Why are CPAs declining?

Quick answer: The CPA pipeline shrank because fewer students chose accounting and fewer of them sat the exam, not because demand fell. The AICPA's 2025 Trends report counted 55,152 accounting bachelor's and master's graduates in the 2023 to 2024 school year, down 6.6 percent, after drops of 9.6 and 7.4 percent in the two years before. The 150 credit hour licensing rule, which adds a fifth year of college, is the barrier the profession is now moving to remove. Demand held up: the US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects accountant and auditor jobs to grow 5 percent from 2025 to 2035.

The pipeline shrank, not the demand

The AICPA's 2025 Trends report, released in October 2025, shows the decline at each stage. Bachelor's degrees in accounting fell 3.3 percent to 40,817 in the 2023 to 2024 school year. Master's degrees in accounting or taxation fell about 15 percent to 14,335.

The exam numbers swung harder. New CPA exam candidates went from 42,626 in 2023 to 28,082 in 2024, a drop of about a third. Part of that is timing. 2023 was a spike, as candidates rushed to sit the exam before its new format arrived in 2024. But fewer graduates means fewer candidates a few years later, whatever the exam looks like.

Meanwhile, employers still need the work done. BLS counted 1,595,200 accountants and auditors in 2025, with a median pay of $83,680. It projects 5 percent growth to 2035, which it calls faster than the average for all occupations (3 percent), and about 115,300 openings a year. Many of those openings come from people who retire or leave the field.

So when people ask why CPAs are declining, the real answer is a supply problem. The number of people entering the profession fell while the need for them did not.

The 150 credit hour rule

For decades the standard route to a CPA license required 150 semester hours of college. BLS notes that is 30 hours more than a typical four year bachelor's degree. In practice it means a fifth year of school, with the tuition and the lost year of salary that come with it. A student who can start a finance or analytics job after four years has a clear reason to skip it.

The profession has moved to fix this. In September 2024 the AICPA and NASBA proposed changes to the Uniform Accountancy Act, the model law states use for CPA licensing. The proposal set exam eligibility at a bachelor's degree and defined an additional pathway to a license through work experience, with the stated aim to address accounting's talent needs.

States followed. Texas put its alternative pathway into effect on August 1, 2026, and the Texas Society of CPAs reported that more than 42 states had embraced an alternative pathway as of August 2026. The details still differ by state, so anyone planning a license should check their own state board.

The entry level work is changing

There is a quieter factor too. A lot of first year accounting work has been repetitive: matching bank lines, keying in bills, chasing documents, and ticking schedules. BLS says that technology such as cloud computing and AI is expected to automate routine tasks like data entry, which makes advisory and analysis work more prominent. It does not expect this to reduce overall demand for accountants.

We think that is the right read. Automating the routine work does not remove the need for a licensed CPA. Any accountant who files a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission must still hold a CPA license, according to BLS. What changes is how a new accountant spends the first few years. Less time on data entry, more time reviewing exceptions, talking to clients, and making judgment calls.

Is the decline turning around?

There are early signs that it is. In June 2026 the AICPA reported that four year undergraduate accounting enrollment rose 8.9 percent to 205,180 in spring 2026, the third straight yearly increase, based on National Student Clearinghouse data. It also reported that first time CPA exam candidates in 2025 reached their highest level since 2018, setting aside the 2023 spike.

Enrollment takes years to turn into licensed CPAs, though. A student who enrolled in 2026 will not hold a license for several years. Firms short on staff today cannot wait for that.

What firms can do in the meantime

The practical move for a firm or finance team is to take the most repetitive work off the people they already have. Bank reconciliation, accounts payable data entry, and invoice chasing are well suited to AI agents, as long as a person still approves the entries the agent is unsure about. AI does not sign audit opinions, give tax advice, or take responsibility for the numbers. A CPA does.

That is the model behind our AI accountant at Basepoint. It runs bookkeeping, accounts payable, invoice chasing, and bank reconciliation in Xero, QuickBooks, and Gmail, and it sets aside anything uncertain for a person to confirm. The goal is not fewer accountants. It is getting more out of the ones a firm can hire.

Sources

• AICPA, Accounting firms report strong hiring outlook, AICPA report finds (2025 Trends report, October 27, 2025): https://www.aicpa-cima.com/news/article/accounting-firms-report-strong-hiring-outlook-aicpa-report-finds
• AICPA, 2025 Trends report download: https://www.aicpa-cima.com/professional-insights/download/2025-trends-report
• AICPA, U.S. accounting undergraduate enrollment continues to outpace growth rate for business majors overall (June 9, 2026): https://www.aicpa-cima.com/news/article/u-s-accounting-undergraduate-enrollment-continues-to-outpace-growth-rate-for-business-majors-overall
• AICPA, AICPA and NASBA seek input on proposed Uniform Accountancy Act changes (September 30, 2024): https://www.aicpa-cima.com/news/article/aicpa-and-nasba-seek-input-on-proposed-uniform-accountancy-act-changes
• US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Accountants and Auditors: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/accountants-and-auditors.htm
• Texas Society of CPAs, A New Era for CPA Licensure in Texas and a Look Ahead (September 2026): https://www.tx.cpa/news/todays-cpa-magazine/current-issue/article/september-october-2026/2026/09/03/a-new-era-for-cpa-licensure-in-texas-and-a-look-ahead