While technology firms are laying off thousands of workers, companies of all types and sizes are in a war for talent in another STEM-related (science, technology, engineering and math studies) field: accounting.
There’s a shortage of accountants and plenty of opportunities — whether they’re at large international companies, national accounting firms or local offices run by certified public accountants looking to retire soon.
[See: The 25 Best Jobs of 2023.]
Why Accounting?
With the tumult in so many other types of careers right now, it’s a particularly good time to consider accounting as a career choice. Colleges, big accounting firms and national organizations are creating innovative programs to help attract and develop the next generation of accountants and get a wider variety of people interested in this lucrative and stable career.
“It’s never been a better time to go into the field,” says Michael Decker, vice president of the CPA examinations for the American Institute of CPAs, the association representing the CPA profession. “With the layoffs and volatility in technology, accountants, business professionals and CPAs will always be employed. Whether audit or tax or finance, you can take that CPA wherever you go. I don’t think there’s ever been a better time to achieve that stability in a career.”
Despite the strong job prospects, fewer people are going into accounting. The number of students in bachelor’s and master’s in accounting programs has declined over the past several years. In a recent survey of executive-level managers at large companies conducted by KPMG, a U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm, 83% said they have found it difficult to recruit tax talent this past year.
“Maybe we need to do a better job of selling the attractiveness of it,” Decker says. “We’re trying to change how we talk about it and promote it, because the value is there.”
Colleges, accounting firms and the AICPA are focusing on attracting more STEM-oriented candidates to the field, whether it’s showing high school and college students that accounting may be more interesting than expected, providing scholarships for a more diverse group of accounting students, or offering hybrid programs that make it easier for mid-career professionals to earn their CPA and transition into the accounting field.
“I think there is a huge war for talent, whether it’s public accounting firms or businesses, they want curious, intelligent, critical-thinking young folks that have backgrounds in business, technology, data and some communications,” says Decker. “And so if you come out of school knowing those things you’re going to get hired.”
Attracting College Kids to Accounting
There are plenty of students focusing on STEM in high school and college who are ideal candidates for accounting programs.
“Over the last few years we’ve seen a ton of interest in STEM, and it starts in middle school and the high school level,” says Decker. “There is a lot of support and promotion of STEM education and STEM careers.”
But the challenge is encouraging those students to choose accounting rather than tech or finance careers, where their starting salary may be higher. It can take several years to earn a CPA — which requires education, work experience and passing a rigorous exam — so it tends to be delayed gratification to choose accounting. It can be particularly difficult to wait for the payoff while you have to pay back student loans. But once you have that credential, it’s the ticket to a wide variety of jobs.
“The studies that we have done show that firm demand is the No. 1 driver for someone wanting to be a CPA,” says Decker. “We know that firms are working with the state societies that are promoting accounting. There are a lot more CPAs who are coming onto campus in high schools and colleges and promoting the field, and there are a number of initiatives to showcase what a CPA does. The concept that you sit at a desk all day is not today’s image of a CPA. It’s showcasing the value of the CPA and the range of opportunities that a CPA will have, and the firms are out there in this war for talent promoting that.”
The AICPA Foundation, for example, is offering more than $1 million in scholarships for college students to study accounting and pursue a CPA, and for practicing CPAs to become professors. KPMG recently introduced a Tax Scholarship Program offering up to $40,000 scholarships to students from underrepresented groups to pursue a master’s degree in accounting. The program includes mentoring from KPMG professionals, internship opportunities and a job at KPMG after graduation.
KPMG also partnered with the University of Northern Iowa to expand its Bachelor of Arts in Accounting program and include a hybrid option for students in the Des Moines area, with online and evening classes to help attract more mid-career students. KPMG is also providing some professionals from its office to teach as adjunct faculty and expects to hire interns as part of the program. According to the college, there is a major shortage of accounting professionals in the Des Moines metro area, where posted positions for new accounting graduates exceeded the supply by more than 6-to-1 in the past year.
“While the accounting shortage is real and pervasive across all markets, we’re collectively making tangible progress to remedy the problem,” says Greg Engel, vice chair — tax at KPMG. “Hybrid programs for professionals with associate degrees, like what UNI is offering, mark an important step forward by bringing in candidates through less traditional pathways.”
