The new head of the AICPA, Mark Koziel, shared his thoughts about the profession. These are not issues that have much affect sole proprietor firms like mine serving the small business market. Still, I pay attention to understand larger industry trends.
A few takeaways:
- Clients are increasingly subject to ESG accounting and reporting demands despite the U.S. government pulling away from it.
- He is neutral and has no opinion on private equity in the profession. That sounds like the politically correct position when he talks about it. In contrast, I am free to say it is horrible for the profession.
- Firms that choose to remain independent must have the right governance and technology. As I listened, I thought about the sharp contrast with the results of two informal online polls of small business accountants over the past few days that only half of us are using AI tools in our daily practices.