Accounting is a numbers game in more ways than one, with leading experts in the field expressing concern that not as many people are entering the field.
According to the AICPA & CIMA, from 2016-2021, there was a 33% drop in the number of first-time CPA candidates sitting for the exam, with the organization saying there is a "pipeline problem" with fewer people pursuing the career.
"Some say, how could you do that for a living? It's kind of boring,'" explains Bob Elliott, a former University of Arizona basketball player and Tucson-based accountant who has owned his own firm for more than 40 years. "The mechanics are boring, but what makes it life-like are all the different people because they're all so different."
Chris Moran, who studied accounting at the University of Arizona and had Elliott as a professor and mentor, says that there is also a misconception about the way math is used in the field.
"It wasn't like '5x squared,'" explains Moran. "It was more like, 'Let's talk about a business and let's talk about what financial statements are.'"
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary for an accountant in 2023 was nearly $80,000.
