people are leaving the profession. more money is one solution.
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
the aicpa’s 2023 national management of an accounting practice (map) survey came up with an odd statistic. kind of hard to believe until you get the context.
the finding: the median employee turnover rate across all cpa firms is … 0 percent.
yes, that’s a zero.
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but wait. a median, as they say, is only half the story.
the bigger story – the broader context – is that more than half the responding practices had zero turnover, so the median fell at zero percent. but that goose egg doesn’t reflect the reality of firms at the other side of the spectrum.
generally, across the spectrum, the larger the firm, the higher the turnover.
- for firms with net client fees of $1.5 million to $5 million, median turnover rate was 6 percent.
- in the $5 million to $10 million range, the rate was 10 percent.
- and the over-$10 million cohort, a staggering median of 14.25 percent.
in other words, more than half of all large firms had a turnover rate of more than 14.25 percent.
goodbye, accountancy
among all firms that reported voluntary turnover, 30 percent had a team member accept a position at another firm. which: ok, it happens.
but 28 percent said goodbye to accountancy and left the profession altogether.
those percentages are up from 19 percent and 20 percent, respectively, in the 2021 survey. and the percentage of firms hit with retirements crept up to 19 percent from 15 percent.
in other words: trouble. just as the number of graduates with accounting degrees is in decline, more than a quarter of current accountants are ditching the profession altogether.
the survey identifies two ways to increase the pool of professionals.
way one: better salaries
according to the bureau of labor statistics’ national occupational employment and wage estimates report, the salaries of accountants and auditors are lagging behind those of other professionals. while computer science, engineering and financial analyst jobs average $108,000 to $117,000 per annum, the average for accountants: the mid-$80,000s.
there’s been a little progress, but not enough. in 2022, recent accounting graduates could expect to earn a median of $50,000 in their first job, up from $45,000 in 2020.
meanwhile, the national association of colleges and employers says engineers tend to start at $75,000, and business graduates start at $62,000.
way two: easier workload
money’s nice, but for today’s college graduates, a life of nose to the grindstone just doesn’t attract them. they don’t want overtime. they want time off.
there’s been some progress here. accountants are working a little less than they used to. almost all categories of chargeable hour position, from equity partners down to interns, are showing slight declines in chargeable hours.
between 2020 and 2022, the chargeable hours of
- equity partners dropped by 2.17 percent
- senior managers dropped by 0.87 percent
- new professionals dropped by 8.75 percent
- paraprofessionals dropped by 12.75 percent
- interns plummeted by 17 percent
notice that the lower the position – and presumably the newer the professional – the bigger the drop in chargeable hours.
professional subcontractors, by the way, are enjoying the most flexibility in their hours. their workload has seen a drop of 26 percent. (the survey does not ask whether that drop is voluntary.)
the survey suggests that cpa firms are outsourcing more work, both domestically or internationally, and the trend is expected to expand. about 40 percent of respondents say they intend to outsource domestically, and 34 percent will soon seek talent offshore.
another suggestion for reducing workload: cull clients. more than 60 percent of firms culled clients in 2022, and 82 percent plan to do so soon.
the survey did not discuss the fate of the culled. but they’ll be out there, desperate for accountants who have the talent, time and resources to take them on.