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Promoting the accounting profession

There is currently a shortage of accountants in the US. The salaries have not been increasing at a relevant pace in order to entice more young graduates to move into this field. The salaries finally climbed in the U.S. to accountants and auditors last year at their quickest pace in recent years. However, industry observers say increasing pay alone may not be enough to fix this issue of the national shortage of accountants.

Less people are pursuing accounting degrees and looking for new jobs in this field. Consequently there are more open positions for these jobs and searches that are taking longer to complete. Accounting and auditing jobs are viewed by many people in the profession as underpaid, undervalued and less dynamic than positions in technolgy, investment banking and private equity.

Boosting salaries and offering sign-on bonuses are some of the solutions being offered. Companies are also relying more on temporary help and shipping work abroad. Industry groups and firms are also courting college students and giving entry-level and more junior accountants more responsibility than ever before. They are also providing new hires with flexible working arrangements. To build enthusiasm around the profession, firms, recruiters and professional organizations need to show accounting graduates that there is a significant technology bent to the work. So e of this tech involves blockchains, artificial intelligence and robotics. Automation can both enrich certain accounting and auditing roles as well as reduce the need for other roles. This will also addressing the shortage.

“I just don’t think giving a ton of 25% pay raises across the board is going to reverse what’s been building over the last two decades,” said Mr. Brady, who serves as chief executive of a talent-services arm of alliantgroup, a tax consulting firm. “We can’t just buy ourselves out of getting more people to go into the CPA profession.”