Thought leaders say be ready to embrace AI and blockchain innovations, the rise of boutique firms, and the surge of specialized credentials.
Accounting ARC
With Donny Shimamoto, Liz Mason, and Byron Patrick
Center for Accounting Transformation
The IRS comes in second, says the AICPA PCPS.
via AICPA
Finding qualified staff is the top issue for all categories of accounting firms except sole practitioners, according to a biennial survey by the American Institute of CPAs’ firm practice management section.
Your value is in the knowledge you have and the relationships and trust you’ve built.
By Seth Fineberg
At Large
The field of accounting, and being an accountant, is challenged on many sides – none more so than the very act of being an accountant. In short, given the demand for new services and the growth in automation for nearly all “tasks,” what does accounting or being an accountant mean anymore?
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Let’s be clear: Accounting’s literal and metaphorical face is, and needs to be, changing if it is to grow and thrive. This, however, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But, as we well know, change is not easy or quick. What should encourage accounting professionals is that at this very moment in time, they have the ability to have a say in what accounting, and being an accountant, actually is and could be.
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Could some good accountants have spared the nation its hush money trauma?
By CPA Trendlines Research
Analysis and Commentary
The Donald Trump case involving hush money payments indeed centered around accounting practices and the legal implications of how these transactions were recorded. The payments in question, made to silence allegations of extramarital affairs, were scrutinized for potential violations of campaign finance laws and business records.
A CPA Trendlines analysis of generally accepted practices and the professional literature demonstrates the grave lapses that led to felony convictions and the essential role good accountants and honest accounting must play in the executive suite.
The lessons – and risks – for accountants are painfully clear.
Maybe we should front-load the coolest parts of our profession.
By CPA Trendlines Research
If you’re wondering why it’s so hard to find and hire qualified accounting professionals, think back to your college days … your first class in accounting, probably something like “Principles of Accounting.”
Obviously you, a future accountant, passed the course, and apparently you found it interesting.
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But that puts you in a minority of students with an interest in business. According to a survey from the Center for Audit Quality, 32 percent of students who chose not to major in accounting said lack of interest or passion was the main reason, and 70 percent said it was at least part of the reason.
No surprise, then, that only one in eight graduates in business areas major in accounting. And that’s down from one in seven in 2016.
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