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Accounting reimagined: a bold new path for early career professionals

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05 minute read 06 Nov 2024

EY US is investing $1 billion to reshape accounting careers, offering top pay, technology skills and a unique CPA path for graduates.

In brief
  • EY US will invest $1b over the next three years to revolutionize the early career accounting experience and make the profession attractive to students. 
  • In recent years, the pipeline of new CPAs has been shrinking. To draw the next generation into accounting, we are increasing compensation. 
  • We are leading the market with our 360 Careers experience; AI-enabled audit and tax processes; a low-cost pathway to CPA licensure; and new wellbeing benefits. 

Investors, the global capital markets and businesses of all sizes and kinds depend on a thriving accounting profession. The profession, in turn, depends on a constant influx of young talent with new perspectives and ideas.

At Ernst & Young LLP (EY US), we intend to be the preferred place for young business professionals to launch a career — a springboard to leadership, whether it is within our firm or ultimately at transformative public and private enterprises. With that goal in mind, we are investing $1 billion over the next three years in both talent and technology to make the EY US early career experience the best in the field of accounting — and one of the very best in business at large.

Research has told us where the hesitations lie when college students are deciding whether to embark on the CPA track. A Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) survey of business students and recent graduates found that among those who considered an accounting degree but decided against it, the biggest deterrents were higher starting salaries in other majors, as well as the 150-credit-hour requirement for CPA licensure.¹

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Market-leading compensation

Boosting CPA-track salaries will attract top accounting talent, driving a robust CPA pipeline.

How EY can help

Accounting has frequently been called “the language of business.” Accounting skills are so fundamental to the global economy that accounting graduates deserve early career compensation on par with that of other business degree holders.

 

Earlier this year, we announced that EY US is substantially increasing the starting salaries of CPA-track professionals to a market-leading level immediately, beginning with campus hires who join us in fall 2024. This is in addition to the incremental $3.5 billion the firm has invested over the past three years in competitive total rewards, including compensation, bonus pay, recognition awards and wellbeing benefits. By recognizing and rewarding the valuable skills early career accountants bring to EY US and to the marketplace, EY US intends to drive a strong pipeline of CPAs for generations to come.

 

However, starting salaries alone are not enough to draw the best students into accounting. Whether they intend to be career-long leaders at EY US, or to eventually serve in C-suite positions in other businesses, or to forge their own paths as entrepreneurs, the strongest recruits want to make sure their careers have momentum. Key to their ambitions is the opportunity to develop a diverse set of skills — for example, understanding how businesses operate, innovate and transform; learning the dynamics of capital market transactions and regulatory matters; and enhancing their skills around emerging technologies.

 

At EY US, we provide and expand on these opportunities.

Focus on the CPA pipeline

The pipeline of early career professionals has been shrinking in the US. The total number of bachelor’s and master’s graduates in accounting declined 18% from 2015–16 to 2021–2022,² and the number of new CPA candidates declined 37% between 2016 and 2022.³ While the absolute number of students enrolling in accounting programs appears to have stabilized after a multiyear decline, demand for CPA-ready candidates remains strong, and we need to remain laser-focused on building a healthy pipeline so that we can attract talented candidates to join EY US. 

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Developing expertise in AI and other emerging technologies

Integrating AI and data analytics into audit and tax roles enhances professional development.

EY US is transforming the roles of audit and tax professionals with the seamless integration of advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) into our core audit and tax platform tools.

This has improved our early career professionals’ productivity and equipped them to deliver insights on key business issues and interact with clients at a higher level — while contributing to the execution of high-quality audits and tax services.

We are now driving toward the integration of our award-winning EY.ai ecosystem of generative AI capabilities with our audit and tax technology platforms. This will support greater speed and quality, allowing our early career professionals to focus on complex tasks that require critical thinking and deep judgment, making their day-to-day work experiences even more varied and interesting.

At the same time, they are gaining expertise with emerging technologies — expertise that is in high demand in the marketplace. We constantly upskill our professionals for technological advances, encourage them to learn continuously and, in the process, enhance their careers.

