Q: Big4 - Yearly salary increment

The leaders of the US accounting profession have signalled they could cut the education requirements for becoming an accountant, amid growing alarm about a shortage of new recruits.

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants on Tuesday dropped its opposition to calls to reduce the amount of university education needed to qualify as a CPA. That is currently set at the equivalent of five years, one year longer than a typical bachelors degree in the US.

The declaration is a watershed moment in what had become an increasingly tense struggle between the professional body and reformers.

Calls for reform have been growing louder as the number of US students taking accounting courses and going on to sit professional exams has fallen, leaving some accounting firms struggling to hire replacements for the baby boomers who are retiring.

An AICPA advisory group that included representatives from large and small firms said on Tuesday that the profession needed to “address the cost and time of education” as a priority for fixing the shortage.

It called for “a competency-based licensure model not tied to university credit hours”, among other reforms. The AICPA, in turn, expressed “directional support” for the group’s recommendations.

“While expanding approaches to CPA licensure alone will not solve the accounting talent problem, we believe our licensure process does need to acknowledge changing market conditions,” the AICPA said.

Accounting groups in Minnesota are among those lobbying to change state laws to cut the educational requirements for a licence, a movement that the AICPA says threatens long-established reciprocal agreements enabling accountants to practice across state lines unless change is co-ordinated at a national level.

Sue Coffey, chief executive for public accounting at the AICPA, said it aimed to propose an alternative to the current requirements by this time next year, but getting state accountancy boards or state legislatures to embrace the changes could take significantly longer.

The currently mandated fifth year of education would need to be replaced with skills requirements, she said, including technical knowledge and communication and strategic thinking skills.

“I really hope Minnesota and others talking about this see value in working with the rest of the country,” Coffey said. “This is our attempt to bring everybody together.”

The AICPA’s shift did not immediately prompt a change of strategy by states hoping to move faster.

The Minnesota Society of CPAs said it was “pleased to see the AICPA has engaged in the conversations evolving nationally”, but it continued to back a bill cutting state licensing requirements to the equivalent of a four-year degree plus two years of work experience. It said it would reintroduce the legislation in the next sessions of the Minnesota legislature, if it does not pass in the current one ending on Monday.

With three-quarters of US accountants at or near retirement age, the number of AICPA members has fallen from 430,000 in 2017 to 400,000 last year, according to its latest annual report, missing its membership target for the fifth year out of the past six.

The number of people taking the CPA exam fell from a peak of more than 100,000 in 2016 to a 17-year low of just above 67,000 in 2022. An uptick in 2023 was the result of students rushing to take the exam before the introduction of a new curriculum and numbers were set to resume their decline in the short term, the AICPA said.

The AICPA’s advisory group also called for accounting firms to raise starting salaries for new recruits and improve work-life balance, as well as for a revamp of accounting degrees to emphasise why the job is important.

Lexy Kessler, mid-Atlantic regional leader for the accounting firm Aprio, who chaired the group, said a shortage of accountants threatened the functioning of capital markets and business. “If we don’t have trust in our financial markets it could bring chaos,” she said.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

The leaders of the US accounting profession have signalled they could cut the education requirements for becoming an accountant, amid growing alarm about a shortage of new recruits.

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants on Tuesday dropped its opposition to calls to reduce the amount of university education needed to qualify as a CPA. That is currently set at the equivalent of five years, one year longer than a typical bachelors degree in the US.

The declaration is a watershed moment in what had become an increasingly tense struggle between the professional body and reformers.

Calls for reform have been growing louder as the number of US students taking accounting courses and going on to sit professional exams has fallen, leaving some accounting firms struggling to hire replacements for the baby boomers who are retiring.

An AICPA advisory group that included representatives from large and small firms said on Tuesday that the profession needed to “address the cost and time of education” as a priority for fixing the shortage.

It called for “a competency-based licensure model not tied to university credit hours”, among other reforms. The AICPA, in turn, expressed “directional support” for the group’s recommendations.

“While expanding approaches to CPA licensure alone will not solve the accounting talent problem, we believe our licensure process does need to acknowledge changing market conditions,” the AICPA said.

Accounting groups in Minnesota are among those lobbying to change state laws to cut the educational requirements for a licence, a movement that the AICPA says threatens long-established reciprocal agreements enabling accountants to practice across state lines unless change is co-ordinated at a national level.

