Many students graduate from university with little or no awareness that governmental accounting is a viable career option. And the shortage of accounting graduates who pursue employment in the public sector means governments struggle to hire CPAs.
A primary reason students know so little about governmental accounting is that many universities have scaled back or eliminated dedicated governmental accounting courses. In some cases, that reduction is due to schools being unable to find instructors with governmental expertise.
You can effect change and increase the visibility of governmental accounting careers by speaking or teaching on college campuses — you could perhaps begin at your alma mater. Professors and students stand to gain from your real-world perspective about a rewarding career as a public sector CPA.
Inspire future accountants by speaking at universities
Students may be open to considering a career in government, but how can they be if they aren’t exposed to the possibility?
Hearing from a practicing public sector CPA can be inspirational and dispel misconceptions about public sector work. You could provide examples of your weekly or monthly tasks that demonstrate the breadth of governmental accounting.
There are a variety of ways to engage with a local university, including guest lecturing, speaking at an accounting club meeting or a Beta Alpha Psi event, or participating in a career fair or panel discussion.
Although your focus is to put government careers on students’ radar, there could be an added benefit: You may meet promising interns or potential hires for your CPA firm or governmental entity.
Champion governmental accounting courses
The report Public Sector CPA Resources: The Current Landscape and Recommendations for the Future, produced by the AICPA and the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers (NASACT), illustrates that many accounting students “do not learn much about governmental accounting and auditing” in school and rarely hear about government career paths.
Recommendations in the report to correct this situation include increasing the number of classes offered by colleges and universities that address governmental topics as well as elevating the visibility of government careers through campus events.
As a practitioner, you can advocate for governmental accounting education. You could begin by expressing your appreciation that governmental accounting courses are offered at your alma mater or local university. Departments often respond to stakeholders’ input, especially when employers — governmental entities included — convey that they value graduates with specific knowledge.
Perhaps you’d consider serving as an adjunct professor for a semester or guest-teaching a module on governmental accounting. Teaching part-time helps the school and can be rewarding for you as well. By leading a course, you can shape the next generation of public sector accountants, reinforce your knowledge, and give back to the profession in a tangible way.
Bring the working world to the academic one
Collaboration between public sector CPAs and faculty can greatly enrich accounting education.
You could offer your expertise for curricula design, including new and relevant case studies or classroom exercises based on governmental accounting scenarios.
Real-world learning experiences could include leading students through an activity, such as:
Implementing a GASB standard at a city agency
Analyzing a municipal budget or fraud incident
Using AI in audits, financial reporting, or fraud analysis
Practice-based examples give students a realistic sense of governmental accounting and narrow the gap between theory and practice. Further, real-world scenarios make the classroom experience more engaging, which is a tactic for how the profession can solve the talent shortage as identified by the National Pipeline Advisory Group (NPAG), a multi-stakeholder body of accounting professionals, state CPA societies, academics, and regulators.
Accounting faculty will likely be eager for relevant cases, and who better than a public sector CPA to help develop them?
Fuel research and get your Qs answered
Partnerships between public sector CPAs and academics don’t need to be limited to the classroom.
Perhaps questions have come to light during your day-to-day work — questions that would benefit from careful research. Maybe you’re curious about how to integrate AI into the audit workflow safely; or you want evidence on the effectiveness of a new internal control process; or you’d like to study materiality decisions.
Why not collaborate with an academic to investigate?
Academics have the training to design studies and analyze data, while you bring practical insights and access to information that can ground the research. Even if formal research isn’t your aim, simply offering input on a professor’s project can maintain relevance of academic research to current governmental accounting issues.
Strengthening the tie between the accounting profession and academic research addresses broader challenges and expands everyone’s knowledge.
Collectively, we can inspire the next generation of public sector CPAs.
By partnering with academics, you’ll help ensure that our profession remains vibrant, innovative, and well-equipped to meet the demands of the public sector. Over time, these academic-practitioner collaborations will produce graduates who are better prepared for governmental accounting roles.
And given the shortage of government accountants, we can’t rely solely on university graduates; instead, we could extend our view to career-changers or CPAs working in another field. Certificate programs or specialized degrees can be part of the solution.
You can support established courses or even contribute to the development of such innovative programs — from offering your insights when academics are designing curricula that speaks to private sector CPAs to volunteering time as a mentor or guest speaker for a governmental accounting certification course.
There’s no single solution to solving the talent shortage. It will require the effort of many of us to increase the visibility of governmental accounting careers and offer professional development to career-changers who are keen to join the public sector.
A robust academic-practitioner partnership should be a key part of solutions employed to reach the next generation of CPAs, and your knowledge and passion are fantastic tools for enhancing governmental accounting education and research.
Working together, we can prepare future CPAs for a rewarding career in the public sector.
About the AICPA’s Government Performance and Accountability Committee
Comprising 12 volunteer committee members, and in collaboration with staff at the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants®, the Government Performance and Accountability Committee advises government officials, regulators, and stakeholders, advocating for issues that matter to the accounting and finance profession. If you’d like to learn more about GPAC, please email Lori Sexton.