Accountant and Auditor Career Assessment
Keeping the money records right
Welcome
Accountants and auditors keep track of money. They record it, check it, and explain what the numbers mean. Auditors look at records someone else made and test whether they are correct.
This is one of the largest office careers in North Dakota. You will explore what the work is really like and whether it fits you.
This takes about 15 minutes.
What is a Accountant and Auditor?
An accountant records and reports money coming in and going out. An auditor checks those records for mistakes or fraud. Most of the work is done on a computer, in accounting software and spreadsheets. Some accountants become a CPA (Certified Public Accountant), which is a state license.
The Reality: This is not an entry-level job. Almost every posting asks for a bachelor's degree in accounting. A real starting point is a two-year degree and a job as a bookkeeper, accounting clerk, or payroll clerk, then finishing the bachelor's while you work. Also know this: tax season, roughly January through April 15, means long weeks. And you sit at a desk most of the day.
Your Responsibilities:
- Record money coming in and going out
- Prepare monthly and yearly financial reports
- Prepare tax returns for people or businesses
- Check records for mistakes and fix them
- Test whether a company followed the rules (auditing)
- Explain the numbers to managers in plain words
- Set up and use accounting software
- Keep private financial information private
You make sure the money story a business tells is the true one.
A Day in the Life
8:00 AM — Open your email. A client asks why their sales report looks off.
8:30 AM — Match bank records to the accounting software. Find a missing deposit.
10:00 AM — Build the monthly report for a small trucking company.
11:30 AM — Call the owner to explain what the numbers mean.
12:00 PM — Lunch.
12:45 PM — Start a tax return. Check every form the client sent.
2:30 PM — Audit work: pick 30 invoices at random and test them against receipts.
5:00 PM — Write down your hours on each client and shut down.
Steady desk work. Quiet most of the year, very busy in tax season.
Training in North Dakota
You need a bachelor's degree for most accountant jobs, and 150 college credits to become a CPA. A two-year degree gets you into clerk and bookkeeper work, which is real experience that counts. A four-year degree gets you the accountant title. North Dakota lets you sit for the CPA exam at 120 credits, but you need 150 credits and a bachelor's degree before you can get the license.
Training Pathways:
- Two-year degree first (2 years): An accounting or business associate degree. You start as a bookkeeper or accounting clerk, then transfer your credits into a bachelor's degree later. Many ND colleges let you do this online while you work.
- Bachelor's degree (4 years): An accounting major. This is what most accountant and auditor jobs ask for. It gives you 120 of the 150 credits the CPA license needs.
- Bachelor's plus a master's (about 5 years): A Master of Accountancy adds the last 30 credits so you reach 150 and can be licensed as a CPA.
Where to Train in North Dakota:
- Minot State University (Minot) — Accounting, AAS, 60 credits, 2 years. It is built for bookkeeping and accounting clerk jobs and prepares you for a bookkeeping certification exam. Minot State also offers an Accounting BS (120 credits, on campus) that the school says covers 120 of the 150 CPA credit hours — minotstateu.edu
- Bismarck State College (Bismarck) — Liberal Arts Accounting pathway, AA, 2 years, on campus or online, meant as the first two years of a bachelor's degree. BSC also offers a Financial Technologies AAS (2 years) with stackable certificates in Accounting — bismarckstate.edu
- Lake Region State College (Devils Lake) — Business Administration, AA, 63 credits, plus a 15-credit Accounting Certificate — lrsc.edu
- North Dakota State College of Science (Wahpeton and Fargo) — Business Management, AAS (Administration and Finance), 61 credits, face-to-face or online, includes Elements of Accounting I and II — catalog.ndscs.edu
- North Dakota State University (Fargo) — Accounting major, on campus, plus a Master of Accountancy (30 credits, can be finished in one year, taught in person in downtown Fargo). NDSU says the major paired with the MAcc is a clear path to 150 credits — ndsu.edu
- University of North Dakota (Grand Forks) — Bachelor of Accountancy, 120 credits, on campus or online. UND states plainly that the degree is 120 credits and that states require 150 credits for the CPA license, and it offers several ways to add the extra 30 — und.edu
- University of Mary (Bismarck) — Accounting, BS, offered in person, online, evening, or blended, with a year-round option that can finish in about 2.6 years — umary.edu
Before You Start: High school diploma or GED. You should be comfortable with regular math and good with computers. You do not need advanced math like calculus for most accounting programs, but you do need to be careful and exact.
Tip: Start with financial aid, scholarships, and any help an employer offers — that is where the money starts. After that, ask a career counselor or Job Service North Dakota whether WIOA or other programs can help with what is left over, like training, tools, work boots, or exam fees. What can be paid for depends on the program and on your own situation, so ask before you sign up rather than after. Registered apprenticeships let you earn a paycheck while you learn — see jobsnd.com/job-seeker/apprenticeships for ND programs.
