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Research Center >> September 2008
Despite economic uncertainty — or perhaps because of it — the CPA channel is showing healthy signs of expansion. In the marketplace for CPA skills and labor, it’s clearly a seller’s market, with twice as many workplaces reporting plans to add to professional headcount as plans to cut, according to new CPA Trendlines data from Bay Street Group LLC. Details are scheduled to be published in an upcoming issue of the AICPA’s flagship print publication, Journal of Accountancy (JoA). Learn more about advertising in the upcoming Careers Focus section in the JoA. According to the first 199 responses to the study, one in three (36%) of CPA workplaces will be adding to their workforces in the next 12 months, compared to 16 percent reducing headcount and almost half (48%) holding steady.
At the same time, roughly 30 percent of CPAs say they wouldn’t consider a job change. But 34 percent “could be persuaded” by the right situation; 24 percent would “probably” consider a new job; and 12 percent are committed to looking for a new job.
The job-seeking results suggest both a high degree of satisfaction with current positions and robust turnover. So it's especially interesting that despite the healthy job outlook for CPAs, many professionals remain personally worried by political and economic uncertainties. Only 36 percent are relatively confident they could “find a better job” during the next 12 months, compared with about 39 percent who are less than confident.
The findings caught the eye of Melissa Waldon, a spokesperson for The Mergis Group, which specializes in accounting and finance recruitment. “Interestingly, while the accounting industry hasn’t been directly affected by the downward economy, the perception among A&F professionals is quite the opposite,” Waldon commented on Bay Street Group's blog at www.cpatrendlines.com. Mergis’ latest quarterly survey of 318 accounting and finance professionals showed, “a continued decline in workers’ overall confidence as the result of on-going concerns about the economy and job market,” she said, “despite continued growth in specific financial sectors such as accounting and tax regulation.” In addition, Robert Half International is predicting an uptick in finance and accounting hiring for the fourth quarter. Nevertheless, CPAs are a conservative lot by nature. And they are discernibly rattled. “For a third consecutive quarter, executive CPAs serving in business and industry continue to foresee slowing economic growth ahead,” the AICPA has reported. So, there are three things CPAs don't want their clients — or vendors and marketers — to know:
CPAs are understandably worried about their clients and their own companies. But, for now anyway, the career outlook is strong and steady. And that should bode well for CPA channel marketers who know how to appeal to CPAs' innate concerns and interests. THE CAREERS AND STAFFING OUTLOOK: Who’s hiring? Who’s looking? See what CPAs are saying. Join the CPA Trendlines survey; get the answers. WATCH FOR THE SPECIAL SECTION in the Journal of Accountancy. Get more information about the Careers Focus. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rick Telberg is editor-at-large/director of online content for the AICPA and president and founder of Bay Street Group LLC. More about Rick at the AICPA's cpa2biz.com. |
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What
CPAs Don't Want You to Know