Five Things to Keep You Awake at Night, from the Incoming AICPA Chairman [VIDEO]

Change is coming hard and fast.

Paul Stahlin, regional president at Skylands Community Bank in Somerville, N.J., takes over the top spot of the AICPA in October from Bob Harris, a Florida CPA firm owner.

In this impromptu 12-minute video, Stahlin outlines his views of the profession’s — and the institute’s — biggest challenges and opportunities.

He starts with five hot topics:

  1. Some 120 countries are already on IFRS, he notes, suggesting that it’s “critical” U.S. CPAs get up to speed.
  2. Private company financial reporting standards (don’t call it “Little GAAP”) could pose a whole new set of complexities for accountants at 29 million U.S. companies.
  3. Amidst all the changes of the last decade, it’s time, he says, for the AICPA to revisit the “vision” for the profession.
  4. The CPA exam gets its biggest refresh in January since going online, and will include international standards.
  5. Last, but not least, he’ll be doing a lot of explaining to members about the new IFRS certificate the AICPA is launching.

He covers a lot more ground in this Q&A. But if he has one overall message for CPAs it’s: You ignore global forces at your peril. The world is simply too small, too interconnected, to rapidly changing, and too inter-dependent to stick “your head in the sand.”

And, yes, he sees foreign accountants raring to compete for the rich markets served by U.S.-bound CPAs.

If you’re not worried yet about competition at the China price, you should be.