Small businesses may soon find themselves with fewer CPAs to call and fewer CFOs to lean on. Over the next decade to 15 years, a large portion of today’s financial experts will retire, and not enough new professionals are stepping in to replace them. The result: higher costs, longer wait times, and growing gaps in financial guidance at a time when small businesses need clarity more than ever.
A CPA Pipeline Crisis
The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), reported in The CPA Journal, has found that roughly 75% of CPAs are within 15 years of retirement. That single statistic underscores the urgency of the challenge: in a relatively short window of time, the profession could lose a majority of its most experienced practitioners.
Compounding the issue, fewer new accountants are stepping in to fill the gap. Enrollments in accounting programs have declined at both undergraduate and graduate levels, and CPA exam candidates are on the downturn. This is not just a workforce problem — it’s a systemic issue that threatens the very availability of financial expertise for businesses of all sizes.
A Shrinking Pool of CFO Expertise
CPAs aren’t the only ones in short supply. CFOs — the professionals businesses rely on for financial planning, budgeting, and strategic guidance — are also becoming harder to find.
Research from Russell Reynolds Associates shows global CFO turnover rose to 15.1% in 2024, the highest in six years, with more than half of outgoing CFOs retiring or moving exclusively into board roles. In the industrial sector, the number was even higher: 57% of CFO departures in 2024 were due to retirement or board transitions.
These figures track corporate CFOs, but the effects cascade downward. Many fractional and advisory CFOs — the ones small businesses turn to — come from corporate backgrounds. When fewer of them transition into these roles, the pool of available expertise shrinks. Rising enterprise demand also drives up costs, making it even harder for entrepreneurs to access the strategic support they need.
What Our Survey Shows: Small Business Voice
At Projection Genie, we surveyed 170 small business owners across the U.S. to understand how these shifts are already being felt. The results highlight both the strain on access to expertise and the growing appetite for alternatives:
- 79% of business owners already engage in some form of financial planning — but that leaves 21% who haven’t formalized a plan, often due to cost or lack of access.
- Among those who use professionals, 78% reported paying $1,000–$5,000 for planning services.
- 69% update their financial plans monthly or quarterly — showing the need for frequent input, not one-time advice.
- Importantly, 95% said they would prefer to handle planning themselves if software could provide results comparable to a CPA or finance expert.
This doesn’t mean expertise is irrelevant. Instead, it shows business owners recognize planning is vital but need more accessible, affordable ways to do it. As CPAs and CFOs become harder to reach, demand for intelligent software solutions will only accelerate.
A Rising Cost of Expertise
Taken together, these trends point to an unavoidable reality: the cost of financial expertise is rising, and access is shrinking. Small businesses will be impacted most dramatically. Those who once relied on part-time CPAs or fractional CFOs may soon find themselves priced out, facing long lead times, or unable to find the experience they need.
This is not a distant forecast. It is a near-term shift already underway, and the gap between need and availability will widen in the years ahead.
Technology as the New Baseline
The coming shortage of financial professionals is not just a challenge; it is a catalyst for change. As access to human expertise narrows, technology will become the baseline for financial planning.
Software solutions are no longer just “nice to have.” They are becoming essential infrastructure for small businesses. Intelligent platforms can:
- Automate forecasts and budgets that would have once required hours of CPA/CFO input.
- Deliver real-time insights, where waiting weeks for an appointment is no longer an option.
- Empower entrepreneurs to understand and act on their numbers without deep financial backgrounds.
While the number of CPAs and CFOs may shrink, their expertise will remain essential for complex tax, compliance, and high-stakes decisions. But the day-to-day scaffolding of financial planning will increasingly be driven by technology.
A Hybrid Future of Financial Planning
The next decade will not be defined by the absence of financial professionals but by a hybrid model: software as the foundation, with CPAs and CFOs stepping in as strategic advisors when their deep expertise is truly needed.
This shift mirrors broader trends in other professional services — law, medicine, education — where technology extends reach, reduces costs, and ensures access. Finance is simply the next frontier.
The Bottom Line
Between retiring CPAs, accelerating CFO turnover, and the real costs small businesses already face (as our survey confirms), the financial expertise gap is not theoretical. It’s here.
Small businesses that adapt early — integrating intelligent tools into their planning processes — won’t just survive. They’ll lead.
The future of financial planning is not human or machine. It is human and machine, working together to provide clarity, foresight, and resilience in a world where expert guidance is becoming both scarcer and more valuable.
