How to Retain Your Best Talent in a Burnout-Prone Industry.
You rarely lose your best accountant overnight.
It starts quietly. A senior who once stayed late without complaint begins logging off on time. A reviewer who caught every discrepancy starts missing details. A manager, who once mentored juniors enthusiastically, now says, “I don’t have the bandwidth.”
These are not signs of disengagement. They are signs of employee burnout, and it is spreading through the accounting profession faster than firms can respond.
According to a FloQast / University of Georgia survey, 99% of accountants report experiencing some level of burnout. Meanwhile, an AICPA-cited study found that the number of CPA exam candidates has fallen more than 32% since 2016.
The talent pipeline is shrinking while the workload is expanding. Without stronger employee retention and burnout prevention strategies, accounting firms risk losing not just staff, but institutional knowledge and client trust.
In this blog, we will explore why burnout has become one of the biggest challenges for the profession, how employee retention in accounting firms is linked to well-being, and what practical steps leaders can take to retain top talent in finance, from smarter workload management to global staffing support.
The Alarming Reality — Why Firms Are Losing the Retention Battle
Across the accounting profession, leaders are facing a difficult truth: the biggest challenge is no longer client acquisition but employee retention.
The AICPA’s 2024 PCPS Top Issues Survey confirms that finding and retaining qualified staff ranks among the top challenges for firms of every size. The struggle to keep skilled professionals has now become a structural concern, not just an HR issue.
At the same time, burnout is quietly reshaping the workforce. According to a FloQast and University of Georgia study, 99 percent of accounting professionals report feeling some level of burnout, with nearly a quarter describing it as moderate to severe. (MACPA, 2024)
The symptoms are easy to spot. Overextended teams, long review cycles, and unrealistic deadlines have blurred the line between “busy season” and “recovery season.” Professionals who once stayed for the challenge now leave for balance and purpose. As one industry article from the MNCPA put it, burnout has become “a cultural norm in accounting,” and without real change, firms risk losing the very people who hold their practice together. (MNCPA, 2024)
When a senior accountant leaves, firms lose more than capacity. They lose client continuity, mentorship, and quality control. And replacing that experience is expensive; studies suggest the cost of turnover can reach 150 percent of an employee’s salary when factoring in recruitment and lost productivity.
To retain top talent in finance, firms must shift their focus from managing burnout to preventing it. This means redesigning workloads, modernizing processes, and using support models such as offshore staffing to manage seasonal peaks without stretching in-house teams beyond their limits.
Turn burnout into opportunity.
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The Human Cost of Burnout — and the Business Case for Prevention
Burnout does not just affect productivity. It reshapes the people behind the numbers. In accounting firms, where accuracy and trust define reputation, the toll is both human and financial.
01. The Human Cost
- Emotional exhaustion: Professionals lose energy and motivation, often working mechanically rather than meaningfully.
- Reduced precision: Fatigue impacts judgment, increasing the risk of errors during complex reconciliations or tax filings.
- Disengagement: Team members withdraw from collaboration and mentorship, affecting morale across departments.
- Career abandonment: A growing number of talented accountants are leaving the profession altogether, citing unsustainable stress.
02. The Business Cost
- Turnover and replacement costs: Replacing one experienced accountant can cost up to 150 percent of their annual salary due to recruiting, training, and lost productivity.
- Higher absenteeism: According to Gallup, burned-out employees are 63 percent more likely to take sick leave and 2.6 times more likely to seek new employment.
- Lower profitability: Every lost senior or reviewer interrupts workflows and client continuity, leading to delayed billables and quality issues.
- Weakened employer brand: Firms known for burnout find it harder to attract the next generation of accountants, shrinking the hiring pipeline further.
03. The ROI of Prevention
- Well-being programs and balanced workloads can deliver a 3-to-1 return in productivity and retention (Deloitte).
- Flexible scheduling and offshore staffing support help firms manage tax season surges without exhausting their core teams.
- Stronger communication and recognition systems improve morale and significantly reduce turnover among high performers.
From Awareness to Action — Practical Strategies That Actually Work
Awareness alone will not solve the burnout problem. Firms need systems and habits that protect both performance and people. The most successful accounting firms combine smart process design with genuine care for their teams. Here are proven ways to prevent employee burnout and strengthen employee retention in accounting firms.
01. Redesign Workloads and Capacity
- Reassess workload distribution before every peak season.
- Use data to identify recurring bottlenecks that push teams into overtime.
- Consider offshore staffing support to handle compliance-heavy work so in-house teams can focus on analysis, client relationships, and review.
- Firms using this model report faster turnaround and higher retention during tax season.
02. Build Flexibility into Scheduling
- Move beyond rigid work hours.
- Offer hybrid or compressed workweeks where feasible.
- According to an Accounting Today survey, over 70 percent of accounting professionals say flexibility is the single biggest factor keeping them in their current role.
03. Invest in Employee Recognition and Feedback
- Celebrate milestones, not just deliverables. Hold monthly check-ins that recognize contributions and allow employees to express stressors early.
- A culture of recognition builds belonging and directly improves employee retention and morale.
04. Support Mental Health and Recovery
- Encourage recovery time after tax season.
- Offer access to counseling or peer-support programs.
- Studies show that teams with structured recovery periods perform up to 23 percent better during subsequent busy seasons.
05. Reframe Leadership Mindsets
- Train partners and senior managers to model healthy work habits.
- Replace “face time” expectations with output-driven accountability.
- Leaders who show empathy and flexibility are far more likely to retain top talent in finance and attract new professionals seeking long-term growth.
06. Strengthen the Firm’s Operating Model
- Introduce process automation for repetitive tasks such as reconciliations and data entry.
- Use global or shared-service models like Offshore Staffing 2.0 by Unison Globus to scale efficiently without overloading internal teams.
- This not only reduces burnout in tax professionals but also increases profitability without expanding fixed costs.
Build a firm where people thrive.
Talk to Unison Globus about creating balance, capacity, and long-term
retention through Offshore Staffing 2.0.
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Conclusion
The accounting profession does not have a talent problem. It has a capacity problem. When work continues to expand but teams do not, burnout becomes inevitable. Solving this challenge is not just about hiring more people. It is about building smarter, more sustainable systems that allow professionals to thrive.
Leaders who focus on employee burnout prevention strategies are already seeing measurable improvements. They retain their best people, strengthen client relationships, and rebuild trust within their teams. Most importantly, they understand that employee retention in accounting firms depends as much on empathy and culture as it does on efficiency.
At Unison Globus, we believe firms should not have to choose between growth and well-being. Through Offshore Staffing 2.0, we help accounting firms redesign workflows, expand capacity, and create space for their teams to perform at their best.
Preventing burnout is not about slowing down. It is about scaling intelligently, sustainably, and with people at the center. Firms that embrace this mindset will not just endure the industry’s challenges; they will define its future.

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