Iowa addresses accountant shortage, expands eligibility for state jobs

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Accountants and auditors with the Workplace of Auditor of State now not want a four-year diploma.

“There’s at the moment a nationwide scarcity of accountants and auditors, and Iowa’s no exception,” mentioned Jennifer Bradley, Vice President of Tutorial Affairs for Kirkwood Neighborhood Faculty.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates there might be about 136,000 jobs in accounting and auditing yearly for the following ten years.

Rob Sand, Iowa Auditor of State, added, “The auditing and the accounting industries in the USA have skilled a 17% drop within the workforce over the past three years. We’re trying to find our bodies, we want individuals in our workplace to do the work.”

Monday, Sand visited Kirkwood Neighborhood Faculty to announce that, to get these our bodies, individuals with an affiliate’s diploma in accounting can now get a job within the state auditor’s workplace.

“Our workplace traditionally has employed round 100 people, the overwhelming majority of them being accountants. Traditionally, we have now required these accountants to have a four-year faculty diploma. Why?” requested Sand.

Bradley clarified that an individual nonetheless does want a four-year diploma and extra to turn out to be a Licensed Public Accountant (CPA), however an individual can nonetheless be thought-about an accountant with the CPA designation.

“To be a CPA, sure, it’s a must to have a four-year diploma and sit for a nationwide examination,” mentioned Bradley. “However to be an accountant in a wide range of companies and industries in our metropolis, you do not want a four-year diploma, no.”

TV9 reached out to a number of accounting companies with areas in Japanese Iowa to see if they’re additionally experiencing a scarcity of certified staff, and to study in the event that they’d be open to hiring individuals with no bachelor’s to handle that scarcity. The companies had been both too small to be impacted by the scarcity or they didn’t comply with an interview.

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