professional audit mentors are scarce.
by alan anderson
transforming audit for the future
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“the new manifesto for accountants.“
i was lucky in the entirety of my career to have been empowered to try doing things differently. i had mentors who encouraged me to keep learning. but today, this forms-filling exercise that audit has become discourages people like me from staying. the ones who stay in audit are the ones who like filling out those forms.
more: is audit in crisis because of definitions? | stop sending the wrong message to audit teams | the big issues in audit: frustration, inconsistency and technology | talent retention: five tips for an audit adjustment | the ten financial controls that’ll make you a hero | five cash reports you can’t live without | when an audit is a great thing
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new audit staff rarely have a mentor who gives them the big picture of what audit is supposed to be. instead, they learn how to fill out the forms better and more accurately. they don’t get review notes that ask them to think about what they’re doing. they get review notes about the way they reference their supporting documentation.
this lack of mentorship means that the best and brightest, the ones who like to keep learning, eventually leave. we are making the problem worse for future generations.
the enduring war for talent
back when i was coming up through the ranks, there were always plenty of talented young people coming on board, and there were always plenty of people to fill in the spots in a firm’s org chart. but today, we don’t have that luxury.
most people did not get into public accounting to make sure that the right numbers are in the right box for the entirety of their careers.
for years, 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间, the journal of accountancy, accounting today and all the major accounting news sites have been warning about an impending talent shortage.
starting on jan. 1, 2011, and for 19 years after that, 10,000 baby boomers turned 65 every day. the pandemic accelerated retirements among boomers, with 3.2 million more retiring in the third quarter of 2020 than in the same quarter of 2019. there just aren’t enough younger people to replace the retiring partners at firms. plus, these younger generations have very different attitudes toward a career. they demand a better work-life balance. they’re not going to work the crazy long hours that my generation willingly put in as the price of moving up the ranks. they want work that’s personally fulfilling, and many prefer to do business with companies that share their values. they’re not going to be willing to sit in a cubicle working on disclosure checklists.
the covid-19 economic slowdown brought unemployment to historic levels. but before that hit, the unemployment rate for accountants was 1.4 percent. we can only hope that we can eventually get back where we started.
if they are honest with themselves, audit leadership has known about these issues for decades, but nothing has happened. transforming the profession and becoming mentors to younger professionals may gain some ground, but it’s up to all of us to turn the tide.