Accounting
Fostering the next generation of women leaders in accounting and finance
In honor of Women’s History Month, I’ve taken time to reflect on my journey as a leader in the financial technology sector. Earlier in my career, I encountered the challenges that many women in our industry face, from biased hiring practices to persistent pay gaps. Advancing in accounting and finance often feels like walking a tightrope, demanding resilience, determination and a constant push for equity at every step.
At the same time, I’ve seen how much value women bring to our industry’s leadership spaces. Our differing perspectives and skills facilitate growth, improve company culture and foster the next generation of leaders.
Thankfully, with help from their own modern organizations, women have made tremendous progress in our field, but there’s still work to be done.
Women face challenges in advancing their careers
While workplace equality has come a long way, some women in accounting and finance still encounter barriers to advancement in companies that have yet to evolve. Fortunately, I’m proud to work for a forward-thinking financial technology company that actively fosters growth and advancement opportunities for women.
Perceptions and structural challenges can discourage many from long-term careers, contributing to their underrepresentation in leadership. By tackling these issues and reshaping the narrative, we can create more opportunities for women to thrive.
Stigma around the industry
Accounting and finance may not be the most “glamorous” of industries. Many young professionals overlook these fields, assuming they lack excitement or the potential for meaningful career growth.
My own career proves this isn’t true. Finance is a dynamic field with many opportunities for growth, networking and even travel. By connecting with young people and highlighting the most rewarding aspects of our field, we can inspire the next generation of accounting and finance professionals.
Barriers to leadership
In outdated organizations, women can encounter challenges that make it difficult to advance beyond entry- or mid-level positions. These barriers range from unconscious bias and lack of mentorship to structural hurdles that limit access to high-profile projects and leadership tracks. While many organizations have made strides in diversity and inclusion efforts, true progress requires more than just hiring initiatives — it demands a fundamental shift in how career development is structured.
One key solution may lie in rethinking internal career development programs. Without clear pathways for advancement, many talented women find themselves stagnating in roles that don’t fully utilize their skills or position them for leadership opportunities. Addressing this issue means implementing mentorship programs, leadership training and sponsorship opportunities that actively support women’s career progression.
Workplace biases and additional expectations
While great progress has been made, bias toward women in the financial and accounting industries still lingers within antiquated companies. Men who hold these views aren’t as outspoken about them as they may have been in the past. But the perspective often seeps into the expectations others have of women — even in leadership settings.
For example, women are often recognized for their natural ability to nurture and support those around them, which can be a valuable strength. However, this perception can sometimes lead to women being steered toward roles that may not fully align with their career goals — such as managing employees, onboarding new hires or organizing company events. Even seemingly small assumptions, like being assigned as the note taker due to “better handwriting,” can reinforce patterns that unintentionally limit access to higher-level opportunities.
The power of female mentorship in finance and accounting
Building a successful, high-level career as a woman in finance and accounting is absolutely possible. The challenge is that many of us start out without a clear roadmap for advancement. That’s why I’m a strong advocate for mentorship — having guidance and support early on can make all the difference in navigating the path to leadership.
When I started in our industry, a female leader took me under her wing. She taught me how to be an effective manager, how to act in a boardroom, and how to deal with people and challenges in different settings. But most importantly, she showed me how to infiltrate leadership spaces. This has had a profound impact on my career as an African-American woman in a primarily white, male-dominant industry.
That’s why I make it a priority to pay forward the guidance and support my own mentor once gave me. I believe in sharing knowledge freely, which is why I’m mentoring four rising women leaders, helping them build confidence, develop their skills and navigate workplaces that are still largely male-dominated.
Mentorship isn’t just about individual growth; it’s about ensuring each new generation of women in finance starts from a stronger position than the last. By passing down insights, strategies and hard-earned lessons, we create a ripple effect that accelerates progress. And that, more than anything, will help us close the leadership gap and advance at the same pace as our male counterparts.
Attracting the next generation of female leaders
Mentorship is a powerful tool for helping women advance once they’ve entered the finance industry. But the bigger challenge starts even earlier. Many ambitious young women don’t see finance as a career path worth pursuing. If we want to achieve true equality, we need to address this recruitment gap, making the industry more visible, accessible and appealing to the next generation of female leaders.
