As part of this year’s Top 100 Most Influential People survey, Accounting Today asked, "The profession is having trouble attracting new talent, in general and CPA exam candidates in particular. Why do you think that is?"
The full responses of all the candidates are below. The full T100 list is available
I don't know of one industry that hasn't experienced the impact of the global labor shortage. What we do see is a shift in the demographics of our customers. We have experienced the embracing of digital transformation and awareness of the new ways in which technological advancements can enable professionals to better collaborate inside the firm and with their clients in an increasingly digital world. Recent graduates coming into the profession expect technology to work for them, while clients value experiences that bring the highest levels of service and ease of doing business. The faster the accounting profession adopts technology, the more attractive the career will be to college and graduate students.
— Karen Abramson, CEO, Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting
If you're not really passionate about the career path – it's hard and expensive – it is simply not as compelling today for new talent as it once was. Other career paths exist today that are more attractive for the next generation. The competition is real, and we're feeling it. Bottom line, we need to make the CPA path simpler and more compelling. The next generation of CPA candidates love technology, and we're finally bringing that into the CPA exam. Including components of the exam around data insights and analytics is a step in the right direction.
— Sona Akmakjian, global head of strategic accounting partnerships, Avalara
Young people don't see the relevance of what we do, so they don't see this as an exciting career path. Social media compounds that by painting a fairly miserable picture of what we do and what it's like to be an accountant. Social media is constantly and instantaneously influencing people and all they see is how crappy the work is. Google the phrase "why I hate auditing" and you'll get a million hits. Young people only see the way the work gets done, that it's heavy on compliance with a lot of time on the road, and that perspective is not attractive to anyone. The workplaces that have a positive, business-minded culture and a healthy work-life balance don't draw as much positive attention because there aren't nearly as many good places to work in accounting as there are bad places.
We also contribute to this unappealing view of accounting just in the kinds of work that we have new staff people do. They didn't get a four-year degree plus the extra year for the 150 hours to spend days ticking and tying, working long hours, and being stuck in organizations that don't want to change. Not everyone wants to navigate the organizational structures to become a business leader.
We need to find ways to make this profession exciting and relevant, and a great vehicle for learning about business. We also need to be open to creating new positions in firms that take advantage of a person's unique talents and abilities to contribute to the whole.
— Alan Anderson, founder and president, Accountability Plus
I believe changing demographics are impacting the pipeline, but there are number of important initiatives underway to help address this, including CPA Evolution.
— Erik Asgeirsson, CEO & president, CPA.com
I think that the pandemic is going to take the majority of the blame for this one, but I actually feel the problem started long before that. It's just possible that the issue in attracting new talent lands solely on the generational culture shift. As technology has evolved, and millennials/Gen Z arrived onto the workforce, these digital natives began asking a question that the previous generations never did: Why? Why would I want to kill myself during tax season? Why do I need to work at an office? Why should I bother getting a CPA if I can do advisory work and make more money without a degree? The younger generations don't value delayed gratification the way their parents do, and they have very different priorities (i.e., can I set my own hours? Can I bring my dog to work?) than professionals who came before them.
— Kim Austin, director, global strategic accounting partnerships, Avalara
To a large degree, it's an image and branding issue. In my experience talking with high school students, they have a very distorted image of what CPAs do. As you move up into college, there are many career options out there more remunerative relative to the CPA profession, which is lagging in compensation (both financial and intrinsic).
— Ron Baker, founder, VeraSage Institute
To the new generation who have never been in a firm, accounting sounds like a synonym for boring. However, for those who have been a part of a firm, they understand they are at the heart of a business, guiding and making decisions in partnership that impact your client's ability to grow and thrive. Once you join the profession you realize this it is a wonderful strong community of practitioners that share and collaborate with the ultimate goal of helping clients. In turn this helps support a thriving business community in your local area. It would be great to help students understand how through accounting they can make this impact.
Firms should look past a credentialed candidate to get them in the door. This can help instill the love of the profession in those that were perhaps seeking other skills. This can then grow the profession as staff get in, love it, and want to stay. Perhaps a path to develop a CPA later in their career (vs. the current traditional model) may be needed. The traditional hire isn't always the right hire with what the needs of a non-traditional, thriving firm are becoming.
— Elizabeth Beastrom, president of tax & accounting professionals, Thomson Reuters
The accounting profession, like many other professions, is indeed facing challenges with attracting new talent.
Unfortunately, our profession hasn't traditionally been viewed or depicted as very compelling. People envision someone at an adding machine crunching numbers, and that just isn't true anymore. We are a dynamic and vibrant profession, rich in technology, relationships and opportunity, and we need to show this to people. We have to change our image. RSM is involved with the profession as a whole to help change this image through things like the CAQ's Bold Ambition campaign.
Additionally, we don't have enough people pursuing accounting degrees to fill the jobs we will have in the future. This means we will need to look for talent in new places and help them develop. Non-traditional majors provide a tremendous opportunity because we all know how to train and develop people—CPA firms are one of the best training grounds in the world. If we can bring non-traditional majors in, show them our culture and teach them, some will go on to become CPAs while others will remain to serve other facets of our firm, such as technology, which is also vital to our future.
These dynamics mean that we must innovate the way that we attract and retain our people, and we're doing a variety of things on that front, including enhancing our efforts to attract underrepresented students and enhancing the benefits that we provide our people. Just this past summer, we welcomed more than 100 students to the inaugural class of the RSM Excellence Academy, a multi-year early identification professional development and skill-building program for college students majoring in accounting, business technology and related fields.
We also recently announced a number of expanded benefits, including an added travel benefit to support equal access to healthcare for people on our U.S. health plan; enhanced family benefits to support those who are starting or expanding their families; and expanding leave and time away to support those who are grieving the loss of a loved one, including the loss of a pregnancy. We also offer various wellbeing resources including a digital platform for meditations, programs, coaching and counseling for RSM's people and family members who need support.
— Brian Becker, managing partner and CEO, RSM US
It's two-fold. There are fewer students today entering a Masters in Accounting program because of the cost and because over the past 10 years students have experienced solid job opportunities with a four-year degree – particularly if they blend the business degree with technology studies. In addition, the economy has been expanding. So going to work instead of another year of studies makes sense for a number of young professionals.
—Michael Bernard, vice president of tax content strategy and chief tax officer, Vertex Inc.
There is a perception gap between what students and CPA candidates may think the accounting profession entails, and what it has evolved to become. Technology and artificial intelligence have opened vast avenues for creative work in data science, advisory services, and more throughout our profession. We must also continue highlighting our people-focused benefits such as flexible work, well-being initiatives and robust career growth opportunities to keep our talent pipeline flowing strong.
At BDO, we believe purpose-driven work, opportunities to grow and the ability to move within the company will help retain our top people and make it a preferred destination for new professionals. The pandemic and workplace movements like the great resignation and quiet quitting have shined a light on the issues and values that are important to employees. Our industry now must work to meet, and exceed, those needs to continue attracting talent.
— Wayne Berson, CEO, BDO USA
Our research indicates that the downward trend of candidates sitting for the CPA Exam is in big part a change in demographics. There has been a continual decrease in the population of college-aged people for several years. This has been amplified by a decrease in that age group attending college. COVID-19 has also played a role as has the very low unemployment wherein students can get a job that is relatively high paying without a degree or credential. We (the accounting profession) will be competing against other professions from a shrinking pool.
— Ken Bishop, president and CEO, National Association of State Boards of Accountancy
It is a combination of things, but one of the most important is that I think we still have the perception of a profession that is boring, hard work, and stuck in the past. Collectively, we need to show that our profession is dynamic, rapidly changing, and important to the future of our society.
— Joel Black, chair, Governmental Accounting Standards Board
I mentioned in a previous question that there are several barriers to the profession (accessibility and affordability, to name a few). We're proud at EY to be implementing programs that help to reduce those barriers at a time when our profession is struggling to shake off outdated perceptions.
The CPA and auditor professions are too often seen, by young candidates, for the core of what we have historically done – work with numbers and corresponding charts and spreadsheets. There is a misperception that our work lacks innovation and the exciting speed and change that today's digital world delivers, or that it doesn't create the opportunity for impact which today's generation craves.
Those of us who work at cutting-edge firms know that these assumptions do not reflect our work as CPAs or auditors in 2022. This is a dynamic profession with access to the latest technology that uncovers risk and anomalies, and it allows junior colleagues to make an impact for the companies we audit earlier than ever in their career.
The availability of, and access to, data and game-changing tech platforms allows even the most junior auditor to gain insight into potential challenges and offer up potential solutions to deliver high-quality audits. We see colleagues around the world – at all levels – create massive impact this way. Those are realities that aren't seen – but need to be shared – with potential candidates.
One of the initiatives we're very proud of is our Digital Ambassador Program, which immerses our audit interns in digital and innovation for the last two weeks of their internship experience. This summer, we welcomed 196 participants from 139 colleges and universities across 56 different office locations in the US.
