Of all problems the tax and accounting profession faces, staffing seems the most persistent. Older and younger accountants alike are bailing, driven by a sometimes hard combination of perception and reality.
"The industry as a whole is not attractive to the younger population, and it's difficult for our staff to work remotely," said Paul Miller, a CPA and managing partner at
"It certainly seems as though the pool of qualified candidates has begun to shrink and the attraction of qualified staff has become increasingly more difficult," said Mark Giallonardo, a partner and tax services and tax technical director at Cherry Bekaert in Coral Gables, Florida.
Are there any new answers out there?
Perceptions
According to a
Other problems with the pipeline of American accountants include:
- The ongoing high volume of work accountants have been experiencing makes a career in accounting feel more challenging than other careers;
- Students perceive that their starting accounting salary will not compete with that of other professions;
- Inconsistencies in the makeup of the additional 30-hour education requirement detracts from its value and is a great hurdle;
- Students perceive the CPA exam to be too difficult to study for and pass; and,
- Students don't know an accountant, lack access to information about the benefits of the career and aren't attracted to an accounting career because they've heard negative things about the profession on social media.
Almost half of the respondents to the survey added that turnover is highest after three to five years of employment. Miller said that his longest-term employee has been with his firm 30 years and his average employee has been with the firm more than 10 years.
Niches can work against a firm. "It's been difficult to hire and retain talented staff. This is especially true at my firm, where our niche of foreign tax compliance and reporting requires additional knowledge," said Manasa Nadig, an Enrolled Agent and owner at MN Tax and Business Services and a partner at Harris Nadig in Canton, Michigan. "We've been exploring hiring off-shore talent."
Solutions?
Firms are getting increasingly creative with staffing fixes: giving once-outlandish raises and bonuses,
In a
The total-dollar picture can cause an employee to pause before jumping to another firm because of just a salary bump, blogger Amanda Lilley writes.
"We pay our staff above [the] industry average, we offer excellent benefits, we have a matching pension plan. More important," Miller said, "we treat people well and respect our staff."
"Following the Great Resignation, we were proud to see our turnover level decline and stabilize at less than pre-pandemic levels," said Elizabeth Newman, chief administrative officer and chief HR officer of CBIZ in Cleveland. "Top talent have options in our industry, so the onus is on us to offer a compelling value proposition and experience."
"We find that our team members want visibility into their career paths and a better understanding of not only opportunities for advancement but what's required to advance," Newman said. "We've invested in articulating clear career paths, including aligned learning and development."
Team members have clear expectations when it comes to innovation and new technologies, and the firm also has mentoring programs, employee resource groups and community engagement initiatives, among other plusses.
Mismatch
Accountants can also benefit from what they haven't traditionally done: network with other fields.
"Every employer seems to be having issues with finding and retaining staff," said Larry Pon, a CPA in Redwood City, California. "As employers, we need to understand where this new crop of graduates came from. I hear from recruiters that many are lacking in social skills, especially graduates who went to college virtually."
"There's definitely a mismatch," he added, between "staff expectations and employer needs."
