Misperceptions of ‘boring’ accountancy jobs deter many from joining a booming sector

After graduating with a science degree, Ms Gan Linhui, then 22, felt she resonated more with the accounting elective she took during her undergraduate years.

Encouraged by her mother, an accountant herself, Ms Gan decided to transition into the sector. She juggled faithful class attendance and rigorous exam preparations to acquire professional qualifications with a demanding work schedule, and sacrificed holiday trips during the initial years.

Ms Gan subsequently joined Mazars LLP, a global professional services firm with over 350 professionals in Singapore.

Today, the 36-year-old serves as a senior technical manager, providing accounting and auditing standards advice to her team, and has found both passion and meaning in her career as an accounting specialist.

Ms Gan’s journey to becoming an accountant is uncommon. Even the number of those who pursue accountancy as a first degree is shrinking. Cohort sizes of those in Singapore’s autonomous universities have dropped by more than 10 per cent since 2018.

This is a worrying trend.

Trusted stewards with a critical role

Accountants do far more than just number-crunching, but there remains the misperception that they are trapped in boring, mind-numbing desk jobs.

Accountants serve important roles as trusted stewards of a company’s finances and strategic advisers whom companies’ board members and chief executives rely on. They are experts on a range of financial matters – from ensuring regulatory compliance and driving organisational efficiency, to assisting businesses in navigating challenges and capitalising on emerging opportunities.

In a wider context, accountants play a critical role in upholding Singapore’s reputation as a trusted business and financial hub, maintaining Singapore as a magnet for international businesses seeking a strategic foothold in Asia-Pacific.

They are the backbone of financial reporting and compliance. Without the astute oversight and the trained eye of a professional accountant, businesses can falter, potentially impacting the livelihoods of many.

Today, accountants provide expertise and advice across a wide spectrum of functions, including financial planning and analysis, treasury, taxation and corporate governance.

The reality is a career in accountancy offers a blend of growth, fulfilment and stability in a volatile and complex world.

Figures from the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) show that more than a quarter of its members are in corporate leadership positions, including C-suite, board of directors and senior management roles.

New areas of growth are also creating fresh job opportunities for accountants, including in emerging areas such as sustainability, information technology audit, business valuation and financial forensics.

The latter, for example, is a growing field that requires an investigative, curious mind, coupled with financial audit skills to detect white-collar crimes, such as fraud and embezzlement.

Challenges in talent attraction

The Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority’s (Acra) Accounting Entities Survey 2022, which surveyed 218 accounting entities in Singapore, reported a 22 per cent increase in unfilled positions, reaching 2,893 vacancies, indicating a robust demand for such talent amid the manpower crunch. Common factors discouraging people from joining the accountancy sector include low starting salaries and long working hours.

Yet, contrary to the misconception that accountants consistently work long hours throughout the year, the extended hours are typically seasonal, in line with filing and other regulatory obligations.

Another common misperception about the profession relates to technology.

Those not familiar may not fully appreciate the value of human expertise and judgment required in the profession. The integration of advanced technologies actually augments accountants’ capabilities, enabling them to focus on higher-value tasks, such as strategic decision-making and providing valuable business insights.

As such, technology’s evolution offers accountants new tools to leverage their expertise innovatively, ensuring their ongoing relevance and impact to decision-making by businesses.

Transforming accountancy careers

Stakeholders have responded affirmatively to the call for action to deal with the manpower crunch. A few major accounting firms have

already announced higher starting salaries

for accountancy graduates to ensure that the profession remains competitive, relative to other sectors competing for talent from the same pool.

It is also worth noting that due to the structured progression pathways in accounting firms, the salaries of accountants typically outpace those of their peers within the first few years of their careers.

Based on the same 2022 survey by Acra, a manager in an accounting firm could earn close to $7,000 in five to seven years after graduation.

To manage employees’ workload, firms could also consider leveraging technology to improve productivity or make operational adjustments, such as front-loading work to the non-peak season, and keep in line with filing and other regulatory obligations.

NTU has launched a new four-year work-study degree with new features such as a 30-week internship component for practical industry exposure, and opportunities to work or study overseas. This will provide students with valuable hands-on experience, allowing them to apply their classroom knowledge to real-world scenarios and expand their professional networks.

The Accountancy Workforce Review Committee’s recommendations

announced on May 10

aim to promote and cultivate a sustainable pipeline of high-quality talent for the accountancy profession. 

Acra and ISCA have also been working closely to enhance the accessibility of the Singapore Chartered Accountant Qualification (SCAQ). This includes extending eligibility to all polytechnic graduates to make it more inclusive, and providing greater recognition to prior work experience that can be counted towards the three-year practical experience requirements for the SCAQ. Up to 18 months of prior work experience will now be recognised, from 12 months previously.

At the end of the day, these measures are meant to ensure that the accountancy workforce remains vibrant, allowing Singapore to uphold its stature as a trusted business and financial hub. In time to come, we will hopefully have more stories like Ms Gan’s to share.