The program's goal is to advance their knowledge and skills with digital and to accelerate their development.
For the first week, they take the business knowledge they gained during the client service experience and learn technology skills, including Alteryx and Power BI. In the second week, they build on that experience and solve a current engagement team challenge.
These are real challenges our teams are facing. They create the solutions and present them to the account team, as well as our innovation and digital leaders.
At the conclusion of the program, the interns are confident in their understanding of digital and what it means to the audit practice and our clients.
Participants take the tools they learned back to campus and utilize them in various projects as they wrap up their degree, and the engagement teams leverage learnings from the challenge.
When the interns come back to EY, they continue as a Digital Ambassador at the firm by getting involved in applying data analytics on clients, building custom solutions, and helping their teams embrace digital.
— Julie Boland, U.S. chair and managing partner and Americas managing partner, Ernst & Young
There are a number of forces that are driving this trend. First, I believe we need to rebrand what it means to be a CPA in the accounting profession. We need to highlight the tremendous opportunities we have to help our clients beyond tax and audit. We also need to address the workload compression challenges to offer a better balance between work and life. Second, many of the competing disciplines inside and outside of business have become much more competitive in terms of compensation which will require us to think differently about starting salaries.
Finally, there is a talent shortage across all professions that will require us to use new and different means to gain capacity –automation, outsourcing and right-sizing our client base to focus on the ideal client.
— Jim Boomer, CEO, Boomer Consulting Inc.
The message being sent by the profession does not focus enough on the diversity of opportunities, the convergence of technologies and the value created by members of the profession.
— L. Gary Boomer, founder, visionary & strategist, Boomer Consulting Inc.
Let's think about this…. CPAs in the past were associated with doing audits…with doing tax returns…. What do you associate those tasks with? – Long Hours and never-ending Deadlines!
What young professional, entering the marketplace today values long hours and endless deadlines with "Fun", especially after having been through a pandemic where they saw massive death and tragedy? None!
I do believe that the changes beings made to the CPA exam, coupled with the expansion of advisory services offerings throughout the profession, will be instrumental in attracting the next generation into our profession.
— Jim Bourke, managing director, advisory services, WithumSmith+Brown
The requirements to obtain a CPA license can be overwhelming, especially for aspiring professionals who may be the first in their family to go to college or have little exposure to the accounting field–however they can be incredibly important. I personally knew very little about the accounting profession until I started taking classes at Elizabethtown College, as I was the first in my family to graduate. Thanks to many insightful and empowering mentors throughout my college and early professional years, I was able to create a career for myself.
Here at PwC, I'm proud that we're working to provide resources to students to help break into the field by providing alternative approaches to obtaining a CPA license and starting a career in accounting. Our While You Work - CPA Acceleration Program, created in 2021 in collaboration with Northeastern University, gives Black and Latinx incoming college seniors and graduates of accredited colleges or universities the opportunity to receive a tuition-paid, industry-recognized master's degree, while working part-time at PwC. Additionally, PwC recently launched a new pilot program with Saint Peter's University that allows students with 120 credits to earn the additional 30 academic credit hours needed for CPA licensing in New Jersey via paid, full-time employment with the firm.
Both of these programs create an alternative, less expensive way to obtain a CPA while also providing aspiring professionals with the tools and resources they will likely need to start their accounting career.
— Wes Bricker, vice chair, Trust Solutions co-leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Undoubtedly, it is tied to my answer in regard to the challenges facing our industry. We have to change the definition of being an accounting professional and define for ourselves and to our clients how we run our businesses and careers. To be happy and productive it has to be on our own terms while still making money.
The generation coming up is turning away from the traditional because they know there is a better way and it doesn't involve endless hours and low-paying clients. They want a balance of life and a mission-based career which gives them purpose. I support this mindset 100!.
— Dawn Brolin, founder, The Designated Motivator, and CEO, Powerful Accounting
We have a brand problem. I think as a profession we can be complacent, happy to maintain the status quo as long as we, individually, are successful. We are happy to let the stereotype of the nerdy number cruncher be a self fulfilling prophecy, instead of correcting and proudly sharing our true value to our organizations and society. People can't aspire to something they cannot see. We need to be seen.
— Rebekah Brown, CEO Maryland Association of CPAs
I think there are many factors leading into this (including fewer college students and more interest in other professions). I think as individual CPAs we should try to do more to inspire others to join our profession; I think this includes sharing more about why we love what we do and about the many personal and professional benefits of being a CPA. We undersell what we do for communities, companies, small business owners, not-for-profits, and society in general and what CPAs bring to the table. If we could help younger generations understand that, I think they would be very energized about becoming a CPA.
— Jennifer Burns, chief auditor, AICPA
The stereotype of an accountant as seen in shows, books, commercials, etc. is a misrepresentation of the brilliant and interesting people in this profession. This adds to the misunderstanding of the opportunity and reduces the appeal.If young people really understood all the opportunities—not number crunching, data entry and long hours, but advisory, consulting, data analytics, influence and impact—it would be more attractive to more people. The profession needs a multifaceted approach that beginswith communicating with younger students, even as early as middle school. However, the profession would really benefit from a large-scale marketing campaign to help change the current perception and highlight innovation and technology. But once you change the perception and attract new talent, firms need to retain them by continuing the change expectations around hours, business models and succession planning.
— Arianna Campbell, shareholder and consultant, Boomer Consulting Inc.
It's time to re-imagine the CPA profession. Specifically, need to critically evaluate the 150-hour rule and whether the body of knowledge (and therefore the amount of schooling and testing required) has become too broad and unweildy. We are losing so many of the best and brightest to tech firms (great pay, exciting projects, and not near the level of schooling or certification required). Similar to how so many firms are bifurcating themselves to compete across numerous disciplines, maybe this should the approach for a reimagined CPA certification as well?
— David Cieslak, EVP, chief cloud officer, RKL eSolutions LLC
I think it's a lack of awareness. Our research shows that most people who study accounting do so because they have a family member or family friend who was an accountant, or they took an accounting course in high school or some other extracurricular program. If they don't have exposure to either, which is especially the case for diverse students in more diverse areas, they never hear about the profession. Instead, they hear about all the STEM careers in high school and make their decisions around those before learning about accounting. Therefore, I believe waiting until college is too late. If we want to attract new talent into the profession, we all need to go back into the high schools and share the possibilities, successes, and benefits that the career brings.
I also think the lack of diversity in leadership levels is a distractor to new talent. Younger generations want to work in a profession that is diverse and looks like the world around us. They value diversity of thought and sense of belonging and worth. If they can't see an equitable and inclusive environment, they don't want to be part of it. If diverse young professionals can't see themselves in the profession, they won't see it as a place for them to thrive.
— Crystal Cooke, director, diversity and inclusion, AICPA
The industry has long held a reputation of churning through young associates and treating them as expendable assets rather than as bright, hardworking human beings. The early phase of accounting careers was an endurance test designed to extract as much work as possible while weeding out those who could not meet what may have been unreasonable expectations. Clearly the pandemic has changed how most people view the value of their career and how it fits into their overall life satisfaction. I don't believe that it is the accounting work that young people are avoiding; instead they are finding alternatives to use their skill-set in less demanding professions. I believe we can again begin to attract the best talent if we increase the focus on personal wellness and further highlight the satisfaction that can come from work well done in our field.
— Randy Crabtree, partner, co-founder, Tri-Merit Specialty Tax Professionals
Entry compensation not competitive, the 5-year requirement, and other attractive alternatives such as technology careers.
— Gale Crosley, president and founder, Crosley+Company
Compliance services are oftentimes undervalued, skills for consultative/advisory service are not really enhanced by having passed the CPA exam, and public accounting firms and businesses are adapting to utilizing highly-paid professionals that are not CPAs.
— Katie Davis, partner, collegiate athletics practice leader, James Moore & Co.
In the US, we have done a fair amount of research into the pipeline issue. We are engaged on the AICPA pipeline summit, the CAQ Bold Ambition initiative, and many projects through the American Accounting Association. The levers we are able to push on this include significantly increasing starting salaries, providing a high-quality, free accounting curriculum to ensure the course content is relevant, engaging, and timely (at no additional cost to the university), and creating programs to make accounting careers more affordable and accessible to all. By creating exciting career tracks for people with Associates degrees, Bachelor's degrees, and Master's degrees, we have created optionality for students. Additionally, we have the EY Career Path Accelerator, where we have partnered with a triple-accredited institution to provide very low-cost credits (and financial aid) to those who either cannot afford a Master's degree or have a desire to enter the workforce after four years of schools. The new career paths also will attract students with different career priorities.
