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Accountant

Stable

Finance

Prepares and audits financial records. Professional certifications (ACCA/CPA/MIA) significantly raise earning power.

AccountingBusiness

Picture the job

Where you'd usually workA finance or banking office

  • Rarely dealing with the public

An illustration of a typical workplace, not a photo. The work-style notes come from US O*NET data, so read them as a guide.

Pay in the private market

Monthly pay from fresh grad to mid-career, from the salary guide cited on this page.

Entry

Private
RM3,000 – RM4,500

Mid-career

Private
RM6,000 – RM10,000

Government pay isn't shown: we haven't yet sourced the SSPA civil-service salary tables, and we won't estimate them.

Job demand outlook

Stable

Steady, reliable demand: a consistent number of openings.

Your readiness

How your current SPM subjects line up with this career.

Add your SPM grades to see how ready you are for this career.

Add my grades

How far is this from you?

Roughly how much preparation this job usually takes. In Malaysia your UPU route and the programme's syarat still decide entry, so treat this as a guide, not a gate.

  1. 1

    Entry straight after SPM

  2. 2

    SPM + sijil / short TVET course

  3. 3

    Diploma / TVET (sijil–diploma)

  4. Typical entry

    Degree (ijazah sarjana muda)

  5. 5

    Postgrad (sarjana / PhD) or professional route

The full route to this careerThe steps from school, UPU programmes and sourced costs, read against your answers.

How to get here

Post-SPM pathways with programmes in this career's fields. Tap one to see real programmes and entry requirements.

Matriculation

One or two years, heavily subsidised with allowance. Competitive, quota-based entry.

12–24 months

Asasi / Foundation

One-year runway into a specific university: public via UPU or private direct entry.

12 months

Diploma

Skill-first qualification. Work after, or enter degree Year 2. Polytechnics keep it affordable.

2.5–3 years
Compare routes against your results and interests

Programmes that lead here

Programmes from the official UPU (KPT) and MQA catalogues whose field of study typically leads to this career. Matched by field, not a job guarantee.

Search the programme catalogue

Check what you may qualify for

Enter your SPM grades and see which routes and programmes you may qualify for. An estimate to plan with, not an offer.

Check my eligibility Not sure yet? Take the quiz

Quick answers

How do you become an Accountant in Malaysia?

Routes after SPM that lead here include Matriculation, Asasi / Foundation and Diploma.

What should I study to become an Accountant?

Related fields of study: Accounting and Business. SPM subjects that help most: Principles of Accounting, Economics, English and Additional Mathematics.

How much does an Accountant earn in Malaysia?

Published figures put starting pay at RM3,000 – RM4,500 a month, and RM6,000 – RM10,000 with experience (source: Hays Salary Guide Malaysia, Jan 2026).

What you'd do all day

The tasks that matter most in this job, most important first.

  1. 1Prepare detailed reports on audit findings.
  2. 2Report to management about asset utilization and audit results, and recommend changes in operations and financial activities.
  3. 3Collect and analyze data to detect deficient controls, duplicated effort, extravagance, fraud, or non-compliance with laws, regulations, and management policies.
  4. 4Inspect account books and accounting systems for efficiency, effectiveness, and use of accepted accounting procedures to record transactions.
  5. 5Supervise auditing of establishments, and determine scope of investigation required.
  6. 6Confer with company officials about financial and regulatory matters.
  7. 7Examine and evaluate financial and information systems, recommending controls to ensure system reliability and data integrity.
  8. 8Inspect cash on hand, notes receivable and payable, negotiable securities, and canceled checks to confirm records are accurate.
  9. 9Examine records and interview workers to ensure recording of transactions and compliance with laws and regulations.
  10. 10Prepare, examine, or analyze accounting records, financial statements, or other financial reports to assess accuracy, completeness, and conformance to reporting and procedural standards.
  11. 11Prepare adjusting journal entries.
  12. 12Review accounts for discrepancies and reconcile differences.
  13. 13Review taxpayer accounts, and conduct audits on-site, by correspondence, or by summoning taxpayer to office.
  14. 14Establish tables of accounts and assign entries to proper accounts.
  15. 15Examine inventory to verify journal and ledger entries.
  16. 16Compute taxes owed and prepare tax returns, ensuring compliance with payment, reporting, or other tax requirements.
  17. 17Advise clients in areas such as compensation, employee health care benefits, the design of accounting or data processing systems, or long-range tax or estate plans.
  18. 18Analyze business operations, trends, costs, revenues, financial commitments, and obligations to project future revenues and expenses or to provide advice.
  19. 19Report to management regarding the finances of establishment.
  20. 20Develop, implement, modify, and document recordkeeping and accounting systems, making use of current computer technology.
  21. 21Evaluate taxpayer finances to determine tax liability, using knowledge of interest and discount rates, annuities, valuation of stocks and bonds, and amortization valuation of depletable assets.
  22. 22Direct activities of personnel engaged in filing, recording, compiling, and transmitting financial records.
  23. 23Examine whether the organization's objectives are reflected in its management activities, and whether employees understand the objectives.
  24. 24Conduct pre-implementation audits to determine if systems and programs under development will work as planned.
  25. 25Audit payroll and personnel records to determine unemployment insurance premiums, workers' compensation coverage, liabilities, and compliance with tax laws.

