Annual CPA Career Satisfaction Survey 2026 A joint initiative of: Tri-Merit Specialty Tax Professionals, Accountants Forward, Big4 Transparency and HB Publishing & Marketing Company

Accountants Annual Professional Satisfaction Survey 2026

Tri-Merit Specialty Tax Professionals has teamed with Accountants Forward to assess how satisfied accountants are with their profession and lifestyle today.

We sincerely appreciate your participation in this confidential survey. Your results will arrive well BEFORE they are shared with the media and general public. Again, responses will be kept in strictest confidence and final results will be published on an anonymous aggregate basis only.

This confidential survey should take approximately 5 minutes to complete.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO CLICK NEXT AT THE BOTTOM OF EACH PAGE TO PRESERVE YOUR ANSWERS.

Question Title

1. Which of the following most closely fits your role? (Select only one) (Required.)

President/CEO/Managing Partner

Partner

Director/Senior Manager

Manager

Staff

Question Title

2. For how many years have you been working in the accounting profession? (Select only one) (Required.)

1 year or less

2 to 5 years

6 to 10 years

11 to 20 years

21 years or more

Question Title

3. In which of the following work areas do you spend the bulk of your time? (Select up to 3) (Required.)

Audit

Tax

Business Advisory

Accounting

Consulting

Bookkeeping

Risk

Business Valuation

Other (please specify)

Question Title

4. How many full-time employees work at your firm? (Select only one) (Required.)

Sole practitioner

2 to 5 employees

6 to 10 employees

11 to 24 employees

25 to 49 employees

50 to 99 employees

100 employees or more

Question Title

5. Which of the following best describes how your work is billed to clients?
(Select only one) (Required.)

Hourly billing (i.e., time and materials)

Value billing

Fixed fee

Subscription

Other

Question Title

6. Are you required to track and report your time at work? (Select only one) (Required.)

Yes

Recommended, but not required

Question Title

7. To what extent do you agree that artificial intelligence will benefit your firm in the long run? (select single best answer) (Required.)

Strongly disagree

Somewhat disagree

Somewhat agree

Strongly agree

Strongly disagree

Somewhat disagree

Somewhat agree

Strongly agree

Question Title

8. Which of the following describes ways in which artificial intelligence may be contributing to personal stress and burnout risk at your firm? (check all that apply) (Required.)

Fear of losing my job or being demoted

The scope of what counted as "my job" has expanded

Endless learning curve. Hard to keep up with all the AI changes and options

I'm expected to do so much more in a day without more help, resources or pay

Hard to find reliable training/resources for using AI better

My workday feels like it never ends

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 1. Which of the following most closely fits your role? (Select only one) (Required.)

Question Title

* 2. For how many years have you been working in the accounting profession? (Select only one) (Required.)

Question Title

* 3. In which of the following work areas do you spend the bulk of your time? (Select up to 3) (Required.)

Question Title

* 4. How many full-time employees work at your firm? (Select only one) (Required.)

Question Title

* 5. Which of the following best describes how your work is billed to clients? (Select only one) (Required.)

Question Title

* 6. Are you required to track and report your time at work? (Select only one) (Required.)

Question Title

* 7. To what extent do you agree that artificial intelligence will benefit your firm in the long run? (select single best answer) (Required.)

Question Title

* 8. Which of the following describes ways in which artificial intelligence may be contributing to personal stress and burnout risk at your firm? (check all that apply) (Required.)

1. Which of the following most closely fits your role? (Select only one) (Required.)

2. For how many years have you been working in the accounting profession? (Select only one) (Required.)

3. In which of the following work areas do you spend the bulk of your time? (Select up to 3) (Required.)

4. How many full-time employees work at your firm? (Select only one) (Required.)

5. Which of the following best describes how your work is billed to clients?
(Select only one) (Required.)

6. Are you required to track and report your time at work? (Select only one) (Required.)

7. To what extent do you agree that artificial intelligence will benefit your firm in the long run? (select single best answer) (Required.)

8. Which of the following describes ways in which artificial intelligence may be contributing to personal stress and burnout risk at your firm? (check all that apply) (Required.)