Car Insurance Rates for a CPA/Comptroller/Accountant

Certified public accountants (CPAs), comptrollers, and accountants are all considered financial professionals; however, there are many differences between the specific roles they play in their specific occupations.

The annual average car insurance rate for a CPA, comptroller, or accountant is $1,812.00 or $151.00/mo. No matter what your occupation, you should always compare car insurance rates to find your best deal. You may also want to see how other occupations affect car insurance as well.

In order to become a CPA or any financial advisor, you will need to follow a specific course of action.

Though requirements vary from state to state, many of the basic requirements are standard no matter what state a CPA works in. Following and meeting the requirements can lead to a rewarding job in the accounting field.

In this article, we’ll go over auto insurance and other types of insurance that are relevant to the accounting industry.

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How does being a financial professional affect car insurance rates?

Whether you are a CPA, a comptroller, or an accountant, the car insurance industry will consider your occupation when setting your car insurance rates.

Even though people in these positions have been shown to be responsible drivers, the fact that their income bracket is slightly higher than some occupations put their car insurance rates in the medium to high range.

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What kinds of insurance do you need if you run an accounting firm?

Like all business owners, you have an accounting firm, you’ll need business insurance. Your exact needs will vary based on a number of factors, but a business insurance policy typically consists of the following coverages:

• Professional liability insurance – This coverage pays for legal costs if you’re sued by a client for an accounting mistake. Like car insurance, it covers bodily injury and property damage liability in case someone is harmed or something is damaged as a result of your business.
• Advertising injury coverage – This coverage protects you from lawsuits related to libel, slander, and copyright infringement.
• Workers compensation coverage – Workers compensation pays for medical costs incurred from work-related injuries.
• Cyber liability insurance – Cyber coverage pays legal defense costs related to hacks or data breaches.
• Errors and omissions insurance – Also called malpractice insurance, this coverage protects you legally from errors made on the job.

All accounting businesses should have business insurance. If you’re not sure what kinds of coverage you need, talk to an insurance agent. Professional liability policies are available from most major insurance providers.

Why do insurers ask about your occupation?

You may be wondering why car insurance companies ask about your occupation. When car insurance companies ask about your occupation, they can tell a few things by your answer.

Insurance companies rate drivers by assessing the risk they are taking on when they insure the driver. By knowing a driver’s profession, an insurance company can get a better idea of how big of a risk the driver may be.

If you answer a doctor, insurers know you have a high education level. If you answer a realtor, you may have a higher commute and carry passengers. Maybe you answer bartender, if so, the insurance company knows you may have irregular, late hours and susceptible to riskier conditions while driving.

Should you tell your car insurance company you had a job change?

Chances are if you get a promotion or have a slight change within your current job field, your car insurance company may not rate you any differently. If you have a complete job change, you should contact your car insurance company to give them an update on your new job.

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How does your job affect your car insurance?

As we mentioned earlier, your job can affect your car insurance rates. Stressful, high-commuting, and late hours are all indicators of higher risk.

While teachers and retirees are considered honest and low mileage drivers.

Some companies, like Geico, even have professional group discounts.

This means certain companies may have group insurance rates for employees. In this event, your profession could save you money on your car insurance rate.

Let’s take a look at what an average rate for a CPA would be through Geico.

The above rates are for a driver with a clean record and coverages above the state minimum requirements. 

Which providers offer the best rates for your job?

No matter your profession, you want to get the best coverage from your auto insurance company at the lowest rate. Unless you carry goods or people for your profession or have other needs while driving for commercial liability, you can save on your car insurance rates by looking at mileage and discounts.

First up, let’s take a look at how your annual mileage can affect your car insurance rates.

Does your annual mileage affect your rates?

Car insurance companies look at how much you are on the roads because they assume the more you are on the road the higher the likelihood of your being involved in an accident.

If you spend a lot of time commuting in your car, you will want to find a company that doesn’t rate as high for longer commuting.

Nationwide and Progressive have the lowest rate difference with a higher commute while State Farm and Liberty Mutual have two of the highest.

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What discounts are offered to CPA/accountants/comptrollers?

Unless you work with a larger company and have a group rate for your car insurance, the best discounts will be offered by your car insurance company directly.

Most car insurance companies offer a wide variety of discounts that can be applied to your car insurance policy. They can range from company loyalty to safety features in your car.

We suggest to always go over discounts with your car insurance provider to make sure you have all available discounts applied to your policy.

