Accounting is one of the few professions in Australia with two competing — and equally recognised — qualification pathways: Chartered Accountants ANZ (CA) and CPA Australia. Which one an accountant holds matters less to their salary than which type of firm they work for, since Big 4 and top-tier firms consistently pay above mid-tier and suburban practices at every level.
Graduate accountants typically start in the $60,000–$70,000 range, with Big 4 firms usually sitting at the upper end. Once CA- or CPA-qualified with 3-5 years' experience, $80,000–$100,000 is common. Senior accountants and Financial Controllers often move into the $110,000–$150,000 band, and CFOs at larger organisations can exceed $200,000 — a career-long spread of well over 3x from graduate to the top of the ladder.
Estimate uses 2025–26 resident marginal tax rates and excludes the Low Income Tax Offset and other offsets, which would reduce the tax payable slightly for most incomes in this range. Use the free calculator for a figure that accounts for offsets.
A common path runs from Graduate Accountant through qualified CA/CPA, then Senior Accountant, Financial Controller, and potentially Chief Financial Officer. Many accountants also specialise into tax, audit, or advisory, each with a distinct trajectory — audit tends to have the clearest partnership track at public practice firms, while tax and advisory specialists often move fluidly between public practice and industry.
Both are respected qualifications; CA is often favoured by larger firms and audit-focused careers, while CPA is common across a broader range of commercial and public practice roles. Salary outcomes depend more on employer, specialisation, and experience than which qualification is chosen.
To charge a fee for preparing and lodging tax returns for clients, an accountant generally needs to be registered with the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB), which requires specific qualifications and supervised experience.
The gap is substantial — graduate accountants typically start well below six figures, while Financial Controllers and senior managers with 8-10+ years of experience frequently earn well over double a graduate starting salary, before considering CFO-level roles.