[See: 25 Best Jobs That Pay $100K.]
Accounting in Action in College
Howard University in the District of Columbia has been working to get students interested in accounting at all levels of development, starting as early as high school “The Howard University Center for Accounting Education intentionally designs pipeline programs that prepare high school, community college and university students to enter the accounting profession,” says Jean T. Wells, CPA, associate professor of accounting at the Howard University School of Business and associate director of the Howard University Center for Accounting Education.
Howard University participates in several nationwide programs to promote accounting as a career. The Accounting Careers Awareness Program is designed to expose high school students to the accounting profession and encourage them to apply to college and to consider majoring in accounting. The Accounting Scholars Development Program is targeted to community college students and is designed to encourage them to transfer to a four-year institution to complete their undergraduate studies.
“Both are one-week summer residency programs where the students experience an immersive on-campus experience in the dormitories,” says Wells. “They visit governmental agencies and accounting firms and participate in a group project.”
Howard University accounting students gain practical tax experience by volunteering in the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, where they are trained to prepare income tax returns for community residents.
They also participate in programs that show a different side to accounting, which can be more dynamic than they may expect — such as the IRS Adrian Project, sponsored by the IRS Criminal Investigation Division. “The students sharpen their forensic accounting and tax skills and are introduced to interviewing suspects, conducting surveillance and document analysis,” says Wells. “The day ends when the students solve the crime and arrest the mock offender. The Adrian Project provides students a glimpse into the career life of an IRS special agent and what a criminal investigation entails.”
College seniors are invited to attend the Frank K. Ross Leadership Institute, where they network with accounting professionals, are encouraged to take the CPA exam and learn about the diverse opportunities of an accounting career.
“These programs are essential in empowering students and program participants with crucial knowledge and skills designed to make them comfortable navigating the roadmap to selecting accounting as a major and ultimately a rewarding career in accounting,” says Wells.
[SEE: 8 Best Jobs in Finance.]
Accounting Firms Helping With the Next Steps
Not only are firms working to get more students interested in accounting, they’re providing more support to encourage young accountants to stay in the field and work toward their CPA.
“The firms with the best practices have been increasing their starting salaries, they’ve increased the starting bonuses, they help pay for the exam and the test prep, they treat new employees coming in as a cohort so they group them together, and they work together and study together and prepare for the exam together,” Decker says. He says that mentorship and advocacy from professionals in the field also helps accounting grads stay in the field and work toward their CPA.
“One of the disappointing statistics is we’re seeing about 40% of accounting graduates going on to sit for the CPA exam, where it used to be 60%,” says Decker. “We have some initiatives to drive flexibility to showcase what accounting really is. The firms have a lot of initiatives around work-life balance, culture and diversity initiatives.” The goal is to “promote the profession and provide flexibility but without reducing rigor,” he says.
They’re also trying to attract more STEM and finance graduates into the field. “You don’t have to have a bachelor’s degree in accounting, you just have to have enough hours to sit for the exam,” says Decker.
Annette Nellen, a tax professor at San Jose State University and director of the Master of Science in Taxation program, says she’s seen this with her graduate-level classes. “Somebody may have majored in something else and their job gravitated into accounting, and they come back and pick up the classes they need and then they take the CPA exam,” she says. “Our program has a mix of working professionals and folks who have just finished their degree. Sometimes they find jobs from talking to their classmates.”
Colleges, accounting firms and the AICPA are also spending more time focusing on the wide range of careers you can do with a CPA — whether its business audits for international firms, data analytics for companies of any size or becoming self-employed and helping local businesses, nonprofit organizations and individuals with their taxes. “We’ve heard that a number of small firm owners are struggling to retire because they have no one to hand the business over to,” says Decker. “If I had kids of college age looking to start a company, I’d say go to be a CPA and find a baby boomer where you can learn the practice and eventually open a practice. What better way to get in on a company and eventually own it and be in a position to grow that company, and be a very strong influence in your community, too.”
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Where Are All the Tax Accountants? originally appeared on usnews.com
