CPAs Not Wanted: Firms Build a New Workforce – without Accountants
By CPA Trendlines
Cornerstone Report
CPA firms are building a new workforce, and they’re doing it without CPAs.
Firms are hiring thousands of new staffers in jobs that look less like traditional accounting and more like sales, systems and management, according to new data parsed by CPA Trendlines.
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The public accounting profession has added 3,930 accountant and auditor positions since 2021, which pales in comparison to the 12,250 new sales representatives, 11,140 new financial managers, or 8,130 new computer and information systems managers. Firms added 4,370 new software developers and 4,190 new project management specialists. They also added 2,210 new data scientists. Even the number of chief executives has grown faster.
The pattern shows firms are not simply replacing missing CPAs and CPA candidates. They are building a different kind of firm, with more people assigned to sell services, manage clients, run systems, build software and coordinate projects. CPAs need not apply.
| Profession | Mean avg. | vs. accountants |
|---|---|---|
| Computer & info systems managers | $192,160 | +103% |
| Finance managers | $186,910 | +97% |
| Lawyers | $185,840 | +96% |
| Personal financial advisors | $156,670 | +65% |
| Software developers | $148,100 | +56% |
| Data scientists | $126,800 | +34% |
| Electrical engineers | $125,100 | +32% |
| Financial & investment analysts | $116,800 | +23% |
| Management analysts | $113,790 | +20% |
| Mechanical engineers | $113,610 | +20% |
| Industrial engineers | $109,900 | +16% |
| Civil engineers | $108,670 | +15% |
| Accountants & auditors | $96,270 | — |
Accountants and auditor salaries lag behind tech managers, finance managers, lawyers, advisors, software developers, data scientists, analysts, consultants and engineers.
Combined with new data on stagnant salaries for staff CPAs, the profession’s so-called talent crisis looks less like a shortage of experienced professionals and more like a systemic shift in firms’ demand for CPAs.
Meanwhile, CPA salaries are lagging well behind the hot new hiring sectors. The nation’s annual wages for 330,500 accountants and auditors average $96,270, less than 3% in annual raises. And it turns negative when adjusted for inflation.
Worse, perhaps, annual salaries for accountants and auditors trail the corporate world, with the widest gap against computer and information systems managers, whose mean pay is 103% higher.
By comparison, CPA firm chief executives are taking home $337,440 annually, averaging 16% increases every year.
A $7,000 haircut
Tax preparers are earning $60,280, up 19.6%. Bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks earned $52,370, up $7,870, or 17.7%.
The industrywide average wage rose faster than the core accounting job. Across all occupations in NAICS 5412, average pay rose from $76,660 in 2021 to $93,230 in 2025, a gain of $16,570, or 21.6%.
The raises give CEOs a huge lead over the professionals who still do the industry’s core production work.
CEOs average 3.5 times more than staff accountants and auditors, 5.6 times more than tax professionals, and 6.4 times more than bookkeeping staff. It has created a CEO-to-accountant gap of $241,170, CEO-to-tax-preparer gap of $277,160, and a CEO-to-bookkeeper gap of $285,070.
Inflation sharpens the divide. In today’s dollars, staff CPAs were earning over $103,000 four years ago, before a slide of more than $7,000 in real dollars.
Growth, systems, management
The pay story covers a large labor market. Accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll firms employ about 1.1 million wage-and-salary workers, up 88,100 jobs, or 8.8%, from 2021.
CPA accountants and auditors still anchor the industry. Firms employ 330,500 accountants and auditors, more than any other occupation in the tax and accounting sector.
But accountants are losing share as firms muscle up with other job titles. With a gain of 3,930 jobs, or 1.2%, since 2021 their share of industry headcounts fell from about 32.6% to 30.3%.
The jobs data point in the same direction as the pay data. Firms are directing their fastest hiring toward jobs tied to growth, systems and management, not toward the traditional accounting-office ladder.
Out with the old
Sales jobs have risen by 12,250, or 77.7%, more than any other occupation in the industry. Firms are adding roughly three sales jobs for every accountant-and-auditor job.
Financial manager jobs are up 11,140, or 23.0%. And computer and information systems manager jobs have gained 8,130, or 163.9%.
