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PROFESSIONAL ISSUES
What everyone can

do to strengthen

the next generation

of CPAs

Firms, faculty, and CPAs all play crucial roles in promoting
the profession to young people. Here are ways you can

bolster the pipeline.

By Hannah Pitstick

he CPA pipeline has been leaking for a while, faculty, and individual CPAs are all working to
but there are things everyone can do to help address various aspects of the problem, but there is About the
Tmend it. always more that can be done. author
During the 2019–2020 academic year, the Hannah Pitstick is
number of accounting graduates decreased by 2.8% WAYS TO PROMOTE THE PROFESSION a content writer
at the bachelor’s level and by 8.4% at the master’s Whether you’re a CPA, firm leader, faculty member, for the Association
level, according to the AICPA 2021 Trends report. or high school teacher, here are some ways you of International
Total hiring of new accounting graduates in 2020 can help promote the profession and increase the Certified
decreased by 10%, and the number of candidates number of students interested in becoming CPAs. Professional
who passed the CPA Exam decreased 5.5% Accountants.
between 2020 and 2021. Firms can support employees as they pursue
Factors contributing to these declines include an their CPA license
overall reduction in college enrollment, increased Accounting firms have a large stake in the future
costs of higher education, a wider array of job of the profession, and firm leaders can do plenty
options for students, and misperceptions about the of things to increase the pipeline, including the
profession. following:
“We have to try and convey the excitement Increase salaries and benefits. Starting
and understanding of how dynamic the profession salaries at firms have been stagnant for years and
just recently started to budge. If your firm is in
really is to a younger generation,” said Bruce K.
IMAGE BY PM IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES executive education and Deloitte LLP Professor in employees, doing so could help attract top talent to
Behn, CPA, Ph.D., associate dean for graduate and
a position to increase salaries and benefits for
your firm and draw students into the profession.
Accounting at the University of Tennessee.
“Students entering the workforce want mean-
At this point, everyone involved with the
ingful work that challenges them to develop skills
profession is likely aware of ongoing pipeline issues.
and collaborate with others, while compensating
Stakeholders including the AICPA, state societ-
ies, firms, state boards, high school and university
journalofaccountancy.com them fairly for their hard work and talent,” said September 2022 | 29