Varied pathways can lead to success for accounting profession longevity

By Jessica Salerno-Shumaker, OSCPA senior content manager

Accounting offers an exciting and fulfilling career, but for the pipeline to grow, multiple pathways need to be made available for those looking to enter and flourish in the profession.

“This is an opportunity profession,” said Tiffany Crosby, PhD, CPA, CGMA, MBA, OSCPA chief learning officer. “We want professionals to see what they can accomplish by entering accounting, and that there are available resources to help them be successful.”

Last year OSCPA formed the Ohio Accounting Talent Coalition (OATC)—an industry-sector partnership designed to manage Ohio’s accounting workforce strategy. This year in every issue of CPA Voice, we’ve highlighted a pillar of the plan, covering collaboration, messaging, curriculum and experience. Each pillar is essential to the sustainability and longevity of the profession. Pathways is the fifth and final pillar.

“In accounting, we have had one primary (traditional) pathway of earning a master’s degree in accounting (or a bachelor’s degree plus additional credits), working in a public accounting firm and then moving to industry,” Crosby said. “And that is still a viable path. But it can't be the only path.”

The pillar pathway focuses on simplifying the process and expanding access to accounting careers and CPA licensing. It seeks to open doors for a wider range of individuals, ensuring that more young professionals and untapped talent can enter and thrive in the profession. Regardless of what life stage someone is in, there should be a pathway to support them in their journey to the profession. These pathways need to adapt to a variety of educational and professional situations.

“Sometimes expanding access might mean offering apprenticeships, internships or on the job learning,” Crosby said. Apprenticeships, which have traditionally been reserved for trade-related jobs, could provide viable pathways for in-demand, high-wage earning industry, government, and non-profit accounting jobs for individuals not able to pursue a college education through traditional means. Meeting these individuals where they’re at is key, she said, instead of expecting each person to enter a four-year college and major in accounting.

This means changing the perception of what a prospective accounting professional looks like. It could be a young student or someone in the middle of their career looking to make a change. There needs to be an understanding that no matter where you’re at in life, accounting could be a successful career for you, even if you didn’t study the subject in college. But to make that happen, Crosby said, there need to be pathways to support different life circumstances.

After someone has transitioned to accounting, Crosby said the next step is continuing to upskill and support them, so they don’t leave the profession after a few years.

The pathway discussion also encompasses the different types of careers available in accounting. Not everyone might be interested in public accounting, Crosby said, which is why there needs to be available information about other areas to explore such as governmental or nonprofit accounting.

Part of the strategy for the pathways pillar expands access to talent sources, removes barrier to entry and creates an accounting apprenticeship model for talent not interested in or situationally able to pursue the traditional four-year college pathway.

Crosby said the timeline for seeing success in this pillar will take years, because it’s reliant on many other parts of the accounting ecosystem to change, including K-12 and postsecondary curriculum, messaging, and work experience.

“It's going to take some time to get to where we need to be, but small wins along the longer journey are possible,” she said.

While the pathways pillar will take time to build and flourish, it will have a resounding impact for years on the accessibility and growth of the profession. This pillar “forces you to recognize that there are multiple pipelines we're dealing with, and we need to have solutions responsive to the needs of each branch of the pipeline,” Crosby said.

“I think this area has the most opportunity for innovation,” she said. “Yes, talent can be built in college, but talent can also be built directly in the workforce. Strong public and private partnerships are the key and nurturing those partnerships is a crucial role for OSCPA within the talent coalition.”

Jessica Salerno-Shumaker is the OSCPA senior content manager.