Purpose – Entrepreneurship plays a key role in society and is important for economic growth. Despite prior studies of entrepreneurial behavior, no research has been conducted to examine the influence of monetary and personality factors on the entrepreneurial start up of Certified Public Accountant (CPA) firms in Hong Kong. The purpose of this paper is to investigate into factors influencing Hong Kong CPAs in becoming entrepreneurial public practitioners.

Design/methodology/approach – Data are collected through a questionnaire survey and analyzed by binomial logistic regression. A total of 212 CPAs of Chinese origin are randomly selected in Hong Kong. Social capital theory derived from the sociology literature is employed for analysing the findings.

Findings – Results indicate that “profit motivation” and “education level” variables have no significant influence on the entrepreneurial start up, and contradict findings in prior literature. Results further reveal that “social networking” and “internal locus of control” variables could positively influence on the entrepreneurial start up of CPA practices. Results support the validity of social capital theory that reveals social networks have values and productive benefits. Gender plays a role in the entrepreneurial start up of CPA practices, with males predominate has entrepreneurs of CPA practices.

Originality/value – This study could add new contributions to the accounting literature on the study of the entrepreneurial start up of CPA practices in Hong Kong. With the booming Hong Kong economy and the vast supports from China’s prosperous market, Hong Kong CPAs are more inclined to become entrepreneurs of CPA practices in the long run. Implications of this study could enable accounting bodies and education institutions focusing on CPAs’ personality development and education.