Students who have been exposed to accounting before college have a clear advantage on Day 1. I experienced this while teaching accounting in the college classroom. Accounting is often called "the language of business" because it requires mastering new terms, new rules, and understanding how it all fits together. Students who obtain a head start in high school enter college more equipped to apply those rules quickly and confidently.
That raises a straightforward question: how do we better introduce accounting to students in high school...and even middle school?
The profession is actively wrestling with this. Congress has introduced legislation to formally designate accounting as a STEM field (the STEM Education in Accounting Act), a recognition that accounting's analytical and quantitative demands belong alongside science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. New Jersey lawmakers are also working on this, as explained by the New Jersey Society of CPAs.
But before the frameworks and the policy, there is a more basic challenge: awareness. Accounting is not a visible role in community the way a police officer, teacher, or nurse is. It is not (yet) a standard part of K–12 curriculum, so many students are never exposed through school at all. Changing that starts with the adults in the room — parents, teachers, counselors, and CPAs who are willing to make the case.
1. Share lenses that will resonate with kids
The careers available to accountants are far more varied than most students, and even many adults, realize. The CPA license is not about a single career. It is a credential that unlocks optionality. A few worth naming explicitly:
Private industry. Accountants work inside every kind of business: entertainment, sports, food, fashion, technology. One exercise that lands well with students: watch a Shark Tank pitch and pay attention to the moment the sharks grill the entrepreneur on their numbers. That's accounting in action: the power of knowing your numbers, in real time. I used to show my students Shark Tank episodes in class and have them track the numbers; we'd then go over it as a class. My favorite episode was the "Scrub Daddy" segment.
Law enforcement. Accountants help "follow the money" in criminal investigations for federal agencies including the FBI and IRS. The IRS Criminal Investigation division specifically recruits CPAs as Special Agents, combining accounting skills with law enforcement to investigate financial crimes. In my tax class I used to share the story of Al Capone, a notorious gangster who was finally caught for tax evasion.
Public accounting. CPAs and Enrolled Agents who serve clients across tax, audit, and advisory work. This path is dynamic, project-driven, and demands a surprisingly broad skill set: technical analysis, client relationships, project management, and the ability to translate complex rules into plain language. This is often a great training ground for aspiring CPAs.
I found this video online and would generally agree with it, having taken this path myself; public accounting is a dynamic, challenging, and great training ground. It is demanding because it's client-facing, thus requiring responsiveness, oftentimes travel, and a constant learning curve.
2. Reach students who show early interest in algebra; this is the start of the pipeline
The connection between middle and high school math and accounting is direct and, in my experience, under-appreciated. For example, check out the NJ's Department of Education math curriculum and consider how it maps onto what accountants do every day.
Middle school (Grades 6-8) math includes
- fractions, decimals, ratios, and proportions;
- fluency with addition, subtraction; and
- “solving for X”.
These are building block skills for
- tracking value in a business when it comes to estimating target profit,
- computing a break-even analysis, or
- running a progressive tax formula through a spreadsheet ("PEMDAS inside a spreadsheet").
I found that my college students were often surprised - and gratified - to find what they learned in middle school coming back in the college classroom. That connection is worth unveiling earlier so that these kids who enjoy numbers, problem-solving, and logic can feel like they are part of a community that already exists. I know I would have benefited from this awareness and I'm glad I finally found my people in the CPA community.
3. Use the resources that already exist
The profession has invested in outreach materials that are genuinely good and largely underused. It's worth re-sharing them here:
NJ Society of CPAs. The staffed nonprofit professional association that supports the CPA community in part by helping build bridges between education and industry.
Accounting+ Academic Resource Center - created and maintained by the Center for Audit Quality, this is a curated platform directed at youth to help them understand accounting and the possible career paths.
This Way to CPA (AICPA) — geared toward students, includes state-by-state licensure requirements, exam preparation guidance, and career exploration tools.
Start Here, Go Places (AICPA) — targeted at both students and teachers. The teacher version includes classroom games, videos, group activities, and a "CPA Pipeline Kit" with specific guidance on reaching students, including middle schoolers. This content is sitting on a virtual shelf, ready to use.
Accounting in the Headlines — a blog focused on introductory accounting instruction, connecting current events to accounting concepts.
The materials exist. The gap is not content — it is connection between these resources and the educators, counselors, and community members who could be using them.
This post is part of the Accounting Pipeline & CTE section of Civic Parent. The broader research examines how New Jersey's Career and Technical Education system - including the Finance Career Cluster - connects to the accounting profession's workforce development challenge.
Brigid D'Souza is a CPA, founder of Harborstead Advisory, and the author of Civic Parent. She serves as Vice President of the Hudson County Chapter of the NJ Society of CPAs and on the NJCPA Strategic Planning and Scholarships Committees. She was recognized as a 2026 Forbes Best-in-State CPA, New Jersey.