Engage young women early
First, we need to be more proactive in reaching young women at the start of their career journey. That means increasing our presence at local colleges, cultural fairs, conferences and professional events.
Finance is an incredibly rewarding career, but young women need to see that for themselves and have clear entry points to explore their potential. Internships, mentorship programs and even simple coffee meetings can make a huge difference in helping them take that first step. Think of it as building a bridge — one that connects ambitious young women to the opportunities our industry has to offer.
Creating an inclusive hiring process
Getting young women interested in finance is a great place to start. But we also need to ensure they’re being hired. A more inclusive hiring process is key to making that happen — one that minimizes the influence of unconscious bias and focuses purely on talent and potential.
One effective approach is blind hiring, where companies assess resumes and written responses without knowing a candidate’s gender. This levels the playing field, ensuring the most qualified person gets the job based on merit rather than outdated perceptions of who “fits the part.” By adopting practices like this, we can build a more diverse, equitable finance industry that welcomes and elevates women from the start.
Building workplaces that retain women
We should also seek to build workplaces that retain a higher percentage of their female employees. That starts with paying women an equal wage. But it also means embracing work-life balance and flexibility.
Flexibility in the workplace isn’t just a perk — it’s a necessity for retaining top female talent. Companies that offer hybrid or remote work options, flexible scheduling and generous parental leave policies create environments where women don’t have to choose between career advancement and personal commitments. When organizations recognize that productivity isn’t defined by rigid office hours, they open the door for more women to thrive in finance without sacrificing other aspects of their lives.
Internal career development programs
Finally, we should create more sophisticated career development programs. These help women progress in their careers by showing them exactly what they need to do to rise into leadership. They help with retention and advancement — two key steps toward equality in the financial industry.
A well-designed career development program does more than offer occasional workshops or mentorship opportunities. It provides a structured framework for growth, outlining the skills, experiences and milestones necessary for women to progress into leadership roles. These programs should include:
● Transparent promotion criteria – Clearly defining what it takes to move up in an organization helps eliminate ambiguity and bias, ensuring women have the same opportunities for advancement as their male colleagues.
● Mentorship and sponsorship – While mentorship provides guidance, sponsorship connects women with influential advocates who can actively support their career growth, recommend them for leadership roles and open doors to high-profile projects.
● Leadership training and skill-building – Equipping women with executive-level skills, such as negotiation, strategic decision-making and financial forecasting, prepares them for leadership positions and strengthens their confidence in pursuing them.
● Stretch assignments and high-visibility projects – Women should be given opportunities to take on challenging assignments that demonstrate their capabilities and position them for promotion. Too often, they are siloed into support roles rather than being encouraged to lead critical initiatives.
● Work-life integration support – Career growth shouldn’t come at the cost of personal wellbeing. Programs that include flexible leadership tracks, remote work options and family-friendly policies ensure women can advance without sacrificing work-life balance.
The path forward
I’m fortunate to have found my path in the industry, gaining momentum in leadership and ultimately securing a role at
- Engaging young women early in their careers
- Promoting woman-to-woman mentorship relationships;
- Removing bias from our hiring processes; and
- Creating more concrete career development programs.
The future for women in finance is full of potential, but there’s still work to be done. Progress won’t happen on its own — it requires collective effort, commitment and a shared vision to create real change.
Over the last few years, AI has gone from being a novelty to a mission-critical business strategy for many accountants. Innovative, forward-thinking firms are using these tools to streamline manual tasks, ensure compliance and provide the best possible service to their clients. According to the 2025 Intuit QuickBooks
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However, AI adoption is at varying levels across the industry. While nearly every firm has begun experimenting with basic AI tools, many remain in a sandbox phase, hesitant to move toward full-scale integration due to perceived complexity or costs.No matter where you may fall on the integration spectrum, the fact remains: AI is rapidly reshaping the accounting industry. If you’ve delayed AI adoption in your business, you’ll want to create a focused plan to catch up.