— Carmine Di Sibio, global chairman and CEO, Ernst & Young
I feel firms are antiquated and new talent have new skill sets and want to work places that are exciting and challenging. I also feel that new talent is needed at firms such as data analyst and business analyst. Finally the workforce has changed and they don't want to "pay their dues" and work crazy hours for minimum pay anymore. They can get higher paying jobs out of college that are flexible in hours.
— Deneen Dias, VP growth & strategic relationships, Botkeeper
I believe the profession has underpaid for year. The humble, kind spirit of CPAS has gotten in the way of billing appropriately for the work being done. For too long, no to low-cost price increases have cause a ripple effect. Firms can't compete as effectively on salary. They also ended up keeping too many clients that don't value what they do.
I also firmly believe we need to do a better job in school teaching students that accounting isn't about historical data. It's about so much more. We should be training earlier about how they help people in their work and it's about serving people. We would attract a different type of candidate.
— Sarah Dobek, president and founder, Inovautus Consulting
I think younger people look at this profession and see it as a grind. They see it as traditional and "old school." Too many accountants are burned out. We need to show people that you can be successful in this profession without sacrificing your health, well-being and happiness.
— Sarah Elliott, co-founder & principal, Intend2Lead LLC
We have a brand challenge. How we see ourselves and how others see us are not in alignment. Our brand challenge means that influencers are less inclined to recommend accounting as a career option. Becoming a CPA requires dedication, commitment and hours of study. But, it is worth it. Yet for many of our potential prospects, they don't have a clear understanding of how exactly it is worth it. What do they see us doing? Do they aspire to be like us? Do they see themselves having a great life with flexibility and prosperity if they join us in the profession?
Many CPAs and Accounting Professionals are active volunteers but we need more of our stakeholders to activate by volunteering at least 2 hours a month—J24 in one or more of elementary, middle, high school, and college. This could also extend to not for profits as well. We need more visibility in real life. J24. J24 means just 24 hours for every CPA and accountant each year.
— Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, founder and CEO, KET Solutions LLC
I believe our major pipeline challenges for attracting new talent are due to a combination of a weak brand and awareness of the profession with younger people, especially people of color. Plus, the increasing costs associated with meeting educational requirements to take the CPA exam are a major obstacle. To really drive improvements in building the accounting pipeline, I think we have to do a better job in 1. Driving awareness of tax and accounting as a compelling profession earlier in primary and secondary schools, 2. Making an accounting education more accessible to all students, and 3. Providing resources, support, and even incentives to take the CPA exam.
— Lisa Fitzpatrick, president, Bloomberg Tax & Accounting
First, I've turned to one of my closest advisors -- as chair of CalCPA – Tayiika Dennis who "talks the talk" and continues to look to uphold CPA values such as reliability, inclusion, and innovation, while continuing the legacy of past leaders and echoing her thoughts completely with my own. Second, while CalCPA has long focused on the student pipeline, we also need to seek new ways to expand the accounting pipeline through changing perceptions about accountants, accountancy, and being a CPA and elevate its standing in thought leadership and enhance programs focused on diversity, equity and inclusion. This includes removing barriers and messaging the unlimited exciting career opportunities by reaching students at early stages to expand the pathway and CPA exam candidates. Help change perception and offer new opportunities to all.
— Denise LeDuc Froemming, president and CEO, California Society of CPAs
Based upon my prior responses, I certainly believe the additional 30 credit hour requirement is a significant barrier to entry. As the cost of higher education continues to rise far beyond the rate of inflation, those additional 30 credits are more costly than ever. Therefore, when students look at majors that do not require that addition costs (and student debt) they choose a different path than accounting.
— Daniel Geltrude, CPA, founder & managing member, Geltrude & Co.
A big issue here is the lack of flexibility the industry that historically has provided coupled with the slowness to adapt to a culture more in tune with the younger generation.
— Julio Gonzalez, CEO, Engineered Tax Services Inc., The Growth Partnership, ABLE CRM for Accountants, Rosenberg Survey, Inside Public Accounting
We, as a profession, have neglected to address the harsh requirements in hours and the issues with a compressed workload in firms. I am hearing from so many talented leaders and firm leaders for the first time in my career in this space (21 years) that they are creating boundaries around hours worked and placing a priority on family and health. If more firms worked to create a more balanced workload model (through technology, and efficiencies) and reduced the hours' requirements of team members, we would be better able to attract and retain top talent.
Firm leaders should determine what their teams love to do and collaborate with them to create roles where they spend a portion of their time doing this. Consulting is typically one of these things. When you put people in a position to do the work they love and are proud of, they grow in their roles and stay. Then these individuals serve as promoters for our profession.
— Angie Grissom, owner, chief relationship officer, The Rainmaker Companies
Students have an overwhelming amount of career options. It is up to us to demonstrate our profession's value proposition beyond which benefits we can entice them with. The new generation of accountants needs to feel that they are truly mission driven and performing a valuable public service. We must share our stories.
— Calvin Harris Jr., CEO, New York State Society of CPAs
We are a profession that constantly deals with change as we perform our daily activities but are slow to change how we operate. From the outside many of us look the same as we did 25 years ago. We now live in a rapidly changing world and people want something new and a career that has an exciting future. Despite the opportunity to have a very successful career personally and financially we are less attractive to the people we need.
— Roger Harris, president, Padgett Business Services
I believe that this starts at the college level, and stems from perception lagging behind reality. In discussing career options at a local college, it is clear that advancement of the CPA profession and the role it truly plays in helping business thrives is not fully understood. There is a fear of time, locked in a cube and just taking orders. The reality is that firms are pushing past this to give better balance to the life side, to allow for changing scenery in work, and in calling on the input of the younger professionals. We need to find a way to change this narrative earlier on in the eyes of young people. The CPA exam candidate concern has a few different possible culprits, here are my 3 leading contenders: 1) Perception (is the value in the end worth the effort?); 2) Correlation of requirements to sit with the intent of the exam (the oft debated extra hours of credit to sit); and 3) Speed to value (how quickly will I get a return on my investment? If it is just to be a partner, that is too long to wait to get a return for my time & money).
— Will Hill, owner, Will Hill Consults LLC
Stereotypically, accounting isn't flashy. Today it is. When I was growing up, parents wanted their children to be doctors and lawyers. Accounting and engineering were also popular career paths because they afforded stability. Now, we're in a time where professionals entering the work force are increasingly expressing a desire to work in strategy-oriented careers. The way I see it, making accounting more attractive is about demonstrating that this is a strategy field. As accountants, we provide the most transparent, reliable and comparable financial and nonfinancial information. This in turn helps companies and their investors make important, strategic decisions. Accountants are working with cutting-edge technology, learning about digital transformation, cyber security and ESG and have to communicate to boards and management teams how that affects their reporting strategies. Helping new talent, and those considering entering the field, recognize this link is a good first step.
— Maura Hodge, ESG audit leader, KPMG LLP
Four reasons:
- Hard trends of demographics with less college age people available to start college.
- Competition from other majors like Data Analytics and Technology, Finance, and STEM majors.
- Public perception and stereotypes that accounting is 'boring' and number-crunching.
- And one more, the CPA Exam is hard work!
— Tom Hood, EVP business engagement & growth, AICPA
The 150 hours requirement is a big driver of this challenge. In general, many people are questioning the value of a college education—and the costs it requires. Asking college students to spend an extra year in school to meet the 150-hour minimum is viewed as unrealistic for most.
— Jon Hubbard, shareholder and consultant, Boomer Consulting Inc.
I think this is bigger than a CPA Exam challenge. There is an overall talent shortage in the U.S. caused by a multitude of factors, including generational birth rate declines, immigration, and more. However, I do believe there needs to be work done to reframe the value of the CPA to better highlight how impactful and full of opportunity the profession can be, as well as how it can be both financially rewarding and provide a good work/life balance that younger generations expect.
— Kacee Johnson, VP, strategy & innovation, CPA.com
The 150-hour and advanced degree requirements require much education for a relatively small immediate reward. Other degrees can allow motivated individuals and entrepreneurs to move far more quickly than an accounting degree does. Legacy promotion in CPA firms still works in some situations, but many accounting professionals want to move faster than the traditional education and CPA exam tracks allow.
— Randy Johnston, CEO and founder, EVP, NMGI and K2 Enterprises
Talented young people have an ever-growing list of career options, including in fields that didn't even exist ten years ago. We need to better communicate the benefits of our profession, which offers the total package of economic growth, advancement opportunities, and a path to leadership. What we don't want is our profession and the opportunities it affords to be the best-kept secret in job recruiting.
— Richard Jones, chair, Financial Accounting Standards Board
Many people, including students and new graduates, likely don't realize how exciting the accounting profession can be. The day-to-day work of the professions can truly be rewarding and offers incredible opportunities for learning and skill development. Being a CPA has allowed me to work with so many different clients, spanning across industries. I've traveled across the country and internationally through my work, and have worked side by side with many innovative companies in the world. Being a CPA isn't just about crunching numbers, it's being a strategic advisor and responding to some of the most pressing issues impacting various companies. I don't think people think "exciting" and "thrilling" when they think of accounting, and it's important that those already in the profession, including myself, work to change that!
