Practitioners should address regulatory changes, focus on practice management, and help clients plan for the scheduled TCJA sunset. Most senior executives are pleased by the impact of moving their supply chains closer to home, according to a KPMG report. While some large companies have recently made news by making their employees return to the office, another trend is making bigger gains across the employment landscape. Optimism about the U.S. economy rebounded significantly among finance decision-makers, according to a new AICPA & CIMA survey. The partnership, continuing an industrywide trend, necessitates the creation of an alternative practice structure featuring a new CPA firm for attest services and a separate firm for nonattest services. CPA executives in business and industry have lowered expectations for the U.S. economy and, to a lesser extent, their own organizations, according to a quarterly AICPA & CIMA survey.

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Lastly, current accountants may be asked to work longer hours to make up for the dwindling number of accounting professionals entering the workplace. Overall, students agreed with statements suggesting that ample and varied job opportunities are available with an accounting degree (see the chart, “Students’ Perceptions of the Accounting Profession,” below). They also tend to agree that an accounting-related career can be intellectually challenging and fulfilling. Overall, students also agree that accountants have good earning potential right out of college, as well as good lifetime earning potential. The survey also showed that students disagree that the CPA Exam was the hurdle impacting their choice of major. These courses are taken by both accountancy and nonaccountancy majors, and we were curious to see how the profession is viewed by both groups of business students.

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We were also curious to note any differences in perception between accounting and nonaccounting majors. Interestingly, accounting majors are more likely than nonaccounting majors to view an accounting major as more difficult than other majors (question 6). The proposal would open up a third educational path alongside the existing pathways of a master’s degree plus one year of experience or a bachelor’s degree plus 30 additional credits and one year of experience.

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The proposed UAA language will be open for public comment for 60 days once published. The UAA, jointly managed by the AICPA and NASBA, provides state legislatures and boards of accountancy with a national model that can be adopted as is or adapted to meet the needs of each jurisdiction. Accounting firms and individuals should volunteer to speak at high schools and universities and use their social media presence to share the exciting and diverse work they do. Industry groups and firms can provide transparency related to salary data (both early and at later career stages) and actual hours worked. “The input and feedback from the members of the boards of accountancy and key stakeholders in the accounting profession is crucial to the UAA process,” Maria Caldwell, CPA, NASBA chair, said in the release. We encourage readers to explore other data around the accounting pipeline, including the accountancy previously mentioned AICPA 2021 Trends report, as well as the Center for Audit Quality’s recent study.

• By understanding psychological influences on decision-making, CPAs can work with clients more effectively and improve how they operate their practice.
• This quick guide walks you through the process of adding the Journal of Accountancy as a favorite news source in the News app from Apple.
• The partnership, continuing an industrywide trend, necessitates the creation of an alternative practice structure featuring a new CPA firm for attest services and a separate firm for nonattest services.
• The discussion below highlights the startling differences between how these groups of students perceive the accounting profession.
• Our data shows that we need to address these negative perceptions of the profession early.

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The organizations, on behalf of CPAs, responded to a request for feedback from the California Air Resources Board with recommendations related to guidance on the reporting and assurance requirements of recent legislation.

January 2025 – Journal of Accountancy

Accounting faculty need to proactively engage students at a very early stage of career selection. We need to make sure that we share the objective facts about starting salaries and petty cash career salary growth, as well as the wide array of interesting career opportunities in the profession. Our data revealed that many students fail to perceive the fulfilling nature of the careers and employment opportunities that an accounting education can provide across industries (question 8) or the potentially highly interesting nature of accounting work (question 10). It is critical that faculty dispel these misconceptions so young students can make informed choices about their majors and careers.

The proposal aims to address gaps in guidance for financial accounting of environmental credits and environmental credit obligations. Finance leaders sum up sentiment, their own and that of attendees at the Future of Finance Summit. With a focus on positivity, relevance, and tidbits they can take back to their teams, there’s plenty to consider as 2024 winds down. In this Journal of Accountancy-branded podcast, a senior wealth strategist and managing partner share advice on how to initiate conversations with business clients about transition and succession planning. The additional pathway would be paired with other changes to the UAA in order to protect the ability of CPAs to use their licenses in states other than their own, specifically a shift to individual-based practice Accounting for Churches privilege. The AICPA and other groups have developed materials that can be used as early as high school and the first year of college to show the true nature of accounting (see “AICPA Resources” for details).