As part of this year's Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting report, we asked all the candidates: "What has you most excited about the future of accounting?" All of their answers are given in full below.

What isn't exciting about the future of accounting? There are clients who are more engaged than ever and looking for collaboration and advisory services from their accounting professionals. This is a tremendous opportunity for professionals to harness the power of technology and to support customer and client needs.

The increasingly complex global economy relies on the expertise of accounting professionals and it is exciting for us to constantly innovate to provide the best possible tools for our customers so that they can deliver value to their clients.

Karen Abramson, CEO, Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting

I am particularly excited about globalization, not only in the accounting profession, but also across our middle-market client base. Last year we changed our name to RSM US LLP, uniting with more than 120 firms around the world under the common brand -- RSM. Our goal was to better demonstrate to clients the strength and broad reach of our global capabilities, and I think it has been successful so far.

In addition to creating energy among clients and in the marketplace, the RSM global brand has really energized our people. We have more and more individuals traveling overseas to serve clients and taking longer-term secondment and expatriate assignments. I, personally, am spending much more of my time engaged in international activities as well.

Our professionals helped us draft our purpose statement -- committed to guiding clients through their business challenges. The complexities of international business add excitement to our work, provide great opportunities to give guidance to clients and are particularly appealing to the younger generation of professionals whose engagement, energy and enthusiasm are so critical to the future of the accounting profession.

Joe Adams, Managing partner and CEO, RSM US

I think that with the changing of the guard, we will see new leadership embrace significant changes in the way that firms are organized and operated. People models and expectations will change (for the better) as much of the traditional tax season work disappears to automation and we can focus on actually providing services that the client wants.

Gary Adamson, President, Adamson Advisory

The new (and soon to be new) partners in accounting firms all across North America. I have worked with and know hundreds of them and am so impressed with their intelligence, discipline, drive, and courage. They are finding their voice in firms all across our profession and are becoming catalysts for change and innovation within their respective firms. They are way more impressive than I was when I became a new partner in 1991.

Sam Allred, Director, Upstream Academy

I am seeing more firms of all sizes acquiring consulting and advisory companies that complement their traditional accounting and tax services to provide integrated solutions services to their clients. In addition, firm leaders are beginning to invest more in leadership development, which in the long run will help the current succession planning problem. Finally, accounting offers individuals the opportunity to be entrepreneurs, create wealth for themselves and for their clients, and to grow professionally.

August Aquila, President and CEO, Aquila Global Advisors LLC

CPAs are seen as one of the most trusted advisors a business owner or individual can have. In order to maintain this position, accountants have to always stay on top of the latest news and best practices, and find creative ways to continue to be seen as an integral part of their clients' professional lives.

Rather than see this as a challenge, I see it as an opportunity. We must diversify our intellectual ability and our skill sets to be able to keep pace with changing client demands.

Antonio Argiz, Chairman and CEO, MBAF

I think that technology and the information age are breaking down the barriers to enter the profession in a beautiful way. More and more people who don't even have an accounting degree will be able to learn the foundations of accounting, how to serve clients, how to grow their firm and much more from online courses, trainings, and communities. Accounting is an exciting and exhilarating profession that is becoming easier and easier to enter due to improvements in technology and the availability of information and training in the new economy.

Andrew Argue, CEO and Founder, The Argue Co.

I am very excited about the expanding technology capabilities available to firms. The cloud is truly changing how firms can provide historical compliance services. At the same time, it's transforming how firms can deliver outsourced client accounting, one of the highest growth areas in firms today.

Erik Asgeirsson, CEO, CPA.com

After what has felt like three years of pushing the Indiana Jones-sized boulder uphill, it seems that we've reached the tipping point and are now reaping the rewards of what we've been sewing. There is no greater career joy for me than to look back on the path I've just come down and see my partners making huge strides toward bringing their practice online, transitioning to fixed and value-priced models, and truly becoming their clients' most trusted advisors.

Intuit specifically has seen explosive growth out of the QuickBooks Online platform over the past two years. Historically, it took seven years to get the first 100,000 clients on QBO, and less than three months to get the last 100,000 subscribers as we approached 1 million customers worldwide (which we hit in June 2015). Over the past year, our Accountant Segment of Intuit's Small Business Group is the fastest growing segment at the company, and we've played a huge part in QBO soaring to over 1 million clients in the US, and over 1.4 million worldwide as of April 2016.

Kim Austin, Business development manager, Intuit

Accountants are embracing technology in their practices more today than they were even five years ago. This trend will almost certainly continue into the future. This is exciting because the adoption of technology is critical to making sure that accountants stay ahead of software, like Turbotax, that is trying to take away work that accountants can do better, and will always do better, than do-it-yourself software solutions.

Kurt Averell, Founder and CEO, Canopy Tax

Blockchain technology. Even though it was not invented by the accounting profession, it is destined to transform and disrupt how and what accountants do, while adding more value to society.

The Economist labeled Blockchain "The Trust Machine" -- trust the math, not the people ("in math we trust"). George Gilder thinks blockchain is the eighth layer of the Internet -- a trust and transactions layer. Don and Alex Tapscott call it "The Trust Protocol," in their book, "Blockchain Revolution." Other labels include, the World Wide Ledger of value, and a public (distributed) ledger, or distributed (decentralized) database.

Either way, blockchain is a meta-technology -- that is, it affects other technologies. It is not a process improvement technology -- it is a disruptive technology. Similar to any ledger, it could track anything to do with the following (ATOMIC): assets, trust, ownership, money, identity, contracts.

Will blockchain technology lead to triple-entry accounting? Organizations could easily add a third entry to the World Wide Ledger, instantly accessible to those who need to see it -- the company's shareholders, auditors, regulators, etc.

How disruptive will this be to the CPA profession? Auditing is a multibillion-dollar industry controlled by four massive audit firms. According to the book "Blockchain Revolution:" "Traditional accounting practices will not survive the velocity and complexity of modern finance. New accounting methods using blockchain's distributed ledger will make audit and financial reporting transparent and occur in real time."

"Accountants are like mushrooms -- they're kept in the dark and fed shit," said Tom Mornini, CEO of Subledger, a start-up targeting the accounting industry.

If every transaction is recorded in a globally distributed ledger, who will need public accountancies to translate for us? Deloitte & Touche now has 100 people in its cryptocurrency group, spread out in 12 countries. Eric Piscini, who heads up the Deloitte cryptocurrency center, tells clients that the blockchain is "a big risk for your own business model because now the business of banking is to manage risk."

But auditing itself is ripe for disruption. As Piscini said, "Today we spend a lot of time auditing companies, and we charge fees accordingly. Tomorrow, if that process is completely streamlined because there is a time stamp in the blockchain, that changes the way we audit companies."

Or perhaps eliminates the audit function altogether?

Deloitte has developed a solution called PermaRec (for Permanent Record) whereby "Deloitte would record those transactions into the blockchain and would then be able to audit one of the two partners, or both of them, very quickly, because that transaction is recorded."

Will investors demand triple-entry accounting to meet corporate governance standards? After all, Piscini argues, "Who is going to invest in a company that shows you what's going on quarterly, compared to one that shows you what's going on all the time?"

Is blockchain the beginning of the end for auditors and bookkeepers? There's a Chinese proverb that teaches: "When the wind of change blows, some people build walls, others build windmills." Time will tell whether the accounting profession embraces blockchain, or engages in a futile attempt to keep this elegant technology from disrupting its sclerotic business model.

Ron Baker, Founder, VeraSage Institute

Given the world we live in today -- one of rapid technological changes enabling the processing of massive amounts of data -- we have the opportunity to re-invent the profession. Much of the activity we currently perform will be automated in the future. Some studies claim that only half the skills employees use today will be needed in 2020. It sounds threatening but at the same time, it's our opportunity to be what we really want to be -- business advisors for our clients, and to be more relevant to them.

If we embrace the technology available today and that which we can see just over the horizon, we'll be performing at an even more rewarding level. We'll be driving business growth, rather than measuring it after the fact. Further, while this is all occurring we're also training the future leaders of the profession and serving a new breed of client. The inevitable changes in leadership caused by the aging of the profession as well as shifts in client and staff demographics that are more technologically demanding and sophisticated than prior generations is exhilarating.

The client of today expects professionals who serve them to be expert in the digital world (just as they are) and have tools that can enhance their businesses and not simply report on historical information. After all, clients feel they can easily do that on their own. Financial reporting and after-the-fact analytics are table stakes today. What younger clients look for are professionals who can provide them with up-to-the-minute information and data analytics on what impacts their businesses. They want guidance and advice that steers them in the right direction to enhance their position and accelerate their growth. And they expect this information to be available whenever and wherever they need it. The good news -- what excites me about the profession -- is that we have this at our fingertips.

Today, we can connect with these clients through a collaborative portal that's accessible 24/7. We can see their data simultaneously through the use of the cloud and provide proactive guidance and analytics to drive their business growth. We can use workflow tools that truly drive efficiency and allow us to serve clients in a cutting-edge fashion. We have automated research and content that can easily be communicated to our clients, and with the simple movement of a mouse we can advise large and small clients on international expansion. We have sophisticated marketing tools and techniques to drive new client growth in a mobile world. As a result of converging technological changes, we're more mobile, as evidenced by hardware device sales. Excluding the IOT (Internet of Things) market, 92 percent of device sales today are mobile, while desktop PCs are now only 8 percent.

It's very exciting to be part of the accounting profession today. In spite of the challenges we face, the profession is needed by its clients more than ever before. It is developing new, diverse leadership, and we have tools that are up to the task of serving our clients at a much higher level. We are at a time where we can re-invent the profession. What a great place to be.

Jon Baron, Managing director, Professional Segment, Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting

What has me most excited may be what others most fear: that the profession is on the cusp of revolutionary change. The intersection of technology and generational shifts is dramatically redefining this profession. We are seeing the first digital natives enter the workforce -- a generation for whom technology isn't just a tool for them to streamline workflows as it was for the Baby Boomer generation. Instead, it's a completely integrated part of their lives -- the next generation sees the world through a digital lens. The potential for these tools remains in its infancy; it will take the next generation to fully integrate technology into the business world. We see a little of this now, with young professionals launching virtual firms and new lines of business; but once these junior accountants in larger firms are promoted into managerial roles, we will really start to see innovation. Not until then will we see the United States embrace integrated reporting on a large-scale basis.

Joanne Barry, Executive director and CEO, NYSSCPA

The complexity of changing business models will require evolved expertise on a global and industry scale that will make our profession more valued than it is today. As the profession adopts new tools based on technological advances and access to better data, the work we do will be valued and appreciated at a higher level by the organizations we serve. We have an opportunity to provide even deeper impact and value to the public and organizations we serve.

Brian Becker, Partner, technology, and managing consulting national leader, RSM US

Accountants have more options than ever to network, learn, and manage their careers.

We used to be limited by our peer group and geography. Not everyone was lucky enough to find a mentor to teach them how to manage their career, and live near great jobs. Today high performers can teach themselves, network with hiring managers across the country, and find the best roles for them.

A CPA in Iowa can connect with a recruiter in Texas, practice interviewing online, get hired and work remotely with cheap and easy to use software tools. This wasn't possible just 10 years ago.

Bob Berchtold, Founder, CPA Talent

I am most excited about all of this change and the fact that I and every new accountant can focus on "advisory services" and helping clients be more profitable, liquid, and solvent. We can focus on educating them on what they need to do to be successful in their endeavors. Compliance work will be automated so our time can be better spent in discussion on what keeps them up at night and how we can use technology to project, plan and analyze. Technology also levels the playing field so that solo practitioners can compete more effectively with larger firms as online networks and alliances are formed by these smaller players to give them niche experts to collaborate via the Internet.

David Bergstein, Evangelist, Accountant Segment, Intuit

Until now, major corporations have used technology to penetrate deep into accountants' core services (tax, accounting and payroll). Cloud technology has the potential to help accountants reclaim lost ground, better serve their clients and restore their relevance. That's the most exciting thing about the future of accounting, and that's what has motivated AccountantsWorld to use the cloud to offer accountants remarkable capabilities to revamp their practices.

Chandra Bhansali, CEO, AccountantsWorld

There's no question that cloud technology has made it possible for accountants to revamp their practices, and regain relevance. The implications of the cloud are enormous. Unlike PC technology, where the impact was to help increase productivity, cloud technology has the potential to impact every aspect of running an accounting practice, from hiring, purchasing, marketing, performing client engagements, client interaction and staff management. The only challenge is that most accountants are only reaping a fraction of the benefits the cloud has to offer.

Cloud solutions not only make accounting practices more efficient, they also offer accountants the ability to monitor their clients' fiscal health in real-time, right from their office or anywhere else. This capability helps clients avoid potential problems by quickly taking corrective action.

Sharada Bhansali, Executive vice president and co-founder, AccountantsWorld

The rapid advancement of the use of technology is adding a new dimension to accounting and certainly creates excitement about the future of accounting. The increased use, and reliance on, data analytics is an example of the advancement. In a world of self-driving cars, computer-assisted surgeries and procedures, and new, smart computers, the use of technology to improve the accuracy and precision of accounting and auditing only makes sense. I expect to see continuous growth in how technology and data analytics is used to enhance quality, particularly in audits.

Ken Bishop, President and CEO, NASBA

The increasing realization by professionals aged 25-40 that the value of their expertise lies in the outcomes created for clients, rather than the delivery of professional services in and of themselves.

Martin Bissett, Founder, The Upward Spiral Partnership

We now have a real opportunity to run a firm like an entrepreneur. We can take risks, price higher, and offer new and valuable services that earlier practitioners didn't have the opportunity to offer.

Jason Blumer, Founder and CEO, Thriveal Network

The profession has so many opportunities to "re-shape" itself to maintain the historical role as trusted advisor. Will the grassroots support the profession leadership to make the investments required?

Gary Bolinger, President and CEO, Indiana CPA Society

The opportunity to work in a global and exponentially growing marketing. The challenge is most of us were trained to think linear and local. The CGMA is a positive step towards skating to where the puck will be, rather than where it has been.

Gary Boomer, Founder, visionary and strategist, Boomer Consulting

Watching leading firms transform their business models from simply compliance/transactional services to a more advisory model. Cloud and mobile technology has been the enabler of this shift. As firms adopt collaborative, cloud-based tools, hire diverse skill-sets and adapt their business models, they are in perfect position to act as clients' most trusted business partners.

Jim Boomer, CEO and shareholder, Boomer Consulting Inc.

The pace of change. I enjoy the challenges brought on by change and I am ready to change and adapt to the new marketplace. I believe that firms that deploy and know how to use the best technology will be the most profitable and most successful.

Jim Bourke, Partner, WithumSmith+Brown

The need for CPAs to be true advisors makes me excited about the future of accounting. This is an opportunity for CPAs to look forward and take advantage of the trust that clients place in them, rather than looking backward and reporting history. One way to do this is to specialize and focus on niche and service specialties. CPAs should utilize their expertise and thought leadership to attract and retain clients who need specific industry-related advice.

Jean Marie Caragher, President of Capstone Marketing

The most exciting development for CPA firms today is the opportunity to play a vastly expanded role in serving their clients, moving from work with a large compliance focus to value-added services in exciting new areas such as cyber security, privacy, transaction assistance, human resources, IT services, business strategy and process improvement.

Technology has played a significant role in creating these opportunities as well as in automating much of compliance work to free up professional time to help clients in new ways.

For years, firms have aspired to be the single point-of-contact that clients go to first for help in addressing their business issues. More than ever before, expanded service opportunities are making this aspiration possible.

Carolyn Carlson, President, StangerCarlson

Tax reform.

Paul Caron, Publisher and editor-in-chief, TaxProf Blog

I believe the future of the accounting profession has never been brighter. So much opportunity exists for the practitioners that embrace change. Technology will continue to automate transactional functions, pushing practitioners to offer higher-value strategic services, which will have an increasingly positive impact on the CPA client relationship.

Michael Cerami, Vice president of business development and corporate strategy, CPA.com

The opportunities for those who choose accounting as a profession have never been greater. To stay relevant, professional accountants must broaden their skills and competencies well beyond traditional areas, so they can better communicate, collaborate, and provide insight and strategic direction to their stakeholders. The business issues that accountants are involved in are at the forefront of strategy and risk, which brings extraordinary opportunity for members of the profession to have a meaningful impact on organizations, the public good, and economies.

Richard Chambers, President and CEO, IIA

Two distinct themes:

The first is the continuous thinking that takes place to ensure that the profession remains relevant and adds value. As we all know, technology is the Big Issue, changing the world apace and the profession's response to both the opportunities and the challenges is a testament to its creativity and business savvy. But the thinking extends to promoting the public interest and shaping areas where the profession's involvement is key, such as greater involvement in the management of public finances and new ways of reporting, beyond just the numbers, of how entities create and sustain value.

The second is the emergence of the profession in developing countries, and seeing up-close how important the profession is to nation-building. It's been a privilege to visit many countries in which the profession is building, or rebuilding, in tandem with the economies they serve. The passion and professionalism accountants display in these countries, even when operating in exceptionally difficult circumstances, is unwavering -- as is their dedication to the public interest, transparency and accountability.

Fayezul Choudhury, CEO, IFAC

The U.S. has decided to stake out its own future in standard-setting instead of trying to converge with the IASB in places where it might not always make sense. I think it's fine that we are aware of their directions and try to avoid pointless differences -- but I think we also have to be responsive to the needs of investors here in the U.S. We lost a lot of time on convergence, and I'm glad we're getting back on track.

Jack Ciesielski, Publisher, The Analyst's Accounting Observer

You'll not be surprised that I'm most excited about new technology for CPAs! Technology creates tremendous opportunities for accounting professionals to offer better controls, deeper insights, and improved efficiencies. The combination of those skill sets is going to be essential going forward. Those practitioners who are ready to embrace the latest technologies/new operating paradigm are going to be poised to bring tremendous value to their organizations and their clients.

David Cieslak, Principal, Arxis Technology

Millennials and the change they are forcing in the industry are very exciting. With so many Boomers leaving the industry, the industry is being forced to look at new ways to do business. Technology has become increasingly important not only as a means of gaining efficiency but a way to communicate and gain new business. The firm of the future has to be nimble and adaptable. It has to listen to its client base, which is changing, as well as its employees. The industry has to adapt to this changing business model, which requires a different way of doing business. Firms may no longer be able to require that all employees be in the office from 8 to 5. Rather, they will need to consider allowing the employee more flexibility in how they accomplish their work. I have heard the past two years that mandatory Saturdays are less popular. Value pricing continues to be a topic of conversation.

Lauren Clemmer, Executive director, AAM

The shift from transactional work to being an advisor-focused practice. What I mean by advisor is having the ability to think of future-facing problems or opportunities a client might face, and really play a key role in their life or business. As we see firms also include profit centers/partnerships for service offerings like wealth management, this is positioning many firms to become ingrained into a client's business or life, much more so than before. Part of this change is coming from automation through technology, but also pricing insights delivered through people like Ron Baker. Pairing pricing optimization strategies, with technology automation, and the ability to have strategic conversations (and goal-setting sessions) with clients will continue to make the accountant more valuable, not less.

David Cristello, CEO and founder, Jetpack Workflow

The promise of technology taking over lower-level tasks through such possibilities as continuous auditing, universal ledgers, auto-population of tax returns, and the opportunity to move to a higher level of critical thinking, judgment and consultative value to clients.

Gale Crosley, President, Crosley+Co.

Surprisingly, one of the most exciting developments to me is the clarity projects that were undertaken by the standard-setting bodies. Prior to the clarification of standards, it was difficult for an accountant to differentiate between a requirement and a suggestion as to how that requirement might be achieved.

By segregating the requirements from the illustrations and application guidance, practitioners can get a better understanding of what the requirements are and develop efficient and effective means of applying them, weaning themselves off of checklists and relegating them to the reference tool they are intended to be.

Mark Dauberman, Owner and president, Mark Dauberman Seminars

The things that excite me the most are opportunities to leverage technology to streamline systems, and help clients (and my own) businesses run with incredible efficiency. I love helping clients. I love to see the light come on, when I can show them how they can do things with dramatic improvements to their process.

Seth David, President, Nerd Enterprises

As I spend time with our emerging leaders, I truly get excited about their enthusiasm for our profession. They get fired up when given the opportunity to contribute to our future direction through initiatives around innovation and collaboration.

Rick Davis, Managing shareholder, Elliott Davis Decosimo

The expansion of the scope of services provided by a CPA. The blending and broadening of services and expectations are a challenge but the start of a process to make expansion in the profession happen from a standards and regulatory aspect is exciting. Thinking of the future, growth is good ... grow or die. Although staying in the same place may be comfortable, it's a growth killer.

Loretta Doon, CEO, California Society of CPAs

I see a lot of firms and accounting professionals that are open to new ideas and ways of thinking.

James Doty, Chairman, PCAOB

The development of advanced data and analytics combined with another quickly emerging capability -- cognitive computing -- is exciting. These technologies will take on certain elements of our work, freeing up members of the profession to take on new, elevated roles that focus on the highest risks a company faces. KPMG is investing heavily in these areas.

Lynne Doughtie, Chairman and CEO, KPMG

The people! I am inspired by the passion, commitment, and hard work of accountants. I am excited whenever I meet AICPA members and hear their experiences and ideas.  Accountants have unlimited opportunities and are essential for critical decision-making. Accounting is truly a profession with a purpose and I am pleased to join CPAs and CGMAs who serve their firms, customers, businesses, clients and communities in the spirit of protecting the public interest.

Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, Incoming chair, AICPA

It is a great time to be in the accounting and auditing profession. The rapid pace of change and innovation taking place is tremendous -- we're able to witness firsthand how the traditional role of the audit is changing due to the fusion of our physical, biological, and digital worlds. From increased access to information and analytics capabilities, to enhance timeliness, I see greater opportunity to leverage new ideas and technologies, such as artificial intelligence to make a difference in the work we do for the capital markets. What excites me most is the increased scope for higher-order thinking and insights that these changes will enable.

Cathy Engelbert, CEO, Deloitte

We are expanding and growing to be more inclusive in every way -- not just in terms of racial diversity, but also with regard to roles, backgrounds, service offerings, and more. I worked in the "Big Eight" (now the Big Four), owned a small firm, and served in a variety of volunteer roles for different business & civic organizations -- including the AICPA's PCPS Executive Committee. My experiences as a CPA firm owner, as a black woman navigating my career, as a wife and mother trying to maintain balance, and as a volunteer giving back to the profession all melded into a unique perspective that was often different from my peers and colleagues. I have come to see myself as an entrepreneur with a passion for serving the profession who happens to be a CPA, rather than defining myself as a CPA. Tax is what I know but not who I am. I see the AICPA/CIMA merger as validation of the choices I made, and evidence that the future of the profession is more than just being a CPA in a public accounting firm.

Jina Etienne, President and CEO, NABA

That there are so many working together to proactively mitigate the challenges faced. Whether it's human capital, mergers and acquisitions, regulatory issues or anything on the limitless list of issues, we (as a profession) have grown and are taking ownership to proactively manage accounting firms instead of being reactive.

Kim Fantaci, President, CPAFMA

I am excited about the challenges facing the accounting profession and how it will rise to meet them, most notably the need to employ more judgment as FASB moves towards more principles-based rules.

George Farrah, Editorial director, Tax and Accounting, Bloomberg BNA

It will be exciting to see whether the profession can leverage the growing demand for some form of assurance on new matters such as interim financial information, cyber-security, sustainability, and perhaps other areas as an opportunity to increase the relevance of the audit.

Lewis Ferguson, Board member, PCAOB

The profession's changing, diverse workforce: Accounting and auditing will be shaped in exciting ways as the profession taps assertively into a talent pool that is growing more diverse culturally, that has shown fresh ways of thinking, and that can bring the profession critical new skillsets in computer science, data analysis, and statistics.

Cindy Fornelli, Executive director, Center for Audit Quality

What makes me most excited about the future of accounting is how much fun it is! I know that sounds corny but I can tell you honestly that I am having more fun now than I ever have and am so excited about what we are doing to help our profession both in the U.S. and at a global level. It is an exciting time to be in our profession and for those entering our profession, the opportunities are huge and there is more to get done every day than we know what to do with.

Brian Fox, Founder and president, Confirmation.com

I am most excited about the prospect of the accounting profession finally modernizing and operating at or ahead of the pace of business and society.  The future is bright for a highly skilled, robust and diverse accounting profession. 

In order to achieve this, the profession must accelerate its current efforts to recruit, retain, and develop a diverse workforce, including improving opportunities for the advancement of women and minorities. 

Jeanette Franzel, Board member, PCAOB

There has never been a better time to be in the accounting field. Much of the excitement and investments in technology surround the accountant. SaaS companies like Xero are but one cog that is building around the accountants. FinWeb, FinTech and SaaS solutions are integrating both front and back office tasks. The requirements for IT have virtually gone away, and now businesses require a custodian of their workflow and data, this is the heart of the new role of the accountant. Accountants are the cool kids as they will continually make more and more business decisions for their clients and set up their workflows and their software and of course, compliance.

Russell Fujioka, President, Xero US

The emergence of technologies that reduce "friction," when the bank communicates with your accounting system, and your accountant/advisor gets the same information in real-time; all of this will be seamless from an IT perspective. Soon, doing accounting work, communicating with your accountant, and transacting business will be all as easy as playing games in your iPhone.

The result? Small-business owners will have more freedom to innovate and add value to their customers, while future accountants will be leading the way and helping their clients get "on board" the cloud and these technologies.

Hector Garcia, Principal, Quick Bookkeeping

The scope, complexity, and magnitude of the international financial system present significant challenges and also expanded opportunities for the accounting profession. The evolution and proliferation of virtual commerce has multiplied the exchange of goods, services and currencies -- real and virtual -- across jurisdictions. This growing complexity offers an exciting challenge to the accounting profession.

At the same time, technology continues to expand, allowing us to perform audits more efficiently and incorporate the use of continuous auditing, including use of data analytics to proactively identify organizational risk.

Finally, people are our most critical asset because they play such a vital role in achieving organizational mission and delivering service to stakeholders. Generational change and cyclical labor shortages will continue to increase the competition to hire qualified professionals. As Baby Boomers retire, it is becoming increasingly urgent for firms to secure strong talent and plan for the next wave of leaders.

J. Russell George, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration

Technology gives us the greatest opportunity to improve financial reporting. It is important to leverage this tool to its fullest.

Russell Golden, Chairman, FASB

I can't wait to see how the firms evolve in their offerings, their leadership and thinking. I know the typical firm model will continue to change and that technology plays a big role in this. The opportunity for innovation and for leaders to step up and lead in innovative ways is exhilarating. The need for services is ever-growing, regardless of what others think. We need to take advantage of the position that we are in as trusted advisors and offer concrete advice to help our clients be successful now and into the future. Our economy is dependent upon healthy businesses and we are uniquely positioned to provide these business owners with the tools and knowledge they need to be as successful as possible.

Angie Grissom, President, The Rainmaker Companies

An already incipient ground swelling grassroots movement will soon irresistibly envelop, inform, and unite the accounting profession and the general public in addressing the public-interest-mission-critical nature and purposes of institutional fund accounting, auditing, and financial reporting legal and contractual requirements and practices.

Dick Haas, Civic advocate

I'm most excited about seeing how the industry is going to adapt as accountants have more time to spend helping clients (as they reduce the time they spend on things like data entry and calculations).

My hope is that our industry will become one that is much more advising and consulting-focused. No one is better equipped than the legion of U.S. CPAs to provide accurate advice and analysis that can drive down the rate of business failure in the U.S. and drive up the rates of growth and profitability among this country's 26 million businesses. The current wave of accounting technology and automation provides a great opportunity to create change in the industry that will yield positive results for U.S. businesses.

Brian Hamilton, Co-founder and chairman, Sageworks

I periodically travel around the country to meet with accounting students various universities, and I am excited to see the enthusiasm these students demonstrate for a career in public accounting.  I see the evolution in the training being provided by universities in new areas that I believe will serve these students well, including data analytics and other information technology skills.  These students have a promising future ahead of them in a rewarding and respected profession. 

Jay Hanson, Board member, PCAOB

I am excited about adjusting to the new world ... . If we adjust we can help guide our clients to a more successful future, not just explain and report on their past. We will also be able to use our knowledge in many different ways as we work with these clients. Many in our industry take CPE just so they can prepare an accurate tax return, which is still important to do. However, we now may have an opportunity to impact what those numbers are not just where they go on a form.

Roger Harris, President and COO, Padgett Business Services

The last few years have brought a flood of stifling regulations to small business that simply cannot continue at the current pace. I think the new political landscape will stem the tide of business regulation and, perhaps, reverse the trend, bringing more favorable legislation.

The PATH Act, which was signed into law in December 2015, is a start. The PATH Act made permanent several business-friendly tax breaks. The law also extended other tax breaks that will help small businesses prosper.

John Hewitt, Founder, chairman and CEO, Liberty Tax

Technology and the next generation of CPAs have me most excited about the future. The exponential growth in technology driven by cloud, mobile, and social technologies is freeing up CPAs to do more strategic, value-added services for our clients and employers. The next generation of CPAs is bringing new skills like collaboration and a curious mindset that is willing to try new things. Together these two forces can transform us and help solve the big issues facing us.

Tom Hood, CEO and executive director, MACPA

The next generation of firm leaders (the Millennials). I have the unique privilege to probably see deeper into firms than most other consultants do. This is because with the Lean Six Sigma work that we perform, I'm always working with a wide cross-section of the firm from staff associates all the way through senior partners, and including administrative personnel, IT and operations. So I get to see and hear the insights and perspectives of all of these various levels as we work together to optimize process performance and technology utilization.

One common theme that I come away with on a week-to-week basis in my project sessions with clients is that our younger people are incredible. I do not buy in to the notion that there isn't talent in the pipeline. There's an abundance of talent and passion. We just need to do a better job of nurturing and developing that talent. But the future is very, very bright based on what I see every week from the lower and mid-levels in firms. I can't wait to be working with them in 10-20 years when they become partners and managing partners.

Dustin Hostetler, Shareholder and chief innovation officer, Boomer Consulting Inc.

Two things really excite me about the future of the profession:

1. The recognition of the importance of transparency and the engagement of the profession by corporate leadership.

2. The advances in technology and analytics in furthering transparency, data utility, risk assessment, testing and mitigation.

Over the past decade, we have seen the audit profession embraced by CEOs, C-suite, and governance bodies and broadly by users of financial statements. There is broad recognition that the highest quality accounting, financial reporting and audits are a critical component of instilling trust in our capital markets. Among stakeholders, there is also the embrace of the challenge to continuing to perfect these nuanced processes.

We have also watched as governance bodies including corporate boards have brought on top talent to address diverse matters of risk, audit and financial reporting. These topics are important matters on the governance agenda. I am very pleased to see the talent, rigor and time dedicated to assessing issues and raising standards across the governance arena.

A catalyst to transparency and audit quality has been the leverage of audit technology, particularly in analytics. We can already see the advancement of big data and analytics having a real impact on what our audit delivers and the insight it provides. EY has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in audit tools and technologies - including EY Canvas and EY Helix - designed to align audit risk with the procedures that address them, and leverage client data to pinpoint higher-risk audit areas.

Access to more data helps financial reporting and early identification of fraud and operational risks, which in turn can be integrated into a targeted audit approach. With technology as an enabler, our auditors now focus more effectively on risk and their response to it, while challenging the audit in a way that simply was not possible before. What this will mean for our clients and the capital markets is the ability to identify areas of risk with a forward-looking perspective. With deeper insights at our disposal through the application of our technology, we are better positioned to ask more challenging questions. This enables us to deliver more effective and higher-quality audits.

These technologies support our industry's highly skilled and well-trained professionals, and will usher us into a new frontier in audit. It is an exciting time for those of us who have been here to see the industry evolve already, as well as those who are just starting their audit careers.

In addition, mobility and the ability to work in different countries and cultures is growing every day for people in the profession.

Stephen Howe, Managing partner, EY

The advances in technology have me most excited about the future of accounting. Many in our profession bemoan the movement toward do-it-yourself accounting and tax software. We cannot deny that software such as QuickBooks and TurboTax have taken a share of the market from us. However, there are so many more opportunities that technology has afforded us that I believe we can now grow our businesses bigger than ever.

Cloud computing offers the opportunity to work with clients around the world without ever leaving the office. Programs such as Quickbooks Online enable us to work on clients' books without having to travel to their offices. Skype gives us the opportunity to speak face-to-face with a client half a world away. Hosting tax software in the cloud keeps us up and running from home when a blizzard prevents us from driving to the office.

The world is forever changing. If we embrace these changes and work with them, the possibilities are endless.

Sandy Johnson, President, NCCPAP

Our young people and technology. Their minds work differently. They see things in ways we never have and I believe that their perspective combined with today's (and future) technologies is going to absolutely change the way our profession operates. I believe if any generation will solve the work compression issue, it will be them. I think they will continue to elevate the role of the profession in business and bring it to an entirely new level.

Sarah Johnson Dobek, President and founder, Inovautus Consulting

The opportunity to provide higher-value-added services with more support from technology should allow skilled accountants to apply their talents more effectively. The choices available for accountants should allow doing work that is enjoyable, fulfilling, profitable and helpful to others. Key skills will need to be added are for operational advisement with business metrics in addition to traditional tax and audit compliance.

Randy Johnston, Executive vice president and partner, K2 Enterprises; CEO, NMGI

I have been increasingly involved in a more global discussion of tax issues through participation in OECD, IFA and CAPA conferences. I'm also heavily involved in collaboration with the tax directors of the Global Accounting Alliance -- my colleagues in 11 countries around the world. The issues of importance to all of us are very recognizable -- BEPS, ID theft, taxpayer rights, tax ethics, confidentiality, tax administration challenges. Yes, there are cultural, social and political differences. But I'm excited to see that the accounting profession's enthusiastic and energetic approach to solutions that involve the profession, including in the public interest, spans the globe.

Ed Karl, Vice president of taxation, AICPA

I am very excited about the current focus on reinventing the CPA's role as an advisor, consultant, business-success coach to their clients. I have always been saddened by the fact that most CPAs are reactive rather than proactive with their clients. Surveys have told us clients want their CPA to be more proactive, yet many continue to focus on compliance services and once or twice a year contact with clients.

Rita Keller, President of Keller Advisors

The convergence of technologies including big data, artificial Intelligence, digital collaboration, mobile tools, and CPA production workflow is happening at an increasingly faster pace, creating new business models and opportunities to serve clients. Accountants that study these interactions and learn to advise clients will find unlimited consulting opportunities in the future.

Roman Kepczyk, Director of consulting, Xcentric LLC

As I travel around the world talking to IFAC's members and the people and communities they serve, a key theme I hear -- especially in developing countries -- is how much they understand that strong public sector accounting is critical to transparency and accountability, and to sustainable, strong public services like education and health. I'm excited at the prospect of a growing and maturing profession in many developing countries being a trusted, ethical partner to public sector leaders and governments to help drive economic growth. IFAC's Accountability. Now. program, which focuses on public sector accounting skills development and in particular, adoption and implementation of International Public Sector Accounting Standards, is making a meaningful difference in so many parts of the world.

Olivia Kirtley, President, IFAC

Curiously, it is the possibilities that [transformative] technologies have on the business model of accountants. I believe those that can understand these possibilities will have a distinct and lasting competitive advantage over those that do not.

Ed Kless, Senior director, Sage

I feel incredibly fortunate to be in a position to have learned from marketers who were there at the start of professional services marketing. These trailblazers inspired me to make accounting marketing a career. I am incredibly excited to see the next generation of accounting marketers. The table is set for great innovation and success. As firm leadership continues to embrace and empower strategic growth professionals, we are going to see change at a pace never before imagined.

The main initiative that I worked on as president of the Association for Accounting Marketing is our Vision 2020 program. This initiative will help to further integrate the role of marketing and business development within firms by furthering the communication with firm leaders. Historically, the people responsible for growth tend to leave the industry. This brain-drain has significantly hurt firms -- imagine if a tax department turned over every two years -- and we see a positive trend towards the growth positions becoming respected careers within the industry.

Jack Kolmansberger, Chief marketing officer, Herbein + Co.

I'm most excited about the major transformation that is taking place in public accounting, whereby firms are reinvesting and retooling from being compliance shops to truly being in the business of helping their clients with their business and financial problems ... whatever they may be! Firms today understand that many of those new products and services don't necessarily have to be created in-house, as we're seeing many, many strategic partnerships and alliances being formed daily. I really believe we have gone from a profession of providing services that clients don't want but need (audits and tax returns) to a profession that's in the business of providing services that clients both want and need.

Allan Koltin, CEO, Koltin Consulting Group

The future is vast and bright. While some of the change seems scary, the reality is that CPAs are always in the middle of that change. We have to make sure we keep the CPA as the trusted advisor going forward. I'm glad I made the choice to become a CPA 20 years ago and still share that excitement with students and recent graduates. The profession can be what you make of it and there are so many successful CPAs out there, which is fun to see.

Mark Koziel, Vice president of firm services and global alliances, AICPA

Robust financial reporting is at the foundation of economic prosperity -- it is vital to sound capital allocation decisions. To that end, our upcoming Invitation to Comment seeks stakeholder input on what financial reporting issues we should address next. This agenda consultation process will allow stakeholders to provide input on our next challenges -- such as liabilities and equity -- and helps shape the direction of our future agenda. This ensures we're addressing the right priorities so that we can continue to improve GAAP.

Jim Kroeker, Vice chairman, FASB

This profession is undergoing massive change, and to me that is exciting. One thing is for sure, the leading firms of tomorrow will continue to diversify their service offerings, specialize, and develop the thought leaders of our profession. Ultimately, there are so many viable paths the profession can and will take, and the open-ended nature of this is what's exciting. I'd go so far as to say, if firm leadership can dream it -- it can happen.

Art Kuesel, President and owner, Kuesel Consulting

Technology will set accounting professionals free to pursue much more substantive work for clients that speaks directly to growth and profitability. We're certainly seeing this now in the compliance sector, with firms using automated compliance tools that allow them to combine knowledge work with time-saving and accurate cloud solutions, delivering a valuable service to clients, who are then more likely to look to their firm for additional advisory services.