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EY programs shape future leaders

Career development, CPA licensure and industry support offer long-term benefits for early career accountants.

How EY can help

Piloted this summer — and available to all accounting and business technology majors who join the EY US Assurance and Tax practices full-time in 2025 — is a new 360 Careers experience designed to be both a launchpad and an accelerator. With this innovative experience, our professionals will spend their first two to three years at EY US participating in structured, skills-based experiences across our different businesses, gaining a 360-degree perspective. During this period, they will build wider networks, discover the variety of accounting careers and find their own place within the profession.

 

With a panoramic range of early experiences, we will help them develop into well-rounded business leaders with endless opportunities.

How EY can help

While most undergraduate degrees require 120 credit hours, an extra 30 credit hours are required for CPA licensure. The overwhelming majority of undergraduate accounting majors see the value in earning a CPA. However, the time and costs associated with this additional academic training discourage other students from joining the major at all.⁴ The 150-credit-hour requirement is especially a barrier for Black and Hispanic business students, the majority of whom say it was part of the reason they chose not to pursue an accounting major.⁵ For many years, about 50% of our entry-level CPA-track hires have come to us having “cobbled together” their education requirements.

 

At EY US, we have worked since 2021 to remove the perceived barriers with the 150-credit-hour requirement by offering our EY Career Path Accelerator. This is a low-cost, high-quality way to earn the credits needed for CPA licensure. The program provides a hands-on experience through an EY internship, as well as virtual courses administered by Hult International Business School on job-relevant topics, including leadership, data analytics and visualization, and sustainability. Thus far, nearly 850 of our early career professionals have enrolled in the EY Career Path Accelerator and received over $920,000 in need-based scholarships.

EY US also works alongside academia and industry associations to create a growing pool of future CPAs by engaging with students at the high school and community college level and supporting efforts to diversify the CPA pipeline, including the CAQ’s award-winning Accounting+ effort. We intend to help future leaders see the advantages of accounting careers — including the stability provided by the fact that accounting skills are always in demand — and both the opportunity to learn continuously and the satisfaction of helping to address significant global risks, such as climate change and cybersecurity.

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Wellbeing for today’s workforce

Prioritizing wellbeing is foundational to the CPA work experience at EY US.

CAQ research has found that one reason business students decide not to choose accounting is the perception that accountants work long hours.⁶ Without question, regulatory and tax filing deadlines mean that audit and tax teams have to operate at peak performance during certain periods.

At EY US, we want wellbeing to be a cornerstone of our people’s work experience, so we are creating innovative tools, resources and benefits to help our people perform at their best, including dedicated coaching and wellbeing assistance for teams during peak times.

These new offerings build on a comprehensive suite of wellbeing benefits and programs at EY US, including firmwide weeks off in the summer and winter, flexible vacation time, 25 counseling and mental health coaching sessions at no cost, and a Wellbeing Fund, which reimburses each EY professional up to $1,000 a year for expenses that support their mental, social and physical health, including vacation travel, gym memberships, meal delivery services and camping equipment.

Key takeaways

The world depends on a thriving accounting profession. That demands a vibrant and growing pool of future CPAs. In recent years, the trend has been going in the wrong direction, with fewer accounting majors and fewer new CPA candidates. It’s time for the profession to act.

At EY US, we are making a substantial investment — $1 billion over three years — to make the early career experience as attractive as possible. We intend to draw talented business students onto the CPA track by making sure that they are well compensated and by giving them the best possible training, support and opportunities for growth.

By investing in the next generation of accounting professionals, we are also investing in the future of the profession, the wider economy and our firm. We expect to see substantial returns on this investment, both within EY US and in the world at large.


Summary 

EY US is investing $1 billion over three years to transform the early career experience for accounting professionals. The firm will make the accounting field more appealing by offering competitive compensation, innovative career experiences and advanced technology integration. The investment also includes a low-cost pathway to CPA licensure and initiatives to promote wellbeing, with the goal of attracting top talent and addressing the decline in accounting graduates and new CPA candidates.

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Becky Burke + 1

    EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients.