Seasonal Tax Jobs Can Open a Path to $200,000 CPA Pay

The main tax-accounting rush runs from late January through April 15, when individual and corporate tax deadlines drive demand. Monster said employers often use seasonal roles to assess workers for permanent positions. ZipRecruiter puts average U.S. pay at $33.40 an hour for tax associates and $45.67 for tax experts.

Hiring demand is set against a shortage of qualified workers. The United States faced a shortfall of 340,000 tax accountants in 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Personiv, a global finance and accounting outsourcing company, found that surveyed employers had an average of 17 unfilled accounting and finance jobs in 2026, up from five a year earlier.

The timing of applications matters. Monster found seasonal postings rose 44% from August to September last year and peaked in October. Posting activity then fell 24% in November from the previous month, suggesting the prime recruitment window may have passed. Seasonal listings can also be hard to spot: fewer than 3% of such postings in 2025 used “seasonal,” “holiday” or “temporary” in the job title. Monster recommends searching by role, such as “tax associate,” and across industries.

Tax careers have entry requirements. Tax accountants typically need at least a bachelor’s degree, while a CPA license requires a substantial investment of time and money. Investopedia reported that CPAs with four years of experience can receive total compensation of up to $200,000.

Temporary work may still offer younger job seekers income and experience as they face a difficult labor market. In July, 53.8% of people ages 16 to 24 were employed and youth unemployment stood at 9.1%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Kickresume found that 12% of recent graduates secured full-time jobs before graduation this year, compared with nearly 40% of earlier graduates. Goodwill CEO Steve Preston told Fortune last year that automation is reducing entry-level roles where young workers traditionally gain experience.