Marshal Kushniruk, Executive vice president of global business development, Avalara

Growth! Accounting and bookkeeping firms are extremely focused on growth -- and that is exciting for the future.

In an industry survey, 67 percent of the respondents agreed that their firms will grow significantly in the next one to two years, with 80 percent of respondents from firms with 51 or more employees anticipating that growth.

I love to discuss how firms will grow. Technology plays a significant role by eliminating physical offices and geographic restrictions for employees and supporting an enhanced level of efficiency. It helps firms attract and retain more clients -- regardless of location.

Firm growth will rely on various trends to propel it forward. Do firms provide value-based pricing? Will firms use technology to offer additional services? Will those monthly client visits to collect bills and invoices be eliminated? Is the firm focusing -- and capitalizing -- on a specialty to bring on clients that specialize in a certain niche of business?

There are multiple opportunities for growth for today's accounting firm. I cannot wait to see how strongly the accounting profession surges forward in the next three to five years.

Rene Lacerte, Founder and CEO, Bill.com

I am most energized by the increasing number of highly specialized technology tools available to make accountant-client interaction more efficient and meaningful. Each year finds more and more vendor companies serving our profession. And the "co-opetition" atmosphere among those companies breeds amazing integrations.

Gregory LaFollette, Strategic advisor, CPA.com

Personally, it is the change in the way we are educated. Continuing education is important because it helps us stay current with the (complex) standards. The live seminars were great back in the day, but required travel and a full day out of the office. Then, webinars came along, and they're great, but they require students to be logged in at a specific time. Learning management systems provide the next major enhancement in the way we obtain training. Courses can be provided on-demand, and students can work at their own pace. The interactive features keep students engaged. Forums help students communicate with instructors and ask questions as needed. The integrated quiz and exams make it easy for students to test their knowledge. Certificates of completion are made available instantly after passing the exam. I'm personally most excited about the future of the way accountants are trained.

Jeff Lenning, President, Excel University

Next-generation CPAs are helping firms change the way they work, creating new opportunities for the use of technology as well as collaboration across levels and specialties that will make a difference for clients.

Kristen Lewis, Director of marketing, EisnerAmper

The forward-looking nature of the profession. Moving from looking backwards to forwards to really help clients manage their businesses in a pro-active real-time manner.

Taylor Macdonald, Senior vice president of channels, Intacct

We are witnessing a sea change on every front of the profession, from the competencies required to the nature of services provided to the expectations of clients to the meaning of assurance itself. In 10 years, the profession will be vastly differently from what we accept as today's norm. At the same time, the need for the values which have defined the profession are greater than ever: competence, integrity and objectivity.

Janice Maiman, Senior vice president, communications, media, news & professional pathways, AICPA

The public's need for the knowledge and expertise accounting professionals provide is growing stronger with the complexities extending beyond tax. The automation and collaboration afforded by technology creates an opportunity for accounting professionals to use their talents to truly engage with clients at an advisory level and leave the transactional work to the technology. This changes the expectations a young professional can have in a career in accounting; they are more than a historical reporter, but a key person of influence in the organizations they operate in. We need to educate college students on this change and build practices that take advantage of this opportunity.

Samantha Mansfield, Director of corporate communications, CPA.com

The accounting profession is facing unprecedented change on a global scale. Technology advancements -- and, in particular, cloud-based tax and accounting solutions -- are driving the change. The accounting function remains mission-critical to business, which means it has a place at the top within the hierarchy of a business. In addition to having an obligation to uphold regulatory requirements and ensure compliance, accounting professionals impact the overall direction of the business. These professionals are seeing the potential to harness technology to complement their traditional services to provide integrated solutions to their clients and offer more useful Advisory services -- all while using real-time data from cloud accounting platforms to engage and advise.

Jason Marx, CEO, Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting, North America

I am most excited about the opportunities to leverage technology to expand the role of accounting and tax planning to a much higher level of effectiveness in influencing the success of independent tax businesses. New affordable computer applications will increasingly enable small tax firms to operate on a level playing field with major corporations. Yet small tax businesses will retain the advantage of greater flexibility and the ability to make and implement game-changing decisions quickly.

Chuck McCabe, Founder, president and CEO, The Income Tax School

The increasing ability to leverage data via technology to help clients better understand where their business is headed, how to get there, how to avoid roadblocks and repeated mistakes, how to forecast for incremental growth more accurately, and bottom-line stuff like how to drive efficiencies and cost savings. CPAs who understand that it's about analyzing rather than validating data will soon play a role that involves them much more closely within the C-Suite. This will be great for their clients, and very beneficial for firms that do it well.

Scott McFarlane, Co-founder and CEO, Avalara

Thanks to the cloud, we now live in an online, borderless world, which opens up the accounting profession to new possibilities that change the very nature of the field. The absence of physical limits allows for a global client base, which helps accounting professionals become even more specialized in the industries they serve. This deep verticalization will become a key differentiator in a competitive global market that's no longer defined by geolocation.

In fact, small businesses -- who were once organized by language and location as well-- are also increasingly being organized by the type of work they do. It's both mindboggling and exhilarating to imagine that an accounting firm's client roster can easily include their friendly neighborhood barbershop as well as a corner bakery along the Champs-Élysées. Not only can firms now work with clients they would never have taken on a decade ago, but it broadens their horizons through exposure to new cultures and business practices, and empowers accountants to choose their own clientele and have a truly unique firm.

Jim McGinnis, Vice president, Accountant Segment, Intuit

The opportunity to shape our future. We're not stuck in a dull, never-changing industry or world. To the contrary, disruption is all around us. That gives us the opportunity to be disruptive as well, to help shape the way businesses and markets work in the future. That can be scary, but it's really exciting, too!

J. Michael McGuire, CEO, Grant Thornton

If you look through history, there are inflection points for our profession. The creation of the computer for solving sophisticated problems was the most dramatic in most of our professional lives. Cloud computing, big data and artificial intelligence are creating a new inflection point.

Combined, these innovations are dramatically changing how we collaborate with our clients and organizations. One example is the concept of continuous auditing, and the elimination of testing in favor of technology driven, full data set exception auditing. That shift will be a fundamental change. Technology is empowering CPAs and management accountants to deepen the advisory role they already perform so ably. These are just examples. Fundamentally evolving what and how we perform is a challenge for the profession but for every business and service in the world today. 

Barry Melancon, President and CEO, AICPA

The future of accounting is directly at the confluence of all that is changing fastest in the worlds of technological and societal change. With the pervasiveness of available information, I am excited about the opportunities for finding content that is of value and delivering a stream of meaning out of an ocean of noise.

The advance of automation, while uncomfortable for many of us as it re-values the work we're accustomed to doing, frees us to do work of higher value -- looking forward for our clients. This will allow us to spend more time helping companies and individuals prepare for the year and years ahead as we spend less time recounting the past, thanks to ever more sophisticated tools.

Steve Mendelsohn, Managing director, Knowledge Solutions, Thomson Reuters

Two things:

1. As a profession we are getting involved in new areas and business models -- some will work out very well and some won't, but we are involved in some major initiatives. Sustainability, integrated reporting, and corporate social responsibility are major movements that will need accountants to assist and attest to the extensive data gathering and reporting that will be needed.

2. The move by larger firms toward specialization is creating opportunities for expanded knowledge and experience transfer and greater value to clients. At the same time, openings are expanding for smaller firms and practitioners to step into chasms developing by the specializations of larger firms and the partial abandonment by many of them of being a trusted advisor in all facets of a client's financial and business activities. The future is exciting.

Ed Mendlowitz, Partner, WithumSmith+Brown

The use of technology is changing that way that accountants do business. It has the potential to take away many of the mundane tasks that accountants don't like to do and let them focus on more "value-added" consultative service to their clients. Data analytics should allow the accountant to be a better advisor to companies and provide more predictive assistance.

Stan Mork, President, ITA

Robots! They'll make the jobs that are left far more interesting. (Until they take those jobs, too.)

Caleb Newquist, Founding editor, Going Concern

My greatest enthusiasm for the profession focuses on non-traditional areas of income and especially watching my clients do extremely well as advisors to the clients while letting younger partners and staff do the numbers stuff. The areas for me that are very exciting include the acceleration of profitability in the assets under management arena. I have been coaching firms in this area since 1997. My clients today have large businesses in this area -- say, anywhere from a few hundred million under management to the $1 billion arena. This is very profitable and throws large sums of cash to the bottom line, all leveraged income. My clients in this area are all very pleased with their ROI here, especially those doing it right. ...

Additionally I'm excited about my clients building huge niches in the R&D Credit areas as well as the 179D energy studies. ... All of these areas yield excellent results to the bottom line. While some firms private-label these services, I'm not a fan of that. It adds risk unnecessarily. Additionally the areas of conducting strategic modeling for clients of CPA firms is also very profitable

Jay Nisberg, President, Jay Nisberg & Associates

The ability to reach potential clients in a large geographic area regardless of the size of your firm. The Internet provides a forum where any tax adviser -- whether at a "big" or "small" accounting firm -- may establish expertise in the form of a blog or other informal communication. These mediums have tremendous reach, and if you put value-added and informative content out there, the people in need of that information will find it. This allows any tax professional to expand the scope of their practice beyond his or her firm's traditional geographic boundaries, and to add value to a wider array of clients.

Tony Nitti, Partner, WithumSmith+Brown

Continued innovation in technology will revolutionize how financial information is delivered and used, impacting all capital market stakeholders. If accounting is the "language of business," then we, as practitioners, should look to optimize technology in improving how it is used to more effectively and efficiently to communicate with investors and credit providers. This may include expanding the use of social media, videos, and other platforms. I believe the extent of technology's possibilities are limited only by our imaginations.

Charles Noski, Chairman, Board of Trustees, FAF

Finally, the seeds of change are blossoming all around. Many firm owners now get it. They just need to do it. The more firms change, the better product vendors will produce for us as they will have the adoption they need for bigger and better cloud innovation. New technologies are appearing every day! We are challenged to learn how to implement them in our practice and create new service models that can support them.

Jody Padar, CEO and principal, New Vision CPA Group

Looking ahead, I believe there are several traits that will be greatly prized by tax practitioners, which cut across all tax disciplines and which are driven by technological disruption. In the next five years, tax professionals in all industries and geographies will require:

• Greater mobility, particularly making it easier to advise clients when away from the office.
• Increased automation of time-consuming administrative tasks.
• Time for high-value work.
• Insight -- and less "noise" (i.e. distracting, high-volume, low-value content.)
• Global connectivity.
• Comprehensive, integrated and reliable software platforms.
• Effective compliance and reporting capabilities.

Resonance with new generations of tech-savvy customers and employees.

By embracing technology, I see the accounting industry undergoing a massively transformative shift that will allow us to provide our clients with greater value, do our jobs more efficiently, and appeal to new generations of accounting professionals.

Brian Peccarelli, President, The Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters

Integration of big data analysis coming to smaller firms which will enable firms to provide analysis and insight into their clients' business transactions beyond the general ledger. This integration will come from sources of big data, both public databases and industry specific data that will take the client relationship beyond where it is today. Integration of big data goes beyond the audit, the real value for firms is the analysis of big data integration to help the clients truly understand their operations.

Carl Peterson, Vice president of small firm interests, AICPA

With the accounting industry shifting the expectations of young CPAs, the 2017 CPA Exam changes will provide the next generation of accountants with a better understanding for real situations that occur on the job. The new exam includes adjusted sections and extensive additions, making it more challenging and time-consuming to prepare, as well as requiring candidates to demonstrate higher-order skills. The next generation of CPAs are expected to enter the workforce at a much higher level, with the ability to handle certain challenges from the forefront. Due to the ever-changing landscape and expectations within the accounting industry, I'm most excited to continue to develop the proper resources to help hopeful CPAs efficiently prepare for the next chapter in their career in an enjoyable and effective way.

Roger Philipp, CEO and owner, Roger CPA Review

I think I'm most excited about the ability to service clients beyond the numbers. The tax and accounting profession has never been just about forms and ledgers, but as the economy changes, there is now more of an opportunity to deliver advising and consulting services. It makes sense: Tax advisors are already aware of our client's financial and business needs -- from planning to compliance. Why not be a part of a more comprehensive solution?

Kelly Phillips Erb, "TaxGirl" blogger

I am most excited to see accounting firms offer more "above the line" services, so they progress from reporting to advising and even leading their clients. Business leaders need expert trusted financial management advisors to help craft strategic financial plans.

Jeff Phillips, CEO, Accountingfly

I am excited to see the improvements to diversity and inclusion within the profession. Diversity and inclusion has become more of a focus at national and state levels, and people are caring more about creating open forums to make progress in this area.

The Illinois CPA Society hosted its first Diversity Summit in June 2016, which focused on discussing the biases we have and how to implement programs to overcome these biases and ensure that diversity and inclusion is a priority in our profession. I look forward to learning more about how to be effective in diversity and inclusion and helping to build resources to continue to advance the profession.

Elizabeth Pittelkow, Director of accounting and compliance, ArrowStream

I think the evolving and expanding role of accountants is something that's very exciting, particularly for the younger people just joining the profession. As our economy becomes more competitive and increasingly global, accountants are brought to the table as value-adding business partners, not the group in the back room crunching numbers and telling management why they can't do something. That stimulates greater interest in our profession, making it easier to recruit a talented, diverse workforce, with leaders who are able to connect all different aspects of a business environment.

Terri Polley, President and CEO, FAF

I believe the profession is entering a new era of delivering value in innovative ways far beyond traditional services. Technology and other factors continue to drive down the value of core tax and attest services and this will continue. However, I see firms delivering an increasing array of specialized services in international trade, wealth management, industry-based and other consulting far beyond traditional core services. All the growth the profession has enjoyed during the economic recovery can be attributed to expanding these services.

Terry Putney, CEO, Transition Advisors

Technology. "Give me a stick long enough and I can move the world," said Archimedes. The intuitive nature of technology today is allowing accounting professionals everywhere to serve more clients faster and better than ever before, and to generate higher profits in a shorter amount of time. As new technology emerges, accountants have the opportunity to impact the lives of their clients and make meaningful improvements in their businesses without extending their workday -- now that's exciting.

Matt Rissell, CEO, TSheets

In April, the SEC opened public comment on a concept release on disclosure reform, which invited feedback on how sustainability disclosure must evolve to meet the needs of today's markets. A preliminary analysis of the comment letters confirms one thing: investors want better sustainability disclosure. While just 3.2 percent of the comment release (11 out of 341 pages) discussed sustainability disclosure, 66 percent of unique responses (150 out of 227 non-form letters) discussed the need for better sustainability disclosure.

The SEC's Disclosure Effectiveness Initiative marks an important moment in history -- it's an opportunity to make sustainability reporting meet the needs of both companies and investors.

Jean Rogers, CEO and Founder, SASB

The shift to tightly integrated, cloud-based solutions and the focus on serving distinct client niches. Advanced technology can be leveraged to serve niche clients across the country, allowing firms to expand well beyond geographic boundaries and capture niche markets across the U.S. I believe these two fundamental shifts will allow practitioners to work when and from wherever they want, as well as build a business founded on ideal clients.

Darren Root, President and CEO, RootWorks

The ramping up by firms to do a better job making their firms a great place to work that trains people well and develops them into leaders. But there is still a huge obstacle: There are either few or no provisions for developing people in firm's partner compensation systems. Until the partners' paychecks are impacted by their effort and success at developing people, CPA firms will continue to fall short of their potential in the area of developing a great staff.

Marc Rosenberg, President, The Rosenberg Associates

The trend of greater specialization by smaller and midsized firms. It's very hard to be all things for all people/businesses, and firms are finding what sets them apart and marketing those differentiators. In most cases, this leads to higher realization, happier clients and even more satisfied staff.

Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk, President, bbr marketing

As I review the challenges the profession faces, I see that the profession building on its relevancy going forward. With new regulatory standards, technology, and human capital development, the profession is more important than ever. Globalization will continue to grow and require skills that many have yet to realize, yet we have such a strong influence over our future and all aspects of accounting, finance, tax, and operations will play a major role in progress.

Michael Sabbatis, COO and Board member, XCM Solutions

We should all be excited by technology's impact on the accounting profession. Many tasks that accountants have done in the past are being revolutionized by smart, awesome technology.

On a practical level, as technology reduces the time needed to complete transactions, a need arises for a totally different business model. "Hours times dollars" is no longer sustainable, and value-pricing is gaining momentum.

On a personal level, I just can't wait to see where this takes us in five, ten years' time. At Sage Summit in Chicago last month, we debuted Pegg -- a smart admin chatbot that makes basic accounting as easy and natural as texting a friend. Accounting firms are constantly having to disrupt our own industry to survive and thrive, and I love the fast pace.

Marc Schiepe, President, Sage North America

Our profession will be retiring many Baby Boomers and, more than ever, we will be able to offer tremendous opportunity to young people from the Generation Xers, to the Millennials, and eventually to the Generation Z. The new generations will be much more diversified and will bring incredible innovation to the profession -- innovation that will be required to address rapid change. Along with this movement, the profession will need to offer experiences to the next generations which will equip them to make solid decisions while implementing change and new innovations. Offering new opportunities to young people has always been a passion of mine and the profession will need to embrace this more than ever.

Dennis Schleper, CEO, CliftonLarsonAllen

It is always exciting to be engaged in an industry that is going through an evolution. I saw an uptick of accounting firm mergers and acquisitions last year and that trend has continued into 2016. The industry consolidation that has resulted from this activity has created new opportunities, resources, technologies, relationships and efficiencies -- all of which add up to greater value for our clients. With such consolidation also comes increased competition for business among the industry's biggest players; however, I see that as a positive. Greater competition has the potential to yield greater value and create a more rewarding client experience.

Russell Shapiro, Partner, Levenfeld Pearlstein

In my view, our profession is standing on the doorstep of a high-tech revolution, where big data, workflow tools, data analytics and artificial intelligence are the first steps being taken on the path to an amazing future. Being an analyst at my core, I'm excited about the unlimited opportunities this presents.

Accounting is the language of business, and harnessing technology will enable the profession to own the role of trusted business advisor, whether supporting the clients of your firm or coworkers of your company.

Todd Shapiro, President and CEO, ICPAS

As much as things have changed for CPAs, there's one thing that hasn't changed -- our role as our clients' most trusted business advisors. Our clients are as confounded by change and complexity as we are. They need someone who will make the future comfortable for them. If we can do that -- if we can learn the skills that businesses will need to succeed going forward, then teach those skills to our clients -- imagine the level of trust we will have earned. We have a huge opportunity here to become the business thought leaders of tomorrow and pass that knowledge on to our clients. If we learn to do that, our status as the most trusted business advisors around will be secured.

Bill Sheridan, Chief communications officer, MACPA

I am thrilled with the opportunities within our grasp in the accounting profession. Recent technological advances have revolutionized the ways audits may be performed and financial reports can be developed. Data processing capabilities will allow accounting professionals to provide more effective business advisory services to clients and offer more relevant financial data points to interested market participants.

James Sinclair, Visiting assistant professor of accounting, Georgetown University

The quantum changes affecting not only the traditional workplace but how people work. Advances in technology have not only allowed staff to work remotely, but now roughly 10-15 percent of newly opened firms are "virtual." It's estimated that by the end of 2017, more than 60 million people will work at least one day out of the office. Also, the premium that was once placed on the timesheet and billable hours is beginning to wane. Staff, meanwhile, is being reviewed by the work completed as opposed to how many billable hours they log. More engagements are becoming value priced. These are more examples of the "culture" of IT. 

Joel Sinkin, President, Transition Advisors

We no longer live in a one-size-fits-all world. Business owners want customized solutions tailored to their specific business needs and they crave more insight into their financial data. Apps and software eliminate many of the manual processes of data gathering, so our profession is becoming less about compiling information and more about analyzing big data to produce tangible and actionable insights.

There's a huge variety of add-ons and apps accountants can use to create a more personalized experience, and the professionals who understand the available resources will be able to better position themselves as strategic advisors to their clients. Machine learning will only become even more important as apps become smarter and more catered to you. This will be the major differentiating factor between accountants and will allow professionals to create practices that are reflective of their individual styles and personas, while simultaneously delivering a truly unique experience to clients. Accounting professionals who are able to adapt to these new innovations will also help their small business clients stay ahead of the curve and make better decisions.

Brad Smith, Chairman and CEO, Intuit

The most exciting development for CPA firms today is the opportunity to play a vastly expanded role in serving their clients, moving from work with a large compliance focus to value-added services in exciting new areas such as cyber-security, privacy, transaction assistance, human resources, IT services, business strategy and process improvement.

Technology has played a significant role in creating these opportunities as well as in automating much of compliance work to free up professional time to help clients in new ways.

For years, firms have aspired to be the single point-of-contact that clients go to first for help in addressing their business issues. More than ever before, expanded service opportunities are making this aspiration possible.

Richard Stanger, CEO, StangerCarlson

Technology allows us to capture more data than we ever have before -- not just financial data, but also programmatic data. This big data can provide a whole new level of understanding about your business or government. Using technology to report that data and present it in clever, creative ways lets management focus on the decision-making more quickly.

Jan Sylvis, Vice chair, GASB

It is the new breed of CPA firm that is producing outsized profits for its owners with strategic vision, exceptional talent, and fanatical client service. Mostly, they are flying under the radar, driven by a single savvy owner or a small group of tightly-knit partners.

They flourish in niches and specialties, which you wouldn't find until you go looking. They provide services like cross-border trade; industry-specific regulatory guidance; or management services to the rich or famous, or both. Technology is second nature to them. They don't bill by the hour, but by value. They can afford to be highly selective in their hiring. They shun growth for growth's sake, instead focussing on partner incomes and lifestyles.

They don't want to be famous. In fact, discretion is one of the reasons clients come to them. They are no one's merger target ... yet. They understand that once they merge into a larger firm, they could lose their competitive advantages under the weight of old-school timekeeping, outmoded computer systems, and lethargic bureaucracies.

Rick Telberg, Founder and CEO, CPA Trendlines

Job projections are very robust both domestically and internationally for accounting graduates. Although the new complexities of the profession lead to many challenges, they create opportunities for those who embrace those changes. We'll see a slew of new accounting positions that weren't previously available and the new accountants will thrive in it.

Ralph Thomas, CEO and executive director, NJCPA

We have the potential to be greater influencers in not only improving organizational capability, but to transform entire economies especially in emerging countries with limited infrastructure.  Make no mistake about it, the accounting profession makes a difference in people's lives.

Jeffrey Thomson, President and CEO, IMA

We are seeing a rising tide of excitement amongst accountants at companies of all sizes about the potential to leverage technology to have professions that they love. They are asking questions, researching technology, and recognizing that the old batch approach to processing is obsolete. SaaS technologies allow them to select and manage the tools that can revamp their operations without being at the mercy of an IT group.

The concept of "continuous accounting" embodies the changes that accountants are seeking. Continuous accounting embeds automation, control, and period-end tasks within day-to-day activities, allowing the rigid accounting calendar to more closely mirror the broader business and freeing up time for value-add activities.

There's cause for a lot of optimism in finance. By 2020, Accenture predicts that finance productivity will increase by two to three times, and organizational costs will decline by 40 percent. They also foresee a dramatic shift in time spent on analysis, from a mere 25 percent today to 75 percent in the future. These transformative predictions are due in large part to the digitization of accounting, and the digitization of business in general. We believe continuous accounting is the future.

Therese Tucker, CEO and founder, BlackLine

Even though so many firms have automated their processes and work in the cloud, I still get a personal lift whenever I see an accounting firm get on board with cloud-based solutions and realize the incredible cost-savings and efficiency gains -- and then help their clients make the same leap.

Pascal Van Dooren, Chief revenue officer and GM, Avalara

Ultimately technology will lead to timely, searchable financial reports where a given user can more readily access just the information needed -- allowing governments to be compared side by side almost instantaneously. So that's an exciting future to look toward. However, maintaining the world-class level of reliability that we currently enjoy is critical as we move forward.

David Vaudt, Chairman, GASB

The amount of disruption currently occurring in the accounting industry is unprecedented. Millennials, in particular, are introducing the industry to a new way of working, as well as a new set of technology that is changing the way we do business.

From an advisory perspective, we now have the tools required to better serve our small-business clients. From the client's perspective, we're able to move accounting professionals from "the person who does my taxes" to "the trusted business partner I can't do without." While there is a knowledge gap that needs closing, technology is driving new opportunities for accounting professionals and changing the future of our industry.

I'm also excited about the changes technology is creating when it comes to globalization. In the past, accounting professionals were constrained by geographical borders. With the cloud, an accountant in New York can service a small business in the U.K. just as effectively as they would someone in their own backyard. In this borderless tech world, accounting professionals are now rethinking how to market and sell services. With the right approach, opportunities for client prospects are borderless and available for firms of all sizes, not just the large firms anymore.

Amy Vetter, Global vice president of education and head of accounting, USA, Xero

I continue to be fascinated by technology and the way it has changed the accounting business since I entered the industry 37 years ago. Technology has revolutionized the way we work with clients and how we run our firm, and I am excited to see what comes next. I fully expect another technology revolution in how we prepare tax returns and perform audits in the future, and how our work force performs their jobs.

Jeffrey Weiner, Managing partner, Marcum LLP

It is time to tell the great story of accounting and in a big way. This is an amazing profession, with an incredible opportunity for generations to come. There is an inheritance just waiting to be claimed as well as the monetization of the great practices that have been built over the past 50 years by practitioners today. With the technological advances continually being made, we are poised to write the future of accounting now!

Philip Whitman, President and CEO, Whitman Business Advisors

The higher level and stronger relationships that are being built between:

• The accounting professional and the client
• The accounting professional and the consultant
• The accounting professional and the vendor partner
• The accounting professional and other accounting professionals

Our future is all about connections!

Sandra Wiley, President and shareholder, Boomer Consulting Inc.

The bright young leaders coming into the profession. They are smarter, more connected, more efficient, and less attached to "old ways and ideas." It is as if they were born looking through different lenses -- they see things that many established leaders cannot see. Their ability to see possibilities for better solutions for clients and employers, more seamless work/life integration and a finer quality of life and a better profession overall is inspiring.

Jennifer Wilson, Co-founder and owner, ConvergenceCoaching

The same technologies that are disrupting the profession are going to serve as an empowerment to the profession. As bookkeeping becomes more automated, accountants will have access to real-time, accurate financial information from their small business clients. Armed with this information, accountants can play a stronger role as business coaches, engaging clients throughout the year. Simply put, accountants, in increasing measure, will become agents of small-business transformation.

Joe Woodard, CEO, Woodard Companies

I am excited about the possibilities that better use of technology can bring to businesses as well as auditors.  I believe that efficiencies can be gained with increased knowledge and processes to better analyze data on a more real-time basis. This will allow the accounting profession to stay relevant and provide valuable information to decision makers in a timely manner.

Candace Wright, Chair, PCC

CPA.com and Paychex have expanded their program to help CPAs broaden their advisory role in human resources, an area that’s becoming increasingly difficult for small and medium-sized businesses to manage.

Businesses need the help, according to a survey of small business owners conducted this spring by Paychex. Some 44 percent of respondents agreed it was increasingly difficult to manage HR, twice as many as those who said it was not. And 61 percent said they would find it valuable if their existing trusted advisor –accountant, attorney or other consultant – offered additional guidance on HR and regulatory compliance.

CPA firms, meanwhile, are eager to broaden their role with clients, according to research from CPA.com. Developing new offerings that expand the value CPAs provide to existing clients was the top priority for firms in last year’s CPA.com Innovation in Public Accounting Survey.

Reflecting these trends, the Paychex Partner Program is designed to grow a CPA’s relationship with clients seeking guidance in payroll, retirement benefits, and now, thanks to the expanded program, human resource services. Through the program, CPAs refer clients to partner with Paychex, one of the country’s leading providers of HR and human capital management solutions, solidifying the accountants’ role as expert advisor and creating more strategic, higher-revenue consultation opportunities for CPAs.

CPAs who enroll in the program can offer their clients a suite of best-in-class services, including access to Paychex’s cloud-based platform, which integrates different offerings such as payroll, employee time and attendance, HR applications and benefits administration.

Additionally, CPAs and clients can connect to a host of flexible reporting tools to create comprehensive, customizable reports. CPAs and clients also enjoy anytime access to data and personnel information through industry leading mobile applications.

“From health care reform to new overtime rules to changes in the minimum wage, the HR landscape is evolving at a rapid pace,” said Andy Childs, Paychex’s vice president of marketing. “Keeping up with regulations requires expert guidance, and the Paychex Partner Program puts one of the most trusted advisors – CPAs – in the best position to serve clients.”

“Payroll, retirement and human resource administration are key components in the value equation of client accounting services,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com. “With the expansion of the Paychex Partner Program, we’re helping CPA firms move further into the advisory space, which we expect to be a growth area going forward.”

Paychex was the first member of CPA.com’s Partner Solutions lineup, and the two companies have a successful, decade-long partnership that designates Paychex as the preferred payroll, HR, and retirement services provider for AICPA members and their clients.

For more information about the Paychex Partner Program, visit www.cpa.com/paychex.

CPA.com and Paychex have expanded their joint accountant advisory program to help CPAs broaden their advisory role in human resources.

The Paychex partner program is designed to grow a CPA’s relationship with clients seeking guidance in payroll, retirement benefits and now human resource services. Through the program, CPAs refer clients to Paychex, and can offer clients access to Paychex’s cloud-based platform, which integrates different offerings such as payroll, employee time and attendance, HR applications and benefits administration.

CPAs and clients can also access reporting tools, as well as data and personnel information through mobile applications.

“Payroll, retirement and human resource administration are key components in the value equation of client accounting services,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com, in a statement. “With the expansion of the Paychex Partner Program, we’re helping CPA firms move further into the advisory space, which we expect to be a growth area going forward.”

According to a survey conducted this spring by Paychex, approximately 44 percent of respondents agreed it was increasingly difficult to manage HR, and 61 percent said they would find it valuable if their existing trusted advisor – accountant, attorney or other consultant – offered additional guidance on HR and regulatory compliance.

For more information on the CPA.com and Paychex partner program, click here.

As part of our Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting report, we asked all the candidates: "What is the most important issue currently facing the accounting profession?" All of their answers -- thought-provoking, insightful, sometimes controversial -- are given in full below.

The profession continues to be at a pivotal point of its evolution. Professionals and firms are faced with responding to new and increasing client demands at the same time that they try to figure out who they are, how to be more relevant and what to become. All of this is the face of ever increasing and complex regulation.

Tax and accounting professionals are overwhelmingly influenced by an unprecedented increase in regulation, a workforce shift the implications of which are not fully understood and technology, and fee pressures that are forcing them to find new and more efficient ways of working.

To be successful, professionals will need to anticipate future client needs and leverage technology to add value for their clients.

Karen Abramson, CEO, Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting

Attracting and retaining high-performing talent who bring insights and understanding to help clients and users of financial statements make confident decisions continues to be a challenge in the accounting industry. At RSM US LLP, we’re tackling this challenge on several fronts.

First, we are working collaboratively with other firms through the Center for Audit Quality to raise awareness of our profession and to help build interest in accounting among youth. The premise behind the combined effort is that we will all win by getting more people to choose accounting as their profession.

Second, RSM has enhanced our outreach on campus and among diverse professional organizations like NABA, ALPFA and Ascend. We’re also building a unique scholarship program through our RSM US Foundation that will roll out this year.

Finally, we continue our focus on making RSM a great place to work. This year we are focusing on enhancing our talent development culture through new performance management, feedback and coaching processes, additional training on advisory skills and a new bonus program. We continue to give back to our communities through Birdies Fore Love, RSM Volunteer Day and our RSM US Foundation. This year, we also launched a unique program for our 90th anniversary that gave nine employees $10,000 and nine additional days of paid time-off to pursue a personal passion. It was so popular that we are looking to run the program again this year.

Attracting, developing and retaining the people we need to serve our clients today and in the future is critical to the ongoing success of our firm and the profession as a whole.

Joe Adams, Managing partner and CEO, RSM US

Baby Boomer retirements and the resulting succession crisis in many firms. It is fueling much of the merger mania right now. My practice has evolved to helping medium-sized firms develop their internal succession plans or, if that is not possible or it is too late, assist them with merging their practice into a larger firm.

Gary Adamson, President, Adamson Advisory

The lack of innovation and change needed to thrive. We are retiring (in record numbers) the most loyal members of our profession and hiring the least loyal. Fewer people enter the profession each year that want to be owners. Leaders of our client organizations are retiring in record numbers and younger individuals (who are often less loyal) are assuming leadership seats. Too many individuals and firms in our profession have buried their heads in the sand and are living the strategy of hope.

Sam Allred, Director, Upstream Academy

There are new key performance indicators for a company’s success that often cause a business to grow in the long run but, at the same time, hurt short-term earnings. Accountants need to pay more attention to value-creating and intangible investments and not look at them as merely expenses. Traditional audit reports often fail to identify the true drivers of a business. If auditors spend more time looking at the elements that drive value creation, our services and the profession will become more relevant and important.

August Aquila, President and CEO, Aquila Global Advisors LLC

There are a number of issues facing the accounting profession, but the two main ones in my opinion is adapting to constant technological changes, and the talent pool.

It is difficult to keep up with the pace of innovation today. More firms are moving towards cloud computing, which raises more cybersecurity issues than we have had to account for before. Also, staying up-to-date with the changes in technology and innovation in the audit field will be challenging, especially for smaller firms where upgrading can be cost prohibitive.

Hiring and retaining high-performing employees is also concerning, with increased competition driving high turnover. This extends into succession planning, as many firms led by Baby Boomers will be deciding who will take over within the next five years. Having the right talent that can move into these leadership positions is crucial for the continued growth and success of the industry.

Antonio Argiz, Chairman and CEO, MBAF

The three major challenges accountants face are relevance, the age battle, and the transition to the freelance economy.

1. Relevance. With technology continuously improving, accountants, bookkeepers, EAs, and CPAs must continue providing relevant information to their clients. The amount of time and technical knowledge required are going to become less relevant as the information age expands and technology improves. Accountants are being compelled to providing value on an entirely new level. Primary responsibilities are transitioning from account reconciliations and compiling reports, to working with clients in an entirely new and deeper way. Many of the accountants I’ve worked with at The Argue Company have actually transitioned away from providing services completely. They now focus 100 percent on financial coaching for small-business owners, assisting them overcome their true problems and challenges, existing limiting beliefs, and fears around accounting, money, and finance.

2. The age battle. We live in a time where 14-year-olds can create $30 million companies (RECMED), and a 30-year-old runs one of the most influential companies of our time (Facebook), but nobody can imagine someone in their twenties being promoted to partner, or have something better to say about sales and marketing, or have a better understanding of technology than the status quo in the firm. The biggest reason I had to quit PwC after being promoted early is because I felt that I was being held back massively relative to my potential. I couldn’t wait around because, “That’s just how it works.” So I quit.

3. Transition to the freelance economy. Back in the day, an accountant could just be an accountant. As the market continuously changes, accountants are increasingly becoming self-employed, whether at their own firm or as freelancers. This brings about an entirely new skill that most accountants desperately need but lack: sales and entrepreneurship. Companies such as New Clients Inc. used to tell accountants, “No worries, you don’t need to learn how to sell, just hire a telemarketer and have them do it for you.” That day and age is over. In this new economy, small-business owners desire work with an authentic and genuine personality, and a niche provider, not just the next CPA that happened to set up shop on the local street corner who cold-called them on a Tuesday.

Andrew Argue, CEO and Founder, The Argue Co.

For CPA firms, I think the most important issues are adapting to change and increasing the relevancy of services they provide to clients. Advisory services are becoming much more important as we move forward, and CPAs need to have strategic plans in place to make that transition.

Erik Asgeirsson, CEO, CPA.com

As I’ve lived in the large accounting firm world these past five years, I’ve seen first-hand a steady uptick in M&A activity. I think now more than ever it has become more and more of a game-changer in today’s accounting landscape. I’ve watched firms gobble up sizable competitors -- often in order to acquire a specific area of focus, like client accounting services. I cannot meet with a firm in California without the topic of Armanino’s next strategic acquisition coming up, especially after their recent merger with RBZ.

It’s exciting and also challenging to see firms who realize they won’t be able to build a practice fast enough to compete, so buying one becomes the best possible option. BDO is a perfect example of this, as they recently acquired the client accounting-focused firm, SS&G, in order to fast-track their move to cloud-based outsourced accounting for clients.

I’ve personally had conversations with firms about my thoughts on other practices as they start to investigate possible mergers. It’s a huge compliment to think that they’re interested in my insight based on the partnering I’ve done with accountants in my role.

Kim Austin, Business development manager, Intuit

In the fast-pace world of technology, and technology’s crossroads with professional services, it’s becoming more important than ever for accountants to compete against software, like TurboTax, that is automating many of the jobs accountants have performed historically.

Kurt Averell, Founder and CEO, Canopy Tax

It continues to be relevancy. Unless our profession continuously innovates and adds value, we deserve irrelevancy. What was the last innovation from the profession? We continue to avoid the tough issues, such as auditor independence. Rather than debating picayune issues like auditor rotation and the difference between a "gift" and "entertainment," if we really believe in serving the public interest, we should relinquish the audit monopoly. Competition spurs innovation, and nowhere is that more needed than in the ossified audit industry.

Furthermore, CPAs need to help their customers make history, not just report on it. To use financial statements to run a business is the equivalent of timing your cookies with your smoke alarm. Relevancy also is inhibiting the best and brightest from joining the profession. You can’t attract Millennials who use Uber and Airbnb to a profession that is stuck in an industrial-era business model and makes you account for every six minutes of your day.

Ron Baker, Founder, VeraSage Institute

I believe change management is the most important issue facing accounting firms today. The accounting profession is experiencing impacts on a number of fronts, driven in large part by technological disruption and greater regulatory complexity.

The speed at which changes are occurring is nothing short of breathtaking. A quick look at some of the key drivers of change conveys a daunting landscape rife with challenges -- and the list is growing with each passing year:

• General regulatory environment turbulence at the federal, state and international level. FATCA compliance may be at the top of the heap for most firms, but there are many other areas particularly affecting firms that have business clients operating outside of the U.S.
• Globalization in general, with many clients wanting to operate beyond country borders. The global supply chain and trade agreement landscape has created a whole new dimension of complexity that accountants with global clients must contend with.
• Slow growth of new business start-ups. With approximately 60 percent of U.S. counties seeing more businesses close than open between 2010 and 2014, and only 20 counties generating half of the country’s new business establishments, we must consider the impact this will have on ability to attract new clients. Those 20 counties are now home to nearly one-third of the U.S. population, as the U.S. seems to be feeling the impact of urbanization, much like the rest of the world. A full 50 percent of job growth in this recovery accrued to only 2 percent of U.S. counties.
• Constant tax changes and reform. Consider this: With this being an election year, there are over 100 different tax plans being proposed!
• The IRS and the role of enforcement: With things like the Affordable Care Act of the last two years, and now the focus on refundable credits, you know that if the IRS has to own it and manage it, than we accountants do as well.
• Merger & acquisition activity. It’s at its highest level ever, with local firms becoming regional, regionals becoming national, and national firms thinking global. Large firms are getting much larger these days. To make it on the 2015 list of the largest U.S. 100 firms required revenues six times that required in the year 2000. That would require a CAGR of 12.7 percent to reach that level. And remember that we had a major recession during this time. Deep, broad expertise is becoming a requirement, and M&A is one way to acquire it.
• Cybersecurity is another issue facing the profession. Our clients’ data are now under attack, and we must be diligent in protecting it. Firms are being targeted and hacked, sometimes with data stolen and used for identity theft purposes and sometimes the data are held for ransom. This was not an issue just a few years ago.
• The Talent War. Turnover is running high (at 17 percent on average) at a time when firms are striving to gain more diversity and simultaneously experiencing a graying of the profession. 64 percent of partners are over 50 today, versus 52 percent in 2005. General succession planning is now a big issue in most firms, and of course we have the “Millennial effect,” where we must learn to successfully interact with them as clients and employees.
• General technology convergence and acceleration is causing the work environment to change, along with client and staff expectations. How we serve clients can’t be handled the way we’ve done it in the past. With the cloud, our work needs to be performed in a far different manner, and we need to be constantly connected to our clients to serve them best. Our business clients have either moved to the cloud already, or they are planning it. And access or bandwidth issues of the past are rapidly going away, further accelerating the movement to the cloud.

The list above is long, and yet it’s not complete. The point is that the pace and the sheer number of issues impacting the profession can seem overwhelming. Managing the resultant changes -- and doing it well -- is the biggest issue facing the profession today. Firms of all sizes must tackle this head on. Inertia, or complacency, is a real danger. Yet on the positive side, progressive firms can and are thriving and growing in this period of rapid change.

Jon Baron, Managing director, Professional Segment, Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting

Historical financial reporting has lost its relevancy. CPAs hold on tight to it, though, because they find it hard to view their profession through a different lens. Current financial reporting reflects a very small piece of a company’s actual worth that fails to measure and report on corporate assets associated with brand value, intellectual property, environmental impact and human capital. CPAs can either catch up or get left in the dust. It won’t be up to them for much longer.

Joanne Barry, Executive director and CEO, NYSSCPA

The rapid pace of change due to technology and globalization that is creating new business models that will require the profession to also change to be effective in our roles. These changes affecting the organizations we serve are presenting new risks, and the profession needs to be ready to address these new risks as business models evolve.

Brian Becker, Partner, technology, and managing consulting national leader, RSM US

Attracting and retaining top talent. High performers have more options than ever and they're actively managing their own careers. They have access to a global job market, and virtually unlimited knowledge/training opportunities. Firms are going to have to come up with novel ways to inspire and challenge their best employees, or risk losing them.

Bob Berchtold, Founder, CPA Talent

The most important issue is actually the same as last year as it continues to amplify itself: change and the ability to adapt to it, as well as willingness to embrace disruption and not hide from it.

As part of this change, the Baby Boomers must start passing the decision-making and leadership reins to the Millennials. Boomers born in 1946 are turning 70 this year and need to realize that the time has come to have trust in the younger professionals that they have mentored and trained. Firms that have not created new partners from the younger ranks will cease to exist as they and their clients age out. If there are no rainmakers amongst the younger team members, there will not be new clients. The Millennials possess different skill sets and professional contacts that will only enhance their ability to garner new clients and grow their practices in a digital world

The tasks that accounting professionals performed in the past are being phased out due to automation and artificial intelligence. “The Future of Employment,” by Frey & Osborne published by Oxford University, is a great eye opener to what is going away. They state that tax preparers have a 98.7 percent chance of being replaced by automation, while accountants and auditors have a 93.5 percent chance of being replaced. These numbers will continue to rise as the Internet of Things expands and digitalization increases.

This is amplified by another book entitled, “The Future of Professions,” which discusses the decline of what we do today and how it will change.

David Bergstein, Evangelist, Accountant Segment, Intuit

Here are two indisputable facts: Migration to the cloud is inevitable for accountants, and the cloud presents greater opportunities for them to revamp their practices and better serve their clients than PC technology did. And yet many accounting firms will go through all the migration pain without much gain.

Why? Because many accountants will drag their feet until they’re forced into migrating to the cloud. If you genuinely care for your practice, you owe it to yourself to invest time now to understand what the cloud can do for your practice and how you can make the most of the migration.

Chandra Bhansali, CEO, AccountantsWorld

The long-term globalization of accounting practices.

Just as globalization has moved manufacturing jobs abroad, accountants face the risk of a shrinking pie for their core services.

To remain competitive in the global environment, we must greatly increase productivity in our client engagements and reduce operational costs. One way to accomplish this is workflow automation using integrated solutions. This can greatly improve operational efficiencies and reduce IT costs.

Another important step is to have some sort of specialization. One example: specializing in industries that have specific local, state or federal government reporting requirements.

Finally, offering a fuller range of services is another way to minimize the impact of globalization.

Sharada Bhansali, Executive vice president and co-founder, AccountantsWorld

The continued ramping up of the expectations and reliance of audits remains the most important issue facing the accounting profession. As the world sees significant stresses on financial stability, such as the recent “Brexit” vote in the United Kingdom, the role of auditors in creating assurance for investors and creditors is enhanced. In the U.S., the sharp criticism being articulated by not only investors, but even public entities such as the PCAOB and SEC as to the quality and credibility of audits, only amplifies the importance of improving and maintaining the highest quality of attest engagements and the importance of regulation and oversight.

Ken Bishop, President and CEO, NASBA

There are three wars that the accounting profession currently faces.

World War 1 is the increasing commoditising of compliance work through cloud computing, while increasing efficiency and reducing cost base is also removing the historical need for human interaction, which was the basis of much of our billing in times gone by.

World War 2 is the product of World War 1, which is that in a market of productised compliance work, client loyalty is found in both the advisory services provided and the strength of relationships that are built upon that foundation. This will predicate …

World War 3, which will be the battle for talented professionals who can build relationships with clients, potential clients, introducers and influencers alike.

Martin Bissett, Founder, The Upward Spiral Partnership

How we will effectively transition firms from the current Baby Boomer owners to the next generation of firm owners. Technology, Millennials, and new ideas play a big part in how new owners will take over older firms.

Jason Blumer, Founder and CEO, Thriveal Network

There really is no single issue.

Relevance is an issue that all should be focused on. Whether in public accounting or business and industry, the profession must focus on the real needs of clients and employers. The issue that might challenge relevance the most is the notion of assurance on non-financial information. The profession really needs to lead in this area.

Diversity continues to be a challenge. The profession really needs to stop paying lip service to addressing diversity in the profession. It is time that a serious commitment be made, including a significant financial and human resource commitment to create environments that will make the profession more attractive to ethnic and cultural minorities. This commitment is one other aspect of relevance for the future of the profession.

The future of competency. We really have to stop talking about CPE. The real issue is what should be expected or required in terms of learning and competency for a CPA to renew a license in the U.S. The CPE model that has been around for decades is increasingly irrelevant in terms of learning methodology and preferences. We can’t wait to figure out a perfect system. Leaders in the profession must innovate and experiment in order to begin making marginal gains in the area of competency development.

Gary Bolinger, President and CEO, Indiana CPA Society

Relevance -- the profession is faced with the need to transform. Change is not enough. Mindsets, skillsets and toolsets must all change to meet the client’s wants and needs. The profession sets in an enviable position of most trusted advisor, but to retain this status members must become more strategic and innovative. The compliance services have been commoditized. Packaging and pricing compliance, performance and strategic based services is the key to continued success and being future ready.

Gary Boomer, Founder, visionary and strategist, Boomer Consulting

Maintaining relevance in a rapidly changing business environment. And the change is coming on multiple fronts:

• People – the war for talent will only intensify as more and more Baby Boomers retire. This will require us to change business models to attract qualified employees and increase the level of engagement and investment to retain them.
• Process – process improvement will be critical to effectively compete in an increasingly demanding market. Eliminating waste and improving consistency/quality will be key.
• Technology – Cloud and mobile technologies are not only changing what is possible in the workplace but also expectations of employees, clients and partners.
• Clients/Services – We must take advantage of the opportunity to move up the value chain with clients and truly become trusted business advisors.

Jim Boomer, CEO and shareholder, Boomer Consulting Inc.

The impact of technological changes in the profession, fueled many years ago by the beginning of the migration to the cloud. Those changes, along with the impact of big data, are changing the game and how financial information will be viewed in the future. Firms that are stuck in the traditional compliance reporting role will be forced to change or will be left behind.

Jim Bourke, Partner, WithumSmith+Brown

The need for CPAs to be true advisors. Compliance is not the future of the profession. Clients want and need more than an audit or tax return. They want more advisory, value-added services. They want help to grow their businesses and make strategic decisions. It’s important for CPAs who are experienced, successful client advisors to mentor younger staff and provide them with the education and mentoring necessary to build this skill.

Jean Marie Caragher, President of Capstone Marketing

The industry's biggest challenge is the shortage of enough strong talent to support the growth that the market is demanding. This will make it difficult for many firms to remain independent, either because they can't recruit competitively, can't retain and rapidly develop existing talent, can't provide effective leadership succession or can't attract talent in new service areas where their clients need expertise. We see this challenge every day, and very few firms are exempt from it.

Closely related is the need for CPAs to develop the soft skills that will enable them to be practice builders. Except for large firms that do a lot of public company audits, gone are the days where accountants spend the bulk of their time at the client site where time together with clients facilitated building personal relationships and the flow of new work. Today's professionals need the interpersonal skills to connect with clients and initiate encounters to sell projects in much briefer interaction.

Carolyn Carlson, President, StangerCarlson

Tax reform.

Paul Caron, Publisher and editor-in-chief, TaxProf Blog

Addressing this question from the public accounting perspective, I believe the most important issue is managing change to maintain relevancy. Firms need to evolve as the marketplace evolves. The challenge is that the partnership model makes this inherently difficult to do. I believe firms need to move to a more centralized structure for decision-making, strategy and process/workflow.

Change by itself is difficult, but the construct of the partnership model makes it even more challenging as many firms remain decentralized as a collection of talented independent agents. The good news is I do see strides being made in this area.

Michael Cerami, Vice president of business development and corporate strategy, CPA.com

Accountants face an enduring challenge to keep pace with the accelerating rate of change in the business environment. To continue to add value to their organizations and clients, accounting professionals must stay abreast of complex issues stemming from rapidly changing accounting rules, the high velocity and severity of risk, and evolving innovation and technologies. By aligning their efforts with the needs of the business, accounting professionals will be well-positioned to provide the highest level of support to their organizations and clients, to both meet the challenges and seize the opportunities that come from an environment where the speed of change seems to keep getting faster.

Richard Chambers, President and CEO, IIA

Trust and credibility is the foundation on which our profession exists. Exceeding expectations of what it means to act “in the public interest” has to always be at the top of the profession’s ‘to do’ list.

Fayezul Choudhury, CEO, IFAC

Making earnings presentations relevant again. The FASB needs to re-examine the performance reporting comprehensively and make their presentation preferable for investors compared to the plethora of non-GAAP presentations.

Jack Ciesielski, Publisher, The Analyst’s Accounting Observer

In a word, “relevance.” Technology advances and cloud computing are causing significant disintermediation. CPAs are increasingly challenged to keep up with change and identify areas to add real value for clients. Those who are willing to adapt will continue to play a strategic role with their customers; those who are afraid to change and content to offer low-value services will soon find themselves replaced by technology or outsourced services.

David Cieslak, Principal, Arxis Technology

Succession planning is a tremendous issue for firms today. Many firms have not planned adequately for it and, as we are all aware, there are an unprecedented number of Baby Boomers retiring. This dynamic has laid the groundwork for many mergers and acquisitions. I see it in my own market. The acquisition of SS&G by BDO and most recently BCG joining forces with Sikich, although both are considered to be market based. The number of mergers and acquisitions in a year is astounding. Not everyone is suited to lead an accounting firm nor do they want to. To exacerbate the problem, leaders have often not prepared those coming up in the ranks to take over running the firm.

Lauren Clemmer, Executive director, AAM

The transition that firms are facing from being transaction and reactive, to proactive and strategic among the growing competition across technology and other service providers. Technology is driving to cheaper service alternatives, so firms that relied on this as a source of revenue are quickly seeing their profit margin shrink. Pair this transition with workplace difference in staff (tech-savvy, trigger-happy new hires versus established, although more cautious staff) make it challenging for the firm to both handle the transition from a process perspective, but also a huge communication hurdle in regards to getting the team and clients on board with their goals.

David Cristello, CEO and founder, Jetpack Workflow

The profession is facing an encroachment on its markets by non-CPAs performing services that CPAs could perform. Although we are protected with certain core services, these are in a mature state and growing slowly. Many of the fast-growth areas are those that don’t require a CPA. Enterprising business people know this and are eating away at our potential. If we don’t grab the markets for ancillary services, we’ll become increasingly less relevant as a profession.

Gale Crosley, President, Crosley+Co.

The most important issue is, in my opinion, the accountant’s responsibility for fraud and the continuing gap between what the public, often including the court system, believes our responsibilities to be and what we in the profession believe we are capable of doing.

Our profession relies much too heavily on commercially prepared checklists for performing their financial statement engagements and, as a result, the engagements become too routine and clerical. Accountants and auditors need to develop a better understanding of the requirements of professional standards and develop internal processes for making certain that they are properly complied with.

Mark Dauberman, Owner and president, Mark Dauberman Seminars

From my perspective, the most important thing facing our industry is the need for more accounting and bookkeeping professionals to understand what it looks like when the service we provide is less transactional and more strategic. This has been discussed for a few years already in concept, but I rarely see concrete applications demonstrated for how people will do this. People can and already should be doing this.

Seth David, President, Nerd Enterprises

Technology, talent, completion, regulation and other areas are more dynamic than ever before and the pace is becoming faster each year. It is critical for our industry leaders to work together to envision the impact of these changes and prepare all members for the betterment and sustainability of the profession.

Rick Davis, Managing shareholder, Elliott Davis Decosimo

Consumer and client expectations and the ability and willingness of the profession to meet these expectations, which go beyond attestation. It is no mystery why consulting and other services are essential to a CPA firm’s practice. Consumers and clients are expecting and demanding more assurance on business matters beyond historical financial statements.

Loretta Doon, CEO, California Society of CPAs

Auditors must adapt to a new way of thinking about their role in our capital markets. The audit is as important a function to vibrant capital markets today as it has ever been. By providing a basis for confidence in reporting of financial – and increasingly non-financial – information to investors, the audit can give businesses and entrepreneurs a lower cost of capital to spur economic growth. But to achieve this opportunity, auditors must move from measuring and promoting their services to audit clients to, instead, measuring and promoting their services to investors through more consistent investor protection, more meaningful audit reports, and more engagement with investors.

James Doty, Chairman, PCAOB

The ever-changing geopolitical landscape continues to give rise to a proliferation of new regulations and accounting standards worldwide. It’s imperative that the profession, regulators and lawmakers alike maintain an open dialogue globally to continue to strengthen standards that enhance quality and drive transparency.

Lynne Doughtie, Chairman and CEO, KPMG

In today's dynamic, complex world, there are a number of initiatives at the forefront of the profession. One of those important initiatives is related to people and how we ensure the continued vitality and relevance of the profession. Attracting, retaining, and growing talent across the entire profession -- public, business/industry, not-for-profit, government, consulting and education -- is a shared responsibility.

Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, Incoming chair, AICPA

Retaining qualified staff interested in and capable of leading the profession tomorrow and beyond. As a profession, we have moved away from a transactional services business model. Firms that are growing today are moving toward a relationship-based service model that serves clients more holistically. So, instead of hiring a CPA a few hours a year to do your tax return as an isolated service, firms now offer an increasingly diverse mix of interrelated services throughout the year to help the client with compliance, strategic planning, business process improvement, technology solutions and more.

Many CPAs don’t feel comfortable in that space because it requires soft skills such as communication, relationship management, managing boundaries, flexibility and adaptability. As a result of these changes, soft skills will quickly become the new talent differentiator. I believe that companies and firms that provide training and development opportunities on these skills and competencies to staff at all levels, not just “premium” talent or senior staff tapped for leadership roles, will improve overall staff retention.

Jina Etienne, President and CEO, NABA

Human capital -- bringing the firm's visions together with those challenges faced with human capital and executing success.

Kim Fantaci, President, CPAFMA

The accounting profession is being challenged by FASB’s move toward more principles-based accounting rules and a growing need for more transparency with regard to corporate governance, financial disclosure, and international reporting. The accounting profession is being called on to employ more judgment in applying accounting rules and will become even more integral to the business community and investors striving to make more informed decisions among a variety of industries.

George Farrah, Editorial director, Tax and Accounting, Bloomberg BNA

As audit evolves with new technologies and methods of providing assurance on a wider range of information, a major challenge facing the audit profession will be how to attract, compensate and retain highly qualified professionals with the skills required for these new tools.

Lewis Ferguson, Board member, PCAOB

The Audit of the Future: From cybersecurity to non-GAAP information to sustainability, society's needs for assurance are expanding and evolving. While maintaining its strong focus on current responsibilities, the accounting and auditing profession must also continue to envision how the audit of the future can meet stakeholder needs for the benefit of investors and the capital markets. The profession must think proactively, investing resources and talent in areas where auditors can and should play a greater role. New technology, such as greater use of data analytics and artificial intelligence techniques, can continue to strengthen and deepen the auditor's analytical role and work—not simply add bells and whistles.

Cindy Fornelli, Executive director, Center for Audit Quality

The most important issue facing the accounting profession today is the change that needs to take place in order for our CPAs to be effective in the future – specifically I’m referring to the need for CPAs to have a much higher level of education when it comes to technology. The large financial frauds of today and tomorrow do not and will not use the rudimentary tools of yesterday, but are instead leading adopters of the new technologies themselves. Auditors will be challenged by creative crooks who will manipulate technology and the systems we use to mask their frauds and fool the auditors. It is imperative that our accounting professionals prepare, educate and train themselves in technology in order to ask the right questions and look in the right places if they are going to be effective in their job of uncovering financial fraud and protecting the public from the fraudsters who seek steal from those who trust them.

