The CPA Pipeline Problem Starts in the Classroom: How Accounting Education Must Change

The CPA pipeline problem does not begin when firms start recruiting. It begins much earlier, often in the classroom, where students form their first impressions of what accounting is and what a career in the profession can become. Too often, those impressions are shaped by outdated stereotypes, narrow examples, and uncertainty around how AI will affect future roles.

To explore how accounting education must change, Ace Cloud Hosting spoke with Michael Shipman, CPA, Ed.D., Assistant Professor of Accounting at Washington & Jefferson College and Owner and Operator of Account4Yourself, LLC. Michael brings a rare mix of classroom experience and public accounting practice, with prior roles at McClintock & Associates, Mount Aloysius College, Pennsylvania College of Technology, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

In this conversation, Michael shares why students often misunderstand the profession, how educators can build a stronger funnel from financial literacy to career specialization, and what firms must understand about purpose, growth, and work-life balance if they want to attract the next generation of accounting talent.

From your experience as both a professor and a practicing CPA, what are students misunderstanding most about the accounting profession today?

The continued misunderstanding is that accountants are boring and quiet, only preferring to crunch numbers in their cubicles instead of working on teams in dynamic business situations.

While there is nothing wrong with undisturbed productivity in one’s cubicle or office, it is an unfair stereotype that I continue to combat. Teamwork in our profession is critical, and many outgoing individuals enjoy flexing their soft skills by solving problems and managing clients, among other examples.

The more recent misunderstanding is that Artificial Intelligence, or “AI,” will be severely reducing or even eliminating the profession. While I believe it likely that AI will severely reduce the need for bookkeepers and what not, students misunderstand that accounting has evolved to become more than just bookkeeping.

While we are already seeing, and will continue to see, AI affects how we practice accounting across the various specializations; it will not severely reduce it nor replace it. In fact, given the continued excess of demand over supply, it is possible that AI could help close that gap instead of putting accountants out of work.

Why do you think fewer students are choosing accounting, and what can educators and firms do to change that perception?

In my opinion, the profession has been slow to adapt to poaching from other fields. Employers in technology, business analytics, business administration, finance, etc., have found success luring accounting students to work for them instead of accounting firms or in other accounting roles.

There was a time when it was accepted that accounting graduates could either be overworked and underpaid before advancing quickly in public accounting or have a better work-life balance and pay in industry with slower advancement. Those days are gone, as accounting graduates have proven their skills are valuable in a variety of accounting-adjacent and accounting-related roles.

Again, this is just my opinion, but I think word of this has made its way down the pipeline to the point that students decide, “I will just major in computer science or finance instead of accounting and save myself the trouble.”

The above said, the classic reasons, besides the reference to underpaid and overworked, and “boring” (from my first response), also include the difficult course work, the rise of the 150-hour rule, and the difficulty of certification exams (CPA, CMA, etc.).

The profession has mitigated the 150-hour rule and continues to work on its certification exams (CPA was revamped recently, for example), but there is more work to be done. In addition to combating the “boring” stereotype, educators must use a “funnel approach” to draw students into accounting.

The funnel starts in K – 12 with the value of financial literacy in personal finance as well as employment. It begins to narrow in lower-level accounting by showing students the many exciting things they can do with an accounting degree (financial, managerial, auditing, forensic, taxation, governmental, non-profit, etc.). It should be concluded by helping students find the areas of the field they are excited about to specialize in (or multiple, in the case of generalists). Even if what they are excited to specialize in ends up being outside of accounting, if they are utilizing their accounting degree to do such work, it is a win for us educators.

How should accounting education evolve to better prepare students for modern firm work, including technology, advisory, and client communication?

It should be noted that undergraduate accounting is a “mile wide and an inch deep” by design because there are so many areas in which one can work with an accounting degree (not just public accounting firms).