Certification & Licensing
You can work as an accountant without a license. The CPA license is a separate, bigger step. The North Dakota State Board of Accountancy issues the CPA certificate. If you want to prepare tax returns for pay, the IRS has its own, much smaller requirements.
Credentials You Might Get:
- No license needed to work as a company accountant, staff accountant, or internal auditor. Many people build a whole career without one
- PTIN (IRS) — anyone who prepares federal tax returns for pay must have a Preparer Tax Identification Number from the IRS. This is the smallest step and is renewed every year (irs.gov)
- Annual Filing Season Program (IRS) — a voluntary program. You take continuing education hours and get a Record of Completion. It gives you limited rights to speak for a client, only on returns you prepared and signed, and only to revenue agents and customer service staff — not appeals or collections (irs.gov)
- Enrolled Agent (IRS) — the highest credential the IRS awards. Get a PTIN, pass all three parts of the Special Enrollment Examination within three years, file Form 23 with a fee, and pass a suitability check. That check looks at whether you filed your own tax returns and includes a criminal background review. Renewed every three years with 72 hours of continuing education (irs.gov)
- CPA (ND State Board of Accountancy) — 150 semester credits including a bachelor's degree, with 24 credits in accounting and 24 in other business courses. You may sit for the exam at 120 credits (ndsba.nd.gov)
- CPA experience — 2,000 hours and one calendar year of qualified experience before you are licensed, plus the AICPA Professional Ethics course
The Exams: The CPA exam has four sections: three required Core parts (Auditing, Financial Accounting and Reporting, and Regulation) plus one Discipline part you choose. You need 75% to pass each one. Once you pass a section, that credit lasts 30 months, and all four must be passed inside that rolling window (ndsba.nd.gov).
Cost: CPA exam fees are set by the board and the testing company, so call and ask for current amounts. An IRS PTIN and the Enrolled Agent exam and enrollment fees are much smaller. Your degree is the real cost.
Keeping It Current: CPA certificates renew on the board's schedule with continuing professional education. Enrolled Agents renew every three years with 72 hours of continuing education and must renew the PTIN every year.
Salary & Job Outlook
North Dakota Accountant and Auditor Pay (May 2025):
- Starting out (bottom 10–25%): $23.72–$29.31/hour ($49,330–$60,960/year)
- Middle (median — half earn more, half earn less): $36.41/hour ($75,730/year)
- Experienced (top 25–10%): $46.05–$60.08/hour ($95,780–$124,960/year)
What that means: The middle North Dakota accountant earns about $36.41 an hour, or about $75,730 a year. The bottom tenth, near $23.72, is mostly people in their first year or two. North Dakota pays less than the national middle for this job, which is about $40.23 an hour. Public accounting firms often pay overtime or a bonus for tax season, so a spring paycheck can look very different from a summer one.
Jobs in North Dakota: About 4,420 people do this work in ND today. By 2034, that should be about 4,780 (about 8% growth). Expect about 370 job openings every year in ND from growth and people retiring or changing jobs. Across the U.S., the change is about 5% growth — faster than average.
Outlook: Strong and steady. About 370 openings a year in North Dakota. Most come from people retiring or moving up, not from brand-new jobs. Accounting firms across the state say they have trouble finding enough people.
Who Hires in ND: Public accounting firms, banks and credit unions, hospitals and clinics, grain and farm co-ops, oil and gas companies, construction firms, colleges, city and county offices, and North Dakota state government.
Work Setting: An office or a home office. Mostly indoors at a desk. Auditors sometimes travel to a client's workplace for a week or two at a time.
Physical Demands: Low. The hard part is sitting and looking at a screen for hours. Eye strain, back strain, and wrist strain are real. A good chair, a sit-stand desk, and screen-reading or magnification software are common and reasonable requests.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, North Dakota, May 2025 (SOC 13-2011); North Dakota and U.S. long-term employment projections 2024–2034, via O*NET OnLine. Numbers are rounded.
Where This Leads
Path 1: Accounting Clerk or Bookkeeper — The usual first job while you finish school.
Path 2: Staff Accountant — Your first real accountant title.
Path 3: Senior Accountant — More responsibility and harder accounts.
Path 4: CPA — Licensed. Can sign audit reports and open a firm.
Path 5: Internal Auditor — Check your own company from the inside.
Path 6: Controller or Accounting Manager — Run the whole accounting department.
The Real Talk
What's Great:
- Jobs in every ND town
- Steady, year-round work
- Clear ladder to better pay
- You can work from home in many jobs
- Skills transfer to any industry
- You can open your own practice
What's Hard:
- Needs a bachelor's degree for most jobs
- CPA license takes 150 credits
- Long hours in tax season
- Sitting at a screen all day
- Small mistakes matter a lot
- Deadlines you cannot move
Be Honest: Are you willing to finish a four-year degree, even if it takes longer while you work? Can you sit and focus for long stretches? Can you handle a hard eight to twelve weeks every spring?