150 Hours Revisited: The Profession Needs a Facelift

What if pipeline issues aren't related to education or experience, but rather just image?With Steven SacksThe NEW Fundamentals: Thriving in DisruptionWhile firms and accountants continue to lament staffing challenges and research continues into finding workable solutions for firms and finance teams of all sizes, one idea that is beginning to gain more traction has less to do with education versus experience and more to do with marketing.David Bergstein, CPA, CITP, CGMA, discussed the profession's future, specifically the ongoing discourse surrounding the perceived necessity of a fifth year in accounting education.SHOW NOTES: 150 Hours Revisited: The Profession Needs a FaceliftMORE SACKS: How Do You Value Your Most Important Asset? | Which is Better: A Year of Education or A Year of Experience? | Sell Service, Not Hours | Private Equity vs. the CPA Firm Partnership | CAS or CAAS? Getting Clarity | Fine-Tuning the Subscription Fee Model | When Cyber-Crime Hits Close to Home | How to Build a Winning Proposal | Six Ways to Fix Your Firm Agreement | The Great Resignation or a Reshuffling? | Listen to Learn | Build the Framework to a Solution with Five Answers | Try for Success, Not a Win Bergstein challenged the conventional wisdom surrounding the 150-hour requirement for CPA eligibility, suggesting that the industry's primary challenge lay not in the academic threshold but in the misperception of accounting as a lackluster career. "We're beating a horse that's almost dead," he remarked, questioning the emphasis on extending education rather than redefining the profession's image.