Short answer
The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area has 1,758 accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll offices with paid employees, employing 15,198 people (Census County Business Patterns, 2023): 779 in Hillsborough County and 682 in Pinellas. 629 are CPA offices and 734 bookkeeping and other accounting services. A firm with a Florida office that does attest work or calls itself a CPA firm needs a license from the Florida Board of Accountancy, renewed every two years.
- 1,758 offices employ 15,198 people across four counties, at average pay of $83,888.
- Hillsborough offices average 13.4 employees; Pinellas offices average 5.4.
- Bookkeeping and other non-CPA offices are the largest group, at 42% of the total.
- 60% of the 8,571 preparers in the IRS listing for the metro hold no IRS credential or filing season record.
- Tax preparers are 1.49 times as concentrated in the metro as nationally.
On this page
This page is for Tampa Bay businesses, retirees and families choosing an accountant or tax preparer, accountants looking at local employers, and companies that sell to accounting practices. It covers the Census count, the firm types, Florida's firm licensing law, the IRS preparer file and how to prospect the market.
Tampa Bay's accounting market
County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, NAICS 5412 (accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services), Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL Metro Area (CBSA 45300):
| Measure (2023) | Tampa Bay metro |
|---|---|
| Establishments | 1,758 |
| Employees (week of March 12) | 15,198 |
| Annual payroll | $1,274,928,000 |
| Average employees per establishment | 8.6 |
| Average annual pay | $83,888 |
| Share of US establishments | 1.28% of 137,069 |
| County | Establishments | Employees | Per office |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hillsborough | 779 | 10,467 | 13.4 |
| Pinellas | 682 | 3,707 | 5.4 |
| Pasco | 219 | 737 | 3.4 |
| Hernando | 78 | 287 | 3.7 |
By size, 1,337 offices have 1 to 4 employees, 226 have 5 to 9, 111 have 10 to 19, 50 have 20 to 49, 11 have 50 to 99, 14 have 100 to 249 and 6 have 250 to 499. The Census Bureau doesn't publish the 500 to 999 or 1,000-or-more cells here; subtracting the published classes from the total leaves 3 offices with 500 or more employees. Hillsborough's own classes hold 4 of the 6 offices with 250 to 499.
Tampa Bay ranks 16th 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 largest firms, such as the Big 4, are private partnerships.
What kind of office you're looking at
| Type (NAICS 2022) | Offices | Share | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other accounting, including bookkeeping (541219) | 734 | 42% | 2,872 |
| CPA offices (541211) | 629 | 36% | 9,125 |
| Tax preparation (541213) | 325 | 18% | 1,221 |
| Payroll services (541214) | 70 | 4% | 1,980 |
CPA offices average 14.5 employees and are where you go for audited or reviewed statements and complex tax planning. The 734 bookkeeping and other accounting offices average 3.9 people and handle monthly books; by the Census definition they may also prepare returns or run payroll. Tax preparation offices do returns only.
Florida's CPA firm license
Section 473.3101 of the Florida Statutes says these firms must hold a license:
- any firm with an office in Florida that offers or performs attest services, such as expressing an opinion on financial statements;
- any firm with an office in Florida that uses the title "CPA" or "CPA firm" or anything suggesting it is one; and
- a firm with no Florida office that performs certain attest work for a client with its home office in Florida, unless it meets the mobility conditions, including enrollment in peer review.
Licenses renew every two years, a firm must tell the state within a month of any change in its application details, and the application is made on the affidavit of a CPA owner. The Florida Board of Accountancy sits within the state's Department of Business and Professional Regulation, whose licensing portal covers license searches.
Checking and choosing a Tampa Bay accountant
- Find candidates. The Florida Institute of CPAs runs a public find a firm directory.
- Verify the license of the firm and the CPA who will sign your work.
- For tax-only help, check the credential. The IRS's August 2026 preparer listing, released under the Freedom of Information Act, has 8,571 preparers with a metro business address: 1,949 CPAs, 845 enrolled agents and 212 attorneys. 5,158 (60%) have no IRS credential and no Annual Filing Season Program record. Tampa lists 814 CPA preparers, St. Petersburg 262 and Clearwater 137.
- Know who can represent you. Only CPAs, enrolled agents and attorneys can represent taxpayers before the IRS in all matters.
- Watch the fee basis. The IRS warns against preparers who base fees on your refund, and you should never sign a blank return.
For a public company or broker-dealer audit, the firm must be registered with the PCAOB; 194 US firms issued public company audit reports in 2025.
Jobs and pay
Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025, Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro:
| Occupation | Employed | Concentration vs US | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accountants and auditors | 14,770 | 1.09 | $78,990 |
| Bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks | 12,750 | 1.00 | $50,090 |
| Financial managers | 8,500 | 1.08 | $157,480 |
| Tax preparers | 1,060 | 1.49 | $48,550 |
CBP puts pay per employee at the metro's CPA offices at $100,703, our calculation from payroll.
Selling to Tampa Bay practices
The Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando markets are owner-run: 979 offices averaging under five people. Hillsborough's larger offices have partners, administrators and, in a few cases, procurement.
Illustrative example. The company and rates are invented; the counts come from CBP and the IRS listing.
Gulfside Web (gulfsideweb.example) builds websites and local search listings for small accounting practices. It targets Pinellas County's 682 offices, checks which have a weak or missing website, an illustrative 40% or 273 offices, and calls owners in late April and May, when they have time to think about next season's clients. At an illustrative 10% meeting rate, that's 27 meetings, and at a 30% close rate, 8 new clients from one county.
Checking hundreds of practices' websites and finding each owner is slow by hand; Bebop finds matching practices and researches each account. For firm roles and buying, see the list of accounting firms; for the IRS file, how many accountants there are.
Local sources
| Source | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Florida Statutes 473.3101 | The firm licensing law |
| FICPA find a firm | Public directory of Florida CPA firms |
| Tampa Bay EDC | The region's economic development corporation |
Next step: if you're building a list of these practices, 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
- Florida Statutes 473.3101, Licensure of firms or public accounting firms (and 473.302, Definitions), Florida Legislature, 2026, accessed 30 October 2026
- State boards of accountancy directory (Florida Board of Accountancy), National Association of State Boards of Accountancy, accessed 30 October 2026
- Find a CPA firm, Florida Institute of CPAs, accessed 30 October 2026
- PTIN information and the Freedom of Information Act (preparer listings by state), Internal Revenue Service, updated 14 August 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 Tampa?
Census County Business Patterns counted 1,758 accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll establishments with paid employees in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area in 2023, employing 15,198 people. Hillsborough County had 779 and Pinellas 682. 629 were CPA offices. These are offices with employees, not firms, and they exclude preparers working alone.
Does a CPA firm need a license in Florida?
Yes, if it has an office in Florida and offers attest services, such as opinions on financial statements, or uses the title "CPA" or "CPA firm." Under section 473.3101 of the Florida Statutes, a firm without a Florida office also needs one to do certain attest work for Florida-based clients unless it meets the mobility conditions. Licenses renew every two years.
How do I find a CPA in Tampa?
The Florida Institute of CPAs publishes a public find-a-firm directory, and the Florida Board of Accountancy's licenses can be checked through the Department of Business and Professional Regulation's licensing portal. For tax preparers who aren't CPAs, use the IRS directory of federal tax return preparers with credentials, which lists enrolled agents and filing season program participants.
How much do accountants make in Tampa?
Accountants and auditors in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area earned a median of $78,990 a year in May 2025, across 14,770 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Tax preparers earned a median of $48,550 and financial managers $157,480. Census puts pay per employee at the metro's CPA offices at $100,703 in 2023.