Accountant salary in Australia
Accountant earnings can differ substantially by area of practice, qualification, seniority, employer and responsibility for clients or teams.
191,675 people reported under the ATO occupation group “Accountant” for 2023-24. The published median salary or wage income was $98,490.
What this page measures
This page uses ATO unit group 2211. The source groups financial analysts, management accountants and tax agents together, so its median describes that combined tax-return population rather than one accounting designation.
The ATO count includes everyone who reported this classification. Its public table does not publish the exact non-zero-income population used to calculate the median.
Related titles in the source data
- Financial analyst
- Management accountant
- Tax agent
A modelled pay guide
- Lower guide
- $67,300
- Modelled low
- $80,700
- ATO median
- $98,490
- Modelled high
- $120,200
Only the median is a published statistic for this occupation group. The lower and upper markers are a guide created by applying earnings-distribution ratios for professionals as a whole to that median. The upper guide is $149,300. These are not observed percentiles for this occupation group.
Why individual salaries vary
- Area of practice and professional accreditation
- Experience, management responsibility and client ownership
- Industry, employer size and commercial complexity
- Location and whether the role is public practice or in-house
What full-time work pays
The tax-return median above can include part-year and part-time workers with non-zero salary or wage income. The ABS full-time benchmark is published for the occupation group “Accountant”. It covers full-time, non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate and puts them at $2,003 a week, or about $104,200 a year (May 2025), over roughly 43 hours. 16% of people in this occupation work part-time.
Modelled accountant pay by state
These guides apply each published state-to-national ratio for the Accountant group to the observed national median above. They are not observed state medians for individual workers.
| State | State-adjusted guide | vs national |
|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | $103,000 | +5% |
| Victoria | $97,000 | −2% |
| Queensland | $94,900 | −4% |
| Western Australia | $100,700 | +2% |
| South Australia | $88,200 | −10% |
| Tasmania | $82,300 | −16% |
| Australian Capital Territory | $104,500 | +6% |
| Northern Territory | $86,100 | −13% |
How the broader pay measure has moved
Average salary income for the “Accountant” occupation group went from $75,268 in 2010-11 to $115,469 in 2023-24 - 3.3% a year over 13 years. That is an average rather than a median, and it moves with hours worked and who is in the occupation as well as with pay.
Turn the benchmark into a decision
Estimate take-home pay from the observed median, or compare a live job advertisement with the broader occupation evidence before applying.
To search another title or change the state, return to the Australian Salary Search.
Sources: ATO Table 15, ATO Table 14B, ABS Employee Earnings and Hours and Jobs and Skills Australia occupation data. Data retrieved 17 August 2026. Page reviewed . Full method on the methodology page.
Explore our other free tools
Australian Pay Calculator
Estimate your take-home pay after income tax and Medicare levy
Try itJob Ad Analyser
Discover salary ranges for Seek job listings
Try itATS Resume Checker
Check whether your resume survives applicant tracking systems
Try itIncome Percentile Calculator
See where your income ranks among all Australian taxpayers
Try itHECS Payoff Calculator
Estimate when your HECS/HELP debt will be paid off
Try it