Is accountancy in crisis?

For those who teach, advise or employ accountants, IFAC’s global study on the “Attractiveness of the Accountancy Profession” offers an opportunity to shape this important conversation.

Very few children dream of becoming an accountant, but worryingly fewer than ever are becoming accountants.

The stakes are higher than you think

This alarming trend isn’t just a professional concern — it’s a societal imperative. Accounting shapes how businesses operate, influences capital allocation, and underpins economic trust. If the profession is in decline, it threatens far more than just industry staffing levels.

Your contribution counts

For school teachers and career advisors: Your guidance shapes career trajectories at a pivotal moment. When fewer students choose accounting, we lose diverse perspectives that could transform financial reporting, business ethics, and sustainability practices. What deters your brightest students? What misconceptions need challenging?

For accounting educators: You’re witnessing the challenges firsthand as the gaps widen between the current curriculum and future professional practices. Your observations on engagement challenges and programme relevance could revolutionise how we prepare the next generation.

Beyond surveys: shaping the profession’s future

This research isn’t merely academic. Your participation directly influences:

• How we reframe accounting’s public image
• Where resources are directed to remove barriers to entry
• Where accounting education needs reform
• How the profession adapts to technological and sustainability imperatives

Whatever your perspective on accounting, its impact extends through every corner of our economic system. The reporting mechanisms, incentives and focus that accountants establish affect everyone’s lives — even those who never enter the profession.

Your perspective is valuable in this conversation. The survey closes at the end of May 2025.

The future of accounting — and its crucial societal role — depends on candid insights from those who understand it best.

How to cite this article: York, T. (2025) ‘Is accountancy in crisis?’, Accounting Cafe. Available at: https://accountingcafe.org/2025/04/29/is-accountancy-in-crisis . Retrieved: [insert date].

© AccountingCafe.org