Becker Skilled Schooling is hoping to increase the variety of accountants and CPA Examination takers because the occupation has suffered a decline lately.
The corporate, which offers CPA Examination coaching supplies and persevering with skilled schooling programs, is attempting to reverse current declines in CPA numbers and produce extra younger individuals into the occupation. An AICPA developments report from 2019 based mostly on 2018 knowledge confirmed a 7% decline in first-time CPA Examination candidates since 2017. The variety of CPA Examination candidates who handed the fourth part of the examination decreased 6% between 2017 and 2018.
To reverse such declines, the AICPA in addition to state CPA societies are hoping to make the occupation extra engaging to college students, updating the CPA curriculum to make it extra related to at the moment’s world with an elevated give attention to in-demand know-how abilities like knowledge analytics.
“We’re working carefully with the authorities on this, and there’s not a transparent reply as to precisely why the numbers are taking place,” stated Becker Skilled Schooling president and managing director Josh Braunstein. “Anecdotally we will look to the markets and say what are the talents that companies are on the lookout for, and are there different certifications and different licensure that companies are actually seeking to. We actually do consider that the worth of the CPA can be simply as integral sooner or later because it was previously, and we’re excited to be a part of that persevering with journey and that change.”
Modifications within the CPA Examination from the CPA Evolution Mannequin Curriculum that the AICPA and Nationwide Affiliation of State Boards of Accountancy have been collaborating may assist construct the pipeline of CPA candidates.
“With the modifications that the AICPA is making and that we’re seeing round how the examination can be crafted sooner or later, there are completely alternatives for the CPA Examination to evolve as properly and to be on the forefront of what persons are doing,” stated Braunstein. “There’s completely going to be a give attention to knowledge analytics and practicality points. We do consider that there’s a robust future for the CPA Examination.”
Becker can be growing extra persevering with schooling programs to assist accountants study new abilities and keep updated with altering legal guidelines, laws and requirements. “We’re very invested within the CPE marketplace for persevering with schooling for accountants,” stated Braunstein. “There are such a lot of locations you may go for CPE, nevertheless it’s a bit of bit totally different within the lifetime journey of considered one of our college students. After we begin them with the CPA Examination and produce them via their careers, we might help them construct new abilities. We might help them develop of their careers or tackle new roles.”
He has a number of different targets at Becker, together with advocacy for the accounting occupation. “We all know we’re ready the place we’re coaching so most of the CPAs as they arrive into the market,” stated Braunstein. “We’re offering the schooling for thus lots of them as they progress via their careers, individually or at no matter agency they’re at, and we’re working very carefully with a variety of the small, medium and enormous establishments within the accounting house. We need to be far more concerned and targeted. We name ourselves the accountant’s champion and we’re actually attempting to get individuals enthusiastic about accounting, to assist them transfer via their careers with new abilities, serving to them put together for brand spanking new roles and serving to establishments put together for the talents they’re going to want sooner or later. We really feel actually good about our place there and what we will do sooner or later to advocate for the occupation and to assist our learners and to assist corporations.”
Becker is planning to increase the vary of codecs of the programs it’s providing, particularly as distant studying has change into extra pervasive, particularly after the pandemic closed many in-person school rooms and coaching facilities final 12 months. “We’re very passionate and targeted about innovation,” stated Braunstein. “The pandemic has blown this all up. It’s actually rethinking what engagement means for college kids, serious about multimedia, serious about breaking apart [the courses] into totally different lengths to allow them to devour them extra simply, about convening higher connectivity and networking between our college students and our instructors, and actually ensuring that in a extremely digital world, we’re offering the very best outcomes we will and assembly our college students’ wants.”
He additionally hopes to get the youthful era extra within the concept of changing into accountants and CPAs. “That pleasure can ebb and circulation,” stated Braunstein. “There are occasions when there are extra individuals getting into and fewer individuals getting into. We’ve been in a interval the place there’s been a decline within the variety of individuals taking the CPA Examination, and we need to assist there. We need to be an organization that will get individuals enthusiastic about what they will do within the accounting trade and perceive the worth that accounting performs on the earth and what they will do. We prefer to say at Becker that we maintain the world of enterprise transferring ahead. With out accountants, you clearly can’t get something achieved, and we need to be there for our college students and establishments.”