Accountants are leaving the profession in droves, The Wall Street Journal reported Sept. 22.
More than 300,000 accountants quit between 2019 and 2021, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Those with some tenure are driving the change, per employment data provider Live Data Technologies; 82 percent of those who left through Sept. 1 this year had at least six years' experience, up from 77 percent in 2022 and 71 percent in 2021.
Although accounting is often seen as a stable career path, those in the field view themselves as "underpaid and undervalued" compared to their tech and banking counterparts, reporter Mark Maurer writes for the Journal. As a result, many are leaving for those fields and others they find more meaning in financial analysis, business operations or human resources.
As experienced accountants leave the field, there aren't many lined up to replace them. To become a CPA, one must accrue 150 credit hours — a deterrent for many prospective students, as it leads to an extra year of school. Representatives in some states, like South Carolina and Minnesota, are working to lower this number and make an accounting degree more appealing.
Generative AI also stands to shake up the profession. While some see it as a way to cut mundane tasks — a core complaint of burnt-out accountants — others fear it could endanger their jobs.
Firms can raise pay and offer more flexibility, but it is hard to alter the work's tedious nature, according to the Journal. Zach Madel, a 28-year-old accountant who owns his own business in Clearwater, Fla., told the publication he is considering a career switch after tax season.
"We're there to help people, we're there to make scary things like taxation better, and I feel like that's not the message a lot of people view us as giving," Mr. Madel said. "I think it's somewhat rare that you can say your CPA changed your life."