Digital Financial Reporting

AccountingToday reports in an article, AICPA CEO Melancon: CPA licensing under threat, that the American Institute of CPAs president and CEO Barry Melancon talked about the need for CPAs to learn new skills as hiring of accounting graduates has slowed and the CPA licensing model has come under threat in some states.

In the article, Melancon points out, “Hiring of accounting graduates over the last four years by public accounting firms is down 31 percent. Total hiring is basically flat and proportionally slightly down. If we don't find a way to put those other skill sets, predominantly technology, into the CPA Evolution, we're going to continue to see that equilibrium change.”

The article mentions two other important details.  First, it says "The AICPA has been working with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy on an initiative called CPA Evolution to transform the CPA licensure model to teach more technology skills to CPAs."  Two or maybe three years ago, I went to the State Board of Accountancy in Washington state and told them the same thing.  They basically ignored me.

Second, the article talks about the AICPA's Dynamic Audit Solution initiative. Be sure to keep on top of that.  AI assisted audits are really a slam dunk.

So, where do you start?  I strongly suggest that the first step is to get some Computer Empathy to understand how computers work. This will help you understand the real potential impact of artificial intelligence, structured information, digital distributed ledgers, etc.