Barry Melancon, dubbed “the most important man in accounting” for his 30-year leadership of its professional body in the US, has sent a stern warning to his successors that they should not compromise standards in an effort to attract more people to the profession.
Melancon is retiring this month as the longest-serving chief executive of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, overseeing a profession that has been transformed by new technology and private equity investment but finds itself in throes of a recruitment crisis.
With young people lured by the higher salaries and lower entry requirements of finance and technology, the number of people taking the CPA exam run by the institute has fallen sharply, and accounting firms have demanded reforms to make it cheaper and quicker to get qualified.