april2022 - 9

STAFFING
Will the 'Great Resignation'
Become the Great Shakeout?
Commentary by Ernie Villany, CPA
SHOULD WE BE concerned about the rising number of accountants
leaving the profession? If one is paying attention, the
alarm bells are sounding across the board, and it really hits
home if you've had a personal experience being short-staffed.
I own a small firm in Boulder County,
CO and last year at this time, I was about
to deal with what would end up being
a 50% reduction in staff-much harder
to absorb than what most accounting
firms see. At any rate, it may be time for
accountants and CPAs to do a forensic
analysis of our own industry.
This is a look at what the facts and
statistics are telling us, and what we as
a professional industry can do about it.
If you start with the Bureau of
Labor Statistics, here's a snapshot of
the accounting and auditing industry.
In 2020, the profession amounted to
1,392,200 jobs in the U.S. The projected
job outlook between the years of 20202030
is +7%, or approximately 96,000 new
jobs. We hope. The 'Great Resignation'
was a huge awakening for all of Corporate
America, and it's estimated that
the accounting profession alone lost an
inordinate amount of its total workforce.
What's particularly intriguing is that
even before COVID-19, the accounting
profession was losing 10-15% of its small
firm professionals (www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/12417659),
and it's only sped up
since that point.
BARGING TOWARDS
THE EXITS
When the pandemic lockdowns began
two years ago, it was right in the midst
of tax-filing season-our busiest time of
the year. Then the federal government
announced the PPP loan programs,
grants, and other means of assistance.
That drove up the demand on our time,
which is difficult enough to manage
during a normal year. Everyone in this
profession loves to fall back on the term
" burnout, " but looking back there was
much more contributing to the situation
we find ourselves in.
The work itself is high-pressure.
Individuals and corporations hold us to
extremely high standards of perfection.
Considering the seriousness of our work,
perhaps that's warranted, but it doesn't
reduce the pressure facing our profession.
70 to 80-hour workweeks aren't at
all uncommon, but are we responsible
for allowing this to become the norm?
Most who've quit their jobs during
the Great Resignation did so to gain a
better work-life balance. Our profession
is no outlier in that area.
SHOW US THE MONEY
Is the pay grade no longer worth the
effort? The mid-$60K per year for even
junior accountants would seem like a
comfortable living, but the long hours
have a way of averaging that out. Worklife
balance? Maybe for a few months
out of the year, but they don't call it " tax
season " for nothing. Interestingly enough,
some of the big accounting houses have
begun raising salaries and bonus packages.
Earlier this year, KPMG announced
$160 million in salary increases for its
30,000 employees. And Ernst & Young
stated they've spent close to $2 billion
in the last two years to raise pay, increase
bonuses, and retain staff.
A WAY OUT?
Because I provide a small firm-perspective
on these issues, my own view might
be a bit myopic. But I don't believe higher
salaries are the panacea for retaining
the best and brightest among us. What
made the difference in my own practice
was a two-fold solution. I found a great
outsourcing partner to handle about
70% of our repetitive accounting tasks
and implemented a workflow software
platform solution that vastly improved
our productivity. My personal experience
tells me that neither of these solutions
have yet to catch on with the majority
of firms our size, but they should. We
simply must reduce the number of hours,
and the workload, of our professionals.
Or they'll continue to head for the exits.
What kind of a fight
would we as an industry
need to put up to commit
to a 40-hour workweek,
even during the busy season?
Cops do it. Teachers
do it. Might that look like
an attractive career choice
compared to our current
outlook? Clearly, the " way
we've always done things "
is no longer a sustainable
business model. And to
think it only took a pandemic and a
major economic meltdown to prove it.
To address how broken our retention
efforts are in the accounting profession,
it's going to take a cultural transformation.
Which could-and should-begin
within our own four walls. ■
Ernie Villany, CPA is the founder
and president of Boulder Valley
CPAs (BVCPAs), a Coloradobased
CPA/advisory firm representing clientele
in 30 states. Villany has over 20 years of
experience in public accounting, helping small
to medium-size businesses around the world
plan and manage their financial growth,
while mitigating tax liabilities.
APRIL 2022 ■ www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com
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