It’s hard to find good help these days. Once tax season rolls around, it might be downright impossible.

That’s the tone of a recent Accounting Today article called “Staffing: Ready for Tax Season?” Author Roger Russell says today’s huge demand for CPAs and other accounting professionals has depleted the supply of tax professionals who typically step to the plate each tax season. As a result, writes Russell, firms are turning to “remote technology, outsourcing, part-time former employees and retirees and college students to fill the personnel void.”

Here are a couple of key paragraphs from Russell’s article:

“The Big Four and public accounting firms will continue to struggle to find people and salaries will continue to increase,” said Doug Lowery, area managing director for Chicago-based financial staffing recruiter Garelli Wong & Associates. “People who have been in the industry for six to nine years are at a premium.”

As a consequence, it may already be too late for some firms to find extra staff they need for tax season, according to Lowery. “Firms need to be constantly recruiting and marketing and networking. They need to be on campus and get students when they’re sophomores or juniors.”

On-campus recruiting is getting renewed attention as the staffing crisis drags on. This article offers the faculty’s perspective on how firms can effectively reach out to students. (The article is also available via podcast.)

Has the demand for CPAs impacted how you’re ramping up in preparation for tax season? If so, how?