Time is of the essence, but don’t sacrifice strategy for speed
Firms that are ready to take the leap from casual use to deep integration may find themselves in need of accelerated adoption, but speed should not come at the cost of strategy. Identify tangible, practical ways that easy-to-use tools can impact your business through automation. Having a strong strategic focus allows firms to implement workflow changes to streamline manual tasks, ensure compliance and provide excellent service to your clients.
To begin your AI journey, here is a four-step plan that firms can use to transition from experimentation to execution, in a safe, practical manner:
Step 1: Kick off your first AI project
As is the case with many things, getting started is often the most challenging step. While enthusiasm is high, uncertainty with implementation risks can cause hesitation. The key is to lower risk by embracing AI and implementing an intentional, phased approach. Begin by weaving AI tools into high-impact, low-risk tasks, such as summarizing meeting notes, drafting client or firm-wide memos, or translating complex concepts into easy-to-understand ideas. Monitor results carefully and, if these initial attempts need adjustment, be prepared to pivot to the next use case until you can clearly demonstrate that AI systems are delivering a measurable impact on your operations. From there, you can learn from early experiences, adapt strategy, and scale appropriately to complete more complex projects.
Step 2: Dig into your AI toolkit
The marketplace is crowded with AI-powered tools that promise to do everything from enhancing your workflows to improving the customer experience. It can be hard to know which ones are worth investing your time and money. Find a trusted source like a respected peer, or leverage your professional network to help discuss the tools that may be the best fit for achieving your business goals. You can also look within the tools you’re already using to see if they offer AI-powered features, which can help ease into the transition. Additionally, look for free high-quality education to upskill your team. For example, Anthropic offers a Claude AI University that provides excellent foundational resources for moving beyond basic prompts.
Step 3: Review an AI security checklist
An important element in AI implementation is security. With AI tools needing access to firm and client data to function, it leads to questions of how the data will be protected. This makes the right AI and cybersecurity strategy critical. Firms must proactively ensure that client data remains protected from today’s increasingly sophisticated threats by embracing an established cybersecurity framework such as
Step 4: Openly discuss AI usage with your clients
Once you’ve established the best way to use AI tools that meet your firm’s needs, you’ll want to communicate all of the advantages afforded by these tools to your clients. Make sure you highlight the benefits and simultaneously ensure you are addressing any potential concerns. It’s also important to get explicit consent from all clients if you’re sharing their information with the third-party tools you may use. While this might seem like an extra step, it will go a long way toward fostering a greater level of transparency and deepen trust between you and your clients.
Don’t get left behind
Adopting AI does not have to be intimidating, expensive or overly complex. Think of it as a strategic business move that will not only keep you competitive, but will potentially free you up to focus on keeping clients happy and growing your practice. By strategically focusing on these best practices, identifying AI use cases in a phased approach, evaluating the right tools for your business, ensuring client information is secure and clearly communicating your AI strategy, you’ll be AI-ready in no time.
The Financial Accounting Standards Board met this week to discuss its projects on accounting for transfers of cryptocurrency assets and enhancing the disclosures around certain digital assets, such as stablecoins.
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During Wednesday’s meeting, FASB’s board made certain tentative decisions, according to a
At a future meeting, the board plans to consider clarifying the derecognition guidance for crypto transfer arrangements to assess whether the control of a crypto asset has been transferred.
FASB also began deliberations on the
The board decided to provide illustrative examples in Topic 230, Statement of Cash Flows, to clarify whether certain digital assets such as stablecoins can meet the definition of cash equivalents. It also decided to include the following concepts in the illustrative examples:
- Interpretive explanations that link to the current cash equivalents definition;
- The amount and composition of reserve assets; and,
- The nature of qualifying on-demand, contractual cash redemption rights directly with the issuer.
FASB plans to clarify that an entity should consider compliance with relevant laws and regulations when it’s creating a policy concerning which assets that satisfy the Master Glossary definition of the term “cash equivalents“ will be treated as cash equivalents.
