Good piece in the FT about the number of people taking the CPA exam in 2022 has dropped to its lowest level since the beginning of records for the modern exam in 2006. 

Money Points:

• Accounting firms in the US are being urged to revamp their business models to attract more young people after the numbers taking exams to enter the profession plunged to the lowest level in at least 17 years.
• The shortage of new entrants comes at the same time as a wave of baby boomer retirements and threatens to weaken firms’ ability to perform the accounting, tax and auditing work that companies and individual clients rely upon.
• The number of people taking CPA exams in 2022 was just over 67,000, down from 72,000 in 2021 and short of the institute’s forecast of 74,000.
• That was the lowest level since the beginning of records for the modern exam in 2006.
• The Institute of Management Accountants told the Financial Times that it had also seen a decline in candidates in the US last year that totalled 5 per cent.
• The pipeline of new candidates has thinned because university accounting courses have become less popular in the US.
• Graduates’ starting salaries can also be at least one-fifth higher in finance or technology, and those careers may not require such an expensive professional qualification.
• Wayne Berson, the head of BDO USA, told the FT earlier this month that his firm planned to double its overseas staff and shift more work offshore because of the shortage.
• The AICPA said it was increasing scholarships to help candidates and encouraging firms to offer competitive salaries.
• “You’ve got a generation that is looking for a shorter ROI,” said Mike Decker, AICPA vice-president.