The Philippines is currently facing a shortage of accountants, a situation that is expected to worsen.
The Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) reported that local accounting firms have reached a tipping point and have begun hiring non-certified public accountants to address the widening gap that emerged five years ago.
This is linked to a decreasing number of students enrolling in accounting-related courses, along with emerging trends that are further depleting the talent pool available to traditional accounting firms.
The PICPA added that the country has produced just around 199,000 CPAs in the past 100 years.
For instance, Marvin Galang, co-founder of Beppo, a financial mobile app designed for freelancers, expressed concern on Friday over a survey revealing a 41 percent decline in student enrollment in local accounting programs.
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He also said that the talent shortage seems to be a problem across the globe and not just in the Philippines, with the demand for accountants, auditors and financial professionals continuing to rise due to more complex regulatory environments, increasing business activities and the need for accurate reporting.
He also noted that the talent shortage appears to be a global issue, not limited to The Philippines, as the demand for accountants, auditors, and financial professionals continues to grow. This increase is driven by more complex regulatory environments, rising business activities, and the heightened need for accurate reporting.
“Subsequently, we also saw a decline of 35 percent in the number of [certified public accountant] examinees from 2019 to 2023,” Galang said during a conference focused on the local accounting industry.
“This trend is compounded by rigorous examination requirements and a growing perception that accounting is less attractive compared to other career paths,” he added.
“A significant portion of the current accounting workforce is approaching retirement, exacerbating the need for retirement and creating the shortage. Younger professionals are not entering the field in sufficient numbers to replace them,” he said.
According to the PICPA national president, Erwin Alcala “That’s a big problem now of the profession because several of the CPAs here in the Philippines are migrating abroad, or they are working online for foreign companies,” he said.
