<p>I have been coming on to these boards for a while now and I have noticed that after Taxguy's big Accounting thread, there has been a significant rise in the number of Accounting majors on these boards. </p>
<p>But what's going on? Will future accountants be seeing even more decreasing salaries?</p>
<p>I wonder if such a non-controversial thread will get any replies… :rolleyes:</p>
<p>If we can get enough accountants to form a voting bloc, perhaps we can help ram through an even more punishing version of Sarbanes Oxley(a.k.a. The Accountant Full Employment Act). Perhaps give some tax penalties to private firms for refusing to have enormous financial reporting operations and auditing needs.</p>
<p>:) I also had this question in mind and still have. Yes, out of all business majors, it seems that more and more people are choosing accounting major. I have noticed it even in my college, where every second student is in accounting program. I do not know what will happen in the future, but it is definitely NOT good. I think that after a couple of years, we may see the rising competition between accountatnts. I am afraid that soon, with a huge amount of accountants, the job requirements will be restricted, which means that ONLY those, who have an advanced degrees and professional certification, would be able to FIND A JOB. I am an accounting major myself LOL 
,so I’m concerned about that too</p>
<p>If you’re working for the IRS as a revenue agent / officer, you don’t need to worry about competition. You’re set for life as long as you don’t do anything stupid (like getting fired).</p>
<p>Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-2011:</p>
<p>Accountants and auditors are expected to experience much faster than average employment growth from 2008-18. Job opportunities should be favorable; accountants and auditors who have a professional certification, especially CPAs, should have the best prospects.</p>
<p>Employment change. Employment of accountants and auditors is expected to grow by 22 percent between 2008 and 2018, which is much faster than the average for all occupations. This occupation will have a very large number of new jobs arise, about 279,400 over the projections decade. An increase in the number of businesses, changing financial laws and corporate governance regulations, and increased accountability for protecting an organization’s stakeholders will drive job growth. </p>
<hr>
<p>How many baby boomer accountants will retire in the next ten year? A lot. If you have the CPA and skills, you will be set.</p>
<p>Toshtemirov, do you go to a small school where there are only a few business programs? I can’t see a large state universities business school have a majority of accounting majors.</p>
<p>My large school has a slight increase. But finance and management still dominate. It seems like there are plenty of accounting majors who want to go into finance instead too. But judging by all the accounting threads on these boards, I want to know how it is at other schools.</p>
<p>[2010</a> Accounting Jobs Outlook | Accounting-financial-tax.com offers bookkeeping journal entry basic accounting financial accounting management accounting tax accounting cash management accounting cost accounting financial ratio budget forecasting](<a href=“http://accounting-financial-tax.com/2009/12/2010-accounting-jobs-outlook/]2010”>http://accounting-financial-tax.com/2009/12/2010-accounting-jobs-outlook/)</p>
<p>I can’t believe what I just read, I’m changing my major to nursing, (or masonry)</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.vedic-astrology-prediction.com/articles/job-market-trends-2010.html[/url]”>http://www.vedic-astrology-prediction.com/articles/job-market-trends-2010.html</a></p>
<p>Ok now I’m reading conflicting information. How will the prospects be for accounting grads over the next few years (2010-2013)?</p>
<p>If accountants are in demand I would assume that internships would be easier to come by for students?</p>
<p>Guys, don’t you undertsand?? People tend to choose what is better. Right? Now, it says almost everywhere that accounting is one of the best business majors to have, thus, people believe it and go for it. What I’m trying to say is that everybody knows that accounting has a GREAT demand, even in this type of economy, and THATS WHY people start to rush into accounting. This happens not only with accounting, but Nursing and Pharmacy fields. If you didn’t notice, it’s already happend with LAWYERS. Right now, lawyers who have 8 or more years of education can not find any jobs because there are just too many of them. And you are saying to me that it CAN NOT happen to accounting? Well, “Impossible is nothing” , it may be just a matter of time, before it happens, and I am afraid of it. </p>
<p>mustangdude, my college has 9 business majors and accounting is a number one, in enrollment, then goes finance and others.</p>
<p>Those aren’t fair comparisons. Nursing for one is ALWAYS in demand, even with a bad economy, their unemployement rate will never reach what lawyers have.</p>
<p>Accounting likewise (although not as “bad” a job as nursing) has some characteristics to it that naturally deter many persons from the occupation - regardless of the economic opportunity. </p>
<p>Pharmacy is a “good” “clean” job as opposed to nursing, so the market is now flooded. Accounting is in-between Pharmacy and nursing in this respect, it isn’t “bad” or “good”, its in the middle. So I beleive the prospects may dim a bit, but not as much as the lawyers current job market is.</p>
<p>I think there will be increased competition, but the market will never be “flooded” with accountants. I believe certain soft factors (not saying they are right or wrong) will prevent this, along with the baby boomer retirement. For example, unlike Lawyers, which are traditionally seen as a profession for the wealthy, or Pharmacists who have the “nobility” of being part of the health care profession on their side. Accounting doesn’t have nearly the glamor of these two fields, and often has a negative perception, which deters people. Plus, accounting is relatively tough as a major, and not everyone is good at manipulating numbers, which serves as a barrier to entry.</p>
<p>So yeah, there will be more accounting majors, but I doubt the market will ever be completely flooded either.</p>
<p>Creamgethamoney,
I totally agree with you about the “soft factors” and that not everyone likes and respects accounting as a profession. I think it is the only our hope from being flooded lol :)</p>
<p>Accounting can potentially have a glut. However, I wouldn’t worry about all the larger number of accounting majors for several reasons:
<ol>
<li><p>Even for those that graduate in accounting, they won’t find a good job unless they have a decent personality and/or interviewing skills. This will screen out some.</p></li>
<li><p>The CPA has about a 48-52% passing rate on each of its four parts. Thus, less than 15% of the people who take the test pass it on the first shot and some eventually give up or don’t even take the exam. This weeds out folks too.</p></li>
<li><p>Moreover, many people leave the profession because they find that they are not suitable for the job. They might like the work or find that they don’t have a strong work ethic ,which is needed in accounting and law. Many kids today don’t really know what a good work ethic is like. </p></li>
<li><p>Accounting has a number of specialized, burgeoning fields. For example, forensic accounting is booming, and those with these skills should have no problem finding jobs.</p></li>
<li><p>Even if there is a glut of accountants, majoring in accounting opens up many doors that might not be available otherwise. Most employers know that accounting is a tough major. Moreover, it gives these students a very strong grounding in all business areas.Accounting is, after all, the language of business.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Bottom line: I am not worried one bit about the larger number of folks majoring in accounting.</p>
<p>Good points taxguy. I would second all of those that you mentioned. I posted a thread a while back that contained an AICPA study related to expected job outlook for the accounting profession. As long as you are a good people person and can sucessfully pass the CPA exam early on, there should be nothing to worry about. It should also be noted that there will be a large number of upper level CPA’s retiring in the near future, which will open up jobs down the ladder.</p>
<p>I feel bad for all these kids… I really do…</p>
<p>There’s a glut for everything that doesn’t potentially involve other people’s bodily fluids…</p>
<p>taxguy makes everything sound so difficult.</p>