Pipeline plan of action: Read the Accounting Talent Strategy Report

The National Pipeline Advisory Group (NPAG) published a report Wednesday a year in the making, calling for a professionwide effort aimed at bolstering the supply of accounting talent.

“Now more than ever, we need a cohesive, unified, data-driven, and flexible approach to bring more people into accounting — and ensure that those who are already in the profession remain,” NPAG Chair Lexy Kessler, CPA, CGMA, wrote in the foreword of the Accounting Talent Strategy Report. “These recommendations are only the beginning.”

The recommendations from the independent, 22-member group remain largely unchanged from a draft of the report that NPAG published in May, one year after AICPA Council passed a resolution supporting the launch of the initiative.

Now, a new phase of the work begins.

In September, a multistakeholder roundtable will meet to map details of the work that is ongoing and the work ahead to establish a format for maintaining connectivity and accountability among stakeholders to ensure continued progress.

“Implementing NPAG’s proposed solutions will require cooperation from all key accounting bodies,” the NPAG report said.

The root causes and the recommendations

A labor market slowed by declining birth rates and college attendance is stretching available talent thin across all sectors, making it critical that the accounting profession finds a way to make itself more attractive to prospective professionals.

To that end, NPAG commissioned a survey of more than 2,000 accounting and/or business majors as well as a survey of nearly 6,000 national stakeholders — leading voices in the profession, accountants in various roles, and educators — to gauge reactions to potential pipeline solutions.

When asked to consider several overall profession solutions, approximately 5 of 6 survey respondents said that more competitive starting salaries would encourage people to pursue a career in accounting — the most popular response among both groups.

While competitive pay ranks highly among the areas that NPAG is calling for the profession to address, it’s only a part of one of six broad strategies at the heart of the group’s plan:

• Make the academic experience more engaging;
• Address the time and cost of education;
• Grow support for CPA Exam candidates;
• Expand access for underrepresented groups;
• Enhance the employee experience; and
• Tell a more compelling story.

Next steps

Each of the six broad strategies begins with an action verb.

The time for coordinated action is now.

“To be successful in attracting more people to accounting,” Kessler wrote in the foreword, “the profession’s key stakeholders must unify and work together in a more structured, collaborative, and transparent way to continuously innovate and improve our profession.”

According to the report, the effort to execute will rely on:

• Data: To paint a detailed picture of progress and potholes, key stakeholders must commit to the sharing of existing data, as well as identifying what new data should be collected and shared.

• Sustained collaboration: While key stakeholders may not always agree on the way forward, amplifying strategies and programs should ultimately improve results by eliminating unnecessary duplication and by continuing the dialogue.

• Transparency and reporting: NPAG recommends the development of a scorecard to measure and report publicly on progress and suggests that the pipeline remain a “standing agenda item” no matter the status of the pipeline at any given time.

• Individual actions: To empower individuals to make a positive impact in their communities and organizations, NPAG has created the Pipeline Pledge, a commitment that individuals can make to participate in at least two activities annually aimed at helping grow the profession.

— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Bryan Strickland at Bryan.Strickland@aicpa-cima.com.