Sue Coffey, chief executive for public accounting at the AICPA, said it aimed to propose an alternative to the current requirements by this time next year, but getting state accountancy boards or state legislatures to embrace the changes could take significantly longer.

The currently mandated fifth year of education would need to be replaced with skills requirements, she said, including technical knowledge and communication and strategic thinking skills.

“I really hope Minnesota and others talking about this see value in working with the rest of the country,” Coffey said. “This is our attempt to bring everybody together.”

The AICPA’s shift did not immediately prompt a change of strategy by states hoping to move faster.

The Minnesota Society of CPAs said it was “pleased to see the AICPA has engaged in the conversations evolving nationally”, but it continued to back a bill cutting state licensing requirements to the equivalent of a four-year degree plus two years of work experience. It said it would reintroduce the legislation in the next sessions of the Minnesota legislature, if it does not pass in the current one ending on Monday.

With three-quarters of US accountants at or near retirement age, the number of AICPA members has fallen from 430,000 in 2017 to 400,000 last year, according to its latest annual report, missing its membership target for the fifth year out of the past six.

The number of people taking the CPA exam fell from a peak of more than 100,000 in 2016 to a 17-year low of just above 67,000 in 2022. An uptick in 2023 was the result of students rushing to take the exam before the introduction of a new curriculum and numbers were set to resume their decline in the short term, the AICPA said.

The AICPA’s advisory group also called for accounting firms to raise starting salaries for new recruits and improve work-life balance, as well as for a revamp of accounting degrees to emphasise why the job is important.

Lexy Kessler, mid-Atlantic regional leader for the accounting firm Aprio, who chaired the group, said a shortage of accountants threatened the functioning of capital markets and business. “If we don’t have trust in our financial markets it could bring chaos,” she said.

Im doing cpa aus, scaq and atp. Not very meaningful. Keep studying the same thing. Anw 5 days workshop is overpowered. Need nerf to get them to where we should be. Dont even know they do scaq anot. Keep promoting fake dreams.

Can anyone enlighten me which part of working in b4 audit can help you to accelerate to high position in the commercial sector? I see tons of job requirements that asked for relevant commercial experience and hardly saying need audit experience. Walao eh I wasted my youth work like a bull day and night here now kena hiam outside

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Can anyone enlighten me which part of working in b4 audit can help you to accelerate to high position in the commercial sector? I see tons of job requirements that asked for relevant commercial experience and hardly saying need audit experience. Walao eh I wasted my youth work like a bull day and night here now kena hiam outside

In early 2000s until around 2010, Big4 audit experience is highly valued.

Nowadays I don’t see it anymore.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Im doing cpa aus, scaq and atp. Not very meaningful. Keep studying the same thing. Anw 5 days workshop is overpowered. Need nerf to get them to where we should be. Dont even know they do scaq anot. Keep promoting fake dreams.

The 5 days PAC is indeed overpowered. Basically giving free CA to those who dont deserve it. Some commercial accountant only handle payables, accruals dont even know how FS work but yet they have CA. They should make them go through the professional exams to renew their CA after a certain amount of years to make this cert credible and not a joke.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

The leaders of the US accounting profession have signalled they could cut the education requirements for becoming an accountant, amid growing alarm about a shortage of new recruits.

The US requirements are beyond d umb. The additional '5th year' of college required to be a CPA doesn't have to be accounting related. You can take anything from intersectional gender studies to underwater basket weaving. Just artificial barriers meant to filter out people who can't afford to spend 1 more year in college.

They should send a delegation for a study visit to Singapore. Our auditors perfectly capable of doing the work with certs from Tunku Abdul Rahman or Sunway Lagoon malaysian degree mills

their attitude and work ethic no good

Anyone knows whether Yellow and Orange increasing pay?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Yeah lor.

After SQP was introduced, people complained and say "I born too late"

Now after "SCAQ Accelerated Pathway 2 x sponsored paper" + "2 x Exemption after graduation" introduced, people say "I born too early"

Sad la … but the study break is also a good getaway from work.

Work is no day no night

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Anyone knows whether Yellow and Orange increasing pay?

No news, no internal announcement.