Brian Fox, Founder and president, Confirmation.com

The most important issue facing the accounting profession involves its ability to maintain trust and confidence and follow fundamental core principles in light of a quickly changing environment of complex risks. When faced with new problems and dilemmas, it will be critical for practitioners to uphold the profession’s core values while being mindful of the profession’s role in the effective functioning of our economy and the well-being of individuals.

The accounting profession is entrusted with reliable financial reporting and auditing, which is critical to the effective functioning of our economy, financial markets, capital markets, charitable and humanitarian organizations, and governments at all levels. The profession must be guided by the fundamental principles of having the right incentives to encourage key parties to do the right thing and providing adequate transparency to help ensure that the right things will happen, accompanied by full accountability. And the regulatory system must proactively assess and address risks within the system that threaten those fundamental principles.

Jeanette Franzel, Board member, PCAOB

The most pertinent issue currently facing the accounting sector is how to integrate technology, workflows and service offerings. The introduction of technology only on the surface takes traditional accounting workflows into the digital realm. At its most understood, integration allows for efficiencies and changing offerings and hence changing people requirements. Managing change within teams is a challenge the sector is currently grappling with.

Russell Fujioka, President, Xero US

Being able to effectively complement cloud technologies and zero-data-entry automating technologies, instead of trying to complete with them.

Hector Garcia, Principal, Quick Bookkeeping

The proliferation of fraud and cyberattacks, including the risk to organizational reputation as a result of the loss of customer data, is the most important issue currently facing the accounting profession, especially in the area of tax administration.

Cybersecurity threats against the federal government continue to grow. Federal agencies reported 77,183 cyberattacks in FY 2015, an increase of more than 10 percent from FY 2014. Data breaches reported in recent years and the availability of information on the Internet has compromised the effectiveness of controls used to authenticate individuals when they access their account information. Providing individuals more avenues to obtain answers to their account questions or assess their own records online creates more opportunities for exploitation by hackers and other fraudsters. The risk of unauthorized access to accounts will continue to grow as more corporations and governmental entities focus their efforts on delivering individuals self-assisted interactive online tools.

In May 2015, the IRS announced that criminals had used taxpayer-specific data acquired from non-IRS sources to gain unauthorized access to tax account information through the IRS’s “Get Transcript” application. In August 2015, the IRS indicated that unauthorized users had been successful in obtaining tax information on the Get Transcript application for an estimated 334,000 taxpayer accounts. Based on TIGTA’s analysis of Get Transcript access logs, potentially unauthorized users had been successful in obtaining access to an additional 390,000 taxpayer accounts. The IRS also reported that an additional 295,000 taxpayer transcripts had been targeted but the access attempts had not been successful.

J. Russell George, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration

The proliferation of technology -- and how investors use technology to consume financial information. Over the next few years, the profession will be focused on figuring out how financial reporting can keep pace with the changes to come so that investors get more relevant information, more quickly.

Russell Golden, Chairman, FASB

The need for firms to offer more advisory services is growing, and clients are expecting more support from their accountants. Many firms are increasing the amount of consulting offerings and billings. A number of firms, however, are continuing to struggle with how to play more of an advisory role with clients, which requires a paradigm shift in many ways. This is necessary because firms are struggling with how to differentiate themselves from their competitors with respect to traditional services, and are competing on price. Those firms that are investing in learning why they’re winning and losing work are the ones that are increasing their win rates. The reasons vary from the way the teams work together on pursuits, to innovation in the sales process. The latter generally leads to more advisory work because it uncovers needs that may be unique and are typically not limited to compliance work.

Young professionals want to have a voice in their firms early on, and they are requesting more interesting and challenging work sooner in their careers than traditional compliance partners have been able to offer. Firms that are putting future leaders in charge of something or are investing in programs or initiatives that give up-and-coming leaders a voice and responsibility are seeing the fruits of their efforts in the form of more innovation than they have realized in the past. This success comes in the form of recruiting, retention initiatives, client-service offerings, and virtual work arrangements. Firms need team members who can lead, manage, sell, develop people, and do the work. This is not a new idea, but firms’ leadership continues to struggle with how to recruit, retain, and develop these individuals so they reach their full potential. What makes this concept even more complicated is the rapid retirement of the current Baby Boomer generation, which creates gaps in many key areas. The challenge lies in getting ahead and staying ahead of these gaps and laying a foundation of strength in a firm for years to come.

Angie Grissom, President, The Rainmaker Companies

The accounting profession has heretofore been the principal and principled steward of precisely the proven reliable tool which our fellow citizens and stakeholders urgently need to check and reverse our recently emerging national decline -- professionally designed and applied, meaningfully public interest ambitious, assertively inclusive and purposely intrusive, fund-based integrated institutional budgeting, actuarial, accounting, auditing, and financial reporting legal and contractual requirements and compliant practices. Scarcely anyone outside of the accounting profession remembers or understands this, and the accounting profession appears de facto determined not to remind or enlighten them.

Influential thought leaders in the accounting profession prefer forsaking this stewardship role, and its accompanying greater public interest independence responsibilities, in favor of broader discretion in providing lucrative management information system, tax avoidance, and other client advocacy products and services.

Because the accounting profession and the general public have yet to accomplish a meaningfully clear and inclusive dialogue and resultant shared understandings of public interest critical consequences, nuances, and implications of any such forsaking, present practices are increasingly inadequate.

Dick Haas, Civic advocate

The most important issue facing the accounting profession is how we will respond to automation. Recent research estimates that almost half of all U.S. jobs are at high risk of becoming automated over the next two decades, and accountants and auditors landed in the top one-sixth of the most “automatable” professions. Making the industry-wide transition in public accounting to firms spending more time on helping clients make better business decisions and less on compliance-related services is a critical means to responding to the changing landscape of the accounting industry. The industry has to find the balance between leveraging automation to meet clients’ compliance needs and growing a more advisory-focused book of business.

As I mentioned in my foreword for the book “Next-Level Accountants: Your guide to growing a firm of trusted advisors,” there are two primary reasons we finance professionals perform accounting and prepare financial statements. The first is that we have to. Businesses are required to submit accurate financial information as part of calculating and preparing taxes. However, the second reason is to help us and our clients make better business decisions. Figuring out a means to focus on the latter across the industry is how we’ll be able to effectively respond to the challenges of automation.

Brian Hamilton, Co-founder and chairman, Sageworks

Significant changes on the horizon in the areas of revenue, leases and impairment will present a major challenge to all accountants and auditors. In addition to implementing new requirements in their own work, public accountants and auditors will have to help educate investors, preparers, audit committees and others on the impact of the new requirements. Companies will have to implement new systems and controls, make critical accounting policy decisions and assess the business impact of the changes, presenting challenges both to financial management and external auditors. Through all this, auditors will have to be mindful of maintaining their independence and skepticism and demonstrate to investors the value of their work.

Jay Hanson, Board member, PCAOB

As an industry we have always reported on the past, last month, last quarter, or last year. However, in today’s world of instant information we must adjust. While the need to report on the past will always be needed for compliance, we must couple that need with the desire for real-time information if we want to remain relevant. While today’s technology will help us meet these new needs, we must resist the temptation to become completely dependent on technology. Our clients want us to help them look forward and that requires that we maintain a personal relationship with them. For those of us that adjust to this new environment the future is bright. For those who choose to ignore this new world, they may keep some of the clients they have but will find it difficult to acquire new ones.

Roger Harris, President and COO, Padgett Business Services

The most important issue facing the accounting profession is the same issue facing small businesses in general -- government over-regulation. Until that reverses, our economy will drag because small businesses are the engine that keeps our economy pumping.

A recent analysis of U.S Census Bureau data by the Wall Street Journal found that the U.S. productivity growth rate is nearly half of its historical rate, dropping from an annual average rate of 2.5 percent since 1948 to 1.1 percent since 2011.

While the productivity growth rate is shrinking, the Federal Register is growing. In 1960, there were 22,877 pages in the Federal Register. By in 2012, there were 174,545 pages, according to the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Perhaps that’s why 72 percent of small businesses reported in a Wells Fargo/Gallup News survey that regulations were hurting their “operating environment.”

Unless our representatives wake up and make serious changes, the American government will kill American growth. That will hurt the accounting profession and the entire U.S. economy.

John Hewitt, Founder, chairman and CEO, Liberty Tax

Not adapting to the fast pace of change fast enough. Many CPAs are stuck in the current state and not taking time to be aware, predictive and adaptive to the changes facing our profession. This is causing them to delay making changes necessary to leverage technology, develop succession plans and next-generation leaders. I am now seeing where those firms and organizations who “get it” are outpacing those who are stuck in growth, profitability, retention and other success measures. As W. Edwards Demming once said, “It is not necessary to change, survival is not mandatory.”

Tom Hood, CEO and executive director, MACPA

I don’t know if everyone sees this yet, but I strongly believe the key issue facing accounting firms today is the struggle inside firms to fully adopt and leverage technology in a way that continues to automate the compliance process. This closely ties to the future-ready firm strategy of transitioning from a compliance focus to an advisory focus with clients. There’s no doubt the future of the accounting profession is moving toward a completely (almost) automated compliance process -- whether that’s 10 or 20 years out we can debate -- but the basic tax and A&A work will continue to become automated, which will continue to put downward pressure on fees. So it’s going to become imperative, even if it’s not today, that firms find unique and innovative ways to add value to their client relationships.

If firm leaders aren’t proactive and building the strategic vision of their firm to properly align with this new model, they are going to be falling behind at a greater pace than ever. Technology is advancing so rapidly, and firms need their processes and technology utilization to keep pace. They also need to recognize the skill sets that will be required in the future and start onboarding new employees with these skill sets in mind.

Unfortunately, there are still many firms (even in the Top 100) that have a big technology “gap” inside their firms between those individuals who want to embrace and adopt more automated work processes and those who are comfortable with the status quo. If this issue continues to be brushed aside or ignored, some of the other pressing issues in our profession like succession planning, leadership development, etc., will be even harder to solve because the firm will be playing behind.

Dustin Hostetler, Shareholder and chief innovation officer, Boomer Consulting Inc.

Rapid change in issuers’ business models. We live in an increasingly complex and interconnected world. The environment in which companies are operating is rapidly changing, there is a whole new series of risks. Many companies are now competing globally as “cross-sector” entities, combining their traditional sector presence with technology, new supply chains, customer service platforms, and expanding into global markets.

To realize increased quality, audits must be enabled through deep sector focus utilizing an integrated team of specialists. The audit of the future must provide prospective, real-time risk assessment, and deep data analysis. The audit of the future must also be a continuous effort, engaging company leaders and governance to provide transparency, perspective and analysis of risks. Technology and analytics and specialists are all important elements that contribute to enhanced audit quality.

Critical importance of independence. Our commitment to quality starts at the top of our organization. We are keenly aware that we need to execute high-quality audits independently, objectively and with professional skepticism to serve the public interest, promote transparency and support investor confidence.

We also know that our role as auditors is to serve the public interest and provide confidence to the capital market through high-quality audits. Our shared values guide our people to do the right thing. The EY Code of Conduct provides a clear set of standards that guide our actions and our business conduct. Our people understand that performing high-quality audits means upholding these standards ethically and with integrity.

The “tone from the top” and continuous discussion on the themes of integrity, quality, and personal/professional responsibility are absolutely critical to setting an enterprise-wide focus. What I have also found is that our people want to hear about this. I communicate regularly with our teams -- over the past two years my messages on personal integrity and the importance of quality have been among the most highly subscribed and talked about among our people, including team-based dialogues on these themes.

Stephen Howe, Managing partner, EY

The most important issue facing the accounting profession today is the talent void we face in the next five to 10 years. We are an aging profession. A large majority of the practicing CPAs will be eligible to retire in the next decade. It is becoming increasingly more difficult to replace this talent pool as fewer and fewer young people sit for the CPA Exam and many who get licensed are leaving the profession.

The cause of this migration away from public accounting is multi-pronged. We have done a poor job changing with the times. The image of the CPA is stale and outdated. Millennials clearly do not want the life of the public accountant, and who can blame them?

College students are opting for other majors since CPA requirements moved to 150 college credits. The cost of an additional 30 college credits, as well as the cost of studying and taking the CPA exam can be daunting.

Additionally, I believe the recent trend in credentialing has caused a devaluation of the CPA license. Credentials such as CGMA, CFE, CIA, CMA, CGA and many more, are diluting the prestige and value of the CPA license, not to mention confusing the public.

Sandy Johnson, President, NCCPAP

The obvious answer is succession planning. However, I think the root of that issue is managing, training and development. We have a profession that complains about not having a bench because they have not taken time to develop the bench. Managing, training and developing people takes a lot of time. We are so concerned with the billable hour that partners, managers and other staff are not rewarded for doing what they should be doing to develop those below them.

Sarah Johnson Dobek, President and founder, Inovautus Consulting

Clients are requesting new services that CPAs are not trained to fulfill. The existing as well as up-and-coming accountants won’t be able to sufficiently meet the client needs within four years unless major changes in strategy are chosen. This skill and talent gap has to be filled. The lack of available talent needed to provide essential services is back with a vengeance and the graduating talent won’t have the business maturity or skills to fulfill the need. The leverage of technology plus the postponement of retirements during the economic downturn has delayed the impact of this labor shortage. Some firms have found the need to return to outsourcing whether on-shore or off-shore.

Randy Johnston, Executive vice president and partner, K2 Enterprises; CEO, NMGI

Several years ago, I wrote about the unprecedented levels of tax-related identity theft and its profound impact on my sphere of the accounting world; the impact of ID theft and the importance of cyber-security continue to be immense. These issues obviously impact taxpayers, but also impact practitioners in their ability to represent their clients, as well as the tax administration system itself.

Despite the IRS’s successes in combating identity theft, I cannot over-emphasize the staggering dimensions of the tax identity theft problem. According to the latest data available from the IRS, 4.9 million fraudulent returns were filed in 2015, with the service stopping close to 75 percent of them. However, that means that 1.3 million fraudulent returns were able to breach IRS systems, representing billions of dollars of losses. Phishing, spoofs and scams are on the increase and more and more are targeting employers and tax professionals. The IRS’s inventory of ID theft cases is up 150 percent. AICPA members have indicated that the verification process for legitimate taxpayers whose identities were stolen is lengthy and those taxpayers’ refunds are sometimes held up for years. Finally, the AICPA’s Tax Identity Theft Information & Tools Web page has experienced a tenfold growth in traffic over the last year.

ID theft also has the potential to transform the tax system as we know it. On a shorter-term basis, Congress is considering needed additional legislative solutions to mitigate the problems and has even started funneling additional funds targeted to ID theft mitigation. The IRS has engaged a “security summit” of impacted stakeholders -- including state tax administrators -- to expand the battle. More dramatically, however, is the IRS’s consideration of a “Real Time Tax System,” which would re-shape the processes of matching information returns with tax return information -- a process that has already begun.

Ed Karl, Vice president of taxation, AICPA

This year, with all the on-going conversations about how to attract and retain top talent, I feel that the issue of attracting and retaining women has become even a greater concern.

In recent years, females outnumbered males in university accounting programs. As reported during a current trends and issues session at AICPA PCPS PS/Tech, males now outnumber females. Not only is the profession losing experienced females in great numbers, but now even fewer are deciding to enter the accounting profession.

Some successful firms have addressed this, but it is my observation that the vast majority of accounting firms continue to lose talented females because of they believe they cannot have a career in public accounting and have a family.

Practitioners and other profession leaders need to address how to make public accounting more attractive to female students and more rewarding and manageable for talented, experienced female CPAs.

Rita Keller, President, Keller Advisors

Unfortunately, succession planning is still casting a painful shadow on a lot of firms with too many senior partners in denial about the market value of their practice and the younger generation being excited and capable of taking over that practice long enough to pay out their retirement. While merger deals for the stronger practices will continue to close, the lesser firms will see their “star” successors stepping away and braving the waters on their own as technology has made it simple for firms to ”turn-key” a start-up practice, especially for a technology-focused CPA!

Roman Kepczyk, Director of consulting, Xcentric LLC

How the profession embraces leadership and diversity is critical to its future success. We already know that we must compete, in a fierce marketplace, for the best and brightest to join our ranks and infuse our profession with new talent. Ensuring we not only attract and retain diverse talent, but that we continue to encourage women and minorities into senior leadership, will send a strong message to young people that ours is a profession that lives its values.

Olivia Kirtley, President, IFAC

As Barry Melancon said during a dinner I attended at the AICPA PS/Tech conference, it is the “relevancy of our core products.” Deep learning, big data, and the blockchain are all going to have a significant impact on the accounting profession, and I fear too many folks are unprepared for this change.

Ed Kless, Senior director, Sage

The growth imperative for firms is so critical today. Competition is fierce, specialization is vital, and if our firms are not growing and creating opportunities for the next generation, the overall sustainability of firms and the industry is in peril. There are some very progressive firms who are poised for long-term success, but the small to midsized firms that are not in position for successful transition will end up being acquired for parts by larger firms.

Jack Kolmansberger, Chief marketing officer, Herbein + Co.

Talent, talent, talent. It used to be growth, growth, growth, but in today’s ongoing war for talent it has become quite apparent that those who can win the war, both in recruiting top talent and retaining top talent, have a major competitive edge over all other firms. All other issues are a distant second.

Allan Koltin, CEO, Koltin Consulting Group

I think it’s too hard to lump one issue for the entire profession. I’ll focus on firms and not those in business and industry and say for any firm with two-plus professionals, people, once again, tops the list. I’m talking about finding and retaining the right people. There are firms who are doing it well by creating a firm culture that becomes a lightning rod for talent.

For sole practitioners, it seems to be keeping up with change in regulations, standards and the overload of it all. We see more sole practitioners specializing in particular niches or industry segments, as it is too hard today to be a generalist. And that’s quite OK. These sole practitioners manage their clients by creating alliances with other small firms to make sure they fully serve their clients.

Mark Koziel, Vice president of firm services and global alliances, AICPA

The role and acceptance of reason and sound judgment in implementing major new standards, including revenue recognition, leases and credit losses (CECL). Sound judgment is important in successfully implementing standards and giving financial statement users the information that’s truly relevant -- it is a necessary component of a true professional.

Jim Kroeker, Vice chairman, FASB

Balancing the needs of clients with the needs of the staff that serves these clients. Firms are actively retooling their processes, investing in technology, and rethinking their approach to client service -- all in the name of making sure the work environment is enjoyable, flexible and responsive to the needs of today’s workforce. It’s my experience that it’s absolutely possible to meet and exceed the client needs in today’s environment, albeit a bit differently than in the past.

Art Kuesel, President and owner, Kuesel Consulting

The pace of M&A, and the corresponding readiness of firms to be acquired or merge. We’re living in a unique moment in the profession, where we’re seeing the confluence of non-stop M&A activity along with heightened understanding on the part of firms regarding what it takes to be an attractive acquisition or merger target. Differentiation, marketing muscle, technology optimization, specialization, the right mix of services targeting the right vertical segments, and a focus on succession planning are a few key elements. The big roll-up will continue over the next few years, with some big regional, national and international winners.

Marshal Kushniruk, Executive vice president of global business development, Avalara

There’s no question the cloud is instrumental in introducing efficiency and saving time and money for today’s accounting and bookkeeping firms. It supports virtual operations, streamlines critical processes and adds audit trails and automation. However, the question is no longer: “Will you use the cloud?” The question now is: “How will you use the cloud?”

