The U.S. accounting profession is gearing up to attract young professionals in the face of declining numbers of CPA exam takers and accounting graduates, the Financial Times (FT) reported.

Only 72,271 candidates sat for the CPA exam last year and 43,000 in the first half of this year, according to the FT, compared to almost 103,000 in 2016.

The numbers can be attributed to a number of factors.

One is the exam itself, which requires candidates to have completed 150 hours of higher education, which can take five years. Another is the shrinking pool of eligible entrants due to the decline of college-age attendees.

“The downward trend is very recent,” Lara Abrash, CEO of Deloitte US Audit & Assurance, told the FT. “As people are planning their careers, we have just lost our ability to tell our story.”

In response, a number of players are mounting various outreach efforts to stem the declines.  Big Four firms have created CPA “accelerator” programs, such as KPMG’s offering to start paying next year’s new hires two months early while they complete their fifth year. PwC has partnered with St. Peter’s University to allow some work experience to count towards the 150 hours requirement in response to a recent rule change by the New Jersey State Board of Accountancy.

The Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) has launched a campaign to attract young people to the profession, explaining that CPAs obtain skills that can be applied to data analysis, business advisory and forensics.

The CAQ also aims to increase the profession’s diversity.

“There is a generation coming up that places a premium on a diverse and inclusive workforce,” CAQ Vice President of Operations and Talent Initiatives Liz Barentzen told the FT.

Another element is the CPA Evolution initiative, which the story does not identify by name but noted that it will allow candidates “to elect specialist modules such as business analytics or information systems” when it launches in 2024.

Colleen Conrad, executive vice-president of the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA), expresses hope for the future of the profession. She emphasized that “(t)echnology is in pretty much everything you do in the accounting profession and CPAs spend a lot of time with internal controls, system controls, cyber security.”

“Accounting is solid,” she added. “You can always get a job as a CPA.”