<![CDATA[The global crisis of accounting and auditing professionals, known as The Accountant Shortage, has become increasingly alarming in Indonesia, particularly in non-Java regions such as West Kalimantan, which has only seven active public accountants, making accounting students' interest in pursuing auditor careers a critical factor in professional regeneration. This study aims to analyze the effect of motivation and work-life balance perception on career interest as an auditor, with career prospect perception as a mediating variable, among accounting students in Pontianak City. This study employs a quantitative approach using Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) through SmartPLS 4, with data collected via questionnaire from 173 respondents across five universities in Pontianak City using purposive sampling. The results reveal that motivation has a positive and significant effect on career prospect perception (? = 0.387; p = 0.000) and on auditor career interest (? = 0.721; p = 0.000). Work-life balance perception has a positive and significant effect on career prospect perception (? = 0.337; p = 0.000), but does not significantly affect career interest (? = ?0.057; p = 0.322). Career prospect perception does not significantly influence career interest (p = 0.644) and fails to mediate either relationship, evidenced further by effect sizes (f²) of 0.005 and 0.001 respectively. These findings indicate that motivation is the dominant factor shaping auditor career interest, and that the auditor profession in West Kalimantan tends to be chosen based on intrinsic drive and professional identity rather than purely economic considerations, offering practical implications for educational institutions and stakeholders in addressing The Accountant Shortage. ]]>
