Why Is There a Finance Talent Shortage in the US? Causes, Risks, and Solutions

TL;DR: The US finance talent shortage is being driven by an aging workforce, fewer accounting graduates, and professionals leaving the field. The result is greater pressure on finance teams, with increased risks around reporting, controls, and strategic decision-making. Companies can respond by strengthening existing teams through automation and upskilling while expanding their talent pool through global finance staffing. 

The finance talent shortage in the US is reaching a critical point. As finance leaders grapple with the accounting hiring challenges of today, it's becoming increasingly clear that this isn't a temporary hiring cycle.

Deloitte’s 2025 CFO Signals survey found that 35% of CFOs are bringing in employees from other functions to fill in some finance related functions. This reflects a growing need for skills such as data analysis, technology, communication, and business partnering alongside traditional accounting expertise.

This isn't a hypothetical problem. It’s an immediate problem today, with 83% of financial executives experiencing a talent shortage. With student numbers in accounting declining and fewer candidates sitting for the CPA exam, the skilled accounting talent shortage is quickly becoming the new normal.

Finance hiring has become more difficult because the supply of qualified professionals isn't keeping pace with demand. Fewer people are entering the profession, the skills businesses need are evolving, and many experienced finance professionals are leaving faster than they can be replaced.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment for accountants and auditors to grow 5% between 2024 and 2034, faster than the average for all occupations. During that period, employers are expected to fill around 124,200 accountant and auditor openings each year, driven largely by retirements and experienced professionals leaving the workforce. 

Moreover, the pipeline of new accountants is shrinking at the same time experienced professionals are retiring. According to the AICPA, the number of U.S. accounting graduates fell 7.4% in a single academic year.

While governments, universities, and professional bodies are working to strengthen the accounting pipeline, those efforts will take years to translate into experienced professionals. Businesses still need to build finance teams today. Until the gap between supply and demand begins to close, organisations will need to rethink how they attract, develop, and access finance talent. 

An understaffed finance department isn't just an operational headache; it's a significant business liability. The immediate risk is the systematic decline of day-to-day operations as the workload intensifies for your remaining team.

The first signs are often operational. Month-end close takes longer, audit preparation becomes more demanding, and compliance deadlines become harder to manage. Existing team members take on additional responsibilities, increasing the risk of mistakes and reducing the time available for reviewing work.

Research reflects this pressure. One-third of accountants report making financial errors every week because of capacity constraints. In 2024, 140 U.S. public companies restated their financial statements due to accounting errors, more than double the number reported in 2020.

As more time is spent closing the books and fixing errors, there's less time for forecasting, scenario planning, and the strategic work finance teams are increasingly expected to deliver. 

An understaffed finance department places sustained pressure on the people who remain. Heavy workloads increase the risk of burnout, making retention even more difficult and creating a cycle that's hard to break. Deloitte's 2025 CFO Signals survey reflects this pressure: when asked about the consequences of the accounting talent shortage, 44% of CFOs identified increased workload for existing employees as their biggest concern, making it the most common response.

It also creates succession risk. As experienced controllers, accountants, and finance leaders retire or leave, valuable institutional knowledge disappears with them. Replacing technical expertise is challenging enough. Replacing years of business context is even harder.

Finance doesn't operate in isolation. Every major business decision depends on having timely, reliable financial information. Whether it's securing funding, preparing for an audit, or deciding where to invest, leaders need confidence in the numbers they're working with.

When finance teams are stretched too thin, that confidence can start to erode. Reporting takes longer, compliance becomes harder to manage, and there's less capacity to strengthen internal controls or provide the analysis leaders need to make informed decisions.

The finance talent shortage isn't just making it harder to hire. It's making it harder for finance teams to provide the insight, stability, and support that growing businesses rely on. And In our experience, that’s the real cost of unfilled roles.

There isn't a single solution to the finance talent shortage. The organisations managing it most successfully are taking a long-term approach that combines retention, workforce planning, technology, and access to new talent markets.

Here are five strategies that can make an immediate and lasting difference.

Hiring new people in-house is expensive and increasingly competitive. In many cases, the biggest opportunity is developing and retaining the people already in your organisation.

As finance becomes more strategic, professionals need opportunities to build skills beyond technical accounting. Investing in FP&A, business partnering, leadership, communication, data analytics, and AI literacy helps finance teams contribute more broadly to business decisions while creating clearer career pathways for employees.

Retention also depends on culture. We've found that people are more likely to stay where they continue learning, feel trusted, and can see the impact of their work. Competitive salaries matter, but long-term retention is often built through good leadership, meaningful work, and opportunities to grow.

Technology won't solve the finance talent shortage on its own, but it can help existing teams become more effective. In fact, in the same Deloitte report, it is reported that 79% of CFOs will use AI to bridge the skills gap in their finance team.

Used well, technology removes repetitive, transactional work. Automating processes such as accounts payable, reconciliations, expense management, and routine reporting gives finance professionals more time for forecasting, analysis, business partnering, and strategic decision-making.

Technology, however, is only part of the solution. We've always believed that long-term growth comes from investing in people. The strongest finance teams combine the efficiency of technology with professionals who can apply judgement, build relationships, communicate effectively, and help guide the business through change.

The goal isn't fewer finance professionals. It's giving talented people more time to focus on the work that creates the greatest value.

For many organisations, the finance talent they need simply isn't available within their local hiring market. As demand for experienced finance professionals continues to outpace supply, competing for the same limited pool of candidates often leads to longer hiring cycles, higher recruitment costs, and critical roles remaining unfilled.

Expanding your search globally changes that equation. Talent shortages vary between markets, so skills that are scarce locally may be more readily available elsewhere. Businesses can access a much broader pool of experienced accountants, controllers, FP&A specialists, payroll professionals, tax experts, and finance leaders.

The difference is often less about cost and more about access to talent.

We've found that the conversation around global hiring has changed over the last few years. While cost can be part of the equation, it's rarely the main reason organisations look beyond their local market. More often, they're trying to solve a talent challenge by widening the search rather than lowering their standards. 

At Work for Impact, we look beyond technical expertise to identify professionals with the right communication skills, cultural fit, and long-term potential to integrate into your existing finance team. We don’t aim to replace your local team, but to expand it with global talent that fills critical skill gaps and supports long-term growth.

One of the biggest mistakes organisations make is waiting until a critical role becomes vacant before they start looking for candidates. By then, they're competing in an already constrained market, often under pressure to hire quickly.

Building a strong talent pipeline often means looking beyond traditional recruitment. Many organisations now complement their internal hiring efforts with finance and accounting staffing partners who can provide access to pre-vetted professionals when critical roles need to be filled. 

Pre-vetting goes beyond reviewing a CV. It can include assessing technical expertise, relevant experience, communication skills, and cultural fit, like we do at Work for Impact. This helps businesses focus on qualified professionals who are better prepared to integrate into their teams and contribute from day one. 

That's one of the reasons we built Work for Impact the way we did. Rather than simply filling vacancies, we help organisations build long-term access to a global network of pre-vetted finance professionals who have been assessed for both technical capability and cultural fit. It allows businesses to scale more quickly without compromising on quality.

The finance talent shortage isn't a challenge that's likely to disappear anytime soon. Demand for skilled finance professionals continues to grow, while the supply of experienced talent remains constrained.

There isn't a single solution, but businesses that treat talent as a long-term investment are often better positioned to adapt, grow, and build finance teams that support the organisation for years to come.

If you're rethinking your hiring strategy, global talent can be part of that long-term approach. At Work for Impact, we help organisations connect with pre-vetted finance professionals who become an extension of their team, giving them access to the skills they need to grow with confidence.