Accounting Educators Strategize on Pipeline Solutions

New Jersey high school teachers and college professors traded their classrooms on Oct. 25 for an NJCPA Accounting Educators Workshop on how to attract more students to the accounting profession.

Jerry Maginnis, CPA, author, executive-in-residence at Rowan University and a speaker at the event, questioned whether accounting academia is keeping pace with what students want in an accounting classroom. Teachers should learn to” evolve their game,” Maginnis said, explaining that professors need to bring in guest speakers and engage students more in the classroom.

He also discussed how technological evolution, which is impacting the profession, can be brought into classrooms. Adding more data analytics courses or more Excel learning, for example, may be on teachers’ wish lists but they are often hard pressed to find something else to remove. “What do we take off the plate?” he asked attendees. “Getting schools to approve curriculum changes is also a problem,” he added, noting that it can often take years to get a program altered.

Offshoring and Other Challenges

Trends occurring at the CPA firm level, such as offshoring jobs, can weigh negatively on students. The implication of this trend mostly affects those just starting out in their careers, he said, since it leads to less hiring of entry-level accountants. “There’s a supply effect I’m not sure we’ve seen play out yet,” he said.

Maginnis noted that students generally would give low marks when rating accounting versus other fields, which needs to improve. “We need to do a better job of making young people aware of the long-term benefits of an accounting career,” he explained. Often students only hear about the first few years in accounting, but travel, client relationships and more financial perks come later. To communicate these positive messages, he added, “We need more practicing CPAs in the classroom.”

Another perception that can hinder a student from entering the profession or a young professional from staying in it is not having a good work-life balance. Many young professionals would like to have remote/flexible work schedules, he said. “It’s a big deal. It’s why they leave,” added Maginnis. “Firms need to do a better job managing busy season. We need to get more focused on fixing retention.”

Getting Involved

Aiysha (AJ) Johnson, MA, IOM, CEO and executive director at the NJCPA, and June M. Toth, CPA, CGMA, CFF, president of the NJCPA and a principal at WilkinGuttenplan, were also on hand to discuss NJCPA initiatives that could help attract students to the profession like helping to have accounting under the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) umbrella and supporting the concept of alternative pathways to CPA licensure. Johnson explained the NJCPA has fundamental differences with a recent proposal by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) on how to get there. For example, the NJCPA supports CPA licensure with an additional year of experience instead of 30 credits but does not support the proposal’s requirement that the first year of experience be done within the competency-based framework outlined in their proposal.

Toth reiterated the call for all NJCPA members to get involved and voice their opinion before the comment period for the AICPA/NASBA proposal ends in December. “I encourage everyone to comment; it will have an impact.”  

Johnson also reminded attendees that “talent shortages are not specific to the accounting profession — there’s no magic bullet.”  She explained that a profession-wide multi-stakeholder effort is needed to increase the number of people entering the accounting profession and stressed how important it is to understand the student/candidate journey and concentrate on the right activities and messaging at each stage.

The NJCPA is focusing its accounting pipeline efforts on three key areas: raising awareness of the profession among high school students and addressing negative perceptions among college students and recent grads; removing obstacles to licensure and improving access to resources; and engaging with and getting buy in from key professionals at firms, companies and in academia.

Showing Support

In a panel discussion hosted by Don Meyer, chief marketing officer at the NJCPA, Sarah O’Rourke, CPA, assistant professor of professional practice at Rutgers Business School, added that even the initial steps in preparing for the CPA Exam are daunting. “The application for the CPA Exam is an intimidating process,” she said, noting many students could use some support at this level.

Panelist Barry Palatnik, Ed.D., MBA, CPA, associate professor and program chair of accounting at Stockton University, agreed that “students are a little bit scared about the CPA Exam.” Teachers need to find ways to “build their confidence,” he explained, adding that too much time is spent on worrying about students cheating and not enough on successful learning.

Steven Budryk, CPA, MS, an adjunct professor at Ramapo College, manager at Traphagen CPAs & Wealth Advisors and a panelist at the event, noted that “fear of failure” is very real for students. He said it’s best to encourage students to take the Exam when classes first begin. He regularly asks his students, “What do you want to get out of this class?” Budryk also said it’s important to bring in speakers to show students what they can do with a CPA license. 

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Kathleen Hoffelder Kathleen Hoffelder is the senior content editor at the New Jersey Society of CPAs. More content by Kathleen Hoffelder: Green and Red Lights for Career Success Demands for Flexibility, Remote Work and Compensation are High on Employee Wish Lists Upselling Client Advisory Services: Beyond the Buzzwords