Accounting has had a talent problem for years. It’s finally looking up — for now.

• The accounting industry has long grappled with a shortage of young talent.

• New data suggests more students are choosing accounting again.

• Stability and stronger entry-level pay are helping to attract them back to the profession.

For years the accounting industry has been shouting the same warning on repeat: the US is running out of accountants.

New data, however, suggests that the profession’s talent crunch may be — cautiously — easing.

Graduates who earned a bachelor’s or master’s degree in accounting fell to 55,152 in the 2023-24 academic year, according to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

That’s a 6.6% decline from the year prior — still a drop, but a slower one than the 9.6% decline in 2022-23 and 7.4% in 2021-22, years when pandemic disruption dragged down college completion rates across the board.

There’s also a positive trend in the growing number of high school students pursuing accounting degrees.

Data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center shows that spring accounting enrollment in the 2024-2025 school year grew 12% year-over-year — the third consecutive semester of growth in accounting enrollment.

“I am certainly seeing students more knowledgeable about the opportunities in accounting, and more students going into accounting in the US,” Yvonne Hinson, CEO of the American Accounting Association, told Business Insider.

“I’m very excited about where we’re headed now,” Hinson said.

Students are responding to the combination of better pay and the promise of a stable career, said Hinson.

Accounting majors were the fourth-best degree ranked by return on investment after five years in the workforce, according to analysis by Student Choice, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Engineering, computer science, and nursing took the top three spots.

In high schools, the stability of the profession is the strongest message that resonates with students, said Hinson. “You just don’t see a lot of unemployed accountants and CPAs out there. They usually can find a job.”

Employers have also been making concessions to make the field more attractive, especially for younger generations who have different demands of the workplace.

“Gen Z is just not going to do what we did,” said Hinson. “I never questioned if I had to work late at night or weekends. They’re just flat-out not going to do that.”

The big firms have been investing in affinity groups and retention programs, boosting workplace culture, and embracing hybrid work to bridge that gap, said Hinson.