Accounting Talent in 2025: A New Risk Factor for Companies & Private Equity Portfolios

In years past, accounting & finance talent was considered a manageable component of operational execution. Today, it’s becoming a structural constraint — one that can delay integrations, hurt lender confidence, and slow down value creation.

In 2025, the data is clear: the accounting and finance labor market has shifted — and it’s not coming back to pre-2020 norms.

📉 Fewer Accountants Are Entering the Pipeline

The number of newly licensed CPAs dropped again in 2024, continuing a trend that’s now in its fifth consecutive year. Gen Z is turning away from accounting in favor of tech, data, and strategy roles, while older professionals are accelerating retirement timelines — often leaving without a second-in-command in place.

Why it matters: Companies & Portcos with lean G&A structures or recent leadership transitions are at elevated risk. We’re seeing real consequences:

• Missed reporting deadlines

• Weak close processes

• Inability to staff integrations and bolt-ons effectively

• Overreliance on interim CFOs or expensive third-party firms

  
  

💵 Compensation Is Rising — Especially for Stability

Across the board, base salaries are up 8–12% year-over-year for key roles like senior accountants, controllers, and FP&A leads. But money alone isn’t solving the problem.

Today’s candidates want:

• Hybrid flexibility

• Defined promotion tracks (especially CFO-track roles)

• Clear exposure to strategic decisions (not just compliance)

  
  

Companies & Portcos that can’t offer that — or that rely too heavily on legacy cultural norms — are losing out, even when they offer top-of-band compensation.

⏱️ Hiring Timelines Are Compressing

The days of multi-round interview processes and committee consensus are over — at least for companies that want to land top 10% candidates.

In Q1 2025:

• Most mid-senior candidates received multiple offers within 10 days of their first interview.

• Portcos with 3-round processes lost their top choice 72% of the time.

• Candidates are ghosting or pulling out mid-process if response times lag by more than 3 business days.

  
  

🔁 Retention Is the New Recruiting

Many firms are still solving the wrong problem. Hiring gets all the attention, but mid-career attrition is now the greater risk — especially for Portcos with:

• High transaction volumes

• Lean accounting teams

• Unclear org charts or career paths

  
  

Retention issues are especially dangerous in multi-entity structures, where knowledge loss causes serious friction in consolidations, compliance, and internal reporting.

We’re seeing competitors poach with:

• Remote-first controller roles

• $20–30K sign-ons

• Clear path to CFO in 12–24 months

• Equity or profit-sharing programs that mimic founder economics

  
  

🚨 Why This Matters for Companies & PE

This is no longer a back-office issue. It's a deal execution and performance issue. Specifically:

• Delayed audits hurt exit timing and confidence.

• Missed lender deliverables risk covenants and capital access.

• Slow integrations increase cost and reduce synergy realization.

• Talent loss forces reactive hiring at a premium — if you can even find someone qualified.

  
  

In a market with tighter multiples and greater scrutiny on fundamentals, this is the wrong time to be behind the curve on finance leadership.

✅ What Sponsors and Operators Should Be Doing Now

1. Pressure-test your portco org charts– Who is truly mission-critical?– Is there backup?– Who’s promotable in the next 12–18 months?

2. Standardize and accelerate hiring playbooks– Keep processes under 14 days– Use structured scorecards and small hiring panels– Eliminate unnecessary steps

3. Rebuild retention strategies with intent– Remote flexibility shouldn’t be taboo– Equity doesn’t need to be founder-level to matter– CFO-track roadmaps are an underrated retention tool

4. Elevate human capital in due diligence– Especially in carve-outs and family-owned transitions– Validate accounting bench strength– Factor finance risk into integration planning

   
   

Final Thought

In 2025, finance talent isn’t just a cost — it’s a constraint. If it’s not built into your growth and value creation planning, it will become a recurring roadblock.

The firms solving this early — with intentional hiring, development, and retention — will be the ones able to scale efficiently and exit cleanly.