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The accounting shortage is real and it’s painful, reaching the point of having a highly visible impact on some businesses—but the National Pipeline Advisory Group (NPAG), an accounting professional group, has a plan in the hopes of alleviating some of this pain.
NPAG recently unveiled a draft strategy report containing numerous recommendations to break down barriers and open new avenues for the next generation to pursue a career in accounting and finance.
“While a career in accounting has much to offer, the profession is at a crossroads, and many agree it’s time for changes that will make the field more attractive,” Lexy Kessler, mid-Atlantic regional leader at Aprio and chair of NPAG, wrote in the draft report’s executive summary.
NPAG grouped its recommendations into six major themes that call for addressing the time and cost of accounting education, better supporting CPA exam candidates, and expanding access for underrepresented groups, among other things.
One concept the draft offers is to create “a competency-based licensure model” that would “help measure mastery and readiness instead of time in school or on the job.”
Employers must also offer more manageable workloads and starting salaries that compete with other industries also looking to hire top talent, NPAG recommended.
The organization expects to publish the final version of its report in July, according to the executive summary.