Accountants build complex problem solving, judgment and persuasion skills that open doors well beyond tax season. The strongest matches among the 25 careers below are Treasurers and Controllers and Financial Managers, both at 92%.
Updated October 2026 · Data: O*NET 31.0 and BLS OEWS May 2025 · How we match careers
Sorted by skill match.
| # | Career | Skill match | Median pay | Pay change | Extra education |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Treasurers and Controllers | 92% | $166,570Pay for the broader BLS group “Financial Managers” | Not compared | None |
| 2 | Financial Managers | 92% | $166,570 | +99% | None |
| 3 | Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists | 86% | $78,210 | −7% | None |
| 4 | Management Analysts | 84% | $101,860 | +22% | None |
| 5 | Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents | 82% | $78,660 | −6% | None |
| 6 | Actuaries | 82% | $130,000 | +55% | None |
| 7 | Document Management Specialists | 81% | $116,580Pay for the broader BLS group “Computer Occupations, All Other” | Not compared | None |
| 8 | Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators | 80% | $78,000 | −7% | None |
| 9 | Purchasing Managers | 79% | $148,080 | +77% | None |
| 10 | Compliance Managers | 79% | $141,900Pay for the broader BLS group “Managers, All Other” | Not compared | None |
Compared with Accountants and Auditors, median $83,680. Skill match is our estimate (0–99) from O*NET 31.0 skills, knowledge, work activities and interests, adjusted for preparation and big pay drops. Pay: BLS OEWS May 2025, national median.
How important each skill is in accountants’ work (O*NET importance, scale 1–5).
The gaps that show up most often across your top 10 matches.
Free and low-cost training: use the CareerOneStop training finder below.
Accounting trains you to spot errors, explain numbers to people who are not experts and make calls that affect a whole budget. Finance management, analysis and compliance roles rate those same abilities highly in O*NET. Management Analysts, for example, use the problem solving you apply to reconciliations to fix how a company runs. Because most of these roles sit in the same business world, your degree usually still counts. The skills to strengthen are operations analysis and systems evaluation.
A concrete first step, the skills to add, and the hard parts of each job, from O*NET 31.0 education, training and work context data.
92% skill match · $166,570 (broader BLS group)
Operations Analysis · Management of Financial Resources · Systems Evaluation
92% skill match · $166,570 · +99% pay
Management of Personnel Resources · Coordination · Service Orientation
86% skill match · $78,210 · −7% pay
Operations Analysis · Systems Analysis · Management of Personnel Resources
If you want to stay close to what you do now, these roles are the nearest.
The closest matches are Treasurers and Controllers (92%), Financial Managers (92%) and Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists (86%), based on O*NET 31.0. Management Analysts (84%) and Actuaries (82%) are also close, and they put your analytical skills to work outside traditional accounting.
9 of the 25 matches pay more than the $83,680 median for accountants and auditors. Financial Managers earn a median of $166,570, a 99% increase, Actuaries earn $130,000 (+55%) and Management Analysts earn $101,860 (+22%), according to BLS May 2025 data.
Rarely. 24 of the 25 matches usually need no more education than an accountant has, based on O*NET Job Zones, and only 1 usually needs a graduate degree. The bigger step is experience: finance manager roles often go to people who have led teams or budgets.
Inside the same field, Financial Examiners (93%), Budget Analysts (92%) and Credit Analysts (91%) are the nearest roles. They use the same review and reporting skills but focus on regulation, public budgets or lending decisions instead of keeping the books.