Record-Breaking Employment Crisis Sparks Surge in Accountant Exam Fever

13,458 First Exam Candidates
23.8% Increase... Largest Ever in 20 Years
Improvements Like 52-Hour Workweek & New External Audit Act Contributed; Employment Challenges Also Impacted

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji-hwan Park] The popularity of the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam is soaring day by day. The number of applicants for this year’s first exam, which recently closed, recorded the highest level in nearly 20 years. The industry attributes this to the severe employment crisis and improvements in treatment following the introduction of the new External Audit Act.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service on the 26th, 13,458 candidates took the 56th CPA first exam, which closed on the 21st, an increase of 2,584 (23.8%) compared to last year. Looking at the number of applicants for the CPA first exam over the past five years, the figures decreased from 10,117 in 2017, 9,916 in 2018, and 9,677 in 2019, then rose by 12.4% to 10,874 last year, followed by a significant increase this year. The number of first-time CPA exam takers peaked at 15,406 in 1999 and 16,014 in 2000, right after the IMF financial crisis, then declined and has remained around 10,000 since.

The recent surge in CPA exam candidates can be attributed to the unprecedented employment crisis. According to Statistics Korea, the number of employed people last year was 26.904 million, a decrease of 218,000 compared to the previous year. This decline in employment is the first in 11 years since the global financial crisis in 2009. Particularly, while the annual unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 29 was 9.0%, the expanded unemployment rate?which includes the unemployed, potential workers, job seekers, and those available for part-time work?reached 26%.

A second-year CPA exam candidate explained, "Considering the recent employment difficulties, I expected about 12,000 applicants this year, but the number increased by more than 1,000 beyond expectations. It seems the employment crisis, worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, has had an impact."

A candidate attempting the CPA exam for the first time this year said, "Rather than trying to break into the tightly closed job market immediately, many around me say it’s better to spend 3 to 5 years preparing for the exam and just avoid the storm for now."

The significant increase in economic rewards for CPA license holders also plays a role. In the past, CPAs with less than five years of experience were perceived to have poor work-life balance due to frequent overtime and low salaries. Despite 1,000 new CPAs entering the industry annually, the overall workload did not increase, leading to dissatisfaction that had to be endured.

However, the introduction of the 52-hour workweek and the new External Audit Act has dramatically changed the atmosphere. With the 2018 introduction of the new External Audit Act, which included periodic audit designation and standard audit hours, demand for CPAs and audit fees have significantly increased. The starting salary for new CPAs, which was once around 40 million KRW including base pay, has recently risen to 60 million KRW. An accounting industry insider said, "For the past 2 to 3 years, the industry has been setting salaries at around 100 million KRW starting from the manager level (after 5 years of employment) as a strategy to retain CPAs who are changing jobs."

The rising popularity of the CPA license is also being noticed within financial authorities. A Financial Supervisory Service official said, "New CPAs used to be a common applicant type in the Financial Supervisory Service’s new employee recruitment every year, but last year, out of about 90 recruits, only 3 to 4 were CPAs, making them noticeably rare."

However, there are doubts about whether the demand for CPAs will continue. Last year, the four major accounting firms (Samil, Samjong, Han Young, and Anjin) reduced new CPA hires by more than 25% compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, the Financial Services Commission set the minimum number of recruits at 1,100 again this year, as it did last year. This means supply is exceeding demand. A representative from a major accounting firm said, "While demand for CPAs in general companies is increasing, it is true that demand for new CPAs within the industry is decreasing. If the supply continues to exceed demand, a new CPA employment crisis similar to the early 2000s could be repeated," expressing concern.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.