Low pay is a challenge for accounting, but bigger salaries aren't the only solution

Finance and accounting leaders have been dealing with a talent shortage for almost a decade,  one that grows each year. 

According to a 2025 finance and accounting survey, the average U.S. organization has five open accounting roles to fill, more than twice as many as in 2024. Although year-over-year enrollment in accounting degree programs rose 12% last year, those students are several years from moving into the talent pipeline. Accounting leaders, and their overworked existing employees, can't wait that long for a solution.

Pay is a big factor in young talent's shift away from accounting. Twenty-six percent of CFOs and other finance and accounting leaders shared in the same survey that workers' salary expectations were their biggest obstacle to hiring. 

A comparison of average salaries from May 2023 (the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data available at this writing), shows why many young adults who might have chosen accounting a decade ago are now opting for analytical careers with higher average pay. Data scientists earn about $28,000 more per year, on average, than accountants and auditors, while software developers earn an average of $47,000 more.

Those are daunting pay gaps for most organizations, especially when the economic forecast is uncertain. However, accounting leaders have other levers they can pull in order to hire and retain talent.

Work-life balance and learning can attract talent too

Gen Z and millennial talent prioritize work-life balance and growth opportunities over pay, according to a 2024 Deloitte survey. A quarter of Gen Z employees and 31% of millennials who took part in the survey said that "good work-life balance" was the top reason they chose their current employer. Twenty-one percent of each age group ranked "learning and development opportunities" as their top decision factor. Only 19% of Gen Z employees said "high salary/benefits" were the main factor in their choice about where to work, and 22% of millennials said the same.

This information gives accounting leaders a path forward in terms of hiring and retaining talent: Find a way to reduce workloads, especially during tax seasons and other peaks, and give employees the chance to work with new technologies. Companies that can do this also have a chance to benefit from word of mouth promotion. The Deloitte survey found that employees who are satisfied with their learning opportunities and work-life balance are more likely to recommend their employer to other jobseekers.

Improving work-life balance with AI and automation

AI-powered automation has the potential to handle repetitive accounting tasks, which can relieve pressure on existing employees. Using AI and automation this way can also make open roles more appealing to job candidates by reducing the amount of rote labor the role requires — tasks that can ideally be replaced with more engaging tasks.

Accounting, in general, was not among the fields that adopted AI early, but it's starting to catch up. Twenty-one percent of finance and accounting leaders in the CFO survey agreed that "streamlining processes through technology and reducing manual workloads" are top strategic priorities this year.

Among the leaders whose companies are already using AI with automation, 38% said it's "helping teams work more efficiently but not replacing jobs," while 23% said it's "reducing the need for certain roles." More than half of these leaders said automation currently has the largest impact on their company's accounts receivable and accounts payable operations, while nearly one-third said the biggest impact so far is on payroll, general ledger, and financial close operations.

Gen AI offers leading-edge learning opportunities

Using AI and automation for basic activities in these areas doesn't just help employers prevent burnout. It also frees up time for employee skill-building, career development and mentorship, which can improve organizations' internal candidate pipeline for more advanced roles. Some of that training and coaching should focus on using gen AI and thinking strategically about potential new applications. This approach can help employers stand out at a time when about half of Gen Z and millennial workers say they're not getting enough gen AI training on the job.

When using and learning about gen AI become part of accounting jobs, these roles may have more appeal to talent that might otherwise pursue careers in data analytics or software development. In addition, an accounting team that's skilled and strategic with gen AI may be able to find more ways to use it to make processes more efficient over time. That could result in cost savings that can be reallocated to compensation — an important consideration because pay is among the top three reasons younger workers gave for leaving their last job, along with burnout and lack of opportunities.

Offering competitive pay is always an advantage in a talent shortage, but it's not the only way companies can attract and retain accounting talent. Using AI-backed automation and exploring gen AI use cases where appropriate can help bring better work-life balance to accounting roles and give employees the learning opportunities they look for when they're deciding where to work.