Project management specialist jobs have increased by 4,190, or 125.1%. And software developer jobs are up 4,370, or 60.1%.
The technology buildout is running across management, development and analytics.
Computer and information systems managers, software developers and data scientists together have added 14,710 jobs, nearly four times the 3,930-job gain for accountants and auditors.
At the same time, the old office model for the CPA firm is shrinking.
Corporate, commercial, tech-heavy
Firms have cut 6,840 tax preparer jobs, a decline of 8.6%, and 3,670 bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerk jobs, a decline of 3.6%.
They also cut 2,970 receptionist jobs, a decline of 19.4%, and 2,110 bill and account collector jobs, a decline of 37.3%.
Tax preparers, bookkeeping clerks, receptionists and bill collectors together have lost 15,590 jobs since 2021.
The pattern is not a simple staffing shortage. It is staffing substitution.
Accounting firms are moving payroll and headcount toward executives, salespeople, managers, project specialists and technology workers. They are shrinking or barely growing the jobs that prepare returns, post entries, collect bills, answer phones and process office work.
The changing job mix fits a business model that needs more client acquisition, systems integration, project control, automation, advisory capacity and management infrastructure.
The result is a more corporate, more commercial and more technology-heavy accounting firm. Accountants remain central to the work, but the fastest money and the fastest hiring are moving around them.
Accounting Firms Add Jobs, but Not Accountants
Public accounting firms are adding far more jobs in sales, finance, technology, project management and data science than in accounting and auditing. The shift shows firms expanding around new operating roles while traditional accountant headcount barely moves. (2021-2025)
| Position | 2025 | Net Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total employment, number of jobs | 1,091,370 jobs | +88,100 jobs | +8.8% |
| All positions mean wage | $93,230 | +$16,570 | +21.6% |
| All positions median wage | $76,470 | +$15,310 | +25.0% |
| Chief executives, pay | $337,440 | +$151,430 | +81.4% |
| Chief executives, employment | 2,390 jobs | +880 jobs | +58.3% |
| Accountants and auditors, pay | $96,270 | +$9,620 | +11.1% |
| Accountants and auditors, employment | 330,500 jobs | +3,930 jobs | +1.2% |
| Accountants and auditors, employment share | 30.3% | -2.3 pts. | —- |
| Tax preparers, pay | $60,280 | +$9,890 | +19.6% |
| Tax preparers, employment | 72,250 jobs | -6,840 jobs | -8.6% |
| Bookkeeping, accounting, auditing clerks, pay | $52,370 | +$7,870 | +17.7% |
| Bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks, employment | 98,500 jobs | -3,670 jobs | -3.6% |
| Sales representatives, employment | 28,010 jobs | +12,250 jobs | +77.7% |
| Sales representatives, pay | $89,200 | +$15,860 | +21.6% |
| Financial managers, employment | 59,650 jobs | +11,140 jobs | +23.0% |
| Financial managers, pay | $194,360 | +$30,100 | +18.3% |
| Computer and information systems managers, employment | 13,090 jobs | +8,130 jobs | +163.9% |
| Computer and information systems managers, pay | $208,220 | +$29,380 | +16.4% |
| Project management specialists, employment | 7,540 jobs | +4,190 jobs | +125.1% |
| Software developers, employment | 11,640 jobs | +4,370 jobs | +60.1% |
| Data scientists, employment | 3,320 jobs | +2,210 jobs | +199.1% |
| Technology cluster, employment | 28,060 jobs | +14,720 jobs | +111.3% |
| Receptionists and information clerks, employment | 12,320 jobs | -2,970 jobs | -19.4% |
| Bill and account collectors, employment | 3,550 jobs | -2,110 jobs | -37.3% |
| Payroll and timekeeping clerks, employment | 14,010 jobs | -980 jobs | -6.5% |
| CEO-to-accountant wage gap | $241,170 | +$141,810 | 3.5-to-1 |
| CEO-to-tax-preparer wage gap | $277,160 | +$141,540 | 5.6-to-1 |
| CEO-to-bookkeeper wage gap | $285,070 | +$143,560 | 6.4-to-1 |
| Accountant pay in 2025 dollars | $96,270 | -$7,205 | -7.0% real change |