Why Young Talent Is Walking Away from Accounting — And How Firms Can Reverse It?

Whether it is within the profession or outside, accounting has always been perceived as a safe profession. It is considered “safe, respectable and reliable”. There’s been a clear career path, predictable growth, and long-term financial security.

While it was great so far, many of these aspects are not sought after by the young generation of accountants. This is one of the key reasons why, despite accounting being a “great” career path is witnessing a massive talent shortage.

During a recent episode of Smart Outsourcing Talks, Daniel Hood, Editor-in-Chief of Accounting Today, didn’t hesitate to talk about the issue. According to him, the problem is not accidental; it is self-inflicted.

The Numbers Tell One Story. Perception Tells Another.

There’s a lot of data and studies widely available that suggest there is an acute accounting talent crunch. Firms are short-staffed. Capacity is stretched. Work is plentiful, but people are not.

But Daniel points out that when we focus only on the pipeline, we miss the real issue.

“The fundamental shortage is never going to go away. It may not be as acute as it’s been in the past, but I don’t think we’re going to see—certainly in the next five to ten years—a point where the accounting profession has plenty of staff and no concerns.”

This should change the perspective of senior leaders, firm owners, and employers. Firms need to realize that the shortage is structural, not cyclical, and this can be changed. But to bring in the change, traditional hiring strategies alone will never be enough. This is most certainly changing the perspective.

The problem of finding the right talent goes deeper than numbers. It’s about how the profession is perceived by those entering the industry altogether. 

The Salary Gap No One Wants to Talk About

Over the years, the basis of accounting being a lucrative profession was based on the promise of rewards: partnership, long-term stability, and eventual financial upside. But today’s generation of professionals, especially the Gen-Z’s, don’t look at any profession for that. They want growth, challenges, and a purpose. It’s taking the seniors some time to realize the changes in demand.

“Last year, it looked like roughly entry-level salaries for accounting were a good $10,000 off what other similar graduate-level professions were doing.”

It’s not about comparing accounting to fringe careers, but to the career paths that attract the same talent pool, like technology, finance, and banking.

When graduates leave school with significant student debt, delayed rewards aren’t compelling. And today’s professionals are refusing to play the long game without the certainty. 

“If you had a basic business degree, you were making $10,000 more than someone going into entry-level accounting.”

The profession assumed patience. The next generation demands viability and value for their skills and capabilities. 

The Burnout Badge of Honor Is Backfiring

Perhaps the most striking part of the conversation wasn’t about money at all. It was about culture—and the stories accountants tell about themselves across podiums. 

“Accountants love to brag about how hard they work. About tax season. ‘I never see my family.’ They wear it as a badge of honor.”

It was, once upon a time, perceived as a dedication or commitment toward their work and job. But professionals today realize that it is a system dysfunction, as they should.

Daniel was blunt about how that message lands with the younger talent: “No one wants a profession where I work too hard and never see my family. But accountants are still talking about it.”

In an era where flexibility, purpose, and well-being matter more than ever, glorifying exhaustion has become a deterrent, not a badge of credibility. While a lot of accounting firm owners and leaders are slowly realizing this and making the necessary amends in the culture, we are still far from doing what it takes to attract and keep the young generation interested in the profession in the long term. 

Delayed Gratification No Longer Sells

The trade-off in accounting has always been pretty clear: work hard now, benefit later. But today’s generation is not ready for it. These later payoffs make the modern generation distant and uncertain for those just starting. 

“The reward is 30 or 40 years down the line. Being a partner and getting ready to retire. That’s not what you’re seeing when you start.”

When other professions offer earlier upside, flexibility, and experimentation, accounting’s traditional narrative struggles to compete and appeal. The result?

Talent with accounting-adjacent skills chooses different paths—often permanently.

This Isn’t Just Perception. It’s Reality.

One of the most important distinctions Daniel makes is this: “To a certain extent, it is reality.”

The profession can’t dismiss the issue as a branding problem alone. Yes, messaging matters—but only if the underlying experience changes with it. And while some factors are external, Daniel doesn’t let the profession off the hook.

“A lot of it is self-inflicted damage. They’ve driven a lot of people away.”

That honesty is critical. You can’t fix what you won’t acknowledge. Across events and social media, accountants are very vocal about the issue, including people who have been in the industry for a while now. And the sooner people realize and acknowledge the existing problem, the better it is to resolve it. 

So What Actually Needs to Change?

Daniel outlines several concrete shifts—none of which rely on a single silver bullet.

1. Pay Competitively, Not Just Internally

“Make sure your salaries are competitive—not with other accounting firms, but with the people you’re competing for.”

This is a subtle but powerful shift. Firms don’t compete with each other for talent. They compete with tech, finance, industry roles, and startups.

2. Stop Telling the Wrong Stories

“Stop telling war stories. Stop telling people how hard you work during tax season. It’s not attracting anybody.”

Instead, Daniel argues the profession needs to reclaim its real value. What leaders really need to do is focus on what they are actually doing – grow their business, provide for their families, and build long-term security.

Accounting isn’t just about compliance. It is about the impact made. But the profession fails to market it that way. And that is becoming one of the top reasons why firms are failing to attract the right talent the right way. 

3. Retention Is a Capacity Strategy

One of the most overlooked insights in the conversation was about retention.

“People don’t tend to think of retention as a solution to capacity problems.”

Accounting firms hire talent, and before they know it, the skills are gone from the team. What they don’t understand is that keeping the right talent is often easier and cheaper than constantly replacing them.

Where Global Teams and New Models Come In

While Daniel doesn’t frame global talent as a cure-all, he’s clear about its growing role.

“Every firm of any size needs to be exploring international resources or partners. That’s a huge potential to help firms manage capacity issues.”

He also acknowledges the shift in mindset that’s already underway:

“For some firms, offshore talent already is a core part of the team.”

This aligns with a broader reality: firms that embrace global teams, better pricing models, and technology together create room for better pay, healthier workloads, and sustainable growth.

From a Finsmart perspective, this is the key unlock. Global talent isn’t about cost arbitrage alone. It’s about redesigning firms so they can actually deliver the careers they promise.

The Opportunity Hiding in Plain Sight

Despite all the challenges, Daniel remains optimistic—because accounting now offers something it never did before: choice.

“Accountants are in a position to define what they want their careers to look like—and what they want their firms to look like.”

But with choice comes responsibility. “Choosing is a little bit of a burden.”

Firms can no longer rely on inertia. They must actively design cultures, career paths, and operating models that align with how people want to work today.

Young talent isn’t walking away from accounting because the work lacks value.

They’re walking away because too many firms are still operating and talking like it’s 1995.

The firms that reverse this trend won’t be the ones shouting louder about shortages. They’ll be the ones quietly changing how work is structured, how teams are built, and how success is defined.

As Daniel put it best:

“You’ve never had more options and more ability to determine the shape of your firm or your career—if you’re willing to step up and decide.”

The future of accounting talent won’t be fixed by waiting. It will be shaped by leaders willing to choose differently.

Find this conversation interesting? Watch the entire chat: https://youtu.be/3_Iz1hWhE24?si=oiBezLsU0l0jJpCu