The Talent Pipeline That Feeds Every Finance Function Is Running Dry.
CPA exam participation has dropped over 30% since 2016. Seventy-five percent of licensed CPAs are nearing retirement. Meanwhile, the demands on finance leadership have never been greater: AI transformation, regulatory complexity, ESG reporting, and a market that punishes companies for control failures. Artemis places the CFOs, controllers, and finance executives who keep businesses financially sound and strategically sharp.
Three-quarters of licensed CPAs nearing retirement age
Finance leaders report challenges hiring and retaining accountants
Drop in CPA exam candidates since 2016
Near-historic lows for accounting professionals
The Market Reality
Finance Has a Structural Talent Deficit That AI Will Not Solve.
The accounting talent pipeline is shrinking at the exact moment the demands on finance leadership are expanding. CPA exam participation has dropped more than 30% since 2016. Three-quarters of licensed CPAs are approaching retirement. Meanwhile, the 150-hour education requirement continues to discourage new entrants, and the professionals who do qualify are being recruited aggressively by consulting firms, technology companies, and PE-backed businesses willing to pay premiums.
At the executive level, the pressure compounds. Boards want CFOs who can lead digital transformation. Investors expect real-time financial intelligence. Regulators are expanding reporting requirements around ESG, cybersecurity disclosures, and internal controls. And private equity firms need finance leaders who can close reporting cycles in days, not weeks, while supporting portfolio-wide value creation.
AI is automating tasks. It is not producing leaders. The tools are getting better at processing journal entries and flagging anomalies. But the CFO who can explain margin erosion to a board, the controller who can close a consolidated month-end across four entities, and the VP of FP&A who can build a forecast that actually drives decisions still require judgment, experience, and credibility that no model can replicate.
The result: finance roles that once took six weeks to fill now average ten. And at the C-suite level, where the wrong hire creates compliance risk, investor uncertainty, and strategic paralysis, the cost of getting it wrong has never been higher.
What We Are Seeing
Pipeline Collapse
75% of CPAs nearing retirement. Fewer graduates entering accounting. The pipeline that fed every finance function for decades is structurally broken.
Expanded CFO Mandate
Today's CFOs own AI strategy, ESG reporting, cybersecurity compliance, and investor relations alongside traditional finance. The skill set has widened dramatically.
Compliance Risk
30% of finance leaders say the talent shortage has significantly increased compliance risks. Staffing gaps are becoming audit findings and material weaknesses.
Compensation Escalation
Starting salaries for tax, audit, and assurance roles projected to rise 3.7% year-over-year, well above the 2.1% average increase across finance. Specialized skills command premiums.
Controller Scarcity
Controllers and assistant controllers are cited as the most difficult finance roles to recruit. 34% of CFOs identify these positions as their hardest-to-fill seats.
Roles We Place
Executive and Senior Finance Leadership Across Every Discipline
From the C-suite to functional leadership, these are the positions that determine whether a company's financial foundation is strong enough to support its ambitions.
Chief Financial Officer
Owns financial strategy, capital allocation, investor and board communication, banking relationships, and increasingly, technology transformation. The role that translates business ambition into financial reality.
Controller / VP of Accounting
Manages the close process, financial reporting accuracy, internal controls, and GAAP/IFRS compliance across entities. The most persistently difficult finance hire in today's market.
VP of Finance / FP&A
Leads financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, and business analytics. Builds the forward-looking models that drive capital allocation decisions and board-level strategy conversations.
VP of Tax / Tax Director
Manages federal, state, and international tax strategy, compliance, and planning. Critical for organizations with multi-jurisdictional operations, M&A activity, or complex entity structures.
VP of Internal Audit
Leads risk assessment, internal controls testing, and compliance monitoring. Reports to the audit committee and serves as the early warning system for operational and financial risk.
Treasurer / VP of Treasury
Manages cash flow, banking relationships, debt covenants, liquidity planning, and capital markets activity. Becomes mission-critical during growth, acquisition, or credit facility negotiations.
Director of Accounting Operations
Oversees accounts payable, receivable, payroll, and transactional accounting. Drives process automation, ERP optimization, and the operational efficiency of the finance function.
Director of M&A Finance
Leads financial diligence, deal modeling, purchase price allocation, and post-acquisition integration. Essential for PE-backed companies and organizations pursuing inorganic growth.
Finance Transformation Lead
Drives ERP implementations, finance process redesign, shared services buildout, and AI adoption across the finance function. The role bridging traditional accounting and modern technology.
