by
Sara Bailey, CPA
| Jan 04, 2023
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and have had
some time to unplug and rejuvenate while also reflecting on
the many things for which you are thankful. As I reflect on 2022,
I am grateful for my family and our health as well as for being
part of such a wonderful community of CPAs. I’m excited to
share some of the work we’ve been doing at the Society during
the last few months.
In the summer issue of The Washington CPA, I wrote about
some of the challenges our profession is facing and how the
WSCPA is tackling these along with our membership group.
During our annual board retreat last June, we revisited the
Society’s strategic plan. We challenged each other on the
role the Society should play in various challenges facing our
profession and offered some bold ideas.
In order for our board and the WSCPA staff to hear diverse
perspectives as a part of this strategic planning process, we
held two additional think tanks—one with a group of prior
WSCPA board members and a second with individuals from our
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council and accounting students.
From these planning sessions we identified themes and
significant ideas that came out of these sessions. The five
main themes that emerged from the prior sessions where we
believe the WSCPA can make a big impact were:
- Pipeline and STEM;
- Fifth-year support;
- Expanding CPA resources;
- Mentorship—especially focused on women and
underrepresented groups, and
- A CPA mega event.
Pipeline and STEM
Making sure that students are studying accounting and are
becoming CPAs (often referred to as “pipeline”) is a significant
issue for our profession. There are multiple reasons for this,
including a shift in the number of students seeking out higher
education as well as continued competition from other
professions. There is a need to market the profession to high
school students and community colleges to reach students
who are taking a non-traditional university path.
Do you know accounting is not a part of STEM? I was surprised
several years ago when I learned accounting was not included
in the areas encompassed by STEM (science, technology,
engineering and mathematics). The AICPA has been working
to institute this change at the federal level, but it will take an
act of Congress (literally) for that to happen. Until then, the
WSCPA is looking for ways to make changes in the state that
will move these efforts along. Being included in STEM would
provide additional federal dollars into the teaching curriculums
and more exposure to kids about our profession. Pipeline and
STEM is a critical area for our profession to focus on over the
next decade.
Fifth-year support
We are all aware of the requirement for individuals to complete
a fifth year of schooling to become CPA eligible. While we
may have different opinions on the requirement itself, I think
it’s universally agreed that providing additional support to
students while they complete their fifth year is important. Many
students in Washington complete their undergraduate degree
in accounting and enter the workforce right away without
being CPA eligible. If we can help bridge the gap between the
undergraduate degree award and becoming CPA eligible, that
makes a significant impact, not only to students, but also to
employers who want to have CPAs on staff but find themselves
with shrinking hiring pools of CPA-eligible candidates. The
area of focus here is identifying creative ways for credits to be
earned and maximizing on-the-job experience and training to
translate to college credits earned.
Expanding CPA resources
Expanding CPA resources is all about continuing to create
networks in our CPA community across the state to provide
additional resources to CPAs that will encompass the entire
working career of a CPA—from a student to a new professional,
shifting to a new role or position, getting connected to potential
employers, partnering with other CPAs, transitioning a business,
etc. Providing additional resources to CPAs across the state
is a critical component to make sure we continue to have a
sustainable profession where CPAs feel supported and included
as a part of a broader community.
Mentorship programs—especially those focused on
women and underrepresented groups
Most people can name a mentor who was instrumental to them
at some point in their life and career—a person who made a real
difference. While many of these relationships tend to develop
organically, sometimes that key mentorship gets missed if the
things to build organically are missing or if there are competing
priorities, such as being mentored by your boss where you
may not be as comfortable bringing up certain issues. We also
know it can be more challenging for natural mentor-mentee
relationships to be built with someone who doesn’t look like
you or understand your life experience—it is human nature to
gravitate to someone who you can easily relate to. Mentorship for
women and underrepresented groups is critical. Statistics show
that as a profession, we lose more people from these groups
as they move up the career ladder. That is not sustainable for
our profession. By implementing a meaningful mentorship
program, we can make a difference in the careers of women
and those in underrepresented groups and help keep them in
the profession over the long run.
Mega event
Finally, a free mega-event put on by the WSCPA. We are all
familiar with how great the WSCPA does at putting on CPE
events and the level of quality the programming is. Every year,
the Society holds an annual meeting which is well attended;
however, we really want to create THE event to attend for
Washington CPAs across the state—a hub where everyone can
flock to network and build relationships, take phenomenal CPE
and create lasting memories.
We are so excited about these key areas and are working
hard to develop actionable plans for implementation. We
know these big ideas will require an investment, but we also
know this investment is truly an investment in the future of our
profession. We are blessed to have proceeds from the sale of
our building and the flexibility that enables us to make real,
impactful changes for our future.
Sara Bailey, CPA, is a partner at Moss Adams
LLP and WSCPA Chair. You can contact Sara
at sara.bailey@mossadams.com.
Related Blog Posts
Envisioning a Results Centered Future
Barrier Busing: Uncovering Benefits for the Profession