State societies nationwide are engaging the next generation of CPAs — is Kentucky next?

The Certified Public Accounting profession is at a crossroads. A dwindling talent pipeline, accelerating retirements, and declining interest in accounting degrees have all contributed to what many now recognize as a full-scale CPA shortage. But while much attention has been paid to licensing requirements, compensation, and the 150-hour rule, a quieter but no less critical truth is emerging: students are deciding their careers — and ruling out accounting — as early as high school.

According to research conducted by the AICPA, nearly 39 percent of CPA exam candidates chose accounting as a career during high school. Another 39 percent made their decision during their first two years of college. This data reinforces a key insight: efforts to rebuild the profession’s pipeline must begin long before college enrollment.

Simple commitment. BIG IMPACT.

We need your help to get access to the high schools you hold near and dear to your heart. The Kentucky Society of CPAs (KyCPA) is launching our initiative “Accounting for the Future” to align with the AICPA’s November 2025 Accounting Opportunities Experience, requesting that our total membership commit to involvement.

This commitment isn’t about making a perfect speech. It’s about making a presentation about your education and career journey and the accounting profession you are a part of—in a format that works for YOU. Whether you're a seasoned partner, a recent graduate, or somewhere in between, you have a role to play. Commit to speaking in a classroom. Introduce a young person to the career that’s given so much to you.

Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) research indicates the most popular influencer of career choices was “an adult family member or adult mentor in a student’s community.” While less than 40 percent of students in the new CAQ research said they personally knew someone who works in accounting, the research three years ago found that such connections can be crucial, as 76 percent of accounting majors/minors personally knew an accountant.

The CPA shortage is not just a numbers problem – it’s a visibility problem. Let’s make sure students in Kentucky see what this profession has to offer. The future of our accounting profession may depend on it.

A path forward for Kentucky

To ensure the vitality of the profession here in the Commonwealth, the KyCPA is exploring the development of our own high school-focused pipeline initiatives. With talent shortages already impacting hiring and succession planning for firms and organizations statewide, there is no better time for Kentucky CPAs to take the lead.

Across the country, state CPA societies are launching ambitious high school engagement programs to expose young people to the opportunities and impact of a CPA career. For instance, the Indiana CPA Society runs INCPAS Scholars, a no-cost, year-long mentoring and exposure program for high school juniors from underrepresented communities. Participants visit firms, attend career development workshops, and receive personal mentoring from CPAs.

You might be wondering—why can’t the KyCPA staff lead this initiative on their own? The reality is, we face significant limitations in both staffing and access. Currently, just one staff member supports the Accounting Career Opportunities Committee along with other high school and college outreach efforts. Despite best efforts, establishing consistent and meaningful access to high schools across the Commonwealth has proven challenging. While some connections have been made, they are not nearly sufficient to address the urgent pipeline concerns our profession faces.

Moreover, only a small number of KyCPA members have historically been available to serve as speakers when requests arise from schools, colleges, and youth-focused nonprofit organizations. Yet we know this: there are many more members with strong ties to high schools—whether through your alma mater, schools attended by your children or grandchildren, or the boards and committees on which you serve.

This effort is not merely recruitment tactics. It represents an investment in the long-term health of our profession, our firms, and the financial integrity of the institutions and communities we serve.

Commit and set your next steps:

  • Accept the KyCPA’s call to action.
  • Make arrangements with the high school(s) you are connected with to present during the month long KyCPA November 2025 Accounting Opportunities Experience initiative.
  • To get KyCPA’s presentation materials and to let us know which school you’re visiting, click here. 

When you choose to give back to your communities and foster meaningful, authentic dialogue between professionals and students, we can rebrand accounting as a career that leads to stability, upward mobility and profound purpose.

Questions?

Contact Zoe Sapin, Student Membership Coordinator, at zsapin@kycpa.org

About the authors: Kim Burse, CPA, is a member of the KyCPA Accounting Career Opportunities Committee and Haley Edlin, CPA, is the committee chair for the KyCPA Diversity and Inclusion Committee.