Additionally, when it comes to attracting CPA candidates, the requirements to obtain a licensure can be daunting, especially on top of the high cost and time already invested in obtaining a college education. At PwC, we are trying to make it less burdensome to obtain a CPA through our While You Work - CPA Acceleration Program. In collaboration with Northeastern University, this program gives Black and Latinx college seniors and recent grads the ability to receive a tuition-paid master's degree, while working part time at PwC. This year, PwC also launched a new pilot program with Saint Peter's University that enables participants with 120 credits to earn the additional 30 credit hours they need to become CPA eligible through paid, full-time work experience at PwC. Both of these PwC initiatives make me proud – as we're moving the needle on this issue and providing students with resources to join the accounting profession.
— Kathryn Kaminsky, vice chair, trust solutions co-leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers
I believe there are two reasons: (1) High school and college students are not provided with sufficient information about the accounting profession as a career choice. I think this is particularly true regarding diverse students. (2) The profession has been behind the curve in adapting to the importance of integrating technology as a core aspect of accounting skills rather than a peripheral. The profession has shifted its approach regarding both issues and made great strides in formulating solutions.
— Edward Karl, VP, tax policy & advocacy, AICPA
I had a young person, this week, make contact with me to find out what CPA partners make. She was faced with a career change, being recruited by a start-up and had no idea of what the path looked like in her (large) CPA firm (and she is a Senior Manager!).
The CPA profession has an image problem. Practitioners need to communicate that it is a profession that serves people, helps them become more successful and get paid very well for their efforts.
I don't think college students are well informed about the opportunities at non-Big 4 firms.
— Rita Keller, president/CEO, Keller Advisors LLC
I think the market sees Accounting as antiquated or "old school" and the exam reflected the impression of such legacy in the past. Promoting the CPA brand as business advisors and optimizers of technology will make the profession more attractive. I believe the AICPA is working hard towards this perception including changing the CPA exam to incorporate expertise in Information Technology and Advisory.
— Roman Kepczyk, director of firm technology strategy, Right Networks
See my answer above. The business model is unattractive to talented people so they will continue to share their talents elsewhere.
— Ed Kless, meta consultant, Sage
Bolstering the CPA talent pipeline requires approaching the issue from all angles, including removing barriers to passing the CPA exam, providing interesting and challenging work, automating tasks to free up auditors' time for high-level strategic thinking, offering competitive compensation and benefits, and improving the diversity of the accounting talent pool starting with students entering college. KPMG has numerous initiatives and programs to address these areas. For example, KPMG's Audit Practice recently introduced its CPA Kickstart program, a two-month, 40-hour-a week program that provides new hires the time, along with compensation and full benefits, to focus on two of the most difficult sections of the CPA exam, enabling them to transition to full-time work seamlessly.
— Paul Knopp, chair and CEO, KPMG LLP
I believe that young talent has many, many options today, many of which did not exist years ago. Even if someone should choose to go into public accounting, a healthy percentage of them are no longer choosing tax or audit, but rather going into consulting or advisory-type work. I think the answer lies with a deep investment in a firm's commitment to recruiting, retaining and growing talent and providing an accelerated growth plan for high performers. In addition to all of the above, the firm needs to be profitable if it is to compete in the war on talent in terms of recruiting and keeping best in class talent.
— Allan Koltin, CEO, Koltin Consulting Group
Now more than ever, work life balance is key to professionals. The additional education requirements, demand of a full time position, while also trying to study for the CPA exam, can be perceived as overwhelming. Fully support maintaining high standards for the profession, but are those standards potentially driving that very talent away at the same time?
— Nicole Ksiazek, director, strategy and sales, Sage Intacct Accountants Program
Accountants play a crucial role in the success of businesses—not only in finance strategy, but also in broader business strategy and development. Every successful business I know has fantastic accountants. We need to strengthen awareness of the importance of this profession, and the opportunities for development and growth that exist, especially today. Younger employees are increasingly looking at the impact they can have. They want to work for companies that align with their personal and professional interests and values. Accountants have a unique opportunity to provide strategic counsel on a range of issues and act as a truly trusted business partner and advisor to their clients. We just have to make sure the new generation knows this.
— René Lacerte, CEO and founder, Bill
I don't think many students or candidates have bought into the value proposition that the CPA designation brings, and ultimately, I feel it's because I don't think the profession has done a good job in selling the relevance of the CPA designation in today's digital world.
Instead, we are seeing those same candidates pursue careers more directly linked to technology.
— Ryan Lazanis, CPA, Future Firm
I believe this is attributed to a general misperception of what the different opportunities are within the profession and what certifications are available. The profession is no longer only about debits and credits. For example, the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) is a robust certification focused on the internal audit profession, but also has significant relatability to anyone within the accounting, finance, or internal audit profession.
— Michael Levy, senior vice chairman of the North American board of directors, Institute of Internal Auditors
First, the accounting profession is horrible at public relations. It looks boring and accountants reinforce it by talking about long work hours. Second, the five-year requirement adds no value and pushes people a different direction. Finally, there are more choices in other fields. Being a CPA just does not create the "image" younger professionals may want to project and their personal self-worth is very tied into their social capital. Being a CPA is not a high social capital item that so many students feel they want for their lives. Again, back to some bad PR for a long time.
— Bob Lewis, President, The Visionary Group
Based on the six months of research the CAQ undertook prior to launching our Accounting+ awareness campaign, misperceptions exist about the profession. Students – across all demographics – see accounting as a desk job crunching numbers. It's boring. It's all math.
But that couldn't be further from the truth. Technology and artificial intelligence have automated many old accounting tasks, allowing auditors to expand their work to focus on more intellectual endeavors like data analytics and fraud detection. This work also allows them to expand and hone other skillsets, like communication and management.
A lot of people don't realize it, but auditors play a role in nearly every industry, from music to sports to social media to fashion and renewables. So not only do auditors get to work in a field that provides a valuable public service, but they also get to exposed to a range of industries and work in an area that aligns with their own passions and interests.
Debunking these stereotypes of accounting, speaking to students' motivations and desires – that is what the Accounting+ campaign is designed to do.
— Julie Bell Lindsay, CEO, The Center for Audit Quality
This is a multi-faceted question, but one area that is often minimized, is the competition for five-year degreed individuals and the starting salaries that they can obtain in other industries outside of public accounting in particular. The geographic barriers are gone, and we have been seeing an increase in competition or accounting grads from other industries like technology moguls and entertainment empires. And a CPA designation is not required to work in these other industries and garner starting salaries $10-20k higher than public accounting is paying. And public accounting has a bad reputation for long hours, unending deadlines, and broken business models that firm leaders won't fix.
— Tamera Loerzel, partner, ConvergenceCoaching LLC
The costs associated with education are skyrocketing and the 150 hour requirement is putting up a significant barrier to entry. Beyond that, the profession is largely still operating under a 100-year-old business model with traditional thinking that's NOT attractive to new talent.
— Eric Majchrzak, CEO, BeachFleischman
There are many viable reasons why the accounting profession is having trouble attracting new talent and the CPA exam candidates exude what I feel is a significant reason for this – the 150-hour rules that started to gain a foothold during the mid-80s. While you don't need to reach the 150-hour mark to sit for the CPA exam, you will need the credits once you pass the exam to become a CPA. To reach the 150-hour threshold will take an extra year of college (either as an undergraduate or Masters program). The cost of tuition is already very significant and now adding on an extra year result in the student falling deeper into debt while also losing a year of earning a salary. Over time, the CPA should be able to earn significantly more money to justify these loses, but the Return on Investment could be several years.
— Stephen Mankowski, co-chair, National Tax Policy Committee, NCCPAP
I think our profession needs to look in the mirror and admit that being a CPA isn't fun and that – because of the nature of what we do - it will always be hard to find new talent. That's because we have hard jobs with many responsibilities and pressures. If this profession was so easy then everyone would be doing it. That's why there's such a challenge to find new talent. But to me, that's also why this profession is so respected. It's because the people that choose to be CPAs are serious about the work. I think that's a good thing and I think that should be emphasized when recruiting.
— Gene Marks, president, The Marks Group PC
The accounting profession has not been immune to the global labor shortage. The competition for top talent has made the staff experience increasingly relevant. Tax leaders are adapting by shifting priorities solely from recruiting and retaining talent to a balance approach including staff retention and development. New graduates are looking for roles with purpose and meaning and leveraging the technology advances that they rely on in their own everyday life. Emerging and advanced technologies that enable new industry professionals to do higher value, more meaningful work will not only create business efficiencies but also help with staff engagement and morale.
— Jason Marx, president & CEO, Wolters Kluwer Tax and Accounting, North America
I think the biggest obstacle for our profession is the profession. We must tell our story about what this profession is and that it offers multiple pathways to follow one's interest. We must tell the story about what this profession has done for us, both professionally and personally.
