Much like the country we live in, for as long as I’ve overseen the accounting profession, there has been a clear division among accountants. It is, specifically in opinions among CPAs—and accountants in general—on the usefulness and importance of the AICPA.
Now, with the first regime change in 30 years, the individual and entity he’ll take the helm of have an opportunity to embrace change and bridge some gaps. This message and my thoughts are in part directed at incoming AICPA CEO Mark Koziel, CPA, whom I have known personally since I began covering the profession.
But, moreover, it is about the leadership and direction this industry body can potentially bring. I use the word ‘potential’ because I see it in this profession, and I see where things could go both for the AICPA and accounting in general.
As we all know, the AICPA primarily represents CPAs and has, of course, expanded more globally over the years via CIMA. And as all accounting professionals are not CPAs (approximately 1/3 of practicing accountants are in this country), the Institute does not represent them. In fact, as mentioned earlier, there are many CPAs that don’t necessarily support the AICPA or believe it supports them.
This divisive opinion, for years, has been that the Institute tends to “cater” to mid-larger firms, which do not comprise the majority of CPA firms in this country. Herein lies the first of many opportunities for the incoming leadership.
Koziel has a small-firm background and has regaled those around him with this fact for many years. During his previous tenure at the AICPA, much of his efforts and outreach focused around the comparatively smaller CPA firms, which, again, do make up the majority of the profession. Perhaps not AICPA membership, but again, more opportunity for Koziel to bridge that gap and change the narrative about where the Institute’s attentions (and intentions) lie as well.
Much has been written of late (by myself included) about where the profession is at right now, sitting at a point of inflection both functionally and culturally. The AICPA’s message to this has also been two-fold.
The first has been shouted about for well over a decade: “evolve or die” or, more politely, “advisory is your future, not compliance.” The other, more recently, has been “accounting needs to tell a better story” in order to deal with the “talent crisis.” In my view, while there are truths to both narratives, there are many caveats as well.
On the issue of “advisory,” it is true that there are many benefits to the client and your bottom line to earn more from engagements that involve conversations with intent and planning and services on top of that. These conversations are largely based around the data and knowledge you have and can ultimately be of real value to your client when planning and growing their business or household.
The issue, however, has been in the messaging: urging accountants into a service area on the threat of what could happen if they don’t move in that direction. Thankfully, much of that conversation is changing, and even pricing methodologies and real-life examples and success stories are coming into focus.
Accountants, by and large, have figured this out on their own or are in the process of doing so. I am not saying the AICPA hasn’t helped them in this path, but for many it was seen as either drinking from a firehose or somewhat disingenuous given the Institute’s affiliation with “for profit” efforts from CPA.com (and CPA2Biz before it) and the products and services it marketed. This once more has been the perception, and much can be done to help bridge the gap between advising where firms of ALL sizes can go to evolve and structure their firms more as businesses than service entities tied to “charge hours.”
This brings me to our next point of opportunity for incoming leadership to address, which is the very face of accounting and what being an accountant is about: the culture. It’s a big word, and in my view, it means more for the future of the profession than any of the aforementioned.
Firm culture and accounting culture overall clearly need to change if the profession is to survive, let alone thrive. Much has been written about this as well, but the AICPA (and others) leading with the message of “telling a better story” doesn’t quite hit at the heart of the issue. This is something Koziel and the team can address head-on, which is HOW this better story is told.
I’m not talking about methodology, but at its core, accounting, by and large, is the same story it has been for decades, and no narrative shift is going to fix it. Real change will come from actually having a better story to tell.
What I mean is firm leadership actually instituting the changes it needs to put life first in the life-work balance scenario, to lean more into what staff want out of the work they do, to embrace more modern ways of working, and to have staff that are truly reflective of the culture they live in. Only then may we actually see more people want to enter the field of accounting and stay.
This is where AICPA, Koziel, and his team have an opportunity, at the very least for the CPA and CIMA designations, to redefine what the initials, and accounting in general, can mean outside of their literal translations.