October 2024
The profession has an image problem, and almost one in every two (45%) accountants and bookkeepers believe that if we don’t tackle this issue head on then the challenges to find talent are only going to get worse.
New research by Xero in Australia and New Zealand also found nearly half (41%) of those studying accountancy at university agree that the industry has a clear image problem.
When asked why they believe this problem exists, 81% of accountants and bookkeepers surveyed said that people generally think their professions are boring. Those surveyed also blamed themselves, with 63% saying as an industry they were not good at promoting themselves or conveying the full scope of what they do.
The worry is nearly half of those taking part in the research (45%) felt tertiary-level accounting and finance students and junior talent now believe there are more opportunities outside the industry.
Some 63% of accountancy students agreed there is still a lack of awareness about the full scope of what accountants do, and 45% said ‘there are more exciting opportunities outside of accountancy’. These students felt current salaries were not good enough (42%) and they could not see long-term career progression within the industry (41%). Many (42%) were also worried about challenging work/life balance and the risk of burnout that still seem evident in the profession.
With fewer people choosing to study accountancy, and almost two-thirds of practices (65%) experiencing challenges to find and keep the right staff, there is a growing need to communicate the great opportunities and real satisfaction that comes with a career in accountancy, the study said.
Despite this perceived image problem, Xero found one in two accountants (50%) and bookkeepers (49%) would recommend accountancy to a family member, friend or the next generation. When asked why, ‘the opportunity to do purposeful work that makes a genuine difference’ was one of the top responses (69% of accountants and 64% of bookkeepers). This was the top This was the top answer among under graduates too (52%), along with creating a culture that promotes inclusiveness and wellbeing (45%).
Dr Paul Wells, of Auckland University of Technology, said students, universities and accounting practitioners need to have a shared sense of why accounting is important. He stressed that the absence of any consensually shared understanding has allowed misinformation to circulate. The focus is on accounting as a process, and that this process is highly repetitive leads to the idea that accounting is boring, suggests Wells.
He added: “Despite the implementation of technology to automate processes, many education programmes retain an unhealthy focus on data entry.
It is therefore important that the focus shifts to the interpretation of the process outputs and their application to real life which, in turn, demonstrates why accounting is so important.”
