Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors that influence accounting students’ preference toward career paths. Career path refers to the choices of jobs and occupational positions an individual may choose to hold. Accounting students may choose to advance their career into one of the following areas: financial accounting, management accounting, taxation, auditing, finance, etc. According to past literature, choices of career path are influenced by intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, third parties, and career exposure. Design/methodology/approach A self-administered survey was used to collect data from students in a reputable private university in Malaysia. This university recruits a huge number of accounting students annually for its accounting program. A total of 306 questionnaires were collected for data analysis using statistical analysis system. Findings The findings of the study suggest that undergraduate accounting students are more influenced by intrinsic motivation and career exposure in selecting their career paths, whereas third parties and extrinsic motivation are less likely to influence undergraduate accounting students’ career choices. Research limitations/implications The results, however, could not be generalized to all accounting students in Malaysia since the study was collected from only one private university in Malaysia and non-probability sampling technique was applied. The theoretical contribution of this study is the inclusion of new variables in the model. Practical implications Professional accounting bodies may benefit from the findings of this study as it may provide a basis in designing member recruitment strategies. Originality/value This paper fulfills an identified need to study how shortage of certain career path for accounting students could be resolved.