Accounting has been taking a beating in the public square recently, with a steady drumbeat of news about the decline of people either entering or exiting the profession. Our talent challenges are real, but perspective about the opportunities and appeal of an accounting career has been lacking.
What's missing from the narrative? The optimism and passion I hear daily from practitioners and firm leaders about new services and the transforming role of technology in the way we work, and the pride we collectively have in upholding trust in our business communities and capital markets. There is a great story to tell about the trajectory of the accounting profession — and it points up, not down.
First, some context. Shortages of skilled personnel are hardly unique to accounting. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce this past summer noted its members are facing unprecedented challenges finding enough workers for open jobs, with unfilled positions greatly outstripping the pool of unemployed workers. Fields as diverse as nursing and the law have cited burnout and the prevalence of "I need a life" complaints as major issues for younger professionals. The pandemic and rise of remote work have also reset expectations about job aims and job satisfaction for many young workers.
Likewise, college enrollment as a whole has been under pressure. The number of undergraduate degree earners dropped for the first time in a decade in the U.S. in the 2021-22 school year, for example, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. These trends are having an impact across many professions, including ours, as the pool of talent to draw from shrinks. And all this is happening as the labor force participation rate drifts downward.
We know there are issues specific to accounting we need to fix: competitive entry salaries, better work-life balance, more urgency in fostering diversity. The good news is there is consensus about coming together as a profession to fix our pipeline issues, and we are developing a plan through a broad-based national advisory group that will report out next spring. I'm confident we will find a path forward.
There are many reasons I'm optimistic about our future:
- New opportunities are redefining the profession. Sustainability reporting and assurance are perhaps the preeminent near-term opportunity for the profession. What we also know is that younger workers are drawn to purpose-led work, so careers that support business and environmental resilience can also make accounting a more attractive profession to new entrants. According to Korn Ferry's Future of Work 2023 study, 54% of millennials would consider changing careers to a sustainability-focused role. But it's more than just sustainability — in our digital age, accountants are also staking their claim in data governance, forensic accounting and cybersecurity risk management.
- It's a time of change and experimentation in accounting firms. New business models, better methods for client collaboration, more value-added advisory services — firms are breaking away from cookie-cutter definitions of success and trying new approaches. Not all these experiments will work, but some of the results have been spectacular. On a structural level, we're seeing firm shifts to create more flexibility and provide great capital for investment in talent and technology.
- Traditional practice areas are poised for great change. Technology is rapidly changing the way audit and tax practitioners do their jobs. Automation and the deployment of artificial intelligence in the audit, for example, won't replace the professional judgment that CPAs bring to their engagements, but they can streamline work processes and offer powerful tools to assess risk and spot anomalies and fraud. The same is true of tax, as roles change from compliance to full-fledged financial planning. These capabilities are becoming the norm with the adoption of AI and machine learning, freeing up time to broaden roles and expand career opportunities.
- Accounting remains the language of business: It's easy to focus on the drop in the number of CPA candidates and the issues behind it, but we need to remind ourselves that accounting remains essential to business and economies. We must capitalize on this position and promote the many opportunities and pathways the profession has to offer, both within and beyond it.
The profession has proven to be reliable, adaptable and innovative in a challenging time. We can always do better, but the story we're writing together is a good one. Now it's up to all of us to get the word out.
