Having trouble finding more good accountants? If so, you are far from alone.

For Cheryl Mills, a senior manager at a CPA firm in New York City, retaining qualified staff has become an uphill battle. “We have lost 60 percent of our workforce this year,” says Mills. “The rapid turnover makes investing in
staff difficult.”

Echoing that sentiment, Neil Schembre, who works at a small firm in Fanwood, N.J., says, “Staffing is the lifeblood of my business.”

But help may be on the way. The triennial AICPA survey of the supply and demand of accounting graduates reports that 2006–2007 college accounting enrollments were up almost 19 percent to more than 203,000 students across all degree programs since the Institute’s last survey in 2003–2004. The only degree program showing a decline was the Masters in Taxation, where enrollment was down slightly more than nine percent, according to the AICPA report.

“Almost all sizes of firms expect hiring numbers to remain steady or to increase, with 67 percent of the largest firms projecting increased hiring. The largest firms also expect to hire as many or more non-accounting majors; 58 percent said they would hire about the same number and 33 percent said they would hire even more non-accountants.”

“Staffing is the one most critical area. The rest cannot be done or achieved without properly trained, motivated, committed and enthusiastic staff,” Linda L. Churchill, a partner at a CPA firm in Tampa, Fla., says.

“The great majority of the growth is at the bachelor’s degree level,” according to the AICPA report, which cites an increase of almost 30,000 students since the last survey.

In fact, enrollment may now be straining some colleges. Top schools are barring the gates. Thirteen percent of the top schools “faced space limitations and rejected an average of approximately 65 applicants.” Going forward, colleges generally anticipate a continuing rise in enrollments: 60 percent expect increases at the bachelor’s level, while 63 percent expect increases at the master’s level.

Meanwhile, the female to male enrollment ratio is narrowing and now stands at 52 percent female and 48 percent male for both the bachelor’s and master’s programs, down from a high in 2002 of 57 percent female and 43 percent male.

And the number of exam takers is rebounding. The number of candidates increased more than 50 percent since the exam went paperless in 2004 and continues to rise.

So, is the accounting profession’s staffing crisis coming to an end? Not yet. But, says John Sharbaugh, chief executive of the Texas CPA society, “at least it’s moving in the right direction.”

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