The number of accountants in America is declining because Generation Z is put off by the tough training, poor pay and long hours.
As older Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) retire and fewer young people enter the profession, there has been a recent Bloomberg Analysis shows that there are 340,000 fewer accountants than five years ago.
According to CPA University, fewer students are earning degrees in the field and the number of people taking the CPA exam has declined by 50 percent between 1990 and 2021. Association of International Certified Professional Accountants.
According to experts, the sector is on the verge of extinction, as the 150-credit rule, tough entrance exam and long working days for minimal pay are not attractive to the younger generation.
“It’s hard to put lipstick on a pig. The truth is, there’s not a lot of glamour in accounting,” Richard Rampell, a retired CPA, told Company Insider.
There are 340,000 fewer accountants than five years ago, because older accountants are retiring and not enough young people are entering the profession.
“The pay is lousy, the hours are long, and the work is hard, and that hard work is especially true in the early years.”
According to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, about 65,000 students in the U.S. earned a bachelor’s or master’s degree in accounting in the 2021-2022 school year, down 18 percent from a decade earlier.
Generation Z indicates that they are not interested in the field because it is seen as boring and requires a lot of demands.
CPA candidates must also complete 150 college credits and then take the CPA exam. This exam consists of four four-hour tests, all of which must be completed within 18 months.
“I think the industry used to be more attractive, when security and staying in one place for your entire career was seen as the ultimate goal,” said Bryan, a 23-year-old accountant candidate. “That’s not the case anymore.”
People who pursue a financial degree choose to pursue a different career path because the entry level salary for a CPA is lower than others.
The industry is shrinking because the 150-hour credit rule, intensive entrance exams and long hours for minimal wages are unattractive.
According to Glassdoor, the median salary for an entry-level accountant is $71,000. For comparison, the median salary for entry-level management consultants is $97,000 and for financial analyst positions is $95,000.
“If I were to choose this profession now, I don’t think I would have become an accountant,” said Ralph Polimeni, professor of accounting at Hofstra University.
As fewer and fewer people enter the profession, accountants become overloaded and mistakes are made in their work.
According to Bloomberg, more than 700 companies cited understaffing in accounting and other departments as a reason for possible errors in their quarterly results.