In a recent Bill.com industry survey, we found that 50 percent of the accounting professional respondents said they use multiple cloud solutions in their firms and an additional 21 percent indicated that they use at least one cloud solution. Clearly, we’re past the tipping point of cloud adoption.

The conversation now -- and I think it has accelerated massively in this past year -- is about creating an entire cloud technology ecosystem and maximizing its usage throughout the firm. This includes the next level of performance -- smartly integrating cloud technologies to bring a higher standard of efficiency and creating more power users that can maximize the value of the solutions and their positive impact on the firm and their clients.

Likewise, the cloud can provide a new level of “standardization” for workflows. In the survey I mentioned earlier, 85 percent of the respondents said that they change their workflows depending on each client. This means that the firm’s workflow for an everyday task could have numerous iterations across a client base. What a waste of time for everyone -- the firm and the client. With the hyper-acceleration of cloud adoption, accounting professionals will now have the ability to onboard ideal clients and dictate processes. With every client following the same steps for services and cloud technologies to support that, firms will pave the way to greater efficiency, higher client satisfaction and higher earning potential.

Rene Lacerte, Founder and CEO, Bill.com

I see two huge driving forces converging at the forefront of the profession. They are ultra-specialization and a rapidly accelerating movement from yesterday’s reporting and compliance to tomorrow’s trusted advisor business models. We are squarely in the middle of a seismic shift that’s intensified by technology, client expectation, and the professions’ demographics. Each force acts on the others and the result in rapidly accelerating change.

Gregory LaFollette, Strategic advisor, CPA.com

Complexity. This is a complex profession, and getting more so all the time. The tax rules are very complex, with many exceptions. The A&A standards are complex. The technology is complex. The vast number of technology tools and software options are complex. Additionally, the frequent changes to these items create more complexity. To me, complexity is an issue because it can result in confusion, errors, and inefficiencies.

Jeff Lenning, President, Excel University

Managing change in all of its forms. Adopting a more nimble operating framework to better meet the changing needs of clients makes goals like innovation, developing the next generation of talent, bringing diverse voices to the table, and adopting new technology achievable for the profession. It’s the only way to grow and stay relevant.

Kristen Lewis, Director of marketing, EisnerAmper

The transition from current firm leadership to the next generation -- the largest change-over in the profession’s history.

Taylor Macdonald, Senior vice president of channels, Intacct

The acceleration of intelligent technology, the “sharing” economy, and innovations like blockchain are challenging and transforming the audit and accounting disciplines. Traditional services and models are reaching a tipping point where long-accepted models are insufficient for agile decision-making and value production. The profession’s core purpose pivots around the quality and reliability of the assurance and insight provided to businesses and related stakeholders. In a globally connected world where business models evolve rapidly, the profession and the next generation of accountants must be shift rapidly from technical mastery and compliance to ever-more-sophisticated data analytics, risk assessment, protection of data privacy and the ability to communicate the business implications of complex financial and non-financial factors.

Janice Maiman, Senior vice president, communications, media, news & professional pathways, AICPA

The future relevance of their service lines and operating model. For several years firm leaders have been concerned about finding qualified staff and retaining clients. When looking at the evolved expectations of the next generation of business owners and accounting professionals, we see they want more collaboration and use of technology. There is an opportunity for many firms to re-evaluate the way they look at technology’s role in tackling transaction work and giving business clients more advisory services, which also gives up-and-coming accounting professionals a great opportunity to contribute and make an impact on their client relationships. In both circumstances more of a relationship is fostered. Firms need to look at these trends and transform to a future relevant model to reduce some of these concerns.

Samantha Mansfield, Director of corporate communications, CPA.com

Maintaining an extensive understanding of the ever-changing and increasingly complex tax laws and compliance requirements has placed an incredible burden on accounting professionals -- often creating barriers as they try to grow their business. For example, the PATH Act of 2015 was a top concern for tax preparers as it did considerably more than the typical tax extender legislation seen in prior years, making permanent some key tax provisions for both individuals and businesses.

Additionally, when you factor in an intensely compressed seasonal workload with the growing expectations of customers desiring 24/7 access to accounting professionals, the need to maximize operational efficiencies and invest in the solutions that drive growth has never been higher.

That’s why it is crucial for accounting professionals to implement highly efficient technologies and software that provide on-demand research capabilities, advanced practice management solutions and intelligent data organization, so they can elevate their value to their customers and remain competitive with the ever-expanding DIY market.

Jason Marx, CEO, Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting, North America

My two companies focus on individual and small business income tax preparation and income tax education. I think the most important issue facing independent tax business owners is to find ways to retain existing clients and attract new clients to ensure continuing growth and profitability of their businesses. A key challenge is to determine how to provide value to taxpayers who are capable of preparing their own tax returns using TurboTax and similar tax preparation software applications.

Chuck McCabe, Founder, president and CEO, The Income Tax School

We’re seeing changes on the global and national front -- politically, socially, economically -- like never before, and it’s creating great uncertainty. Concurrently, businesses are dealing with an explosion of data. Accountants should be on the front lines in dealing with their clients’ uncertainty and data overload. There’s an unprecedented opportunity to step up and help clients analyze data, then derive fact-based insights to make strategic and operational decisions.

Businesses of all sizes are facing challenges and opportunities in areas that are absolutely ripe for analysis and insights by accounting and tax professionals, including: strategic planning, international growth advisory, disaster planning scenarios, succession planning, and new market evaluations. CPAs can help clients better understand strategic cost analysis, how to set KPIs, and use industry benchmarks to measure their performance.

My personal challenge to accounting professionals is to look at me as a business owner and consider both my daily frustrations and forward-looking goals and ask, “How can I better assist with advising you on matters affecting your business?”

Scott McFarlane, Co-founder and CEO, Avalara

We’re witnessing an evolution in the accounting profession from manual computation to consultation and it is all made possible by the cloud. In the past, accountants focused on paperwork and manual data entry. Today, accountants are tech-savvy advisors with an arsenal of apps to automate manual tasks and offer valuable counsel to inform key business decisions.

As the advent of cloud technology and use of mobile devices improves productivity and increases the integration of data across various platforms and products, accountants are increasingly moving away from simply managing the books to becoming strategic advisors that help unlock their clients’ success. The cloud is fueling the next wave of innovation in the industry and the next step is the transition from mobile phones and tablets to wearables like smartwatches and automobiles. Saying “e-mail invoice” through your car’s Bluetooth while cruising down the highway is just around the corner.

Jim McGinnis, Vice president, Accountant Segment, Intuit

There are two, and they’re related – talent and technology.

Accounting firm leaders are all focused on our pipeline of talent, and there’s great competition for the best graduates coming into the profession. At the same time, technology is changing our industry. More and more of our traditional work is automated, and that trend will increase exponentially.

With every technological advancement, our work becomes less about rote accounting tasks, and more about solving business problems, mitigating risks and creating solutions in a complex and changing world. These trends change the talent profile that will drive recruiting in the future, even as the competition for talent continues to increase.

J. Michael McGuire, CEO, Grant Thornton

The CPA profession is doing well in all areas. But to me, the most pressing issue is to stay focused on the future: What are we doing now to make sure that five, 10 and 20 years down the line, we can still say we’re doing well? The fast evolution of everything in business and society, driven by technology and changing expectations, means we will likely not recognize many of the things we will be doing in the future, just like what we do today is unrecognizable in many ways when compared to 20 years ago. Like many professions, we also have to make sure our ranks reflect the changing demographics in society. We must be open to identifying new services where our skills and knowledge can solve problems for our clients and employers. And it is vital that CPAs stay in sync with the unprecedented breadth of innovation that is transforming business.

Barry Melancon, President and CEO, AICPA

Relevance and identity. The most important challenge is to understand how to continue to be essential to clients in a rapidly changing environment. We have to continually reassess the most essential contribution, the highest value we can contribute to our clients or our employers.

Increasing automation along with artificial intelligence provide a landscape where more impressive results will appear faster. The issue for accounting professionals is to face these changes and to invest in understanding the tools -- what they can do and what they cannot. The tools will continue to evolve more quickly than any of us will find comfortable. So those who can embrace the new technology and use it to deliver a new level of service will thrive. This represents a rethinking of the skills we have to bring to our work, and a reassessment of our essential contribution.

Steve Mendelsohn, Managing director, Knowledge Solutions, Thomson Reuters

Many of our industry and firm leaders do not seem to grasp the reality of the super-rapid changes that are and will be occurring. The primary changes we are making are in terms of what we do and the processes and technology we need and are adopting. However, I am referring to the much greater societal changes. Buying patterns have changed and are continuing to change, as are the way we communicate, emulate or disregard role models, respect for venerable institutions, and acquire and transfer knowledge and information. For accountants to remain relevant we need to not just keep current but to anticipate what these changes might be and then go there. We need a new type of brain power -- more creative, more of an anticipatory vein and with deliberate and concerted efforts to think and do things outside the box which will reach beyond the comfort zone of our well-established profession.

Ed Mendlowitz, Partner, WithumSmith+Brown

I believe that attracting college students into the accounting industry is a key issue. There is a staffing shortage in many accounting firms and we need to come up with ways to make accounting more interesting and exciting to new graduates.

Stan Mork, President, ITA

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Caleb Newquist, Founding editor, Going Concern

The most important issue facing the profession today is human capital. This issue stems from several derivatives. First, we have the issue of finding and acquiring quality talent. The issue isn't that the talent is not available but that the competitive environment for that talent is fierce. The Big Four and the large regionals seem to get the first bite of the apple and then the rest of the profession fights for what's left. While there are plenty of A players out, there the cost of recruiting is also a major issue. Headhunters are placing and stealing A/B players wherever they find them. In some cases, they steal from those firms where they also place people -- strange but true.

Secondly we have the issue of retiring Boomers, who often do a poor job at transitioning clients or don't want to leave because they can't afford to retire. Well, they must relieve themselves of their equity in firms even if they stick around as per diem employees. If they hang around as equity owners too long, younger quality people get frustrated and shop around even if the firm makes new partners -- young people don't want to inherit a "retirement home."

Another human capital issue is retaining and motivating good people at all levels. Firms that have created learning environments seem to do better at this. Executive coaches also help in this difficult scenario. While there are many other priority issues, this is the big one for me. I spend a great deal of time talking with MPs about how to tackle this dilemma of finding, motivating and keeping the A players. You also have to remember to get rid of the low-hanging fruit. Don't let the poor performers stick around. Hire slow and fire fast.

Jay Nisberg, President, Jay Nisberg & Associates

Convincing Millennials that the accounting industry is a more dynamic, creative industry than the stereotypes portray. Recent college graduates aren’t wooed by competitive salaries when it means being stuck at a desk, preparing returns or auditing cash for 80 hours per week during “busy season.” They want to travel, to interact with clients, to problem-solve. And they can do all of these things in the current accounting landscape; however, it is up to the current leaders of the industry to adapt to and accommodate this new mindset by letting go of some of the traditional staples of the profession -- narrow career paths, mandatory busy season hours, etc… -- and moving towards job rotations and flexible schedules that will attract the next generation of accountants.

Tony Nitti, Partner, WithumSmith+Brown

Relevance. The increasing use of non-GAAP measures by companies presents challenges to financial reporting. GAAP is developed based on a thoughtful, well-understood process that considers a wide range of views in order to provide investors with information they need to make good decisions. Non-GAAP measures are not subject to that process, and consequently lack the consistency and comparability that is the hallmark of high-quality financial reporting. While non-GAAP measures can provide relevant information to investors, they should supplement -- not replace -- GAAP standards that are set through an inclusive, robust process.

Charles Noski, Chairman, Board of Trustees, FAF

The ability to change quickly. It seems the profession knows it has to change now but is stuck in the “how.” Does it acquire the “New Firm” business model owner, does it pay for consulting to learn how to do it, or does it just struggle to figure it out itself? After years of talk of change, now firms want to have changed yesterday. The question is how?

Jody Padar, CEO and principal, New Vision CPA Group

I see technological disruption as the most important issue facing the accounting industry. This disruption will manifest in four major trends which will influence the way that accounting professionals work in the years ahead.

• We are in the midst of a global transition to cloud software, driven by the need for interconnectivity and mobility. This move to the cloud, along with increasing regulatory requirements, will drive the technology adoption/replacement cycle -- requiring intelligent investment, training and resource allocation.
• A technology evolution that automates knowledge tasks like bookkeeping and tax preparation will drive market disruption. This will create urgency -- and an opportunity -- for accountants and tax managers to deliver advice, counsel and other high-value services.
• Governments worldwide will implement stricter compliance and reporting requirements to fight ambiguity and aggressive tax planning by multinational corporations. This will create the need for software and services that provide global oversight, workflow and seamless interfacing with global accounting firms. The industry also will see more mid-market companies adopting technology to enable tax compliance (sales and use tax administration, e-invoicing, e-reporting, property tax administration, etc.).
• Information will become increasingly commoditized; there will be an increased demand for data analytics to generate insights from vast amounts of data, as well as more scalable advisory practices. Tax professionals will be increasingly faced with budget pressure to raise revenue more efficiently through the increased use of technology and data analytics to access actionable insights, rather than unrefined data.

Brian Peccarelli, President, The Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters

For smaller firms in particular, the biggest issue is the growing competition performing tax preparation, accounting services and consulting by non-CPA firms. Firms that do not have to adhere or follow the high standards and code of professional conduct are increasing in number and competing directly with CPA firms while CPAs are driven by standards that address engagements in financial reporting, tax and consulting along with a strong code of professional ethics.

Carl Peterson, Vice president of small firm interests, AICPA

The biggest issue currently impacting the accounting profession is ensuring the CPA Exam is reflective of the current business environment and authentically tests future CPAs on skills that are relevant today.

This is much easier said than done. Consider the length, for example. By expanding on sections, like the Business Environments Concepts, the exam has grown from 14 hours to 16 hours. Any longer and the industry risks alienating CPA candidates. With the current accounting talent gap, this is something the industry cannot afford.

The new test must also strike a balance between compliance-related skills, including identifying issues and errors, and advisory skills. As more accounting firms begin to offer advisory services in order to stay relevant and compete in the marketplace, recruiting candidates with both skill sets will be increasingly important. However, testing real-world business scenarios via a standardized test is not easy.

Roger Philipp, CEO and owner, Roger CPA Review

The complexity of the Tax Code. Despite calls for meaningful tax reform, tax compliance is becoming more, not less, difficult. New laws and regulations mean extra forms and more due diligence for taxpayers. It unnecessarily burdens taxpayers and puts them at risk for falling into accidental noncompliance. This frustrates taxpayers and puts accounting professionals increasingly in the line of fire. It also underscores the need to communicate to taxpayers the value of having a competent tax professional.

Kelly Phillips Erb, TaxGirl

I think the issue continues to be losing some of our best talent to corporate jobs. The question every firm must ask is, “How can we make our workplace better so that we compete with industry?”

Jeff Phillips, CEO, Accountingfly

One of the most important issues currently facing the accounting profession is staying relevant. Relevancy means that we need to continue to innovate our services to be able to provide value to our businesses, customers, and communities. For us to stay relevant, we need to continue to learn, anticipate change, improve diversity and inclusion in our profession, inspire our talent pipeline, embrace technology, and uphold our profession’s reputation of integrity.

We are distinctively qualified as accountants to provide insights and actionable steps to help achieve results. As an accountant in industry, I look for ways to contribute to the strategy and future of our business. I also work with a consultant to small businesses who believes accounting firms have a big opportunity to help their clients understand how to prepare financial data for decision-making instead of just for reporting and compliance.

Elizabeth Pittelkow, Director of accounting and compliance, ArrowStream

Changes in technology will continue to affect how financial information is delivered and used, which has implications for all stakeholders of financial reporting. While quarterly and annual financial reports likely will continue to be the mainstay of reporting, we need to be sure that the profession as a whole is proactively looking ahead and adapting.

Terri Polley, President and CEO, FAF

Attracting and retaining talent is the most important issue facing accounting firms of all sizes. Once again, just like during the period that started in the mid-1990s up until the economic meltdown in 2008, the profession finds itself competing with other career choices available to the best candidates for leadership positions.

One of the consequences of this lack of talent, and the difficulty especially small and midsized firms have developing the talent they have, is the succession crisis so many firms are facing. Far too many firms lack the necessary bench strength to remain viable as their senior partners retire. Even larger firms that fail to sustain growth will face succession issues if they are not willing to invest in building a strong long-term career opportunity for the next generation even if that comes at the cost of short-term profitability for their existing partners.

Terry Putney, CEO, Transition Advisors

The role of the cloud and automated technology.

The radical accountant of today is more CFO than number cruncher, and more tax planner than tax preparer. The accounting professionals that are embracing these shifts are thriving. Technology has automated many daily tasks, but has not replaced the need for their expertise and experience running businesses or minimizing taxes.

Technology advances let the accounting professional concentrate on higher-level consulting versus repetitive tasks, providing the business owner with more value. This comes at a fraction of the cost of hiring a full-time CFO or accountant.

The Internet has also fundamentally changed the No. 1 source for new accounting clients, referrals and word-of-mouth. The first thing a new prospect or referral will do is Google the accountant’s name. If the prospect does not see glowing reviews or a professional Web presence, they are much more likely to search again.

Lee Reams, CEO, ClientWhys Inc.

The ability to scale. It’s an issue that’s been ever-present for the past several years and has increasingly grown to be an inescapable challenge faced by accounting firms today. In a profession that is rapidly changing and evolving due to new technology, firms that are resistant or slow to adopt technology are struggling to remain relevant, and now, more than ever, it’s impacting their ability to scale. In order for those in the profession to survive, there needs to be a convergence of traditional accounting with in-depth and up-to-the-minute knowledge of technology solutions.

Matt Rissell, CEO, TSheets

The need to evolve. Just as financial reporting has evolved, so too has the world around it. Today, such contemporary macroeconomic factors as resource scarcity, climate change, population growth, globalization, and technological innovation can, and do, profoundly impact business outcomes. Although corporations have made considerable efforts to create transparency around their management of these issues -- by publishing corporate social responsibility reports, responding to questionnaires, and engaging with investors -- the market still struggles to effectively incorporate environmental, social, and governance issues into its decision-making. Just like we have standards for material financial information, we now need standards for material sustainability information. This is the need SASB was created to fill.

The passage of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the creation of the Financial Accounting Standards Board in 1973 marked two major milestones in the evolution of capital markets. It’s time for the markets to evolve again. Auditors took a leading role in the development of GAAP, and they are uniquely positioned to play a similar part in shaping the future of accounting by establishing a market standard for sustainability information.

Jean Rogers, CEO and Founder, SASB

I believe the biggest issue is that, more and more, non-licensed and non-degreed businesses are being loosely tied to the profession. It’s time for “the profession” to clearly articulate our value and draw a clear distinction. If we lose this distinction, we run the risk of further commoditization.

Darren Root, President and CEO, RootWorks

I know it gets boring to say the same things every year. But these issues are so significant they cannot be ignored. They keep MPs up at night from coast to coast and receive daily attention. First, the aging of the Baby Boomers continues its relentless and unavoidable march towards destiny. Second, at a time when the CPA profession needs thousands of young people to replace retiring Boomers, the profession is suffering mightily from a shortage of labor, exacerbated by a shortage of accounting professors.