— Anoop Natwar Mehta, chief strategist, chair, AICPA; chair, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants
I think this is because of a lack of promotion to high school and college students of the benefits, challenge, personal engagement, excitement and advancement opportunities in our profession. This needs to be instituted by our national accounting organizations and state societies and in a lesser level by the larger firms, i.e., Top 100 excluding the Big 4 who hire 70% of the accounting major graduates and where 90% of them leave the profession within three years. There needs to be more proactivity about the advantages of careers in public accounting.
— Edward Mendlowitz, emeritus partner, WithumSmith+Brown, PC
The next generation of talent coming into the workforce sees a wider range of career options and paths to success than ever before. College enrollments are down across the board, and those who are pursing higher education may be looking at majors that may offer more immediate returns rather than investing in the long-term sustainability and growth potential that a career in accounting – and the CPA license specifically – can offer. And once they enter the workforce, their expectations are vastly different than generations before. Work-life balance and connecting with a greater purpose are non-negotiables when it comes to their employers. The profession has to reinvent its image and assess its competitiveness against alternative career paths to continue to attract the best and the brightest talent. Firms need to create work cultures that the upcoming generation expects, reinforce the value of obtaining the CPA license and support professionals on that journey, and help each of them connect to a bigger picture and see the limitless opportunities that the CPA and the accounting profession can open up throughout their careers.
— Kalil Merhib, VP, growth & professional services, CPA.com
A byproduct of the pandemic has been The Great Resignation. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4.5 million employees in the U.S. quit their jobs in November 2021. The great resignation has affected employee retention across all industries, including accounting.
We have seen 2-3 million accounting professionals retiring early. Employee retention is now an imperative for CPA firms including attracting new, younger talent to help drive firms into the future and meet evolving client needs.
To build for the future, CPAs should look at how these generations use technology. 'Generation now' instantly accessing systems and applications wherever they are in the world. They expect efficiency, from automated workflows and administration, real-time collaboration with colleagues and smooth processes with clients.
Cloud solutions allow accountancy professionals to utilize technology and services that reduce admin, reporting and data entry, arming them with time and information to solve problems and make improvements, giving them time to do what they value. Firms can attract new, younger talent by offering cutting-edge technology platforms and positioning themselves as tech-forward.
Adopting cloud technologies can help you to grow your firm successfully, retain and attract new talent and introduce new services to your clients. The power of cloud can benefit multiple aspects of your business - and can be the key to your firm's short-term and long-term success.
— Elona Mortimer-Zhika, CEOIRIS Software Group
Generally, very few high school students know about accounting or career opportunities within the accounting profession. At Marist, we are working on projects to introduce high school students to accounting. If more high school students could be reached, our numbers would increase, especially since younger ones are drawn to working in a profession that addresses fraud prevention and sustainability accounting and reporting. I think the potential pool of new talent is there – we just need better outreach.
— Tracey Niemotko, associate professor of accounting, Marist College
While any intractable problem like this doesn't have a single cause, we need to more actively counteract the stereotype of the boring, curmudgeonly workaholic accountant. Just because I suffered in my early career through long hours on manually ticking-and-tying numbers doesn't mean everyone needs to start out that way. As we transform the work, we need to communicate to young people why it's important, valuable, and interesting.
— Ane Ohm, co-founder and CEO, LeaseCrunch
Accountancy is seen as an un-sexy career choice, with too much repetitive process work and not enough value-adding application of the insights which accountants have on the drivers of long-term value (or the mechanisms to avoid value erosion). If the CPA profession was to embrace sustainability and the support that CPAs can provide to their firms through a deep understanding of the drivers of long-tern value creation, this would reignite interest in the profession and place the CPA at the heart of strategic performance management, decision making and direction.
— Jeremy Osborn, global head of ESG, AICPA & CIMA
The industry is changing, and so should we. I think people early in their careers view the auditing profession in a dated light; the industry isn't what it used to be – it's innovative, it's digital, it's exciting! In order to attract more bright young minds to this industry, we need to educate more on the profession's evolution and draw more attention to the diversity of roles under the umbrella of auditing.
We recently hosted a University Day at our headquarter office in Toronto, Canada, where we spoke to dozens of students about careers offered at Caseware, while also providing background on the industry itself. They were surprised to find out that auditing isn't just math – it's more dynamic and there are myriad career paths. I told them that working in auditing provides a fast business education and is a springboard that allows someone to think and understand business more commercially. With auditing, we have the unique opportunity to know an organization inside and out, build deep relationships with clients and get an understanding of how the business operates day-to-day. The combination of flexibility, autonomy and level of business knowledge attained is truly unprecedented.
I also talked about the variety in auditing. It's a rapidly changing business with new problems, new products and new clients daily. Auditors get to work with new people all the time, giving you a chance to develop strong relationships. It's a great industry and I hope more people see that.
— David Osborne, CEO, Caseware
Salaries and the curriculum haven't kept up with sexier degrees that are being offered at universities. If you like numbers, it's easy to get a job related to data, and you don't have to sit for the CPA exam.
— Jody Padar, VP of tax strategy & evangelism, April
- I believe the accounting profession missed early opportunities to keep pace with the industries/professions that compete with it for talent. The profession has also been somewhat slow to respond to the changes in the expectations of talent and the (new/er) choices incoming talent has now. Although changing rapidly nowadays, in the past, in-general preference to hire mostly accounting-educated/experienced people did not help either. And the profession has not taken enough strides to remedy the underlying causes of the reducing supply of accounting graduates systemically.
- The Government's focus on promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education is worthwhile as it serves the country's larger interests. But it can drive new talent away from other disciplines of education. Therefore, the Accounting STEM Pursuit Act of 2021 – to recognize accounting as a part of the STEM programs in schools - must be vigorously pursued to bring it to fruition.
- The return on investment of time and resources in becoming a CPA is not as attractive as other choices students have now. Couple that with the reality of taking many years to reach a leadership position at accounting firms. The net proposition of becoming a CPA is not competitively reasonable for the new talent. Therefore, there is a need to minimize/reduce the significant upfront commitment of time, effort, and costs to become a CPA.
- Many research reports promote misleading conclusions about the effect of technology on accountants' work. Some very visible reports that stated such things are based on limited, archaic definitions of what accountants do. While many experienced accountants do not worry much about the rhetoric of "accountant's job has a very high probability of being replaced by technology," it can significantly contribute to diverting early-stage college students to other educational disciplines. Such misconstrued thought processes about technology's impact on accounting need to be strongly countered.
- The profession has a relatively unglamorous perception. That is a contributing factor to this talent challenge.
- "Partners" at firms are perceived to be extremely busy people. They are routinely seen to have excruciating responsibilities and onerous accountabilities.
- The word "Accountant" is deeply tied to the "type of work" accountants (are perceived to) do. Unfortunately, that seems to drive away newer generations to other "shiny" career choices.
- The seasonality of workload, with the notoriously dreaded tax season where one must work ~60+ hours a week, and the relatively even workloads offered by competing industries/professions can make accounting a less favorable choice. It is especially so due to presumably different work-life balance/life experience choices the youth is making today.
- The profession must consistently shine a bright light on the purpose (enrichment of human potential) it serves. The positive impacts of accountants' work on people's lives must be regularly showcased. Given similar compensation and other factors across careers available in various professions/industries, a higher sense of purpose always attracts talent that believes in the cause.
— Hitendra Patil, head of customer success, AccountantsWorld by IRIS
There is a lack of awareness of the endless possibilities that the profession and becoming a CPA provides. Especially today as we evolve into the future, none of the stereotypical perceptions are real, the profession is as exciting and vibrant as ever.
— Carl Peterson, vice president, small firm interests, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants
Today talented people have lots of choices where they can succeed. I know many people in industry who were once in public accounting. Many tell me they loved the different experiences coming from a variety of clients. They also tell me they left because of the required hours and associated stress. There is a perception that public accounting is hard. Perhaps technology can help ease the number of hours required to make clients happy, but the perception that accounting is hard will take time to resolve.
— Scott Peterson, VP of U.S. tax policy and government relations, Avalara
I think the profession is having trouble keeping its talent and attracting new talent because the value proposition for a career in accounting has become less attractive than most alternatives. The low entry level / early career pay has remained stagnant for decades, the waiting game for partnership track takes too long, there's little work life balance, generally. I get why smart young people would rather go into consulting or banking. It can come back from this- it's a noble profession and essential to the economy. Charge more, pay more, advance careers faster, embrace flexibility.
— Jeff Phillips, CEO, Padgett Business Services
Historically, the CPA profession has not been known to be tolerant of diversity, including the LGBTQIA+ community and diversity of ethnicity/culture. Only recently is the profession starting to make improvements in gender diversity. This has led to a stifling lack of diversity of thought, an inability to evolve quick enough to keep pace, and the reality that the profession no longer reflects the diversity of the organizations and individuals it serves.
