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Do you mind clarifying your point? Are you implying excel didn’t replace accountants? As a CPA and software engineer I can tell you that I left the accounting i

by sotix 1y ago

Do you mind clarifying your point? Are you implying excel didn’t replace accountants? As a CPA and software engineer I can tell you that I left the accounting industry because accountants had been replaced. Wages are abysmally low for a field that required a graduate degree to sit for the CPA exam, and the industry has been in a crisis mode with a shortage of entrants. Accounting has probably been hit significantly harder by offshoring than by tools like excel, but the market for it is not what I would consider healthy. Excel making it easier for offshore talent is also a possibility. Further, the industry has been decimated due to a lack of union / organization. The AICPA allowing people in India and the Philippines to become CPAs has been devastating to US CPA wages. Accordingly I find your original comparison of software engineering to accounting a bit concerning!

yetihehe 1y ago
I clarified in another comment[0]. > and the industry has been in a crisis mode with a shortage of entrants. The accountants I know are well paid. Not everyone of course, there are some that are bad at their job and there are some good ones. Many are essentially working like programming freelancers. There will still be a lot of clients that can't even request AI to do some simple programs for them but are willing to do some small programming work and have some money to pay a freelancing programmer to create some small solution for them. > Accordingly I find your original comparison of software engineering to accounting a bit concerning! In my original post, I was telling that some programmers will indeed be replaced. The programming field will probably migrate like accounting field. It WILL be concerning for a lot of programmers, but programming as a field will be here to stay like accounting. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44086476 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44086476
- sotix 1y ago
  Thanks for the clarification. Personally, I view accounting as a dying industry in America. The number of well paid accountants is few and decreasing each year. If programming follows that path, it will be devastating for the industry. Some statistics on US accounting trends[0]: - As a direct result of enrollment declines in accounting programs, candidates sitting for the CPA exam have also decreased from 48,004 first-time candidates in 2016 to 32,188 in 2021, a drop of 33% - 7% decrease from 2021 to 2022 for the total number of candidates taking the CPA exam - 2022 saw the lowest number of exam takers since 2006 - 30% fewer candidates passed their final section of the CPA exam in 2021 compared to 2016 - the AICPA has stated that roughly 75% of its members are at retirement age - Accounting graduates trended downward in the 2019–2020 academic year, with decreases of 2.8% and 8.4% at the bachelor’s and master’s levels, respectively Having gone through public accounting myself, and knowing hundreds of accountants, It’s not a career path I recommend others follow whereas computer science and software engineering is one I still recommend. Accounting has largely gone overseas. There are not enough partner positions at the big firms or smaller, local firms to supply enough work for accountants. At least software engineering still has the unlimited growth potential that software enables. [0]: https://www.cpajournal.com/2024/11/25/the-accounting-profession-is-in-crisis-2/ https://www.cpajournal.com/2024/11/25/the-accounting-profess...

by sotix 1y ago

yetihehe 1y ago

I clarified in another comment[0]. > and the industry has been in a crisis mode with a shortage of entrants. The accountants I know are well paid. Not everyone of course, there are some that are bad at their job and there are some good ones. Many are essentially working like programming freelancers. There will still be a lot of clients that can't even request AI to do some simple programs for them but are willing to do some small programming work and have some money to pay a freelancing programmer to create some small solution for them. > Accordingly I find your original comparison of software engineering to accounting a bit concerning! In my original post, I was telling that some programmers will indeed be replaced. The programming field will probably migrate like accounting field. It WILL be concerning for a lot of programmers, but programming as a field will be here to stay like accounting. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44086476 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44086476

sotix 1y ago
Thanks for the clarification. Personally, I view accounting as a dying industry in America. The number of well paid accountants is few and decreasing each year. If programming follows that path, it will be devastating for the industry. Some statistics on US accounting trends[0]: - As a direct result of enrollment declines in accounting programs, candidates sitting for the CPA exam have also decreased from 48,004 first-time candidates in 2016 to 32,188 in 2021, a drop of 33% - 7% decrease from 2021 to 2022 for the total number of candidates taking the CPA exam - 2022 saw the lowest number of exam takers since 2006 - 30% fewer candidates passed their final section of the CPA exam in 2021 compared to 2016 - the AICPA has stated that roughly 75% of its members are at retirement age - Accounting graduates trended downward in the 2019–2020 academic year, with decreases of 2.8% and 8.4% at the bachelor’s and master’s levels, respectively Having gone through public accounting myself, and knowing hundreds of accountants, It’s not a career path I recommend others follow whereas computer science and software engineering is one I still recommend. Accounting has largely gone overseas. There are not enough partner positions at the big firms or smaller, local firms to supply enough work for accountants. At least software engineering still has the unlimited growth potential that software enables. [0]: https://www.cpajournal.com/2024/11/25/the-accounting-profession-is-in-crisis-2/ https://www.cpajournal.com/2024/11/25/the-accounting-profess...