Over three years, the number of professional auditors has decreased by more than 10%

The number of auditors changing professions has increased significantly. In 2023 alone, more than 750 people left the industry, and in three years the number of auditors decreased by almost 2 thousand. The number of new specialists who passed the final exam is in the dozens and does not cover the growing needs of the market. Auditors believe that it is necessary to change the examination procedure to attract new personnel.

The number of auditors who left the profession at the end of 2023 exceeded 750 people, market participants told Kommersant. The slowdown in outflow in 2021 (the number of auditors decreased by 500 people) turned out to be local. Over the next two years, the process of departure of auditors continued to increase. In just three years, the number of professional auditors has decreased by more than 10% and now, according to SRO Sodrugestvo, is about 15.5 thousand.

In many ways, such actions are determined by more attractive working conditions in other industries: 80% of auditors went to the real sector and government agencies, 10% are those who decided to give up their audit certificate and continued to engage in consulting or methodological work, and another 10% are leaving employees to retire, notes managing partner of the Marillion group of companies Sergei Kharitonov. In the real sector, salaries can be twice as high as in auditing, explains General Director of Univers-Audit Dmitry Limarenko.

In addition, the regulation of auditing activities is becoming more stringent, the requirements are growing, there is a lot of manual labor, a difficult certification exam and entry into the profession, notes Svetlana Romanova, president of the Pacioli company.

Returning to the audit industry can be difficult. Having gone into the real sector, it is not easy for auditors to maintain their certification, and new employers do not consider it as a significant advantage, notes Anastasia Lebedeva, partner of the audit department at DRT.

There are extremely few new personnel appearing in the industry. Despite the increase in the number of those who successfully passed the profile exam, their number remains insignificant. In particular, according to the Unified Certification Commission (JAC), in 2021, 13 people passed the exam, in 2022 – 25, in 2023 – 51. The number of those successfully passing the audit exam is increasing due to those who passed the second stage, as well as due to the commission’s new practice of conducting webinars with analysis of exam tasks from previous years, explains JAC Director Irina Krasilnikova.

The exam for an auditor’s certificate is difficult; to pass it, applicants must have practical experience, but they cannot obtain it officially, since the current legislation allows only certified auditors to carry out audit procedures, explains Svetlana Romanova.

“More than half of those who entered the exam process gave up trying after the second or third failure. The remaining part of the people has been going to the auditor’s certificate for more than three years,” says Mr. Kharitonov. “An important factor is the high cost of the exam, the cost can reach 300 thousand rubles.”

In order to attract auditors to the industry, it is necessary to simplify the exam, market participants say. “In order to attract new personnel, it is first of all necessary to revise the exam procedure in order to move away from the need for cramming and memorizing the provisions of the law. As part of testing, it is necessary to expand the scope of tasks that actually require the application of professional skills and knowledge, and not just mechanical memorization of regulations,” says Ilgiz Baimuratov, president of the Finexpertiza audit and consulting network. In addition, in his opinion, it is important to reduce the cost of the exam, since it is “very sensitive for the target audience, which is young people.”

Yulia Poslavskaya