Short answer
The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metro area has 7,984 accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll offices with paid employees, employing 59,538 people (Census County Business Patterns, 2023): 5,684 in Los Angeles County and 2,300 in Orange County. 3,496 are CPA offices. The California Board of Accountancy licenses CPAs and CPA firms, and paid preparers who aren't CPAs, enrolled agents or attorneys must register with the California Tax Education Council (CTEC).
- 7,984 offices employ 59,538 people: 5.82% of US offices and second among metro areas, after New York.
- 74% of offices have fewer than five employees; 70 have 100 or more.
- Accountancy corporations and partnerships need California Board of Accountancy approval before they practice.
- Non-credentialed paid preparers must register with CTEC; unregistered preparers face penalties of up to $5,000.
- Accountants and auditors in the metro earned a median of $94,360 in May 2025, across 70,640 jobs.
On this page
This report is for Southern California businesses and families choosing an accountant or tax preparer, accountants comparing employers, and vendors who sell to accounting and tax practices. It covers the Census count, California's registers for each kind of professional, the IRS preparer data and how to prospect the market.
Two counties, one market
County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, NAICS 5412 (accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services), Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro Area (CBSA 31080):
| Measure (2023) | Metro | Los Angeles County | Orange County |
|---|---|---|---|
| Establishments | 7,984 | 5,684 | 2,300 |
| Employees (week of March 12) | 59,538 | 41,206 | 18,332 |
| Average employees per office | 7.5 | 7.2 | 8.0 |
The metro's annual payroll is $5,276,903,000 and average pay is $88,631. Its 7,984 offices are 5.82% of the 137,069 in the US, second among metro areas after New York-Newark-Jersey City (9,905), by our ranking of the CBP metro file. CBP counts establishments with paid employees, not companies, and doesn't count self-employed preparers or bookkeepers.
| Employees | Offices (metro) |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 5,920 |
| 5 to 9 | 1,224 |
| 10 to 19 | 476 |
| 20 to 49 | 219 |
| 50 to 99 | 75 |
| 100 to 249 | 40 |
| 250 to 499 | 18 |
| 500 to 999 | 9 |
| 1,000 or more | 3 |
All three offices with 1,000 or more employees are in Los Angeles County, by its own published classes; Orange County has 4 of the 9 with 500 to 999. Census doesn't name them. EDGAR has no listed accounting companies to add, since the SEC's industry list has no accounting code; the Big 4 accounting firms, the largest, are private partnerships.
What each kind of office does
| Type (NAICS 2022) | Offices | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| CPA offices (541211) | 3,496 | 29,857 |
| Other accounting, including bookkeeping and billing (541219) | 2,698 | 13,125 |
| Tax preparation (541213) | 1,540 | 7,002 |
| Payroll services (541214) | 250 | 9,554 |
CPA offices can audit and review financial statements and do tax and advisory work. Bookkeeping services keep the books, often with returns. Tax preparation offices prepare returns and nothing else, and payroll services run paychecks and payroll tax filings.
Who licenses whom in California
| Professional | Who licenses or registers them | Where to check |
|---|---|---|
| CPA and CPA firm | California Board of Accountancy (CBA) | DCA license search |
| Paid preparer who isn't a CPA, EA or attorney | California Tax Education Council (CTEC) | CTEC find and verify a preparer |
| Enrolled agent | IRS | IRS directory of federal tax return preparers with credentials |
| Attorney | State Bar of California | State Bar attorney search |
Firms. An accountancy corporation or partnership must be approved for licensure by the CBA before it practices or holds itself out as one. Non-licensees can own only a minority of a firm, except that a two-shareholder corporation may have one, and an accountancy corporation needs at least one shareholder with an active California CPA license.
Preparers. CTEC, set up by the Legislature in 1997, registers non-exempt preparers. They must complete initial and continuing tax education, carry a surety bond, hold an IRS PTIN and pass a background check. CTEC says illegally preparing returns for a fee can draw penalties of up to $5,000 per violation. CTEC registrants had until 31 October 2026 to renew for the coming season.
The IRS's view of LA's preparers
The IRS's August 2026 preparer listing, released under the Freedom of Information Act, has 35,820 preparers with a business address in the two counties: 10,702 CPAs, 5,035 enrolled agents and 1,041 attorneys. 7,588 (21%) hold an Annual Filing Season Program record, and 13,280 (37%) have neither an IRS credential nor that record. Los Angeles County has 25,825 of the preparers and Orange County 9,995. The city of Los Angeles lists 6,503 preparers, 2,091 of them CPAs; Irvine has 1,143 CPAs.
Before you hire, match the credential to the work: only CPAs, enrolled agents and attorneys can represent you before the IRS on any matter, and the IRS warns against preparers who take a percentage of your refund. Public company audits need a PCAOB-registered firm; 194 US firms issued public company audit reports in 2025.
Jobs and pay
Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metro:
| Occupation | Employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Accountants and auditors | 70,640 | $94,360 |
| Bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks | 53,910 | $58,590 |
| Financial managers | 34,480 | $175,310 |
| Tax preparers | 3,250 | $65,120 |
Selling to LA accounting and tax practices
Illustrative example. The company and rates are invented; the counts come from CBP.
Mesa Cover (mesacover.example) sells professional liability insurance to CPA firms with 10 to 49 employees, big enough to carry real exposure but too small for a broker team. Los Angeles County's published classes have 339 offices with 10 to 19 employees and 153 with 20 to 49: 492 in all, of every type. Mesa checks each name against the CBA search to keep the licensed CPA firms, an illustrative 55% or 271 firms, and writes to the managing partner in June, two months before most renewals it sees. At an illustrative 7% reply rate, that's 19 quotes to prepare.
For how firms buy, see the list of accounting firms; for the IRS file, how many accountants there are. Checking 492 names against a license search and finding each partner is slow by hand; Bebop researches each account and finds the contacts.
Local sources
| Source | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| CBA firm licensure | Rules for accountancy corporations and partnerships |
| CTEC | Registration rules and the preparer lookup |
| CalCPA: find a CPA | A free public directory of member CPAs and firms |
| LAEDC | The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation |
Next step: compare with the smaller market to the south in accounting firms in San Diego.
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
- Firm applicants: accountancy corporations and partnerships, California Board of Accountancy, accessed 30 October 2026
- License search (California Board of Accountancy), California Department of Consumer Affairs, accessed 30 October 2026
- Frequently asked questions and about CTEC, California Tax Education Council, 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
- 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 Los Angeles?
Census County Business Patterns counted 7,984 accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll establishments with paid employees in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metro area in 2023: 5,684 in Los Angeles County and 2,300 in Orange County. They employed 59,538 people, and 3,496 were CPA offices. The count is of offices with employees, not firms.
How do I check a CPA's license in California?
Search the California Board of Accountancy's records in the Department of Consumer Affairs license search, which covers individual CPAs and accountancy firms and shows status and any discipline. Accountancy corporations and partnerships must be approved by the board before they practice, so a firm that calls itself a CPA corporation should appear there.
Do tax preparers need to register in California?
Yes, unless they're a CPA, an enrolled agent or an attorney with the State Bar of California. Everyone else who prepares returns for a fee must register with the California Tax Education Council, complete required education, carry a surety bond and hold an IRS PTIN. CTEC says unregistered preparers can face penalties of up to $5,000. Its website has a preparer lookup.
How much do accountants make in Los Angeles?
Accountants and auditors in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metro area earned a median of $94,360 a year in May 2025, across 70,640 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Tax preparers earned a median of $65,120 and financial managers $175,310. Census puts pay per employee at the metro's CPA offices at $107,908 in 2023.