Could Having a 'Pro-CPA Culture' Backfire on Accounting Firms Desperate for Talent?

GoingConcern

Back in October, we discussed whether the CPA exam would ever become an optional within CPA firms. The reason the topic even came up was due to the fact that while the number of accounting students continues to increase, the number sitting for the CPA exam hasn't kept up, either declining in some years or staying flat. We noted what New York State Society of CPAs Executive Director Joanne Barry said at the time: More students than ever before in New York State are studying accounting, and there is not enough space to accommodate all of them. “However those students are not sitting for the CPA Exam,” Barry added. “The number of exam takers has been flat for two and a half years now. Why? We don’t know for sure.”