“I agree with the staff suggestion to look at examples,” said FASB vice chair Hillary Salo. “From my perspective, I think that is going to help level the playing field. People have been making reasonable judgments. I agree with that. And I think that this is really going to help show those goalposts or guardrails of what types of stablecoins would be in the scope of cash equivalents, and which ones would not be in the scope of cash equivalents. I certainly appreciate that approach, and I think it has the least potential impact of unintended consequences, because I do agree with my fellow board members that we shouldn’t be changing the definition of cash equivalents, and it’s a high bar to get into the cash equivalent definition.”
“I’m definitely supportive of not changing the definition of cash equivalents,” said FASB chair Richard Jones. “I believe that’s settled GAAP in a way, and we’re not really seeing a call to change it for broader issues. I am supportive of the example-based approach. The challenge with examples, though, is everybody’s going to want their exact pattern, but that’s not what we’re doing.”
The examples will explain the rationale for how digital assets such as stablecoins do or do not qualify as cash equivalents and give a roadmap for other types of digital assets with varying fact patterns to be able to apply.
“We really don’t want to be as a board facing a situation where something was a cash equivalent and then no longer is at a later date,” said Jones. “That’s not good for anyone, so keeping it as a high bar with certain rigid criteria, I think, is fine.”
Stablecoins are supposed to be pegged to fiat currencies such as U.S. dollars and thus provide more stability to investors. “In my view, while a stablecoin may meet the accounting definition established for cash equivalents, not every one of those stablecoins in the cash equivalent classification represents the same level of risk,” said FASB member Joyce Joseph.
She noted that the capital markets recognize the distinctions and have established a Stablecoin Stability Assessment Framework to evaluate a stablecoin’s ability to maintain its peg to a fiat currency. Such assessments look at the legal and regulatory framework associated with the stablecoin, and provide investors with information that could enable them to do forward-looking assessments about the stability of the stablecoin.
“However, for an investor to consider and utilize such information for a company analysis the financial statement disclosures would need to include information about the stablecoin itself,” Joseph added. “In outreach, the staff learned that investors supported classifying certain stablecoins as cash equivalents when transparent information is available about the entities at which the reserve assets are held. Therefore, in my view, taking all of this into consideration a relevant and informative company disclosure would include providing investors with the name of the stablecoin and the amount of the stablecoin that is classified as a cash equivalent, so investors can independently assess the liquidity risks more meaningfully and more comprehensively by utilizing broader information that is available in the capital markets and its emerging information.”
Such information could include the issuer, reserves, governance and management, she noted, so investors would get a more holistic look at the risks that holding the stablecoin would entail for a given company.
The board decided to require all entities to disclose the significant classes and related amounts of cash equivalents on an annual basis for each period that a statement of financial position is presented.
Entities should apply the amendments related to the classification of certain digital assets as cash equivalents on a modified prospective basis as of the beginning of the annual reporting period in the year of adoption.
FASB decided that entities should apply the amendments related to the disclosure of the significant classes and amounts of cash equivalents on a prospective basis as of the date of the most recent statement of financial position presented in the period of adoption.
The board will allow early adoption in both interim and annual reporting periods in which financial statements have not been issued or made available for issuance.
FASB also decided to permit entities to adopt the amendments to be illustrated in the examples related to the classification of certain digital assets as cash equivalents without the need to perform a preferability assessment as described in Topic 250, Accounting Changes and Error Corrections.
The board directed the staff to draft a proposed accounting standards update to be voted on by written ballot. The proposed update will have a 90-day comment period.
Senators introduced several pieces of tax-related legislation this week, including measures aimed at improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service, cracking down on tax evasion and curbing the carried interest tax break, in addition to efforts in the House to repeal the Corporate Transparency Act.
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Senators Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, and Mark Warner, D-Virginia, teamed up on introducing a bipartisan bill, the
The bill would establish a dashboard to inform taxpayers of backlogs and wait times; expand electronic access to information and refunds; expand callback technology and online accounts; and inform individuals facing economic hardship about collection alternatives.
“Taxpayers deserve a simple, stress-free experience when dealing with the IRS,” Cassidy said in a statement Wednesday. “This bill makes the process quicker and easier for taxpayers to get the information they need.”
He also mentioned the bill during a
“I’m happy to meet with the team … and do all I can to make it as good as you want it to be,” said Bisignano.
