America’s accountant shortage is starting at college

For decades, the accountant stereotype has conjured up depressing images of white-collar workers, slouched in office stalls, painstakingly crunching numbers on a spreadsheet till it’s quittin’ time.

Historically, the long-term financial stability afforded to accountants was enough to offset its somewhat unglamorous reputation. Today, though, that appeal isn’t resonating with Gen Z, according to new reporting from Business Insider.

Indeed, America is facing an accountant shortage, and it’s starting at college. Data released by the AICPA last October found that the number of students who’d earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting in the 2021-22 school year was just 47,067 — down ~8% from the year prior, marking the 6th consecutive year of decline — while the number of students who’d graduated with a master’s in the subject fell to 18,238, a 21% drop from its peak, recorded just 4 years earlier.

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Furthermore, only a fraction of these graduates actually go on to become accountants: post-master’s degree, one must pass a further four 4-hour CPA exams within an 18-month period, and spend a year working with a licensed CPA, before receiving the official title.

A lack of new talent entering the industry is especially problematic because there’s a huge wave of professionals that are set to close their books for good, with the AICPA estimating that ~75% of the CPA workforce reached retirement age in 2020.

To address the issue, the AICPA dropped its opposition to calls that would cut the amount of education needed to become a CPA, and companies like the ‘Big 4’ firms are promoting programs with built-in master’s-degree equivalents to encourage applications.

One obvious way to make the profession more appealing? A bigger, better number. According to the BLS, the median salary for accountants and auditors is ~$80K — far lower than other jobs in the sector, such as financial analysts (~$100K) and financial managers (~$156K).