2 min read
How Are You CPAing?
No matter which chapter of your career you’re in, don’t wait to innovate or explore your entrepreneurial spirit. “New Ways to CPA.” What does this...
Brian is a seasoned CPA firm leader and strategist with decades of experience driving transformation across professional services. A former Chief Growth Officer at Wipfli, he now advises firms and PE groups on leadership alignment, M&A integration, and sustainable, people-first strategy.
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Through the ongoing efforts of stakeholder organizations like the Illinois CPA Society (ICPAS), AICPA, and the National Pipeline Advisory Group (NPAG), we know that the accounting profession has a branding problem—it has a bad rap. In the movies, accounting professionals are often depicted as boring or introverted math wizards, solely focused on tax preparation, always working with no family life, and the list goes on. So, with such strong stereotypes to break, how could we possibly attract the brightest students to our profession?
Those of us that have been in the profession for a long time got into accounting for various reasons, such as opportunity, career variety, lifestyle, flexibility, and long-term economic and financial stability. I recall learning about accounting disciplines from a general economic course in high school. Unfortunately, my small high school didn’t offer an accounting class, so I convinced my teacher to allow me to take an independent study class. Through that class, I chose accounting because I saw that it provided the most well-rounded business degree available. After all, accounting is the language of business—and if you understand the foundations of business, you can go anywhere.
All these reasons hold true today, but as a collective profession, we’ve done a horrible job of telling this story and all the other positive ones about choosing this career. We’ve let other professions, such as finance, engineering, computer science, and data analytics, become more attractive in the eyes of high school and college students. Having two college-aged children and one in high school, I often ask their friends, classmates, and parents what they’re majoring in—very few bring up accounting as an option. This is likely because the value propositions for a career in accounting are simply not known. Most of us in the profession know that a career in accounting offers:
Unfortunately, branding of a profession, just like the branding of any company, can’t be fixed by one advertising campaign. It requires a strategic, consistent approach over time.
For most professionals, a career needs to provide a direct link to a sense of purpose. Therefore, that’s where our North Star must begin.
In our profession, our purpose has historically been built on the key elements of trust, integrity, care, and a helpful posture. Yet, our clients’ needs have changed, and what worked in the past isn’t the profession’s future. It’s time to address this problem with a sense of urgency before the profession that we know—and love—becomes a shadow of itself. The current generation of leadership must drive new service elements that position the next generation to realize the same successes we had—think driving value creation, advising clients on their goals, being future looking and skilled in technology, and serving as a resource through all aspects of a client’s business lifecycle.
ICPAS, AICPA, and NPAG have studied all angles of the accounting talent pipeline issue. Every accounting professional should familiarize themselves with the work these groups have done and are doing. Most recently, NPAG published a report that offers various solutions to the pipeline issues, including how to fix the profession’s branding problem. There’s widespread belief that if accounting professionals band together to form a collective, positive voice, we have the opportunity to change our brand for the better, one interaction at a time.
If you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to participate in NPAG’s pipeline pledge (accountingpipeline.org) and take action in the coming months. I also encourage firm leaders to promote the pledge internally and create space so employees can coach and mentor others inside the firm and get out into our communities to spread the word about what we actually do, along with the many career opportunities the accounting profession offers.
Of course, telling a compelling story will only go so far—we actually have to live it. The experience of young professionals must align with the story we’re telling. Therefore, firms will also need to ensure the employee experience:
To ensure the viability of our profession, we need to act with a sense of urgency that’s aligned to where the economy is going. We need to lean into our advisory skills and address the complex business and personal issues plaguing the accounting talent pipeline. We must realize that we have the opportunity to adapt to new opportunities, such as sustainability, blockchain, and artificial intelligence, to carve out even more career paths that’ll appeal to the next generation of accounting talent. Above all, we need to change and find our collective voice to showcase all the good the profession offers.
Reprinted courtesy of Insight, the magazine of the Illinois CPA Society. For the latest issue, visit www.icpas.org/insight.
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