“My bill would equip the IRS with the legislative mandate to create an online dashboard so that taxpayers can monitor average call wait time and budget time accordingly,” said Cassidy. He noted that the bill would allow a callback for taxpayers that might need to wait longer than five minutes to speak to a representative, and establish a program to identify and support taxpayers struggling to make ends meet by providing information about alternative payment methods, such as installments, partial payments and offers in compromise.
“I know people are kind of desperate and don’t know where to turn for cash, so I think this could really ease anxiety,” he added. “This legislation is bipartisan and is likely to pass this Congress.”
Cassidy and Warner
“Taxpayers shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to get basic answers from the IRS — and in the last year, those challenges have only gotten worse,” Warner said in a statement. “I am glad to reintroduce this bipartisan legislation on Tax Day to ease some of this frustration by increasing clear communication and making IRS resources more readily available.”
Stop CHEATERS Act
Also on Tax Day, a group of Senate Democrats and an independent who usually caucuses with Democrats teamed up to introduce the Stop Corporations and High Earners from Avoiding Taxes and Enforce the Rules Strictly (Stop CHEATERS) Act.
Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, joined with Senators Angus King, I-Maine, Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island. The bill would provide additional funding for the IRS to strengthen and expand tax collection services and systems and crack down on tax cheating by the wealthy.
“Wealthy tax cheats and scofflaw corporations are stealing billions and billions from the American people by refusing to pay what they legally owe, and far too many of them are getting a free pass because Republicans gutted the enforcement capacity of the IRS,” Wyden said in a statement. “A rich tax cheat who shelters mountains of cash among a web of shell companies and passthroughs is likelier to be struck by lightning than face an IRS audit, and Republicans want to keep it that way. This bill is about making sure the IRS has the resources it needs to go after wealthy tax cheats while improving customer service for the vast majority of American taxpayers who follow the law every year.”
Earlier this week. Wyden also
The Stop CHEATERS Act would provide the IRS with additional funding for tax enforcement focused upon high-income tax evasion, technology operations support, systems modernization, and taxpayer services like free tax-payer assistance.
“As Congress seeks ways to fund much-needed policy priorities and address our growing national debt, there is one common sense solution that should have unanimous bipartisan support: let’s enforce the tax laws already on the books,” said King in a statement. “Our legislation will make sure the IRS has the resources it needs to confront the gap between taxes owed and taxes paid – while ensuring that our tax enforcement professionals are focused on the high-income earners who account for the most tax evasion. This is a serious problem with an easy solution; let’s pass this legislation and make sure every American pays what they owe in taxes.”
Carried interest
Wyden, King and Whitehouse also teamed up on another bill Thursday to close the carried interest tax break for hedge fund managers that
Carried interest is a form of compensation received by a fund manager in exchange for investment management services, according to a
Under the bill, the
“Our tax code is rigged to favor ultra-wealthy investors who know how to game the system to dodge paying a fair share, and there is no better example of how it works in practice than the carried interest loophole,” Wyden said in a statement. “For several decades now we’ve had a tax system that rewards the accumulation of wealth by the rich while punishing middle-class wage earners, and the effect of that system has been the strangulation of prosperity and opportunity for everybody but the ultra-wealthy. There are a lot of problems to fix to restore fairness and common sense to our tax code, and closing the carried interest loophole is a great place to start.”
Repealing Corporate Transparency Act
The House Financial Services Committee is also planning to markup a bill next Tuesday that would fully repeal the Corporate Transparency Act, which has already been significantly
If enacted, the repeal would eliminate beneficial ownership reporting requirements, removing a transparency measure designed to help law enforcement and national security officials identify who is behind U.S. companies.
“This repeal would turn the United States back into one of the easiest places in the world to set up anonymous shell companies, something Congress worked for years to fix,” said Erica Hanichak, deputy director of the FACT Coalition, in a statement. “These entities are routinely used to facilitate corruption, financial crime, and abuse. Rolling back the CTA doesn’t just weaken transparency, it signals to bad actors around the world that the U.S. is once again open for illicit business.”
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