Struggle to Retain and Attract Finance and Tax Talent is Peaking, EY Says

The accounting talent shortage is now at a crisis level within the tax and finance functions, as 70% of CFOs and corporate tax executives say they’re feeling the impact of fewer accountants entering the profession while senior cohorts retire, according to the 2024 EY Tax and Finance Operations Survey.

The lack of up-and-coming accounting professionals has gotten so bad, according to EY, that a majority (62%) of tax and finance leaders say professionals without a university degree have become important to their talent strategy. In addition, 77% say hiring data scientists is either “very” or “moderately” important.

In the U.S., three-quarters of CPAs reached retirement age in 2019, according to the AICPA, and the country is short some 340,000 accountants and auditors by some estimates. As a result, the shrinking workforce is stressing the tax and finance functions.

Fifty-three percent of CFOs and corporate tax leaders say retaining and attracting talent is either an “extensive” or “significant” struggle, the EY survey reveals. At the same time, 89% say talent-related barriers are preventing their tax and finance functions from delivering on their purpose and vision. These barriers range from budget constraints to an inability to hire necessary talent.

In addition, some 70% of survey respondents say fewer accountants entering the profession will cause a “moderate” or “significant” disadvantage in how well their functions perform in the next five years, according to EY. Simultaneously, 63% say the retirement of senior tax and accounting executives will cause a “moderate” or “significant” disadvantage to the function.

Tax functions are under more pressure than ever to deliver more value to their organizations with fewer resources, but the EY survey found that respondents spend only 20% of their time on high-value activities, such as cross-border tax analysis and complex controversy matters. Ideally, those time proportions would flip, with respondents spending 42% of their time on strategic work and 25% on routine compliance activities, such as data cleansing and tax return compliance and reconciliation.

The graphic shows survey respondents prefer to spend more than twice as much time on highly specialized tax activities than they do currently.

“It’s not just about headcount,” EY says. “Tax and finance functions continue to seek a new breed of professional who understands data and technology as well as, if not better than, tax and finance rules. Increasingly, acumen using GenAI will be prized as well.”

Generative AI potentially offers many solutions to the talent crunch, EY says. Thiry-nine percent of survey respondents say they expect activities with generative AI will create a “moderate” or “significant” advantage to the tax functions, and 41% say GenAI is “moderately” or “significantly” increasing their ability to hire and/or retain talent.

“The ability of GenAI to perform more of the rudimentary and repetitive tasks, clearing the way for them to focus on higher-value, more fulfilling tasks, will appeal to prospective workers,” EY says.