9/25/23 WSJ article
After more than six years working as an accountant, Omer Khokhar knew he wanted out.
The New York resident found accounting work monotonous, with little room for creativity or growth, and maximum salaries weren’t as high as he would have liked.
“The job security and the ability to have a comfortable life motivated me at first,” said Khokhar, who served as a senior accountant at two construction firms and senior auditor at an accounting firm. “But once I started, had some work and life experience, I realized there are better options out there.”
Khokhar earlier this year joined
as a treasury sales associate in its commercial real-estate banking division.
The 30-year-old isn’t alone in his discontent with the industry. Accountants have long been viewed by people in the profession as underpaid and undervalued compared with positions in tech and banking. Now the foot soldiers of the profession are leaving the field in droves. Accountants cite low salaries, mundane tasks, burnout and the threat of new technology like generative AI as reasons for considering other industries.
Professionals in any field may find it isn’t a fit for them, but accountants are moving on or considering doing so at a time of an already widening shortage of these workers, who often specialize in either auditing financials or preparing taxes.
There were about 1.65 million accountants and auditors in the U.S. in 2022, up 1.3% from the previous year but down 2.6% from 2020 and down 15.9% from 2019, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ current population survey. More than 300,000 accountants quit their jobs between 2019 and 2021, data show.
Fewer people are pursuing degrees in accounting and entering the field, leading to more open positions and for longer periods. The shortage is expected to worsen as more accountants retire without a robust pipeline of replacements.
The profession carries a barrier to entry of 150 college credit hours, which are required to become a certified public accountant, essentially resulting in a fifth year of school. Accounting representatives in states such as South Carolina and Minnesota are rallying to loosen the mandates.
Much of the industry’s focus has been on filling the void left by retirees rather than on the discontent of the entrenched workers. Several professional groups have stepped up their outreach to prospective new entrants by increasing awareness about accounting opportunities among high-school and college students.
Former accountants have largely moved to nonaccounting roles in finance, as well as working as financial analysts or in business operations, human resources and banking, according to employment data provider Live Data Technologies.
A greater percentage of accountants are leaving the profession later in their careers now than in years past. About 82% of workers who exited accounting this year through Sept. 1 had at least six years’ experience, up from 77% and 71% in full years 2022 and 2021 respectively, Live Data said.
The average tenure and age of accountants are increasing, meaning that any given exit is likely to be someone with a longer tenure, said Jason Saltzman, director of growth at Live Data.
Other accountants, increasingly dissatisfied with their careers, are weighing their options. Zach Madel, for example, plans to evaluate whether to switch careers after the tax season ends in April, potentially counseling people who are struggling with substance abuse or mental-health issues.
The 28-year-old owns a one-person accounting business in Clearwater, Fla., in which he does monthly accounting work for healthcare businesses and tax planning throughout the year for a mix of companies and individuals. He started working in accounting in 2018, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 2019 and earned his CPA license in January 2021.
While Madel has the flexibility of running his own business, he said the work is often tedious and he doesn’t feel as if he’s making a difference in his clients’ lives. “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,” Madel said. “I think it’s somewhat rare that you can say your CPA changed your life.”
The exodus of auditors and tax accountants isn’t surprising given the wear and tear fueled by long hours and a relatively low salary in relation to the extent of education and related costs, he said. “There are good things about the profession,” Madel said. “It’s just that some of the negatives are so negative sometimes, it’s hard to always dwell on the positive.”
The sentiment recurs in other parts of the country as well. A 33-year-old tax accountant in Kansas City, Mo., said she feels overworked year-round and is carefully looking at career options after more than six years in the field. “Because of the burnout that I feel, I really just want a job where you show up, do your 40 [hours a week] and go home. I don’t even know what that would be,” she said.
A 32-year-old senior accountant and CPA in Levittown, Pa., said she is considering going back to school for nursing because that career likely would yield more meaningful work and potentially a better work-life balance.
Sept. 22, 2023 7:00 am ET
After more than six years working as an accountant, Omer Khokhar knew he wanted out.
The New York resident found accounting work monotonous, with little room for creativity or growth, and maximum salaries weren’t as high as he would have liked.
“The job security and the ability to have a comfortable life motivated me at first,” said Khokhar, who served as a senior accountant at two construction firms and senior auditor at an accounting firm. “But once I started, had some work and life experience, I realized there are better options out there.”
Khokhar earlier this year joined
as a treasury sales associate in its commercial real-estate banking division.
The 30-year-old isn’t alone in his discontent with the industry. Accountants have long been viewed by people in the profession as underpaid and undervalued compared with positions in tech and banking. Now the foot soldiers of the profession are leaving the field in droves. Accountants cite low salaries, mundane tasks, burnout and the threat of new technology like generative AI as reasons for considering other industries.
Professionals in any field may find it isn’t a fit for them, but accountants are moving on or considering doing so at a time of an already widening shortage of these workers, who often specialize in either auditing financials or preparing taxes.
There were about 1.65 million accountants and auditors in the U.S. in 2022, up 1.3% from the previous year but down 2.6% from 2020 and down 15.9% from 2019, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ current population survey. More than 300,000 accountants quit their jobs between 2019 and 2021, data show.
Fewer people are pursuing degrees in accounting and entering the field, leading to more open positions and for longer periods. The shortage is expected to worsen as more accountants retire without a robust pipeline of replacements.
The profession carries a barrier to entry of 150 college credit hours, which are required to become a certified public accountant, essentially resulting in a fifth year of school. Accounting representatives in states such as South Carolina and Minnesota are rallying to loosen the mandates.
Much of the industry’s focus has been on filling the void left by retirees rather than on the discontent of the entrenched workers. Several professional groups have stepped up their outreach to prospective new entrants by increasing awareness about accounting opportunities among high-school and college students.
Former accountants have largely moved to nonaccounting roles in finance, as well as working as financial analysts or in business operations, human resources and banking, according to employment data provider Live Data Technologies.
A greater percentage of accountants are leaving the profession later in their careers now than in years past. About 82% of workers who exited accounting this year through Sept. 1 had at least six years’ experience, up from 77% and 71% in full years 2022 and 2021 respectively, Live Data said.
The average tenure and age of accountants are increasing, meaning that any given exit is likely to be someone with a longer tenure, said Jason Saltzman, director of growth at Live Data.
Other accountants, increasingly dissatisfied with their careers, are weighing their options. Zach Madel, for example, plans to evaluate whether to switch careers after the tax season ends in April, potentially counseling people who are struggling with substance abuse or mental-health issues.
The 28-year-old owns a one-person accounting business in Clearwater, Fla., in which he does monthly accounting work for healthcare businesses and tax planning throughout the year for a mix of companies and individuals. He started working in accounting in 2018, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 2019 and earned his CPA license in January 2021.
While Madel has the flexibility of running his own business, he said the work is often tedious and he doesn’t feel as if he’s making a difference in his clients’ lives. “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,” Madel said. “I think it’s somewhat rare that you can say your CPA changed your life.”
The exodus of auditors and tax accountants isn’t surprising given the wear and tear fueled by long hours and a relatively low salary in relation to the extent of education and related costs, he said. “There are good things about the profession,” Madel said. “It’s just that some of the negatives are so negative sometimes, it’s hard to always dwell on the positive.”
The sentiment recurs in other parts of the country as well. A 33-year-old tax accountant in Kansas City, Mo., said she feels overworked year-round and is carefully looking at career options after more than six years in the field. “Because of the burnout that I feel, I really just want a job where you show up, do your 40 [hours a week] and go home. I don’t even know what that would be,” she said.
A 32-year-old senior accountant and CPA in Levittown, Pa., said she is considering going back to school for nursing because that career likely would yield more meaningful work and potentially a better work-life balance.
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To be sure, there are accountants who believe their work has significant value to their clients. Nicole Davis, a 42-year-old CPA who runs a 14-person Covington, Ga.-based firm that performs accounting, tax and payroll services, said she feels gratitude and fulfillment from her work, for example, by helping small businesses get their books in order and often improving their financial health. Her role took on more meaning for her during the pandemic, when small businesses were especially vulnerable, Davis said. “For me, it’s all about helping them achieve the goals that they set out for themselves.”
In one common trajectory, people in the field start their careers at an accounting firm, burn out and move to accounting roles in-house at companies for a less hectic life but ultimately less thrilling work, accountants say.
“That definitely exacerbates the shortage if you lose people in the middle too,” said Troy Janes, clinical accounting professor at Purdue University.
To retain people, firms don’t just need to raise salaries and offer training in new capabilities. More accounting firms in recent years have been willing to allow managers to remain at the same level, rather than dismiss them, even if they don’t plan to make them partner, a move to keep personnel who might otherwise leave, Janes said. “We don’t think that you’re going to be a partner, but if you want to stay here as just a manager, then you can do that,” he said.
Accountants also increasingly face the risk of generative artificial intelligence endangering their roles, fueling their frustration. “As technology gets further and further ahead, we’re stuck in place and the gap is getting wider,” said Ben Wann, who runs an accounting-education company.
Some professionals are optimistic that AI will do more of the mundane tasks and allow them to tackle complex tasks earlier in their careers.
Jesse Fu, a 39-year-old senior director of automation and business transformation at satellite-radio giant
, left the accounting world last year after a combined 15 years at Big Four firms PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG. At Sirius XM, he trains accountants on how to automate more of their work but doesn’t do any accounting on his own anymore. Repetitive tasks, long hours and high pressure around tax work led Fu to look elsewhere, he said.
“I definitely do not want to do repetitive work,” said Fu, who has an enrolled-agent designation from the Internal Revenue Service that supported his tax work.
In a time of economic uncertainty, accounting careers can offer a stable path unlike some other areas of business, though for some people who left, that may not be enough of an incentive to return.
“I feel like it’s a good safety net to have, but would I consider moving back?” Khokhar said. “Probably not.
Professor Elam 