AAT’s second Filling the Gap skills report, called The Talent Pipeline, explores the UK’s growing skills shortages in accounting. Sarah Beale, AAT CEO, explains why changing the story matters.
We’re losing people from accounting before they ever consider it as a path.
To find out why just ask someone what an accountant looks like and you’ll hear something familiar. Spreadsheets, suits, a certain type of person, in a specific type of office; that image has proved remarkably stubborn even though it no longer reflects the role, or the people at all.
Today’s finance roles require power skills such as digital confidence and communication.
These skills are needed in support of every sector imaginable: entertainment, luxury retail, film. People enter finance from a wide range of starting points, including school leavers, career changers, graduates, and adults returning to work after time away. More than one in five AAT learners begin their training after working in a completely different field. The breadth of roles and entrepreneurial opportunities are endless.
But if the public picture doesn’t shift, potential talent and opportunity are wasted. People rule out accounting before they’ve looked closely at it, and we can’t afford for this to be a reality any more.
Role of technology
Technology is part of the answer, not the threat.
There’s a version of the automation story that positions technology as something hollowing out entry-level finance work. But we found that two in five people said they would consider accounting if routine tasks were automated. Among those who have already left the sector, nearly a quarter said better AI tools would have kept them in it longer.
That’s a significant pool of interest sitting just outside the door, but we can only reach it if the story changes, from ‘technology will take these jobs’ to ‘technology will make these jobs more interesting’.
Fixing the pipeline
Perception isn’t the only barrier. It’s shocking that nearly one million young people in the UK are currently not in education, employment or training. Many have the practical, problem- solving mindset that a career in finance needs.
But if accounting still looks like it’s designed for a particular type of privileged, already well- connected person or community, they will never see it as an option.
Our findings also show that people from lower- income backgrounds progress more slowly within the industry, despite performing just as well as their colleagues. This is a clear structural issue, and it starts with who feels welcome enough to walk through the door in the first place.
This is why, at AAT, we’ve made inclusion central to how we design our qualifications and membership, not just what we say about them. Our new Level 4 Diploma for Professional Accounting Technicians (L4PAT) assessments reflect the full range of people who work in finance, so that learners can genuinely see themselves in the sector.
Changing the story
Opening up access to careers in finance for everyone, regardless of background or circumstance, is at the heart of what AAT exists to do. That means earlier, clearer guidance in schools about what these roles actually involve.
It means championing financial literacy and confidence in young people. This must be coupled with flexible entry routes, better access to quality work experience, and qualifications that reflect what employers are looking for today. Then we need to hold onto this talent and ensure it continues to develop – hence membership.
Employers, professional bodies and the government all have a role here too. Routes into a career in finance and accounting need to be more visible and easier to navigate for the people who are genuinely interested and want to be welcomed into such a meaningful career path.
Shifting perceptions alone won’t close the skills gap. But if we keep presenting accounting through an image that no longer fits the reality of today, we’ll keep turning away people who could genuinely thrive in it. All because nobody told them the door was open.
That’s the part we must change.
- Sarah Beale, CEO, AAT