I'm proud to be one of the few openly gay leaders of a global association and I've worked hard to make the profession more inclusive. I was part of a groundbreaking research project in 2020 that revealed LGBTQ accountants found the workplace wasn't welcoming to them, which was causing them to leave the profession. In my current position, I'm able to lead by example, demonstrating the great things that can happen in a diverse and inclusive workplace that allows employees to be their full authentic selves.
The CPA exam, specifically, has been too narrow and doesn't adequately explore the skillsets that a person actually needs in order to be successful at the job. Other exams, meanwhile, like the CIA exam, are far more practical and robust and they do a better job of preparing an individual for the actual work they'll be doing.
— Anthony Pugliese, president & CEO, Institute of Internal Auditors
I believe the problem is a combination of the 5-year degree requirement, which creates an unnecessary barrier to entry to the profession and starting salaries for college graduates that are not competitive with other career choices students have.
— Terry Putney, managing director, Whitman Transition Advisors LLC
- It seems that there's nothing sexy about accounting - we have a marketing problem that needs to get fixed.
- The hours are typically long and arduous.
- The exam is no one's idea of fun.
I believe in the value of a credential for professionals and the CPA credential in particular. Continued specialization of the exam could assist with it not being as objectionable to potential candidates. We also need to emphasize and dial up the fun and enjoyable parts of accounting, leverage technology to get rid of the mundane, and listen to what the next generation wants for career development.
— Kristen Rampe, managing partner, Rosenberg Associates
I think the accounting profession has been going through significant changes to modernize. From updating the CPA exam to have more technology built into it to the vanguard firms who are tech-savvy, forward thinking CPAs who embrace technology so they can focus on higher level advisory services. While these shifts in the profession are happening, many of the students pursuing their accounting degrees are primarily taught theory and accounting curriculum lacks emphasis on software training, understanding emerging technologies like the cloud as well as soft skills.
It's time for CPAs to embrace a new identity and those digital-first firms will have an advantage in attracting and retaining the next generation of talent. Technology opens up the door for accountants and bookkeepers to expand their roles beyond compliances and taxes and become trusted advisors. There's a huge opportunity for them to move beyond number crunching and into advisory roles where they can serve as business advisor year-round to small business owners. In this new role, CPAs have the opportunity to advise on everything from taxes, finding new opportunities for growth and expansion, setting up the right technology app stack for a business to run smoothly and everything in between. This is where the role of soft skills comes in and accountants and bookkeepers are missing an opportunity if they don't refine these skills. Emotional intelligence and empathy are critical to how you interact and build relationships with clients. Technology is only half the equation of being able to advise and guide clients, it's the human and technology elements combined that make the role of an advisor so powerful.
Additionally, at the mass market level across firms, technology adoption is too slow. When faced with the economic headwinds we've seen from the pandemic and its recovery, accountants and bookkeepers are critical for the success of small businesses. There's a void between the early tech adopters talking about the future and those stuck using outdated technology. We're now seeing Gen Z come through the ranks and shake up the workforce. Firms are hanging onto their old ways, but we need to transition and keep the magic of the profession and embrace new disruption.
As vendors and firm leaders, I believe we have an opportunity to help usher in this shift in the accounting profession so that it can be seen as a diverse and exciting career path. I'd encourage firms to help provide students and those entering the profession with real-world accounting experiences that focus on integrating technologies to make their jobs more efficient and see how they can make an impact on the small businesses they work with. Accountants and bookkeepers serve as a key member of a small business' team and are in a unique position to help small businesses grow and reach their full potential.
— Ben Richmond, U.S. country manager, Xero
Perhaps too few young people know the actual true doings of accountants and their ability to impact people's lives and businesses. I generalize but accountants haven't been highly effective at positioning their true value to customers and I'd say that absolutely translates to being ineffective at positioning the extraordinary possibilities within the accounting career, both in firms and at the university level. A handful of firms exude passion for what's possible, but these cultures are still too rare. We need more advocates of the exciting career possibilities at all stages throughout our great profession. And we need to mitigate the damage caused by serious burn out in the many firms who haven't figured out how to balance their work loads.
— Michelle Golden River, owner/president, Fore LLC
For a long time, to run a firm, the mindset dictated you had to be a CPA. Now, you only need a CPA certificate for attest functions, so fewer people are sitting for the exam. Most people entering the space realize that they don't need a certificate to do the work that they want to do.
The profession is having trouble attracting new talent because there is a stigma connected to the traditional business model associated with being a CPA. Collectively, we must rebrand our profession to eliminate this notion that being an accountant and running a successful business means sacrificing your own personal goals for a non-stop slog, no one should be working like that anymore.
— Darren Root, chief strategist, Right Networks
Glorifying unrealistic working commitments. "I ran payroll while I was giving birth" should not be thought of as a badge of honor any longer.
— Richard Roppa-Roberts, the ProAdvisor Advisor, Quasar Cowboy and Roundtable Labs
CPAs and other accountants have long suffered from an image problem, misinformation about what accountants do and being blissfully ignorant about how great a job it is to be a CPA. The CPA profession in particular needs a long-term, grass roots initiative, from coast to coast, large cities and small, to spread the word and dispel the myths.
Another thought: Increase the salaries of staff dramatically. Salaries of CPA firm staff in their 20s used to be one of the highest paying jobs for students with just a four-year college degree. It's still pretty good, but it has been losing ground to other jobs. A managing partner I know shared this thought with me: "Partners in CPA firms make fantastic money. Assume a firm's partners earn $600,000 a year, on average. That's a lot of money. Shouldn't they think about reducing their incomes by 5 or 10% and pay higher salaries to staff? Why wouldn't we that? What holds us back from doing this?
Here's another thought: As I understand it, lawyers are encouraged if not required to do pro-bono work. This is a great way for lawyers to benefit society. CPA firms need to do something similar. In droves and on a consistent basis, firms need to require their leaders to spend a meaningful amount of time each year at all levels of education, perhaps starting with middle school students, through high school and of course, college, helping young people understand what accountants do and why being a CPA is such a great job. In other words, CPAs need to do a full-course press on students to influence their career decisions.
— Marc Rosenberg, managing partner and founder, Rosenberg Associates
The public accounting practice plays a pivotal role in building trust in society and can provide a rewarding career path for industry professionals. However, the requirements to obtain Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensure pose obstacles to entry, for some. As a firm, we're committed to expanding avenues to entry in the accounting industry. In 2021, we established our While You Work CPA Acceleration Program in collaboration with Northeastern University, giving rising Black and Latinx college seniors or recent graduates of accredited colleges or universities the opportunity to receive a tuition-paid, industry-recognized master's degree, while working part time at PwC. The program is a distinctive opportunity to learn, earn and prepare for a career in the accounting industry.
More recently, we collaborated with Saint Peter's University on a new pilot that enables participants with 120 credits to earn the additional 30 credit hours they need to become CPA eligible through paid, full-time work experience at our firm. Participants can begin their accounting career as a PwC employee, foregoing the time and cost typically required to earn the necessary credits while, at the same time, learning relevant skills and knowledge to enhance their professional development.
We know that when we bring our 65,000 community of solvers and their relevant skill sets—that we can provide quality work and enhance the value we provide for our clients—and for our people. That's why we launched My+, our three-year strategy to reimagine our people experience. Also, we've learned that by giving our people access to technology and cross-disciplinary opportunities where they can develop and pursue their professional interests, a hallmark of the multidisciplinary model, we are helping to create a more talented and engaged workforce that can better serve our clients.
We are committed to providing a variety of opportunities—multidisciplinary upskilling, cross-functional experiences, and diversity of thought and experience—that can ultimately help all our teams provide quality services to our clients. Our strategy and purpose create an environment where our people can personalize their careers to support their development, well-being, sense of purpose and ambitions.
— Tim Ryan, U.S. chair and senior partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers
The proposed CPA exam revamp increases challenges for attracting all candidates, especially Black and minority accountants. The revised exam creates a potential skills transferability issue for individuals who wish to navigate across specialties after they obtain licensure. As written, it appears that if a CPA wants to move to a different discipline or work outside their designated area, they must retake the exam to demonstrate competency in the new expertise. This can potentially create an unnecessary educational and financial burden on the candidate, moving us further from equity in the profession and reducing attracting diverse candidates.
Moreover, Minority Majority Schools will be financially challenged to adapt curriculum, faculty training, and technology resources to adequately prepare learners to compete effectively under the new criteria. Without sufficient educational support, Black CPA candidates may have difficulty demonstrating the required knowledge and skills outlined in the new exam blueprints.
— Guylaine Saint Juste, president & CEO, NABA Inc.
