The accountancy talent crisis: is less schooling the answer?

The finance profession is in crisis. The number of accountants is dwindling, with fewer people pursuing qualifications globally. The Accounting Talent Index, released earlier this year by accountancy outsourcing firm Advancetrack, highlighted that undergraduate and postgraduate accounting enrolments have dropped by an average of 56% since 2010.

However, a proposed change to Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensure requirements in the US will allow candidates to replace a fifth year of schooling with work experience. The proposal is part of a joint effort by the American Institute of CPAs and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy to make licensure as accessible and appealing as possible.

Employers and the industry, as a whole,? urgently need to reassess what will attract graduates to pursue a finance profession. But, asks finance writer Sam Birchall , is less schooling really the answer??Read more.

How BBC Sounds is using GenAI to boost accessibility in?audio

As a public body, the BBC’s Royal Charter states its commitment to serving everyone in the UK – including people with accessibility needs. It was these public obligations that led the BBC to become the first broadcaster to introduce closed captioning in its programming via the Ceefax Teletext service in?1979.

Accessibility in tech has come a long way since then, when remote controls had Teletext buttons and punching ‘888’ into the device would summon subtitles on your TV. Every streaming platform now offers the?service.

But, despite podcasts attracting an audience of half a billion people annually, closed captioning for audio content is far less common. The BBC produces 27,000 hours of audio content a month but much of this remains inaccessible to those with hearing impairments.

The product team at BBC Sounds – the streaming service for BBC radio and podcasts – has been exploring ways to address this issue. Senior tech writer Tamlin Magee spoke to them to find out what they've learnt. Read more.

Can HR help close the widening green skills?gap?

Companies are struggling to find the talent needed to spearhead the transition to net zero. Over the past year, demand for green skills has increased by 11.6%, according to LinkedIn’s Green Skills Report 2024. But the availability of green talent has risen only 5.6% over the same period, meaning demand is outpacing supply.?

Green skills are broadly defined as the knowledge and capabilities required to tackle environmental challenges and make organisations more sustainable. These can be technical skills, such as carbon accounting, or soft skills, such as stakeholder engagement and environmental literacy.

The widening green skills gap means that, by 2025, there will be twice as many jobs requiring green talent as there are people qualified to fill them, if current trends continue. What then, asks HR editor Sam Forsdick can HR do to solve the green skills conundrum? Read more.

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