What's Coming Around the Bend?
Source: CPA Trendlines
The following includes excerpts, reproduced with permission, from an article by Rick Telberg.
The author identifies 10 trends the U.S. accounting field faces. Here are five of those 10:
- Credential competition. The U.S.-dominated CPA credential is under competitive attack worldwide. The AICPA may have upwards of 330,000 members. But worldwide, the International Federation of Accountants, or IFAC, is comprised of 164 associations in 125 countries, representing more than 2.5 million accountants. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India comes second among nations to the AICPA, with 162,000 members. And the Chinese Institute of CPAs still has only 140,000 individual members, but colleges are churning out 500,000 accounting graduates a year. Is it any wonder then that the AICPA is seeking to mint new U.S.-regulated CPAs overseas?
- IFRS readiness. CPAs will need to broaden and deepen their skills and understanding of global business and accounting standards as IFRS spreads around the planet.
- Employer-based education. With high schools and universities falling further behind the specialized needs of business and industry, CPA firms and corporations will be turning increasingly to their associations, other employers and niche training companies for updating and developing staff. Bottom line: prepare for more expensive training costs.
- Learning, un-learning and re-learning. In a world swirling with macro social, economic, technological and political change domestically and abroad, CPAs will need to be updating themselves constantly.
- Fighting for the soul of accounting. The ranks of public accounting, which long gave the profession its heart and soul, are dwindling. The profession could take on a different flavor as members in public practice become a minority to members in business and industry.
For the complete article, read “10 Global Mega-Trends for This Year's Partner Retreat.”
From CPA Trendlines, http://cpatrendlines.com, April 26, 2011.