How does someone become a financial professional?

While the following professions are all considered financial occupations, we are going to take a deeper look at the following professions:

• CPA, Certified Public Accountant
• Comptroller
• Accountant

How are they different? How much schooling do you need?

We will answer those questions and many more.

Certified Public Accountant

The first requirement in becoming a CPA is to get a four-year bachelor’s degree in accounting or a related field.

This degree must be from an accredited college and include at least 24 semester hours in accounting or in an accounting-related area and 24 semester hours in business or a business-related area. The same class cannot count for each of these requirements.

After meeting the educational requirements, the individual must gain at least two years of accounting work experience.

This experience has to be under the supervision of a currently licensed CPA. After this, the state CPA exam and an ethics course test must be passed before certification can be granted. A certified public accountant can work for a business or start a private practice.

CPAs do more than just basic accounting procedures.

They oversee entire accounts. For example, when a CPA firm takes on a client, an accountant at the firm will actually do the accounting, taxes, and more for the client, while the CPA will give overall direction and financial vision to the account itself.

CPAs generally handle larger, wealthier clients and companies.

Comptroller Path

Next, let’s take a look at comptrollers.

A comptroller is a management position. A comptroller oversees the entire accounting division of a business and reports to the Chief Financial Officer or CFO.

Comptrollers may oversee either external audits, internal audits, or both.

They supervise the day-to-day accounting procedures of the company and handle any financial reporting that needs to be done to the executives or board members of the company. Comptroller used to be a position that an accountant could work towards and be promoted to within a company.

Comptroller used to be a position that an accountant could work towards and be promoted to within a company.

Up until about 15 years ago, this is how most comptroller positions worked.

However, now that the turnover rate at a company is higher and more professionals are seeking jobs, comptrollers are being hired from outside companies and are typically required to have a four-year degree along with experience.

Along with these changes, the term comptroller is also changing as well.

Some companies do not have a comptroller per se, but they have an accounting manager, accounting supervisor, an audit executive, or financial manager.

These positions are synonymous with comptroller but have evolved over the past 15 years to include other technological and legal responsibilities.

Accountant Path

The last profession we are going to look over is an accountant.

An accountant is an entry-level position. For basic accounting, most companies do not require a college degree.

However, an associate’s degree in accounting or a bachelor’s degree can put you above the rest of the applicants for an accounting job and also result in more pay from the company you work for.

An accountant is responsible for things like invoices, billings, accounts payable, accounts receivable, tax information, and payroll.

In some cases, an accountant will also oversee the health, dental, vision, and life insurance for the company, paying particular attention to what deductions to take out of each employee’s paycheck for taxes, insurance, and retirement.

Does being unemployed affect your car insurance?

If you are unemployed, you can still get car insurance just like any other driver. An insurance company can not deny you coverage based on your unemployment.

There are a few factors that could change that would result in a rate change.

The use of the car may change from business or commuting to pleasure. You will also lose any occupational based discounts you may be receiving due to your previous employment.

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Frequently Asked Questions: Car Insurance for Financial Professionals

Let’s take a look at frequently asked questions about car insurance.

#1 – Do you have to buy car insurance?

With the exception of Virginia and New Hampshire, all states have a required amount of liability coverage a driver must purchase to be able to legally drive on the state’s roads.

While minimum limits are often not enough, you must at least have the minimum required limit.

As you can see, the required coverage amounts can vary widely by state — and sometimes just meeting the minimum state requirements isn’t enough.

Kiplinger recommends that you should carry as much liability coverage as you can comfortably afford because damage claims today are sometimes settled for millions.

#2 – Does my credit score really affect my car insurance rates?

Insurers use credit-based rating to both select customers and to determine if the customer qualifies for a credit-based discount or surcharge.

States usually will not allow credit-based underwriting to be the sole reason for increasing rates or declining, canceling, or not renewing an insurance policy. Consult your state’s Department of Insurance if you have doubts about an insurance company’s action toward your policy.

#3 – How can I get an insurance discount?

Car insurance companies offer a multitude of discounts available for drivers. You should review your circumstances with your insurance provider to verify you have available discounts applied to your car insurance policy.

#4 – How do I know if I’m getting a fair deal?

Shopping your insurance with various car insurance companies is the best way to know if you are getting a good deal. Enter your ZIP code here to see if you are getting the best deal on your car insurance.

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