Accountants call for overhaul of ‘outdated industry perception’

The accounting industry is suffering a talent shortage and image crisis based on a lack of information, motivation and awareness.

Chartered accountant and business owner, Joe Kaleb, said he had had enough of the negative perception often portrayed and associated with the accounting profession after having been in the industry for almost 38 years.

To help tackle this, Kaleb established his ‘Make Accounting Great Again’ campaign to attract young accountants to the profession and alter the negative stigma surrounding it.

On a recent Under the Hood podcast episode, Kaleb said his campaign title had no political affiliation, but was rather a mechanism to capture people’s attention.

“Look, I love this profession. I’ve been in it a long time and I just enjoy giving back as much as I’ve taken over the years,” he said.

“The campaign tagline is simple – just to inspire the next generation of accountants. It’s that simple.”

“To do that, we have to challenge the outdated perceptions of accounting, and we have to also showcase what accountants do. What a wonderful, exciting, dynamic profession we all work in.”

Kaleb described the Make Accounting Great Again movement as a “grassroots” campaign that he would continue to build and nurture on the side of his everyday activities and accounting business.

The main goal for Kaleb over the last 12 months had been to spread awareness for the movement and connect with likeminded accountants who were also willing to join him in spreading the crucial message.

Kaleb highlighted that his accounting experience and knowledge allowed him to easily understand what he needed to do to create this business and build it from scratch, from trademarking the name to structuring it effectively, building a website, establishing e-commerce, and marketing it thoroughly.

The ability to do this was something that Kaleb said needed to be taught to students in school and universities. Accounting skills could unlock entrepreneurial potential and capabilities, which could give any individual endless opportunities.

“We haven’t been selling the profession conversation well enough. This problem isn’t limited to Australia, it’s a worldwide issue. You know, it’s not something that we’re going to solve in six to 12 months. This is something that will be an ongoing process,” he said.

“I just think we haven’t been selling it at schools, and that’s where we really need to sell accounting a lot more. I don’t know if the career people they have at high schools these days know a lot about accounting. I mean, they are probably aware of all the negative perceptions rather than all the positive aspects.”

Kaleb said he would continue to work on Make Accounting Great Again and needed other accountants to join the mission in changing the perception of the industry.

“This is a call to action. I’m going to be asking for other accountants, other firms to help me along the way in any way they can. I think the big thing for young people that accounting can provide is professional development. We need to be hungry to learn, because we can never know everything. Invest in your career.”