According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) website, “Accountants and auditors held about 1.3 million jobs in 2008.” (As of December 17, 2009, these were the latest statistics available.)
As with many other careers, accountants and auditors worked throughout private industry and government. Of these, about 24% worked for payroll service firms, tax preparation, accounting, and bookkeeping firms. Another 8% were self-employed. Among the larger set of management accountants, internal auditors, or government accountants and auditors, there is a subset who are licensed CPAs. Most CPAs work in urban areas because that’s where the jobs are–most corporate regional or central offices and government offices are in urban areas.
A small percent of accounting professionals are employed as full-time college and university faculty; others teach part-time while working as self-employed accountants or as accountants for private industry or government.