
Inside Public Accounting, a provider of practice management resources to the public accounting profession, published results from its survey of U.S. accounting firms called Practice Management Report. It released specialized reports highlighting detailed insights into different areas including firm administration, human resources and information technology. In 2024, more than 300 accounting firms contributed to each of these surveys.
Inside Public Accounting’s human resources-related figures highlighted the age demographics discrepancies for the staff in U.S. accounting firms. The trends point to the decreasing number of employees in the 60 and older range. By contrast, over half of staff at these firms are under 40.
According to Inside Public Accounting, employees in these firms who are aged 60 and older comprise 11% of staff across all revenue bands, decreasing from 12% last year. Meanwhile, 55% of staff are under 40, with 30% of employees being under 30.
The figures also show that recruiting costs as a percentage of net revenue are less than 1% for firms at all revenue sizes. In terms of the 82% of firms with a college recruiting program, these companies are recruiting at an average of eight colleges. For firms with a revenue above $30 million, 99% have a college recruiting program and they are recruiting at an average of 19 colleges.
Eighty-five percent of firms have a formal internship program. The survey showed that on average, participating firms hire 56% of their interns annually, with firms with above $50 million in revenue hiring 67%, Inside Public Accounting said.