By Outrider Editorial Team · Updated August 20, 2026
Official definition
This U.S. industry comprises establishments of accountants that are certified to audit the accounting records of public and private organizations and to attest to compliance with generally accepted accounting practices. Offices of certified public accountants (CPAs) may provide one or more of the following accounting services: (1) auditing financial statements; (2) designing accounting systems; (3) preparing financial statements; (4) developing budgets; and (5) providing advice on matters related to accounting. These establishments may also provide related services, such as bookkeeping, tax return preparation, and payroll processing.
FY2025 obligations
$1.0B
Contract actions
1,015
IDVs
248
Top buying agencies
- Department of Defense$542.0M
- Department of Health and Human Services$113.0M
- Department of the Treasury$82.0M
- General Services Administration$46.8M
- Department of Housing and Urban Development$40.0M
FY2025 federal contract obligations, USAspending.gov
NAICS 541211 obligated $1 billion in FY2025 across 1,015 contract actions. DoD is $542 million, and that number is almost entirely about one thing: the annual financial statement audit and the remediation work that surrounds it. HHS follows at $113 million, Treasury at $82 million, GSA at $47 million, and HUD at $40 million. HUD showing up in a top five is rare and reflects the single-family and multifamily program audit workload.
What belongs here
Establishments of certified accountants who audit accounting records and attest to compliance with generally accepted accounting practices, along with the accounting system design, tax, and payroll work those firms perform.
- Accounting services performed by firms that are not CPA offices are 541219, which obligated $815 million in FY2025.
- Financial management advisory that is not attest work is 541611.
- Compliance and program evaluation without a financial opinion is 541990.
Competing in this code
248 IDVs against 1,015 actions is moderate vehicle coverage, and the differentiator on award is independence plus federal-specific credentials. Yellow Book qualification, experience with the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board framework, and prior work supporting an agency's audit remediation are what evaluators weight. Independence rules cut both ways here: a firm doing an agency's financial system implementation is disqualified from auditing it, which creates persistent openings for mid-size firms that stayed out of the implementation work.
Frequently Asked
NAICS 541211 questions, answered.
What is the SBA size standard for NAICS 541211?
SBA sets it at $26.5 million in average annual receipts, averaged over your last five completed fiscal years. Come in at or under that and you are small on every NAICS 541211 solicitation, including the set-asides.
Which agencies buy CPA services under NAICS 541211?
FY2025 obligations: DoD ($542 million), HHS ($113 million), Treasury ($82 million), GSA ($47 million), HUD ($40 million). DoD's share is dominated by financial statement audit and audit remediation, and HUD's presence reflects its housing program audit workload.
What credentials matter most for NAICS 541211 awards?
Yellow Book qualification under Government Auditing Standards, working knowledge of the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board framework, and demonstrated audit remediation support at a federal agency. Commercial audit experience alone does not translate, because federal financial reporting and internal control requirements differ substantially from commercial practice.
How do independence rules affect competition in this code?
They create openings. A firm that implemented or operates an agency's financial system is generally barred from auditing it. Because a handful of large firms hold much of the implementation work, mid-size firms that stayed out of it face a materially smaller competitive field on the audit side.
Register Under NAICS 541211
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