Eighty percent of first generation CPA firms never make it to the second due to the perfect storm these two issues have created. The result: Partners retire, have no one to replace them and are forced to merge up, fueling a merger frenzy that every year is more frenetic than the year before.

Marc Rosenberg, President, The Rosenberg Associates

A lack of serious succession planning which goes hand-in-hand with a need for training and mentoring for the profession’s next generation of leaders. There is also a lot of misunderstanding of the role marketing can play in firms and how it can contribute to their growth and longevity.

Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk, President, bbr marketing

Complexity and capacity are at the center of almost all challenges in accounting today. With globalization of businesses large and small, specialized areas that impact anything from tax liabilities to revenue recognition to board room scrutiny, the accounting profession is at a heightened level of accountability, whether the professional is part of a CPA firm or in business and industry. Deadlines always loom, handoffs and interdependencies complicate attaining results, point solutions don’t address the holistic business requirements, competing priorities are always at war, and visibility into these complexities remains one of the biggest challenges.

As work compression continues in our immediate gratification/digital age, workers are stressed to meet higher expectations, greater demands for technical knowledge and vision, and decreased timelines to get work done. All this while budgets are tight, skilled workforce availability is stretched, and our up-and-coming workforce demanding more control of their time and insisting at practicing at the highest level of the professional certification.

That puts productivity at the center of attention if we expect to deliver on the new world business expectations.

Michael Sabbatis, COO and Board member, XCM Solutions

Accounting professionals must transition from only providing traditional compliance services (tax, audit and accounting) to giving more holistic, strategic advice to help clients grow their businesses.

As firms look to the future and want to be able to both attract top talent and differentiate themselves from the competition, they have to look beyond these traditional services. How can they make sure they are the go-to source to help clients progress from start-up, to scale-up, on to an enterprise business?

As accounting becomes more and more automated, a big opportunity is to reinvent that trusted one-on-one relationship that clients had with their accountant in the past.

Marc Schiepe, President, Sage North America

Our profession has not required rapid change, however there are major disruptors now affecting our profession and industry which will require rapid change. These disruptors include:

• The use of smart intelligence and technologies which will dramatically change our audit process and potentially who performs audits.
• New competitors like Google performing business operation accounting services through the use of technology.
• Firms attracting and hiring accounting graduates with no need for the CPA exam or credentials.

Our profession will need to respond much faster in order to keep a competitive advantage in the marketplace we serve.

Dennis Schleper, CEO, CliftonLarsonAllen

The accounting profession today has a “grow or die” mentality which has led to the unprecedented consolidation of accounting firms through M&A activity. Small accounting firms, by and large, are finding it more difficult to maintain and generate revenue, and only the growth that a merger can bring will enable firms to expand their service offerings, compete for the top talent that clients demand, and fund deferred compensation payments to the growing universe of retiring partners. And given the growing universe of retiring partners, succession planning is correspondingly a major impetus for accounting firm mergers, as firms attempt to transition older partners out and figure out ways to let the future of the firm’s leadership in.

Russell Shapiro, Partner, Levenfeld Pearlstein

Preparing for the future of the accounting profession -- in the face of rapidly evolving technology and a challenging staffing pipeline -- is the most significant issue we face.

Big data and data analytics, cloud-based software solutions and artificial intelligence are only a few examples of significant technology developments that will forever change the profession -- at a faster pace than we think. This tech revolution is happening at the same time firms and companies are challenged to recruit and retain talented staff members. With 75 percent of CPAs projected to retire in the next 15 years and the number of new CPAs remaining flat, businesses of all sizes will feel the impact.

The sooner we recognize and prepare for the future, the greater the chances are for the profession to maintain its relevance. 

Todd Shapiro, President and CEO, ICPAS

Our profession’s most important issue is multi-faceted, and it starts with unprecedented advances in technology. Moore’s Law -- the 51-year-old theory, accurate to this day, that processing speeds of computers will double every two years or so -- is automating many of the core services that have defined this profession for generations. As machines take over functions like accounting, auditing, and tax, CPAs are left to wonder, “How will I continue to add value to my clients’ lives going forward?”

The answer lies in our ability to do the things machines can’t do -- building relationships, collaborating on future strategy, and innovating business models among them. In short, the value of tomorrow’s CPAs lies not in merely crunching the numbers, but in telling the uniquely personal stories that lie behind those numbers.

To do so, CPAs must incorporate a new set of skills. These include communication, strategic thinking, collaboration, and perhaps most important, anticipation -- the ability to spot trends before they happen and position our organizations to take advantage of those trends before the competition does.

Technology is changing the game. We have to change with it. We have come to a point where the most important skill is the ability to learn new skills. We have to be wise enough to identify those new skills and nimble enough to learn them on the fly.

Bill Sheridan, Chief communications officer, MACPA

The accounting profession is facing the issue of maintaining relevance in a data-driven marketplace that demands real-time information dissemination and analysis. Accounting professionals are increasingly being tasked to perform services (i.e., data analysis, valuation consultation) that extend well beyond the skills taught in most undergraduate and graduate school accounting curriculums. With more diverse, technology-based companies flooding the corporate landscape, market participants are demanding more from financial statements than the accounting profession currently offers.

James Sinclair, Visiting assistant professor of accounting, Georgetown University

Staffing and succession, which are very much related to each other, since if we had a plethora of young talent we would have less of a succession issue. We are seeing clients asking for more sophisticated niches and firms are trying to differentiate themselves. Firms are experiencing ongoing competition in terms of pricing from firms tiers above and below, and lastly, there are firms still struggling to fully embrace technology. We speak about culture a lot. IT has become a culture!

Joel Sinkin, President, Transition Advisors

We’re in the midst of a paradigm shift that’s changing the nature of the accounting profession. As a new generation of accountants enters the workforce, we’re seeing more professionals who have grown up using mobile devices and are accustomed to being connected 24/7. While the benefits of automation can’t be denied, the challenge here is to find the balance between productivity and maintaining an interpersonal connection -- that face-to-face interaction with the client that can never be replaced by a computer. It is vital that no technology or apps overshadow this connection.

Brad Smith, Chairman and CEO, Intuit

The industry's biggest challenge is the shortage of enough strong talent to support the growth that the market is demanding. This will make it difficult for many firms to remain independent, either because they can't recruit competitively, can't retain and rapidly develop existing talent, can't provide effective leadership succession or can't attract talent in new service areas where their clients need expertise. We see this challenge every day, and very few firms are exempt from it.

Closely related is the need for CPAs to develop the soft skills that will enable them to be practice builders. Except for large firms that do a lot of public company audits, gone are the days where accountants spend the bulk of their time at the client site where time together with clients facilitated building personal relationships and the flow of new work. Today's professionals need the interpersonal skills to connect with clients and initiate encounters to sell projects in much briefer interaction.

Richard Stanger, CEO, StangerCarlson

With the retirement of the Baby Boomers, younger employees are now filling roles that more experienced, seasoned managers have been in for years. Preserving the perspective and transferring the knowledge about the risk environment will be key in making the next generation successful as they apply their technology skills and question old business practices.

Jan Sylvis, Vice chair, GASB

Time is running out. The window of opportunity is closing. Firms need to act fast if they want to achieve more than mere survival, and instead grow, thrive and reach new levels of income and success. The status quo is not sustainable. Let me explain.

Today’s business environment for CPA firms is dominated by three factors: technology, talent, and consolidation.

With technology, firms have less than three years to embrace the cloud, social media, streamlined production processes, and real-time client service. After that, they will be obsolete, unable to compete for talent, and of no value to a potential acquirer, let alone the firm’s own partners.

The best talent is already shunning jobs at firms that can’t be found on social media or Google, that can’t provide remote and mobile working arrangements, that won’t support staffers’ personal and career goals, or that are falling behind others than can, do, and are.

The merger frenzy will be winding down. Already, most of the best firms have been gobbled up. And most of those that haven’t merged out are either worth little to a buyer or are enjoying outsized profits and incomes that a buyer can’t match.

Rick Telberg, Founder and CEO, CPA Trendlines

The most important issue facing the accounting profession is overregulation. It gives little wiggle room for firms to manage changing demographics in the accounting profession. When a hiccup occurs in the economy, regulators feel they need to make changes without using a wider lens to understand what’s actually going on. It’s very costly for businesses. This strain forces firms to increase prices to their customers. Too many U.S. firms end up using stop-gap measures to address regulatory issues. Meanwhile, other parts of the world have economies unsaturated with regulations, and they do just fine. Overregulation then impacts firms recruiting talent. Many people get turned off from the profession because of the capacious rules. While firms are focusing on keeping up with too many regulations, they’re missing out on bringing along and cultivating a new generation of accountants.

Ralph Thomas, CEO and executive director, NJCPA

Accounting is a storied profession that enriches careers, organizations and the public interest. But it is suffering from a dire talent gap, and we must do better to attract the best and brightest and demonstrate multiple inspiring career paths to success, especially in the face of STEM programs.

Jeffrey Thomson, President and CEO, IMA

The most important issue facing the accounting profession today is the need to get off of the treadmill of manual, rote processing and return to a place of strategic partnership with the business. Only by doing so can the accounting profession receive the respect and value that it deserves.

Pressure on accountants has never been greater. Executives expect accurate, real-time information to be delivered on demand. There is little tolerance for errors or delays. Yet for many years much of the work performed within accounting departments has been done manually, usually with the assistance of many spreadsheets. This leaves little time to actually analyze data and provide insightful research that adds value.

Leveraging technology to automate repetitive jobs is absolutely the answer, but it becomes a chicken/egg dilemma. Viewed as a cost center, accounting departments typically are not given budget and time for tools and implementations. Without leveraging technology, they are unable to demonstrate the business value that they might add if they only had the time.

Therese Tucker, CEO and founder, BlackLine

The most important issue as I see it is the silo in which many CPAs and accountants work that inhibits them from providing services beyond core accounting and tax. And it is these additional services, among other new areas of focus, which can provide the groundwork for real succession planning.

Getting the numbers correct is a primary function of professionals, but there’s so much in terms of advisory and analytic services being left on the table, to the detriment of clients. I do think this is primarily a problem for more seasoned Baby Boomers who have worked 40-plus years. Younger staff in a firm or company look up to senior management for inspiration and guidance, so it’s never too late to try to expand a practice’s scope for the greater good and benefit of the profession, and certainly the firm.

Pascal Van Dooren, Chief revenue officer and GM, Avalara

From my perspective, working to make sure governmental financial statements provide the information users need to make well-informed decisions is paramount. For that information to remain relevant, however, finding opportunities to improve timeliness and promote simplification will be increasingly important.

David Vaudt, Chairman, GASB

Over the past few decades, the accounting industry has become more complex. The 1040 form instructions, for example, have grown from one page to include more than 174 pages of instructions. Further, there are now more than 9,000 sections in the U.S. Tax Code.

Technology, particularly the cloud, has changed the game for accountants. It has streamlined the manual data entry and reconciliation processes, providing accountants with more time to spend on interpreting the data and, as a result, the ability to offer additional services including advisory.

The challenge is, while technology is empowering accounting professionals to provide advisory services, they don’t necessarily have the business operations experience they need in order to offer these insights. Technology will never replace humans, and the expertise that trained accounting professionals have is sorely needed by business owners. While technology can provide the numbers, it is up to the accounting professionals to interpret and make recommendations accordingly in order to help their clients’ businesses thrive.

Over the next few years, the quality of a firm’s advisory services will increasingly serve as a competitive differentiator. Innovative firms will begin to create learning journeys for their accounting professionals today in order to provide the education required to move the advisory needle. I believe those that choose not to provide their staff with the necessary CFO, advisory and business insight training will soon lag behind their competitors and miss out on a unique opportunity to capitalize on technology’s many benefits for their clients.

Amy Vetter, Global vice president of education and head of accounting, USA, Xero

The retirement of the Baby Boom generation is the most important issue our industry faces. Some estimates have one-third of CPAs retiring within the next 10 years. Replacing them with the talent to maintain client relationships, build new ones and cultivate a healthy pipeline of new business will continue to be a major hurdle for many firms.

Jeffrey Weiner, Managing partner, Marcum LLP

Succession and transition due to the demographic cliff.

Philip Whitman, President and CEO, Whitman Business Advisors

I believe there are two issues: the inability of many current leaders to recognize and confront complacency and false urgency. The two statements might seem contradictory, but in reality great leaders know when to put their foot on the gas and when to brake. Some leaders today are stuck in complacency, the inability to see the future and move forward, while others are so concerned about what is coming, that they are changing everything all the time and the important changes do not “stick.” A great leader in our profession is one that will accelerate when they see a great idea and give it time to become reality, but they will also have the intelligence to slow down –- or stop -- when they are going down the wrong path.

Sandra Wiley, President and shareholder, Boomer Consulting Inc.

Relevance. Established leaders must morph their thinking and change their behavior to remain relevant to their younger team members and younger clients, too. Our profession must let go of old “shoulds and musts” and prepare to compete with non-CPA firm providers for traditional CPA services. We must adopt technology at a much-faster rate to deliver higher-quality work, more efficiently. True relationship-based consultancy has to become the norm instead of the over-reliance on the recurring compliance engine, which is likely to be less recurrent. Letting go of old standards of dress code, what it means to “be at work” (which can now mean working from anywhere, anytime), and eliminating old traditional hierarchical promotions based on “years in” versus competence and potential are just some examples of management change needed now. I cannot remember a time when profession leaders faced the demand for so much change at once –- and we must step up and lead our firms through the change or risk going the way of the yellow cab.

Jennifer Wilson, Co-founder and owner, ConvergenceCoaching

Technology disruption that is displacing much of the traditional work performed by accounting professionals is the most important issue currently facing the accounting profession. There is much talk about accountants embracing the cloud and leveraging technology innovations, but that is just one step in the process. Accountants need to move beyond bookkeeping and tax preparation into more forward-looking, proactive and consultative relationships with their clients. Doing so will not only insulate them from technology disruptions, it will also position them to positively impact the financial well-being of their clients.

Joe Woodard, CEO, Woodard Companies

There are many important issues that accountants must address in the near term: succession, staffing, rapid pace of change, technology, etc. The “rapid pace of change” occurring in the accounting profession is the issue that I would put at the top of the list. The changes in regulations that impact businesses as well as create audit and accounting issues are numerous. There are numerous standards that have been issued to improve financial reporting that will become effective in the near future that must be addressed today in order to be ready to implement. Additionally, changes in cybersecurity are multifaceted and require specialized knowledge and skills to ensure that all areas are being properly addressed. Finally, I believe that it is critical for our profession to continue focusing on the simplification of accounting for private companies as well as public companies, where appropriate.

Candace Wright, Chair, PCC

The new RIVIO Clearinghouse (see accompanying article) is a solution to a problem of financial hijinks with which you might not be familiar. After all, most CPAs perform their services ethically and expect their clients to represent their financial information in a truthful manner. So it’s quite possible you don’t realize how rampant this misrepresentation can be.

Financial statement fraud occurs in about 9% of all occupational fraud cases, according to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiner’s 2016 Global Fraud Survey. But the median loss in this category is much larger than the median loss in all cases: $975,000 vs. $150,000. Some frauds are fairly low level – altering a PDF or paper copy of a document. Others can be much more elaborate.

We connected with Erik Asgeirsson, CEO at CPA.com, and Brian Fox, president at Capital Confirmation.com, to learn more about the problems that caused these two organizations to join forces and create the RIVIO Clearinghouse.

“We found out from banks that banks are disproportionately relying on tax returns [instead of financial statements],” explained Asgeirsson. “They want source documents – they don’t want documents coming directly from the businesses. They use the IRS tax transcript service to pull the form directly from the IRS.”

With RIVIO Clearinghouse, CPAs in good standing, whose status has been verified by CPA.com, can upload reviewed or audited financial statements. The business then gives authority for lenders or investors to download those forms, and the forms go directly to the authorized third party with no intervention from the business.

“This is the ultimate final documentation to third parties,” said Fox. “This is the only way an auditor can maintain a privity defense.”

Here are some examples of real life fraud that could have been prevented with the use of RIVIO Clearinghouse.

Canopy Financial

Two top executives at Canopy Financial, a now-bankrupt Chicago health care transaction software company, were sentenced to 15 and 13 years in prison in 2012 for defrauding investors and customers of more than $93 million. The two men used a bogus auditor’s report – ostensibly from KPMG -- and falsified bank statements to obtain $75 million from private equity firms. Prosecutors said they misappropriated $18 million from clients, and spent part of the money on luxury cars such as Bentleys and Lamborghinis, jewelry, personal home renovations and a nightclub investment.

Munire Furniture

Norman D’Souza, CFO for Munire Furniture, pleaded guilty to an $18 million accounting fraud in April 2016. He allegedly prepared fraudulent financial statements for the New Jersey-based manufacturer of crib and baby furniture that overstated sales and accounts receivables, which helped the company obtain $17 million in loans from a Manhattan bank and an additional $1 million in financial incentives from an Indiana municipality where the company has a furniture factory, according to federal prosecutors.

Bayou Hedge Fund

Hedge fund founder Samuel Israel and his CFO, Daniel Marino, were charged in 2005 with a $300 million-plus fraud scheme that involved creating a fake outside auditor to sign off on financial statements that masked significant losses by Stamford, Conn.-based Bayou Group LLC.

“A new accounting firm,­­ Richmond-Fairfield, ­­was created to oversee the fake bookkeeping, prosecutors contend,” the New York Times wrote in a wrap-up of the case. “Mr. Marino was the firm's principal.”

Aphelion Fund Management

In 2014, the SEC charged executives at New York-based advisory firm Aphelion Fund Management with investment fraud, including diverting more than $500,000 for luxury car payments and legal settlements for majority owner and chief investment officer Vineet Kalucha. Kalucha allegedly altered an outside auditor’s report, which originally showed a return of minus 3% for the fund over a 15-month period, to reflect a 30% positive return over an 18-month period.

“When the accounting firm learned of the alteration to its report, it told Kalucha to stop distributing the report to investors and to inform anyone who had received it that it had been altered, according to federal prosecutors,” according to a report on Law360.com. “Kalucha told the firm that he had only given the altered report to one person, a claim the Department of Justice said Monday was untrue.” Kalucha eventually pleaded guilty to obstruction.

New Mexico Finance Authority

With an upcoming bond offering in the works in 2012 and the authority’s independent public audit incomplete for FY2011, the controller of the NMFA, Greg Campbell, decided to take matters in his own hands and create a bogus financial statement, making it appear it came from the authority’s outside auditor, Clifton Gunderson, by putting a fake letterhead and signature on the cover page. The report was posted on the authority’s website and shared with investors and the public until the state auditor discovered some irregularities and began an investigation later in the year.

“Mr. Campbell rationalized his decision by repeatedly stating that the facts and figures in the report were accurate, therefore users of the statements could rely on theme,” the state auditor said in a report. “He stated that he believed he was “helping” the agency by finalizing the audit report himself so it could be included in the upcoming 2012A bond offering.”

Campbell eventually pleaded guilty to three fraud charges and got probation, the NMFA’s CEO was fired, and the state made several steps to improve internal controls at the authority.