I think we, as a profession, can do a better job of promoting the wide variety of positions and career paths available to accountants. There may be a perception that accounting is all about crunching numbers, when that is just scratching the surface. Whether you are interested in finance, data and analytics, sustainability or regulation, accounting can open doors to an engaging and rewarding career.
— Hillary Salo, technical director, Financial Accounting Standards Board; chair, Emerging Issues Task Force
We need to create better awareness of the diversity of the service offerings and the highly dynamic roles that accountants serve in the profession today. I take a grass roots approach by guest lecturing at both high schools and universities to encourage students to consider an exciting career in public accounting as a means to get students aware, interested, and enthusiastic in pursing, joining, and ultimately flourishing in the accounting profession.
— Peter Scalise, federal tax credits & incentives practice leader for the Americas, Prager Metis CPAs
There are three major obstacles I see impacting new talent entering the profession:
- There is still a sentiment that the work is grueling, and the hours are only getting longer. Coming from an accounting family and working in the profession, I see and hear this sentiment firsthand.
- There has been continued talk about the updating and modernization of the CPA exam, but shy of that, becoming a CPA is still an arduous task. With a personal interest in infusing an elevated knowledge of academic accounting into my repertoire, I have personally researched the path to CPA. I am now 60% through the requisite credits to sit for the CPA exam and can tell you it not without tremendous effort, time, and sacrifice. There is clearly a prestige with holding this designation, but the profession needs to a) create means for alternative tracks to achieve a CPA designation and b) rapidly create more market-facing services where the CPA designation is required.
- Today's youth are looking for incremental monetizing events in their careers. The accounting profession was not constructed that way. A monetizing event in the profession today requires waiting 15-30 years and retiring as an equity partner. Interestingly, the recent entry of private equity into the profession just may be the modernizing event the industry needs.
— Peter Scavuzzo, CEO, Marcum Technology; principal/chief information & digital officer, Marcum LLP
Value/proposition for those starting in the industry is a joke. Until the industry starts paying and recognizing the value of young talent- not going to change.
— Gary Shamis, CEO, Winding River Consulting
This is one of the most often discussed subjects when I talk with accounting firms and companies. Accounting firm partners and financial executives all seem to have an opinion on the pipeline decline, usually the 150-hour requirement, though it is rarely based on any kind of data, just personal supposition. As part of our (the Illinois CPA Society) Insight Special Feature, A CPA Pipeline Report – Decoding the Decline, we talked with over 3,100 students and young professionals. Instead of my personal supposition, I'll let them do the talking. The number one challenge was:
- Workload time commitment
Other top challenges for those who had not started or didn't intend to start the CPA exam process were:
- Don't see value or relevance to their careers
- Don't see the ROI
- Other credentials are more valuable to their careers
- Their employers don't require or support it
Interestingly, when talking with students and young professionals, the 150-hour requirement didn't even make it into the top five challenges, yet practitioners, with years and years of experience, insist that the 150-hour requirement is the top challenge. Why? I believe that people are looking for a simple answer to a very complex problem. Relevance (there's that word again) was a top challenge. The sooner we start listening to the real challenges that students and young professionals are telling us, the sooner we can address the pipeline issue.
— Todd Shapiro, president & CEO, Illinois CPA Society
There are a lot more accounting credentials than just the CPA. As the business world becomes more complex some of these other credentials may be more applicable to a particular business needed, or more aligned with a person's passion. We need to transition to be a more inclusive profession—including recognizing other accounting credentials than CPA, and also including non-accountants in the services delivered by our profession.
— Donny Shimamoto, founder and managing director, IntrapriseTechKnowlogies LLC
I think the competition for talent is starting much sooner and is giving promising students opportunities during and right out of college that may compete with accounting firm hiring and CPA licensure requirements.
— Eva Simpson, vice president – tax practice & financial planning, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants
There are several reasons, including an overall trend toward fewer young people enrolling in college. But I think there's also a false narrative about what a career in accounting can be these days. This is a dynamic and multi-faceted profession, and we need to continue demonstrating that to the next generation. Such as: getting into high schools and colleges earlier to talk about how technology is incorporated into everything we do; how understanding the language of business is the key to entrepreneurism; how the profession protects the public interest; how professionals can help small businesses or non-profits, etc. This is how we help generate interest in accounting, and everyone in the profession has a role to play in exposing students to these varied and exciting opportunities.
As for the CPA Exam, employers supporting candidates is the number one factor for success. I think firms have to make more of an up-front investment in shepherding CPA candidates through the journey than perhaps they did even 5 years ago. That includes paying for Exam materials, ensuring the candidate is given time to study and time to take the Exam, providing buddies and other resources that can help a candidate overcome obstacles. A small investment by the firm can have big dividends.
— Lisa Simpson, vice president – firm services, AICPA & CIMA
I think the two main things that need to be done are 1) more competitive compensation, and 2) enabling CPA candidates choose a 4-year degree track possibly with more years of experience to obtain a CAP license or a 5-year track with less experience. The profession needs to eliminate some of the barriers to students choosing this career path.
— Joel Sinkin, managing director, Whitman Transition Advisors
There are many reasons for this trend, and not just one can be singled out as creating this outcome. As an industry we must recognize that we have a new generation of talent entering the profession, and we will need to continually adapt ourselves to accommodate their expectations. Some areas where we can focus:
- Branding of our profession – we seem to be boxed into being viewed as a boring profession, but the reality is, our capital markets system and our taxing system depend on our profession to function.
- Trusted advisor status – we are among the most trusted advisors of all professions today, and yet we don't point out the long-term value this can have to a career.
- Compensation – we have allowed our profession to not move ahead in compensating our team members, whereas other career options have moved up in compensation. Add to this the potential higher costs to get licensed as a CPA, and the cost to entry to our profession is steeper as well. This compensation differential can be narrowed with a focused effort by firms and corporate employers.
- Flexibility and work-life integration – Our profession has a reputation for having heavy peak times of work at certain times of the year. The fact is, so do other career options, but they don't carry the same long-term reputation that ours does. While we have become a lot more flexible as a profession in the past few years, there is still room for improvement, and sharing the flexibility we do have is important. This includes some sectors of the profession needing to dial back the excessive hours in the peak times and finding other resource solutions, so we stop the perpetuation of churning and burning our future talent.
- Entrepreneurial opportunities – As with other issues, our profession does not receive enough credit for the entrepreneurial opportunities in our profession, and we could do a better job of highlighting these and telling the stories of how it has boosted people's careers.
— Matt Snow, chairman of governing board, Forvis
Because accounting hasn't been associated with impact. Accounting is the stuffy people who tally the votes at the award show, or organize after-the-fact books for tax purposes.
Until it's re-framed as an opportunity to enable entrepreneurship, the general lack of sexiness won't resonate with a generation of people who rightly want to make a difference.
— Jason Staats, creator, Realize LLC
I think there's a misconception that it's a stagnant profession and that young CPAs will be toiling for years during busy season making low wages. Nothing could be further from the truth. The accounting profession is extremely dynamic offering a myriad of opportunities beyond just traditional accounting services. We need to be better advocates and mentors for the profession at both the high school and college levels.
— Stan Sterna, vice president, Aon
State boards increasing educational requirements to 150 credit hours. With the massive rise in educational costs, students are making the choice that a potential 5th year in college is way too costly.
In my opinion, it does not make for better professionals. What would make better professionals would be to increase the requirement to have to work for a CPA firm for a longer period of time before a CPA license is issued. Replace that one year of extra college time with an additional year of required practical experience. Such experience is invaluable. From the student's point of view, they pay for one less year of education, while at the same time earning a living one year earlier.
— Mark Stewart, immediate past president, National Conference of CPA Practitioners
Where do I begin! I mentioned before, it starts with our youth. They are not generally interested in our profession. It's seen as boring and demanding and lacking inspiration to be able to affect change in the world. The CPA exam is dated and built on a legacy of this profession that has largely evolved (and I know that NASBA and the AICPA are working on this, we are trying to help as well). Once we get past attracting new talent, then we need to figure out how to better retain and reward them. We need to be open to hybrid work environments and we need to understand how to bridge the generational gaps in our workforce and give them opportunity to grow where they are passionate (there's so much to unpack with this one but I don't want to turn this into a whitepaper). Finally, we need show that we are welcome to new perspectives and innovations to better serve our clients in the ways they want to be served. And that doesn't mean asking them. It means partnering with them and delivering real value that helps them achieve their goals. That client-centricity is what can make for a satisfying career.
— Jasen Stine, training and education leader for the tax and accounting profession, Intuit
I disagree. The profession is not having trouble attracting new talent. It's having trouble attracting the kind of talent it doesn't really need anymore. Accountants seem to believe you need to be an accountant to serve clients. You don't. Yes, you need skills, training and experience in finance, tax and accounting. Most of all, you need to be able to understand people and business. But the profession is learning. More and more firms are hiring non-accounting accountants, people with the skills to drive change. Whether or not they have a CPA license or passed Accounting 101.
