Every Member Plays a Part

CEO Message

Welcome to your September/October issue of Today’s CPA! Here you’ll find valuable updates on the profession and our TXCPA community. I want to share with you one very timely update and a request for your help.

At the end of July, AICPA’s National Pipeline Advisory Group (NPAG) released their final report with proposed profession-wide solutions to address the talent shortage and attract more people to a career in accounting. The report addresses six themes:

• Make the academic experience more engaging
• Address the time and cost of education
• Grow support for CPA Exam candidates
• Prioritize strategies to expand access for underrepresented groups
• Enhance the employee experience by evolving business models and cultures
• Tell a more compelling story about accounting careers

Having a national strategy focused on workforce development is a key step in leveraging our power as a profession across AICPA and all state CPA societies. TXCPA is in our third year of a CPA Pipeline Strategy, drafted in 2022 by the Pipeline Task Force led by TXCPA Chair Mohan Kuruvilla, Ph.D., CPA-Houston. The task force wanted to take immediate steps to enhance and expand TXCPA’s outreach. They agreed that when a national strategy was introduced, TXCPA would incorporate those initiatives into our state-level plan to help support momentum across the country.

We’re working now on updating our plans and sharing ways our members, volunteers and chapters can help support this important work. It will take all of us working together to effect change and overcome some of the demographic and education trends that are facing the CPA and accounting profession.

The simplest way to add your voice to this critical initiative is to take the online Pipeline Pledge. You’ll find digital badges to show your support, resources to help with outreach, and tools for employers and educators. Imagine the difference we can make if each member pledges to be a part of the solution to our talent shortage and need for workforce development!

Thank you for taking the pledge and supporting TXCPA with your time and your membership!

Jodi Ann Ray, TXCPA President and CEO