The Crisis in the Accounting Industry

On May 28, 2023, the Financial Times published an article titled “Candidate numbers for US accountancy exams drop to lowest in 17 years”, reporting that the number of candidates taking the U.S. Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam has fallen to its lowest level since 2006.

In 2022, only 67,000 candidates sat for the CPA exam in the U.S., down from 72,000 in 2021 and below the 74,000 projected by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). This marked the lowest number of candidates recorded since the introduction of the new CPA exam format in 2006. Furthermore, the number of candidates taking the exam domestically in the U.S. dropped by over 10% compared to the previous year.

What’s causing this decline? What kind of crisis is the accounting industry facing? Let’s explore these questions in this article.