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As the accounting profession ages, the gap in experience that resulted from increased education requirements in the early 1990s is growing more and more obvious. In addition to staffing challenges, the profession needs to identify a new core of leaders to help guide the profession through the technological changes it will face in the coming years.
According to the AICPA, "nearly 75 percent of current AICPA members will reach or approach retirement age in the next 15 years." This means that accounting firms, already experiencing up to 20 percent attrition in their professional workforce, will have to focus even more on attracting and retaining qualified staff.
Fortunately, college students are returning to the accounting profession in greater numbers, and a report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers states that accounting has become the number one major on college campuses nationally. Post-graduate numbers are also rising fast, with an increase in accounting Masters' degrees rising by 30 percent through 2005. Some of the credit for these gains among college students can be attributed to the AICPA's Young Professionals Program and the "Start Here, Go Places" campaign, the latter of which advises young students on the benefits of becoming a CPA.
So the good news is that a flood of new professionals will soon quench the drought, but who will be there to channel the waters? Who will be the mentors of these newly accredited tax and accounting professionals? Who will be the leaders of the not so distant tomorrow?
The CPA Technology Advisor's 40 Under 40 program recognizes those professionals who entered the profession during those lean years and have grown into established leadership roles within the professional community through dedication to client service, strong ethical conviction, education of their peers and adoption of technological resources that aid in client service and practice development. These leaders, who are under 40 years old and young by comparison with the majority of the profession, are therefore the ambassadors of public accounting, and they will assume the reins from the old guard and provide new professionals with the challenges and opportunities to become future leaders themselves.
All of the 40 Under 40 Honorees were nominated by their peers or others working in and around the accounting profession.
author: Isaac M. O'Bannon
TECHNOLOGY EDITOR - CPA Technology Advisor