Relevance requires reinvention, but trust is timeless. CPAs can be both providers of trustworthy work and agents of change. They're not mutually exclusive.

I recently shared with members a Professional Issues Update – our regular series discussing professional insights and the forces shaping the profession – and I wanted to make sure to share the highlights with everyone who couldn't join us because there's a lot to be excited about. Things are changing – rapidly. But I truly believe the future is a direction, not a destination. And together, we get to shape that direction. I find that prospect genuinely exciting.

At the PICPA we are not waiting for the future to happen, we are building it and preparing you for it.

Our Superpower – Trust

When you distill the work of a CPA down to its essence, it isn't really about auditing inventory or preparing a return. It's about trust. Helping a family make a hard financial decision at the kitchen table, supporting a small business on Main Street, or ensuring integrity in the capital markets are just a few of the many forms of trust. The work will keep changing, but the work will always be anchored in trust. In the AICPA and CIMA Rise2040 report, built on conversations with over 6,000 professionals across 25 countries, trust came through as the competitive bulwark that an AI-saturated world can’t breach. While 80% of respondents said they are optimistic about where AI takes the profession, 93% said the profession's biggest barrier to progress is its resistance to change. If we understand the power and advantage of trust that we CPAs hold, there really should not be as much resistance to change as we see.

An Advocacy Engine Working for You, Every Day

Right now, the PICPA is actively tracking and advocating on many issues on your behalf – spanning audit and standard-setting, tax policy, licensing and practice, and the talent pipeline. This aspect of PICPA membership is what I most want members to understand. No other organization is doing this work for Pennsylvania’s CPAs. Your membership directly lifts the effectiveness of our outreach efforts.

And our advocacy has produced real wins. In this year's state budget, we helped keep out of the final package the Pennsylvania False Claims Act (HB 1697), which would have opened the door to private lawsuits over state and local tax matters and greatly expanded liability threats for CPAs. We also worked to keep out sales tax refund legislation that would have added documentation burdens and steeper penalties. Advocacy isn't only about passing good legislation; a lot of it is stopping harmful proposals before they become law. Both types – beneficial and detrimental proposals – are always on our radar.

Looking ahead, our 2027 Signature Issues will be artificial intelligence, modernizing the audit, and firm regulation. I believe the PICPA should be setting the agenda on these topics, not reacting to them. We're also launching a Tax Blueprint Project to give Pennsylvania policymakers objective, CPA-informed tax policy recommendations as they wrestle with a structural deficit that will plague legislators for the foreseeable future until it’s addressed. Our goal is to complete the blueprint by the governor's 2027 budget address.

A Profession That's Growing, Even as It's Stretched

The numbers tell an encouraging, if complicated, story. Accounting enrollments are climbing – undergraduate accounting programs saw enrollment rise 8.9% year over year this spring, the third straight year of growth – and the 2025 CPA Exam drew the most first-time candidates since 2018. Demand is climbing too: the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 5% job growth for accountants and auditors through 2034, outpacing the average for all occupations. And firms are growing: this year's Accounting Today Top 100 firms posted their strongest revenue growth in recent memory, led by client advisory services, now reported by 85% of the Top 100 firms.

The flip side is that CPA-required roles are still hard to fill, taking 73 days on average, 41% longer than non-CPA roles. Pay is rising fast to compete for talent, with staff accountant starting pay up 15% year over year. This complicated environment is why our workforce initiatives – from the STEM designation push to our Insights research – matter so much right now.

Resources Built for This Moment

If your firm is navigating AI adoption, I'd point you to our newest Insights report, “Start from Trust.” It focuses on adopting AI and new technology in small and midsize CPA firms. It comes with four practical tools – a vendor evaluation checklist, a one-page starting guide, an AI Trust and Usage Quadrant, and a discussion guide for firm leadership conversations. It's one of seven in-depth reports in our Insights library, all of which are included with your membership at picpa.org/insights.

And there's more ahead: join us for PICPA’s Advocacy Day in Harrisburg on Sept. 16 and for our hands-on Artificial Intelligence Conference on Sept. 21 – built for firm leaders and decision-makers.

One quick practical note: PICPA membership renewal ends Aug. 31. Renewing will keep you connected to all of this – the advocacy, the research, the events – without a gap in coverage.

I'll close with what I told members at the most recent Professional Issues Update: relevance requires reinvention, trust is timeless even as its delivery changes, and the future belongs to those who build it. I'm more optimistic about where this profession is headed than I've been in a long time, and I'm grateful to be building that future alongside all of you.

Sign up for PICPA's weekly professional and technical updates by completing this form.