It goes without saying that you learn a lot being among accountants for a few days., And after attending last week’s AICPA & CIMA ENGAGE event (arguably the largest in the profession), one thing became clear about the CPA brand and profession as a whole: the Institute’s new leader, Mark Koziel, CPA, has a lot on his back as well as behind it.
For years the CPA brand, its value, and the profession it stands for have been challenged, to say the least. And in his first year as the Institute’s leader, its membership has made its needs abundantly clear to him. More importantly, it appears there is much support behind him to see that they are indeed addressed.
To be fair, it is not on one person or one institutional body to fix all of the profession’s issues. But to advocate and address the most glaring challenges, especially given membership fees and the seemingly long-standing fact that approximately half of those that hold the CPA credential are either not AICPA members or don’t necessarily support what they do, is no small task, albeit expected of leadership. This is where Koziel, a long-standing member, small-firm advocate, and recent head of a global association (Allinial Global), can shine.
Some of the more major issues the AICPA and Koziel plan to address are obvious, others less so, beginning of course with the “talent crisis” or “pipeline issue,” if you will. One could argue that the accounting profession as a whole has “always” struggled with having enough professionals to do the work. But, in recent years, numbers have shown a decline in the amount of CPAs in the profession, people sitting for the exam, and even students pursuing accounting degrees.
In order to truly find out what common issues CPAs share, Koziel spent the beginning of his tenure as AICPA President on a listening tour. During this time, he uncovered quite a bit of feedback on what he and the Institute need to address the most. These included (in no particular order):
- Small firm representation
- Small business reporting
- The talent pipeline
- CPA branding
- Building communities among the profession and business and industry
- Better connections between accounting professionals overall
“The CPA is still a strong accreditation to have, but with the variety of skill sets needed in a growing practice, looking outside of those letters seems necessary,” Koziel added. “We still have to tell a better story if we want to address the pipeline issue.” In this writer’s view, however, it remains a matter of having a better story to tell about being a CPA and an accountant in general.
The good news for CPAs is, whether it’s due to the Institute’s efforts or not, there does appear to be an uptick in interest in accounting. According to AICPA research, there has been
- A 12% increase in undergrad accounting major enrollments between Fall 2024 and Spring 2025
- 28,000 new CPA Exam candidates in 2024
- A 74% increase in global hiring of accountants year over year
- 72% of Masters of Accounting programs seeing increased applications
This was just a snapshot, and considering all that CPAs are looking for in their present and their future, the AICPA and Koziel do have their proverbial work cut out for them. There is, of course, the ever-present specter of Private Equity as well that could fundamentally shape where CPA firms go. Some are concerned, some not as much, and some are even embracing the possibility of growth and even restructuring of the traditional CPA firm model.
A lot remains to be seen, but know this: PE is here to stay for the foreseeable future, and like any new entity, be it cloud, AI, subscription pricing, et al., CPAs can either see it as a threat or an opportunity. Looking towards the future, CPAs do see several opportunities to lean into, a “wish list,” if you will, courtesy of a live poll conducted during Koziel’s keynote. In it, attendees were asked, “As you look to the future, what opportunities do you now see?” The responses, while not entirely surprising, were quite telling:
- Shorter work hours or a 4-day workweek
- Increased usage of AI
- Better education and training
- “Stop lowering the bar just to fill seats” (a re-think, not a total elimination of the 150-hour rule).
- No charge-hour goals
- Increased community/sharing among accountants
- More personal financial planning
All told, I am both curious and excited to check in next year to see if there is any movement on the aforementioned from the profession and the Institute and its leadership.