Accounting Today is proving this by expanding its coverage beyond CPA-only firms.
— Rick Telberg, CEO, CPA Trendlines Research, a service of Bay Street Group LLC
Despite the well-known challenges such as the need for extra college credits and a
demanding CPA Exam, the profession's inability to retain talent stems from participants
and aspiring CPAs not realizing all of the potential opportunities the field has to offer. Few
students fully understand what it means to be a CPA, let alone how clients enter the mix
and what work is required. They are not fully aware of their importance in the board
rooms, at senior meetings and in day-to-day planning. On the other hand, organizations
need to change their culture to be more welcoming of today's professionals.
— Ralph Thomas, CEO and executive director, New Jersey Society of CPAs
Essentially, we're not telling a compelling enough story of a purpose-driven profession built on a foundation of ethics with multiple career pathways to add value and make a difference. Accountants today are tech wizards, strategists, communicators, and people who drive value and sustainability for their organizations; we're not the staid, siloed bookkeepers of a few decades ago. But we have to get out there – on campuses, within organizations, in the media – and communicate this to students as well as professionals at all levels. Part of it is describing how inter-disciplinary the accounting and finance functions are across the value chain, which means any number of competencies or job roles can be augmented by acquiring skills in accounting, and any number of career aspirations and desire to do good can build a path toward accounting.
— Jeffrey Thomson, President & CEO, Institute of Management Accountants
This isn't a new trend, but the pandemic escalated the issue, and now the profession realizes that a 130 year-old industry (in U.S.) has not changed or evolved at the same pace other industries. Firms are primarily being run by baby boomers yet populated by millennials creating a clash and deterring young talent. Many other industries are much more lucrative than firms in terms of compensation, responsibilities, and career trajectories. So, why work for/stay with a firm — or even get your CPA — if you can practice accounting or consult on it elsewhere with better opportunities for professional and financial growth? We are fortunately starting to see new firms pop up with 'disruptive' models that are successful because both the firm and the client are willing to adapt and put a premium back on accounting talent and the accounting function.
— David Toth, chief growth strategist, Winding River Consulting
Despite good efforts, I think we as a profession have failed to communicate the value of being a CPA and the opportunities that come along with it. I think many still think all we do is complete tax returns. I also think we have failed to communicate more recent developments that make the profession more attractive than ever like more flexibility in where and how we work and the commitment to diversity and inclusion.
— Barbara Vanich, chief auditor and director of professional standards, PCAOB
We need to look in the mirror and recognize that we've aged horribly and we simply aren't attractive anymore. There are several great quotes in The Book of Joe recently released by Joe Maddon (former professional Major League Baseball manager) and Tom Verducci (American sportswriter) that are easily transferable to the problems with our profession and the ugliness of our traditional business model. Let me share just one with you: "Accepted beliefs can stifle individuality and instinct...when you adhere to them, you stifle what the player can become...getting out of the box spurs growth and denies complacency." We need to throw out the traditional public accounting firm rules and build a "Firm of Dreams". If we build it, they will come.
— Chris Vanover, founder & chief auditor, AuditClub
We have a reputation as a tough profession – long hours, difficult clients, dealing with agencies like the IRS. There's certainly some truth there. It's a difficult reputation to change, but I think the more we talk about the work to do help clients unlock their full potential and be successful, the more we will take back some of that conversation. Certainly, the required hours in college and the CPA exam are issues the industry needs to look at and I'm glad there are conversations happening around what's best for new graduates and the profession long-term. But again, I think it comes back to telling a story about helping others. Young people are attracted to industries like tech or nonprofit because they want to help others while making a living. We offer that, too – and in fact, our industry can provide very successful careers and support a great personal and family life. I see it in our people every day. We just need to tell that story.
We also must work hard to make our profession attractive to a wider range of people. Our profession must work to diversify our talent pipeline to match the growing diversity in America. This means we need to have specific outreach programs that enable us to be a compelling choice for people who may not view themselves as potential accountants today.
— Tom Watson, CEO, Forvis
Today's generation of new accountants is less likely to stay on one career path or stay with one firm for a long period of time. They change jobs to learn new skills or sometimes just for a different experience. As a profession, we need to create more opportunities for career choice within our firms. Offering a broader range of services enables our staff to stay in the profession while learning new skills and pursuing alternative career paths. Our new ownership and capital structure have enabled us to do just that. And firms need to be technology- forward in everything they do to keep young people engaged in their work.
— Charles Weinstein, CEO, Eisner Advisory Group LLC
Because we are more concerned with our own liability as a profession than our ability to help our clients. As CPAs, we are often limited in our ability to affordably serve our clients, due to the complexity of adhering to a myriad of standards, which are designed in most cases to meet the needs of publicly traded companies. The bookkeeping profession offers accountants a far easier point of entry and an immediate opportunity to serve their clients in a relevant, proactive way.
— Geni Whitehouse, countess of communication, Even a Nerd Can be Heard, The Impactful Advisor, Solve Services, www.bdcocpa.com
We, as a profession, have done a very poor job of educating the younger folks as to why public accounting is really an amazing profession. We shot ourselves in the foot with the 5th year requirement. We need to continue to work on balance and increase compensation at all levels below partner.
— Philip Whitman, CEO, Whitman Transition Advisors
The profession is not clear on the branding of what an accountant is. I sometimes joke about needing a TV show that will put us in an exciting or fun light so more people will be attracted to this profession. We need to "sell" the amazing things that we do for clients and why it is important. Our next generation is different,and they are looking for opportunities in professions where they can grow fast and feel valued from day one. We have some work to do in this area and it starts with current firm leaders recognizing that they need to create an experience where our Gen Z professionals want to be.
— Sandra Wiley, president, Boomer Consulting Inc.
Like many challenges, there is no one simple answer. Every part of the industry needs to work together to bring more young people into the field and expand the diversity of young people who see accounting as a potential career path.
At the PCAOB we are working to do our part through our scholarship program. This academic year, we awarded 250 students from U.S. colleges and universities with $10,000 each to pursue accounting degrees. More than half of the scholarships in the last five years went to diverse applicants.
But we need to do more. And part of that work means meeting people where they are.
When I was practicing law, I noticed there was not enough of a pipeline of diverse law students going into certain areas of securities law. So, I went to the Dean of Howard Law School and offered to create a class on investment management.
She agreed, but only after telling me I had to come up with a catchy title, or no one would sign up. So, we called it "More Money, More Problems: Regulating Private Equity and Hedge Funds." And I am proud to report our class was at or near capacity all four years I taught it.
I am still in touch with many of those students, and many of them chose to make careers in securities law.
We need to meet young people on the cusp of their careers where they are, let them know that accounting is a path for them and make that path possible through opportunities like the PCAOB scholarship program.
— Erica Williams, chair, Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
See my answer to the question about the top issue facing the profession above where I share the reasons we're struggling to attract young people to the profession.
— Jennifer Lee Wilson, co-founder and partner, ConvergenceCoaching LLC
Per my comments above, CPA firms are not compensating their associates as well as other industries/professions, and this is due in part to the commodification issues we face. Through advisory services CPA firms can break out of commoditization and create wealth they can share with their employees.
The brand of the profession conveys that this is "my parents' career path," or…even worse… "my grandparent's career path." A focus – with a rebranding – around advisory services will help greatly to address this issue.
There is a perception – perhaps an accurate one – that technology is displacing accounting and bookkeeping services. As a result, this generation of college studies views accounting and bookkeeping as in its twilight, headed to the same decline as the one experienced by travel agents about 15 years ago.
— Joe Woodard, CEO, Woodard
I don't know that there is a single reason, but I believe that the image of our profession in the past doesn't align with the goals and expectations of current college students. I don't think we have done a good job, as a profession, helping students see the opportunities to make an impact on businesses, to learn from and work with highly talented people, and to grow in their personal careers, including financially. The accounting profession has not been seen as the sophisticated, satisfying career that it can be, and by extension, I don't think students see the potential for the return on their investment in sitting for the exam.
— Candace Wright, chair of the Private Company Council of the Financial Accounting Foundation
They see the senior members of the profession and realize this isn't what they want for their life. The importance of work as part of life, not as their entire life, is driving the desire for something different. The last few years surviving the pandemic has added a different perspective to what is important in life, and living to work isn't what is important. In addition, the "red tape" and regulatory environment can be discouraging. There is a need for protocols and regulatory control over parts of the accounting profession, but there is so much more value that accountants and CPAs bring to business. We need to make it less restrictive and more attractive to the best and brightest minds.
— Diane Yetter, president and founder, Yetter Consulting Services & Sales Tax Institute
Gen Z want to join industries that are considered more technology forward, flexible, and strategic/seen & felt. A paradigm shift needs to occur for the accounting industry to show the younger generation how their work matters and the impact they can make together via the power of insight and foresight.
— Martin Zych, CEO, Jirav