Where We Work
Finance Leadership Across Every Business Context
The CFO a PE portfolio company needs is not the CFO a family-owned manufacturer needs. We understand the context that shapes every search.
PE-Backed Companies
CFOs who can professionalize reporting, manage lender relationships, and support exit preparation
Public Companies
SEC reporting, SOX compliance, investor relations, and audit committee engagement
Family / Founder-Led
First-time CFO hires who can build finance infrastructure and support ownership transitions
High-Growth
Finance leaders who scale systems, build teams, and support rapid revenue expansion
M&A / Integration
Controllers and CFOs who consolidate entities, unify chart of accounts, and integrate financial operations post-acquisition
Banking & Financial Services
Regulatory-fluent leaders managing capital adequacy, credit risk, and compliance reporting
Nonprofit / Mission-Driven
Grant accounting, fund reporting, and stewardship of restricted assets
International Operations
Multi-currency, transfer pricing, IFRS, and cross-border tax strategy
Why Finance Hiring Is Different
A CPA Does Not Tell You If They Can Lead a Finance Function.
Finance executive search requires understanding a distinction that most generalist recruiters miss: technical proficiency and leadership capability are different competencies. The controller who can close the books in five days may lack the communication skills to present to the board. The CFO who navigated a public company may be overwhelmed by the pace and ambiguity of a PE-backed portfolio company. The tax director who managed compliance at scale may not adapt to a mid-market environment where they are expected to build the function from scratch.
Context, leadership style, and organizational fit matter as much as credentials. A Big Four background is valuable, but it does not guarantee someone can operate as a player-coach in a lean finance team. An MBA from a top program signals capability, but not necessarily the judgment required to manage cash in a capital-constrained business.
Artemis evaluates candidates against the specific conditions of your environment: your ownership structure, your reporting complexity, your growth trajectory, and the leadership dynamics they will navigate every day. That is why 94% of our placements are still succeeding two years later.
Ownership Context
A PE-backed CFO, a public company CFO, and a family-business CFO face fundamentally different stakeholder dynamics. We match candidates to the ownership structure they will actually serve.
Build vs. Optimize
Some roles require building finance infrastructure from nothing. Others require optimizing what exists. These are different skill sets. We assess which one your situation actually demands.
Credibility With Non-Finance Leaders
A CFO who cannot translate financial reality into language that operations, sales, and engineering leaders understand will fail regardless of technical ability. We evaluate communication and influence.
Regulatory Complexity Match
SEC reporting, GAAP, IFRS, SOX, industry-specific regulations. We match candidates to the specific compliance environment of your business, not just to generic accounting knowledge.
Technology Fluency
ERP migrations, AI-driven analytics, automation of transactional accounting. 95% of finance leaders say their teams will lead a major digital transformation in the next two years. We evaluate readiness.
Deal-Side Experience
For companies pursuing acquisitions, preparing for exit, or navigating capital events, finance leaders need deal fluency. We assess diligence experience, integration capability, and investor credibility.
How We Work
Our Search Process for Finance Leaders
Every finance search follows a structured methodology designed around the realities of how high-performing financial executives evaluate opportunities and make career decisions.
Stakeholder Alignment
We meet with the CEO, board members, PE operating partners, and key business leaders to understand what this role truly requires, the reporting relationships it must navigate, and what success looks like in 90 days, not just the job description.
Confidential Sourcing
The best finance executives are not on job boards. They are leading close processes, managing audits, and advising boards. We reach them through our network and confidential, direct outreach tailored to what would make them consider a move.
A.I. Assessment
Every candidate is A.I. (Actually Interviewed) by our team. We evaluate technical depth, leadership capability, communication with non-finance stakeholders, and how they have navigated the specific conditions that mirror your environment.
Integration Support
After placement, our 90-Day Success Plan provides structured check-ins at 30, 60, and 90 days. For finance leaders, early wins include building credibility with the leadership team, identifying quick-fix reporting improvements, and establishing a rhythm with the board.
Client Testimonial
"Trying to find key accounting individuals with a strong foundation and that would fit our company mission had been difficult. We were referred to Artemis and they ensured us that we were in good hands with their team. Shortly after we were able to hire experienced senior accountants, a new CFO and a controller."
COO / Private Equity / Houston
Build the Finance Function Your Business Depends On
The Right CFO Changes Everything Downstream.
Schedule a 30-minute conversation with Johanna Watson to discuss your finance leadership needs, the market conditions affecting your search, and how Artemis can deliver the financial executive your business requires.
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