Accounting Firms Across Central Pennsylvania Struggle to Staff Tax Season

Small accounting firms across central Pennsylvania say they are turning away new individual and small-business clients this tax season, citing a persistent shortage of licensed CPAs willing to work the long hours the role traditionally demands.

The number of candidates sitting for the CPA exam in the state has declined for much of the past decade, a trend accounting associations attribute to the profession's education requirements and starting pay compared with finance and technology careers.

"We have more work than we have people to do it, which sounds like a good problem until you're the one telling a client you can't take them on," said the managing partner of a nine-person firm outside Harrisburg.

Some firms have responded by adopting software that automates routine bookkeeping tasks, freeing staff for higher-value advisory work, while others have begun contracting with overseas preparers for basic returns under staff supervision. The Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants has launched a scholarship program aimed at community college students to widen the pipeline, though officials acknowledge results will take years to materialize.