The Kentucky CPA Journal

Cover

Setting up The next generation of CPAs for success

Issue 4
November 25, 2024

By Amanda Biven, CPA

KyCPA Accounting Pipeline Task Force

The Society’s Accounting Pipeline Task Force had their first meeting on October 4 and the timing could not have been better. AICPA and NASBA had recently released the proposed “CPA competency-based experience pathway,” which is open for comment through December 6. The pathway’s goals are to respond to market changes and expand opportunities for the next generation of accountants. 

Back row, pictured left to right: John-Paul Felter, Alexander Harmon, Kevin Joynt, Darlene Zibart (KyCPA President & CEO), Jenna Gover, Amanda Biven (Chair), Nate Littles and Geoffrey Griffith

Front row, pictured left to right: Zoe Sapin (KyCPA Student Coordinator), Melissa Mattox, Jerry Shelton and Jaclyn Badeau

Not pictured: Keith Phillips II and Tanner Thompson

Addressing the shortage of CPAs

The sizable number of retiring CPAs and the lack of new CPA candidates is likely old news at this point. The real question is what is being done about it and how. Students are choosing business majors but not accounting. Students majoring in accounting are less and less likely to sit for the exam. According to the National Pipeline Advisory Group’s Accounting Talent Strategy Report, on page 14, it says that fewer than half (49 percent) of accounting Bachelor’s and Master’s graduates first sit for the CPA Exam. Firms have seen the number of applicants decrease steadily over the years, which creates more competition for candidates. Smaller firms and firms/industry in smaller cities are even more impacted as there are simply no CPAs. 

This is what the Society’s Accounting Pipeline Task Force is hoping to address. We are a diverse group of CPAs from tax to audit, Big 4/small firm/industry and with various years of experience. Our hope is to guide KyCPA Board of Directors in decision-making and support the CPA profession through our own initiatives. 

Our first meeting was lively, and the four-and-a-half-hour meeting went by quickly. We opened with an icebreaker to connect with one another, learned about various bills in states across the US that are changing CPA qualifications and ended with a review of the competency program proposed by the AICPA and NASBA. 

There were many “correct me if I am wrong here,” “great point there,” and “oh interesting” as the conversation flowed. We all laughed as we kept circling back to “Let’s party like it’s 1999,” a reference to the pre-150 hours requirement. As some members of the task force could not attend that first meeting, the notes were gathered and summarized, emailed out for review and would be revisited in a virtual discussion at the end of the month. The comments would then be shared with the Society’s Executive Committee before official submission. We all wondered if others were having the same thoughts we had. 

Mobility is something we kept coming back to. CPAs are one of the few licenses that translate across most state lines. A licensed CPA in one state can practice in another with no notice, no fee and no escape. However, that is very much in jeopardy. A few state societies are addressing the CPA pipeline shortage by eliminating the 150-hour requirement and are in various stages of making legislative changes. Many states are proposing a version of an undergraduate degree in accounting, passing the CPA exam, and an experience requirement, eliminating the 150 hours, to be a licensed CPA. Mobility will be broken when one of these bills passes, and the impacts are messy. 

• Will licensed CPAs be grandfathered in? Likely so, but the benefit of ‘no notice’ would be lost. Notice must be given to prove the license was granted before the certification change was made. 

• Will State societies recognize CPAs that are licensed under different certification standards other than their own? That would be up to each State society. 

KyCPA is working closely with the Kentucky State Board of Accountancy in anticipation of these issues and has been for quite some time. Mobility may be broken by the time this is published, as this article was written in early October. 

One theme emerged from our first meeting that set the tone:

Every CPA is responsible for addressing the accounting pipeline shortage and we want to be ready for changes that impact Kentucky CPAs. 

Here is where you can start: 

• Be aware of how you discuss the CPA profession. Yes, we work long hours, and there are times when it’s incredibly challenging, but there is so much more than that. We have an impact on the clients and business we work with. 
• Tell your why. Why are you a CPA, and why have you stayed in the profession? 

• Stay aware of pipeline initiatives and state licensing changes. Your KyCPA membership includes access to the AICPA Townhalls and A&A updates. The free CPE does not hurt either! 
• Renew your KyCPA membership and encourage others to join. 

There will not be one fix, and it will not be quick. However, it’s clear changes in the CPA profession are here. Let’s all do our part to support the next generation of CPAs and ensure stability in the profession for generations to come. 

About the author: Amanda Biven, CPA, is an internal auditor at the Brown-Forman Corporation in Louisville. Biven chairs the Society’s Accounting Pipeline Task Force and serves on the KyCPA Board of Directors. She can be reached at amanda4319@gmail.com.