Why is there an accountant shortage?

Tax day is nearly a week away and if someone needs help filing their return they may have a hard time finding someone in time.



9NEWS (KUSA) is located in Denver, Colorado.

[noelvisramirezaccounting]

Let me tell you the truth. Accounting firms are hiring staff accountants that have to do everything, bookkeeping, taxes, IRS tax issues and much more. They tell you I am going to pay you 60k a year, but when you realize the hours you worked we are talking about 70+ you understand that you are a slave working for 21 or 16 dollars per hour. The accounting profession used to be fascinating, not anymore. In the large accounting firms they treat you bad, people don't want to teach you. The most important thing education sucks and is very expensive. How is possible that I have to do the bookkeeping and the taxes for a truck driver who earns 150 k a year and I ern 60 k working excessive hours with a lot of pressure.

[ericeandco]

I’ve been an accountant for many years. Sorry, can’t recommend it as a good job for many reasons.

[robreich]

Try taking the CPA exam and then you find out why.

[lydias]

Its not because accounting isnt a sexy profession. 😂 heres a real life example from an accountant. You get out of college and make 45k. Youre salaried and workkng 60 hour weeks. Your boss is demanding and unreasonable because of horrible deadlines. You have a billable time minimum. You have a test that is 4 parts with a 45% pass rate you need to find the time for on top of the demands of a career that takes a huge amount of time. The regs of your profession are constantly changing and becoming more difficult. You are under a tremendous amount of pressure to know everything and do it perfectly because youre a professional. Ooooor, you could skip ALL of that and go into finance, IT, etc. Which one would you choose?

[ThomasShelby-xzfk]

Try graduating with 150 credits just to make 60k out of school (often time working and living in a metro area with high cost of living). Meanwhile the partners make 250-600k. Young people are tired of this nonsense pyramid scheme

[CPATuttle]

Then how come every accounting job I apply doesn’t respond?

[mousedream]

I have a masters in accounting and a CPA and it’s still hard to find a job. No one will hire you without experience, but you can’t get experience if no one hires you.

I went back to school and took IT and security classes and started work as an IT auditor for the big 4 (EY). Now, I do Info Security cloud assessment (FedRAMP) for a 3PAO and making good money. Couldn’t be happier. If I was still an accountant, I would be payed a lot less. Instead of wasting time in an accounting major and getting a CPA, just go the IT or Info Sec route from school and your better off. GRC cyber jobs are always in demand.

[TheSmokinApples]

People don't want the long hours and shit pay

[rickswineberg]

People think accountants just do taxes.

[HuongPham-hkxm]

Where is the accounting shortage at? :)) I tried to apply for months for entry level accounting jobs but no success. Even the internships are hard to get, it's a very competitive field it seems. Everyone wants you to have experience but no one is willing to give you a chance to have experience lol. Hopefully when I finish my 4-year degree it'd be easier to find a related job. If not Im just gonna try to study for CPA exam and pass it. It's also because my area (OKC) there is not a lot of job openings so I may have better luck at other cities and states where accountants are in higher demand.

[Brittany-ppju]

They mistreat their staff. Overwork them and underpayment them. You think you are getting paid well, about $25 per hour or $50, 000 a year, but you don't have a life for 6 month out of the year, expect to work 60 to 100 hours a week. I was an intern at a firm, CliftonLarsonAllen and experienced being pushed to overwork as an intern even though they knew I was in school too, I am a parent, and I was going through divorce. They ended up not keeping me. Well there loss. They stained the profession and will find themselves unable to find enough staff and will regret being a douchebag firm!

[UnixBro]

The issue is outsourcing, which drag the salary down in the US for accountants... If they are not paying well, why would some young people will major in it ?

[davidmcpa]

Y’all can expect to see tax and accounting fees rise significantly as this shortage continues. Practitioners bear a lot of risk and responsibility for the work they do. Maybe if fee revenue increase to levels to properly compensate firms, better salaries will follow.

[TM-cmef]

Accounting is amazing and it’s easy to transfer into other roles. Don’t waste your time getting a CPA unless you want to be a controller. Don’t do Big 4 either😂. Certificates can get you to six figures quicker. EA, Series 7, SQL etc. You can even open your own business after a couple years. I know some accountants that focus on tax and only work Jan-May. Skies the limit 😊

[qlong]

based on my experience in the US, it has been fairly easy to "find" a job. I didn't really have to actively look for one, as recruiters are always after accountants, especially if you have a CPA. As a matter of fact, I actually never uploaded my resume and applied for a job in the US. It was more like recruiters kept throwing jobs at me and whatver stuck on that was it. So job security wise, it is pretty good. I think it has something to do with the shortage of accountants, especially CPAs.

[rickswineberg]

I recommend getting into government accounting, great benefits and no crazy hours

[cbd]

Accounting is a great background, don’t be fooled by miserable people on the internet

[R.G.Edio_CPA]

Lol, the comments 😂. I love it and I'm gonna pursue it even it's hard then later I'll get a computer related skill.

[jasminehendley]

Bottom line.. y’all need to pay us more

[romelmadray]

Accounting is a terrible job. Notice I did not say profession. The negatives long haul over the corporate ladder, region specific rules, obsolescence due to ai, outsourcing, salary heavily dependent on business in your region, ageism (see Deloitte case) I have my FCCA and in my mid forties retraining as a car mechanic - no jobs in Trinidad