Accounting and auditing firm KPMG is reporting that there’s a shortage of chartered accountants and information technology auditors.

Speaking in an interview with the Jamaica Observer, senior partner of KPMG in Caricom Tarun Handa said “we are running 10 and 15 per cent short at the experienced category. We have no problem getting juniors and less experienced persons because those are people still in training.”

However, president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Jamaica (ICAJ) Allison Peart is refuting those claims, she said there are chartered accountants in Jamaica who cannot find employment.

Nevertheless, Handa said the shortage KPMG is experiencing has started to affect the timeliness in which audited financial statements are posted by some companies that are listed on stock exchanges across the region.

Handa told the Business Observer that his firm has had to cut ties with some clients highlighting that the workload is overbearing.

“What we’ve had to do is scale back our client base to favour clients that are regulated, on the stock exchange or has other imposed deadlines,” he stated.

He also disclosed, “If a big financial institution pays the right fees we are able to deploy our people to them.” Otherwise, he admitted that smaller firms will have to wait until the company can accommodate them.

So what’s causing the shortage?

Handa said there a number of issues contributing to the trend, chief among them is better pay in other markets.

“We have seen significant numbers leaving to go to international finance centres (IFCs) like Cayman, Bermuda, US, Canada and the UK,” he informed.

In an effort to curb the worrying trend, he said KPMG has started to pay more.

“During the year our experienced categories got raises as high as 40 per cent but across the board we have given over 14 to 15 per cent increases. We had to increase our salaries substantially to keep the people who want to stay in Jamaica and are prepared to make auditing a profession and we continue to monitor the market very carefully,” he added.

In the meantime, Peart agreed that low salaries present problems within the profession but she maintained that there are ample chartered accountants in Jamaica waiting for opportunities.

“It’s time for people to hire more chartered accountants, they’re not hiring enough of them at the junior level to train. I don’t see a shortage of talent in terms of young people, they’re still taking accounting in high school and they’re still doing accounting in university. If it is that there’s a shortage and I don’t see it, I don’t see a mass exodus of members but people are encouraged to hire trained chartered accountants, pay a fair wage and ensure they are recruiting and hiring our young people to ensure that we have a surplus of accountants,” Peart argued.

But the salary isn’t the only thing driving chartered accountants away, Handa told the Business Observer that new accounting and auditing requirements have made senior professionals frustrated, pushing them into other kinds of business.

“There’s been a serious upswing in the auditing and regulatory requirements, this has translated to experienced auditors leaving the auditing profession and going into general accounting. At the same time globally there is a reduction of people who want to become auditors and then COVID-19 taught us remote work essentially made us a globalised auditing environment so the skills for audit are now transferable.”

He said KPMG has also placed more emphasis on employee well-being by cutting work hours and providing more opportunities for recognition and upliftment.