CLH Joins Nationwide Drive to Expand Accounting Talent Pipeline
For years, the accounting industry’s skilled workforce was steadily declining, with many experienced accountants nearing retirement and the industry shifting from technical accounting to client advisory and strategic business consulting. In recent years, the accounting industry has been proactive to develop the future workforce, including collaboration with practitioners. When the Indiana CPA Society (INCPAS) invited CLH, CPAs & Consultants (CLH) to become a partner to implement programming for pipeline development, CLH enthusiastically embraced the opportunity.
Having been impacted by the declining workforce, CLH had already initiated a long-term strategy over the last five years to educate young people about career possibilities in accounting. After becoming a pipeline partner with INCPAS in 2024, members of the firm ramped up their reach to bridge the gap between the classroom and the real world of accounting.
“These efforts in reaching our youth are not for immediate gain or reward for our firm and are not recruiting efforts to build our own company’s workforce,” said Stephanie Russell, CLH Director of Operations. Russell spearheads the firm’s pipeline development goals. She continued, “This is about bringing awareness to the accounting industry, even to those at very young ages. It’s about breaking stereotypes and sharing the potential benefits of a career in accounting.”
The firm’s outreach was in response to the waning interest nationwide in the accounting field over the last several years. In a trends report issued in 2023, the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA) reported that bachelor degree completions in accounting decreased by 7.8% in 2021-2022 following a steady decline of 1-3% since 2015.
Ali Tonini, Vice President for Pipeline and Outreach for INCPAS, said the accounting industry workforce has been decreasing due to a combination of factors, including a reduction in the overall population, increasing competition among available majors, more demanding educational and work experience requirements to be licensed, and higher college costs.
“It is so important that firms like CLH are coming to the table with us and working collectively to solve this workforce issue,” said Tonini. “Even though their dollars are not coming back to them by having a new employee for their efforts right now, they are working to help the profession grow for the future. Pipeline partners play a role in ushering people into a long-term path to becoming a CPA.”
Those efforts are paying off, according to new data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, which shows that undergraduate accounting enrollments saw an increase in collegiate accounting enrollment in 2024, up 12% from 2023.
Building Tomorrow
Throughout 2024, CLH team members were active in many events, including a career fair and expo for sixth-grade students from Michigan City Area Schools. Russell, along with Colin Flanigan and Matthew Flanigan, who were interns at the time and have since accepted full-time positions with CLH, spoke to students about opportunities in accounting, including job duties, pay rates, and technology. The event was organized by Kristi Davis, K-12 Coordinator for Counseling Support Services for Michigan City Area Schools.
In the Duneland School Corporation, CLH team members Edward Simokaitis, Jordan Sheets, Wyatt Stacy, and Victor Hernandez volunteered their time during the Duneland Chamber of Commerce’s annual 8th Grade Reality Check. The event seeks to prepare students for success after graduation by helping students navigate real-life circumstances such as taxes, housing, and childcare based on a set salary in their chosen profession.
CLH members also educated high school students, including a career fair at Chesterton High School, which was attended by Russell and CLH team member Ryin Ott. As part of the firm’s Pipeline Partnership with INCPAS, Simokaitis and Hernandez presented information about various careers in accounting to three groups of students at Hammond Central High School during the organization’s CPA Week. Russell and CLH team member Jessica Mitchell partnered again with Davis for the Find Your Inspiration career fair at Michigan City High School.
At the collegiate level, Russell indicated CLH’s approach blended pipeline development with some recruitment. Team members Hernandez and Ryan Cetnar took part in Purdue Northwest’s Accounting mixer for students in the school’s College of Business. Additionally, CLH’s Jeffrey Whittler, Allison Leffert, and Reid Schroeder met with students at Ball State University during the university’s Accounting Career Fair.
Ivy Tech Community College students received an up-close-and-personal look at CLH with a trip to the firm’s Valparaiso office. The day-in-the-life of an accountant event included a presentation, personal career story-sharing time, and job shadowing opportunities. In addition, Russell said CLH continued the firm’s paid internship programs throughout the year.
“It was certainly an exciting year for us as we had an opportunity to share all of the wonderful things about our industry. We are already looking forward to what we have in store for 2025, including virtual discussions with students through INCPAS and regional career fairs,” said Russell. “It is extremely important to us at CLH that we continue to invest this time now to reap the benefits of a flourishing accounting workforce in the future.”