices averaged $120,844 in 2023.