How much does it cost to start an accounting practice?
About $58,200 all in for a small one, opened by one founder in an American city: $17,700 to open the doors and $40,600 to keep going for the 9 months it typically takes to pay its way. Below, every item at low, typical and high with where it comes from — and your own quote, for your country, your town, how you start and the money you have.
To open: $17,700
Office furniture and fit-out: $4,000 ($1,000–$10,000). estimate; current file $8,000 for the office
Computers, scanner and secure backup: $3,000 ($1,500–$5,000). Our estimate: no published figure was found for this item.
Professional tax software, first year: $1,980 ($345–$3,300). Drake Tax 2025: Pay-Per-Return $345, Unlimited $1,825, Power Bundle $1,975 (Nasdaq, Money.com); Drake Tax Pro Unlimited TY2026 list $3,295
CPA firm permit and registrations: $400 ($100–$1,000). Our estimate: state board firm permit, PTIN renewal and EFIN; varies by state
Professional liability (E&O), first year: $1,500 ($600–$3,000). CPA-practice guides: E&O $600-$2,500/yr, $1,000-$3,000/yr
Website and launch marketing: $3,000 ($1,000–$6,000). estimate; current file $5,000
Forming the company: $800 ($150–$2,500). An LLC's state filing is $50–$500 (state fee schedules), plus an EIN (free) and a registered agent; the World Bank measured the procedures at about 1% of income per capita, about $850 (Doing Business 2020); a lawyer's formation package $500–$2,000.
Lease deposit: $2,000 ($667–$9,000). Two to three months' rent is usual for a first-time tenant (Aquila Commercial; REBusiness, restaurant lease counsel). 400 sq ft typical. CommercialEdge national office reports 2025: full-service equivalent listing rate $33.34-$33.42/sq ft/yr (Jan-Apr 2025); Yardi Matrix Dec 2025 $32.86 (commercialsearch.com, yardimatrix.com). Low = suburban/secondary-market small suites, high = CBD of large metros (estimate around the national average).
Rent while you fit out, before opening: $1,000 ($0–$9,000). Landlords often give a few months rent-free for a build-out, often used up by permits before work starts (NYC restaurant lease counsel, DHC Legal); none to three months paid.
To keep going until it pays its way: $40,600
Running costs while sales build: $4,010 ($760–$16,700). Practice management and client portal, Marketing, Research and continuing education, General liability / BOP, Phone and internet, until it breaks even; sales are taken to grow evenly to cover them, so about half is needed. Break-even: Our estimate: tax work concentrates fees in February-April, so a practice opened after a season waits for the next one; monthly bookkeeping clients build slowly
Rent while sales build: $4,500 ($667–$22,500). The premises' monthly cost above, until it breaks even, half of it covered by sales as they grow.
Your own living costs until it can pay you: $32,000 ($14,200–$53,400). A one-person household spends about $3,560 a month in America (BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey 2021–22); nothing is paid to you until the business breaks even.
All in: $58,200
About $58,200 all in ($21,000–$141,000): $17,700 to open and $40,600 to keep going for the 9 months it typically takes to pay its way.
With $10,000 of your own you are $48,200 short: borrowed as an SBA microloan at 11% over 5 years, about $1,050 a month.
The trade's published range, before the months it takes to pay its way: $3,000–$60,000. CPA-practice guides: home-based solo practice $3,000-$15,000; $15,000-$60,000 nationally including working capital (howmuchtostartabusiness.com); AICPA/Karbon $10k-$50k (current file)
How much does it cost to start an accounting practice?
About $58,200 all in ($21,000–$141,000) for a small one, my own premises, in an American city. To open: Office furniture and fit-out $4,000; Computers, scanner and secure backup $3,000; Professional tax software, first year $1,980; CPA firm permit and registrations $400; Professional liability (E&O), first year $1,500; Website and launch marketing $3,000; Forming the company $800; Lease deposit $2,000; Rent while you fit out, before opening $1,000 — $17,700. To keep going for the 9 months it typically takes to break even: running costs while sales build $4,010; rent while sales build $4,500; your own living costs until it can pay you $32,000 — $40,600. The trade's published startup range is $3,000–$60,000 (CPA-practice guides: home-based solo practice $3,000-$15,000; $15,000-$60,000 nationally including working capital (howmuchtostartabusiness.com); AICPA/Karbon $10k-$50k (current file)), which leaves the months before it pays its way out.
What does SparkTower's simulator pay to open it?
The simulator pays the one-off opening costs before the first customer — the running costs and the founder's living it plays month by month: Office $8,000; Accounting software and IT $6,000; Licence and professional indemnity $4,000; Forming the practice $2,000; Launch marketing $5,000. A small accounting practice: $10k–$50k (AICPA practice-management guides; Karbon practice startup guide).
How much of that do you keep?
$14,000 of it — the kit, fit-out or stock it bought — is still yours afterwards, something a buyer would pay for and a lender would lend against; the other $11,000 is spent.
What if my own money doesn't cover it?
With $10,000 of your own you would be about $48,200 short. Borrowed as an SBA microloan at 11% over 5 years, that is about $1,050 a month. Most founders borrow the rest. A small-business term loan runs about 11% a year over 5 years (SBA 7(a) loans are the prime rate plus 3 to 6.5 points), repaid every month from the start — before the business has found its customers. In SparkTower's accounting practice simulator the founder starts with $25,000 of their own money; the launch costs come out of it and leave $0 to trade on, with nothing borrowed.
Can you start an accounting practice with no money?
Not in full: lenders want the owner to put in about 20% (the SBA's own floor for a start-up is 10%), and lend against the kit, fit-out and stock a launch buys, not its marketing or a software build. What a founder with nothing does is open smaller — a bookkeeper working from home — on about $4,300 of essentials (accounting software $1,500; licence and professional indemnity $2,500; forming the practice $300), borrowed as a microloan (the SBA's are up to $50,000, at 8–13%) or, for a few thousand dollars, on a card at about 22%. The rest is bought once the business can afford it. A home bookkeeping or tax practice: $2k–$5k (AICPA and Karbon practice guides).
Will it earn the money back?
That depends on what you charge, how many customers you win and what your rivals do. The free accounting practice simulator pays these costs before it opens, borrows what the founder's cash doesn't cover, and plays the business forward against real rivals, so you can see whether it earns them back before you spend them.
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