Accounting starting salaries are going up — but not faster than inflation

"ACCOUNTING SALARIES RISE AS TALENT PIPELINE SHRINKS" — that was the headline this past week in a major accounting news publication. So, are all our problems solved? Sadly, no. 😢

Jason Bramwell over at CPA Practice Advisor dug into the data from Robert Half that prompted this headline. His analysis found that starting salaries for tax are increasing 3.6%, and starting salaries for audit are going up 3.8% in 2024.

That's almost the same as the current rate of inflation — 3.7%.

So, is the accounting talent crisis leading to real, meaningful salary increases? Will salary increases solve our problem? I'm afraid not — at least not yet.

If you've seen other data that says otherwise, I'd love to see it! I'd love to have a more optimistic outlook.

Check out the CPA Practice Advisor article for yourself: https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2023/10/03/robert-half-public-accounting-salary-projections-2024/95315/