Also known as

What this job is called on JobStreet, LinkedIn and in job ads. Search these too.

  • CPA
  • Bursar
  • Auditor
  • Accountant
  • Tax Auditor
  • City Auditor
  • Asset Analyst
  • Audit Partner
  • Field Auditor
  • Staff Auditor

Subjects that matter here

The SPM subjects worth your effort for this career, with the reason for each.

Principles of AccountingDraws directly on Economics and Accounting — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
EconomicsDraws directly on Economics and Accounting — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
EnglishDraws directly on English Language — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
Additional MathematicsDraws directly on Mathematics — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
MathematicsDraws directly on Mathematics — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).

What you'd need to know

The subject areas this job leans on most, and the SPM subjects that build them.

  • Economics and Accounting93%

    Principles of AccountingEconomics

  • English Language79%

    English

  • Mathematics78%

    Additional MathematicsMathematics

  • Administration and Management71%

    BusinessEconomics

  • Customer and Personal Service70%
  • Law and Government67%

    History (Sejarah)

Skills to build

Attention to detailIntegrityCommunication

Tools you'd use

Software and equipment that show up in this job, worth learning early.

Where to learn these, free

Scholarships & funding

What the work feels like

Day-to-day working conditions, so you can tell whether the job suits how you like to work.

  • Face-to-face discussionsAlmost never
  • Contact with other peopleNo contact
  • Dealing with customers or the publicNot at all
  • Leading or coordinating othersNot at all
  • Handling conflict situationsAlmost never
  • Indoors, air-conditionedAlmost never
  • Outdoors, in all weatherAlmost never
  • Noisy environmentAlmost never

AI and demand for this job

A few real, dated data points, not a single score. AI making some tasks faster usually means a job changes, not that it disappears.

20%

Share of everyday tasks today's AI can already help with (2023)

This estimate is from 2023, already out of date, since AI moves fast. Treat it as a rough, aging starting point, not the current picture.

0.15%

Of Malaysian Claude conversations, about this kind of work

Measures how much people use Claude for this work, not how many Malaysians do this job, and more AI use can mean people relying on it, not that it's replacing them.

Growing role in the US

US Bureau of Labor Statistics data, not Malaysian. Shown because it's the only forward-looking demand estimate we have for this job.

On Malaysia's official shortage list

TalentCorp and ILMIA's Critical Occupations List, evidence of a real hiring shortage in Malaysia right now.

Accountants and Auditors · Shortage indicators met: 8/12

What beginner adverts asked for

We read 24 internship and fresh-graduate adverts in related fields (August 2026). A small sample from one job site, not every vacancy.

23 of 24 were internships

Allowance or pay, when stated

RM1,000 – RM1,453

9 of 24 adverts printed an amount: usually between RM1,000 and RM1,453 a month. Many print none.

Minimum CGPA asked

3.00 to 3.50

Stated in 4 adverts. Others did not state one.

SPM results asked

up to 5 As

1 advert asked for A grades at SPM, so some doors are partly decided before university.

Languages named

Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin

An empty line means the adverts did not say, not that employers have no requirement. Check each employer's own advert before you plan around it.

Related careers

If this interests you, these are worth a look too.

About this information

This describes what the job involves. Pay, demand and entry routes differ in Malaysia, so check the Pathways and Programmes pages for local requirements.

O*NET occupation: Accountants and Auditors

Source: Hays Salary Guide Malaysia · as of Jan 2026

Check the salary figures yourself:Hays Malaysia

Job responsibilities, knowledge areas and work context from O*NET 30.3, US Department of Labor, used under CC BY 4.0. onetcenter.org