CPA Practices NAICS 541211

Apr 29, 2025 - Accounting Jobs Becoming Popular with Younger Workers

• Generation Z (those born between 1997 and 2012) are bucking traditional thinking about the “boring” accounting industry and joining a profession that is losing Baby Boomers in droves - almost 340,000 in the last five years. Accounting graduates see the profession as more of a science than a number-crunching slog and a ticket to a six-figure salary. Increased use of AI in the industry is appealing to younger, technical-minded accountants and allows them to be a part of strategic decision-making with their clients and within their firms. New accounting graduates also see the job more altruistically as a way to help low-income Americans claim more tax refund money. Accounting students at California State University, Northridge helped secure more than $11 million in tax refunds for low-income earners in 2024, as well as savings of $3.6 million in tax credits and more than $2 million in tax preparation fees.
• The US government will phase out the IRS’s DirectFile program, a free electronic tax return filing system, for the 2026 tax season. DirectFile was created during the Biden administration and became quite popular for its time savings and ease of use. Tax prep firms and lobbyists claim DirectFile is unnecessary because free tax filing software programs already exist, although they are difficult to use. The program has been in a holding pattern since the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) targeted it for closure in February 2025. The non-partisan Taxpayers Protection alliance supports the move and says DirectFile costs too much and of the 450,000 taxpayers who logged into it for the 2024 tax season, only 140,800 of those filed a completed return. A pilot program when it started, DirectFile was expanded to half of the US for the current tax season.

• CPA practices face a staffing shortage heading into the 2025 tax season. Several years of attrition through retirements and middle-aged CPA burnout has left the accounting industry about 300,000 workers short with not enough fresh recruits to replace them. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows CPA firm employment flat throughout 2024, coming in at -0.8% in January 2025 year over year. The shortage is likely to affect CPAs and taxpayers alike in the coming year. CPAs are overloaded with work - which makes them prone to mistakes and filing errors - leaving many without the bandwidth to take on new clients. Those lost clients then can potentially make their own mistakes doing taxes themselves, creating a domino effect of accounting headaches. The problem could be compounded by the IRS itself, which is already lacking enough accountants to efficiently process returns and now faces a government-wide hiring freeze by the Trump team in January 2025.
• In 2023, starting salaries for new CPAs increased over 2022 and bested inflation, but industry insiders suggest CPA firms need to do more to compete with other industries for top talent, according to the Journal of Accountancy. CPA employers increased 2023 starting salaries by 7%, three points higher than the inflation rate, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers. Class of 2023 CPA starting salaries were $65,086 compared to $60,698 for Class of 2022. However, starting salaries for computer and information science positions in 2023 were $91,411. In addition to uncompetitive starting salaries, work overload and burnout hinder recruiting and retention. In recent flash polls of the top 500 firms outside the Big Four by the Association of International Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), 88% of firms said they increased starting pay in the last 12 months, and 57% said they plan to address workload balance.