Accounting firms in Minneapolis: 1,407 offices in the Twin Cities, Hennepin County's large firms, and Minnesota's annual firm permit

This page is for Twin Cities businesses, local governments, nonprofits and households choosing an accountant, accountants looking at local employers, and companies that sell to accounting firms. It covers the Census count, the four kinds of firm, Minnesota's permit rules and directories, the IRS preparer file and prospecting.

The Twin Cities' accounting market

County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, NAICS 5412 (accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services), Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro Area (CBSA 33460):

Within the smallest band, 951 offices have 1 to 4 employees. Hennepin County's published classes contain all 12 offices with 250 or more employees. The metro ranks 18th among US metro areas by number of accounting offices, by our ranking of the CBP metro file. CBP counts establishments with paid employees, not firms, and leaves out the self-employed. SEC EDGAR has no listed accounting companies to add, since its industry list has no accounting code; the Big 4 accounting firms are private partnerships.

Four kinds of firm

Pay per employee is our calculation from CBP payroll. The "other accounting" group is unusually large here, 6,692 employees, and its low pay per head pulls down the metro's average; the category includes billing offices as well as bookkeepers. Tax preparation reads low partly because CBP counts staff in the week of March 12, at the height of filing season. For audited or reviewed statements, you need one of the 535 CPA offices.

Minnesota's CPA firm permit

Minnesota Statutes section 326A.05 sets the rules:

• Who needs a permit. Any firm with an office in Minnesota that performs attest services, uses the title "CPA" or "CPA firm," or performs compilations where the law requires it. A firm without a Minnesota office needs one to perform certain attest services for a client headquartered in the state, unless it qualifies to practice under the mobility provisions.
• Every year. Permits are issued for no more than one year and expire on 31 December. The Board of Accountancy must grant or deny a complete application within 90 days.
• Ownership. A simple majority of the firm's ownership, by financial interest and voting rights, must belong to licensed CPAs, and non-licensee owners must be registered with the board.

The metro's two Wisconsin counties fall under Wisconsin's Accounting Examining Board, listed in NASBA's state board directory.

Finding and checking a Twin Cities accountant

1. For a firm list, use the Minnesota Society of CPAs' CPA firm directory.
2. For a city, county or school district audit, MNCPA's government auditor directory lists firms that do that work.
3. For tax work, check the credential. The IRS's August 2026 preparer listing, released under the Freedom of Information Act, has 7,878 preparers with a metro business address: 2,907 CPAs, 689 enrolled agents and 415 attorneys. 3,643 (46%) hold no IRS credential and no Annual Filing Season Program record. Minneapolis lists 1,135 CPA preparers and St. Paul 264.
4. Representation. Only CPAs, enrolled agents and attorneys have unlimited rights to represent you before the IRS.
5. Fees. The IRS warns against preparers who take a percentage of your refund.

Public companies and SEC-registered broker-dealers need a PCAOB-registered auditor; 646 US firms were registered at the end of 2025.

Jobs and pay

Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025, Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington metro:

Accountants and auditors are 1.2 times as concentrated in the metro as nationally.

Selling to Twin Cities accounting firms

Illustrative example. The company and rates are invented; the counts come from CBP and the IRS listing.

Northstar Ledger (northstarledger.example) sells audit software built for governmental and nonprofit engagements. Its list starts with MNCPA's government auditor directory, the firms that already do that work, then adds CPA firms that the IRS listing shows with ten or more CPAs: 37 business names in the metro. It removes the national firms, about a third on an illustrative basis, and writes to the partner who leads government audits in May, after single-audit season peaks. At an illustrative 12% reply rate on about 50 firms, that's 6 conversations.

Subject: Single audits at [firm]

Hi [first name],

[Firm] is listed among the Minnesota firms that audit cities and school districts, and I imagine [season] was heavy on single audits.

We built [product] for governmental engagements: [one specific feature]. Firms like yours use it to [outcome].

Would 20 minutes in June be useful to see whether it fits your next cycle?

[Your name]

Finding the right partner at each firm is the slow part; Bebop finds matching 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

Next step: compare another Midwest market in accounting firms in Chicago.