Thus, while we need to evolve accounting education to better prepare students for modern firm work, we must evolve it for changes in other areas as well. That said, as it relates to modern firm work, accounting education needs to balance the need for a technological foundation (using Excel, AI, accounting software, etc.) that simulates firm/industry work with the classic classroom approach when learning the basics.

An accountant who can use Excel and AI is great, but if they do not know the accounting equation, for example, then we have failed them as educators. Accounting education must continue incorporating business and data analytics, as well as experiential learning opportunities, into curricula to ensure areas like advisory and client communication (“soft skills”) are also well-covered.

What role does financial literacy play in building stronger future accountants and more confident business professionals?

My opinion is that it has not played a large enough role, is starting to play a larger role, and should play a huge role in building stronger future accountants and more confident business professionals. I recently read a study that concluded that while exposure to accounting in high school has increased over the decades, it has not had a material impact on students entering the profession.

The suggestion in this case was that while such exposure certainly can’t hurt and may be helping, more meaningful interaction with accounting may be needed (e.g., not just “prepare this income statement”). If financial literacy is consistently built into K – 12 curricula (not just in some states while lacking in others), this should allow exposure to accounting to begin even before high school (as part of said financial literacy).

This could cause a domino effect, freeing high school curricula up for more meaningful accounting offerings, which in turn would allow collegiate offerings to go a little deeper than “just an inch” as far as the “mile wide” classification of undergraduate accounting is concerned. Increased depth (not just technical learning, but also social skills and hands-on learning) leads to increased understanding, and increased understanding leads to stronger future accountants and more confident business professionals.

If firms want to attract and retain younger accounting talent, what should they understand about how today’s students think about career growth and purpose?

I think you put the answer in the question: Younger accounting talent places more value on growing, learning, and having purpose than being compensated. Older generations were more extrinsically motivated. “I will work more for more money. I will work more to get that promotion. I will work more to get that promotion for more money.”

That line of thinking then shifted to “I will work more for the promotion and the money, but if it isn’t worth it, I am going to find work with a better work/life balance to make up for any loss of compensation and/or title.” It isn’t that younger accounting talent doesn’t value compensation and promotions.

It is that they put more value on growth, purpose, and work/life balance than prior generations. The line of thinking has now become “Money and promotions would have to be substantial, because if I am not seeing purpose, development, and work/life balance in my work, then I will find work where I do, even if I leave money and promotions on the table.”

Earlier, I mentioned accounting firms being too slow to adapt to other industries poaching accountants. Perhaps they have adjusted more than I believe, but if they are still putting band-aids on the problem, then they aren’t treating the root of the problem. A slightly higher starting salary and more work-from-home / vacation days isn’t necessarily going to win over current and future generations.

They either need to drastically evolve the pay structure (which may not be feasible) or drastically change the real and perceived workplace culture to prove that accounting has plenty of room for purpose, development, and work/life balance (something I already know to be true!).

Rebuilding the Pipeline Starts With Better Exposure

Michael’s perspective makes one point clear. The accounting pipeline cannot be fixed by recruiting harder at the end of the journey. Students need earlier, deeper, and more accurate exposure to what accountants actually do.

That means moving beyond the idea that accounting is only about quiet desk work or repetitive number crunching. The modern profession depends on teamwork, technology, communication, analysis, advisory work, and problem-solving. When students see that range earlier, they are more likely to understand where they might fit.

Education also has to keep its balance. Students need technology, AI, data analytics, and experiential learning, but they still need a strong foundation in accounting principles. The goal is not to replace fundamentals with tools. It is to connect the fundamentals to the real work students will face in firms, businesses, and advisory roles.

For firms, the lesson is equally important. Younger professionals are no longer choosing careers based only on compensation or titles. They look for purpose, growth, flexibility, and work that feels meaningful. Firms that present accounting as a career built on continuous learning, real impact, new opportunities, and a modern technology stack will be better positioned to attract the talent the profession needs.