President Donald Trump will announce his reciprocal tariff push on Wednesday during an event in the White House Rose Garden, his top spokeswoman said. 

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday the announcement would feature “country-based” tariffs. She said the president is also “committed to implementing” sectoral duties, but that they were not the focus of the April 2 event and deferred to Trump about the timing of those. Members of Trump’s Cabinet would attend the announcement, Leavitt said.

“The president will be announcing a tariff plan that will roll back the unfair trade practices that have been ripping off our country for decades,” Leavitt told reporters at the White House. “It’s time for reciprocity and it’s time for a president to take historic change to do what’s right for the American people.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Fox News interview Monday that the tariff announcement would be at 3 p.m. Washington time. 

Leavitt declined to provide details when asked about the rate of the reciprocal tariffs and which countries would be hit. She said there are “no exemptions at this time” when asked whether lower duties would be applied to products used by American farmers. 

Trump told reporters Sunday that he plans to launch reciprocal tariffs with “all countries,” countering speculation he could limit the initial scope of his April 2 announcement. 

But when asked Monday if he was planning a universal tariff or levies on individual countries, Trump demurred, saying “you’re going to see in two days, which is maybe tomorrow night or probably Wednesday.”

“They’re reciprocal. So whatever they charge us, we charge them, but we’re being nicer than they were,” he said. “They took advantage of us, and we are going to be very nice by comparison to what they were. The numbers will be lower than what they’ve been charging us, and in some cases may be substantially lower.”pported.

Earlier Monday, Trump’s spokeswoman pointed to examples of tariff rates from the European Union, Japan, India and Canada while speaking to reporters, signaling those entities are likely among the targets of the president’s new levies. 

“This makes it virtually impossible for American products to be imported into these markets, and it has put a lot of Americans out of business and out of work over the past several decades,” Leavitt said. 

Trump has billed April 2 as the launch of sweeping duties that are the centerpiece of his plan to rebalance global trade, boost U.S. manufacturing and inject tariff revenue into government coffers to fund domestic priorities, including a major tax cut. 

The president has preceded Wednesday’s tariff announcement with levies on Canada, Mexico and China — the US’s three largest trading partners — as well as automobiles, steel and aluminum. Import taxes on copper could come within several weeks. Trump has also threatened tariffs on pharmaceutical, semiconductor and lumber imports. 

Uncertainty surrounding his plans, which have often changed and been subject to last-minute carveouts, have triggered fears they could blow up supply chains and raise prices for U.S. consumers. That angst has fueled a weeks-long sell off on Wall Street that extended into Monday. 

“Wall Street will work out just fine in this administration, just like they did in the first term,” Leavitt said.

Accounting firms are facing unprecedented challenges. With the rise of automation, changing client expectations, and staffing challenges, traditional differentiation strategies—competitive pricing, incremental service improvements, or modest technology adoption no longer create sustainable competitive advantages.

Continuous innovation is no longer something only tech and “forward-thinking” individuals should do to remain relevant. It’s an imperative to the longevity of every business in today’s quickly evolving market—including accounting firms.

The Innovation Imperative

Recent data from McKinsey shows that companies that prioritize innovation outperform their peers by 30% in revenue growth over a five-year period. Yet many accounting firms still approach innovation reactively, waiting until market pressures force their hand.

This reactive approach creates three common pitfalls:

1. Rushed innovation often results in half-baked solutions that fail to address core client needs.
2. Reactive innovation creates organizational whiplash, as teams struggle to adapt to rapid, unplanned changes.
3. Lagging response time to market changes creates risk that competitors have already established themselves.

The accounting firms that will thrive in the coming decade aren’t necessarily the largest or most established—they’re the ones that develop the organizational muscle to innovate continuously as client needs evolve and market conditions change. This is where having an innovation framework is key.

How do you build an innovation framework? Consider these three components:

1. Customer-Centric Problem Discovery

True innovation begins with deeply understanding your clients’ needs—not just what they tell you, but what their behaviors and pain points reveal. Too many firms rely on superficial feedback instead of identifying fundamental problems worth solving.

2. Create a Rapid Experimentation Culture

Innovation thrives in environments where testing new ideas is encouraged and failure is viewed as a learning opportunity. Accounting firms often struggle here, with risk-averse cultures that prioritize precision over exploration.

To foster rapid experimentation:

• Create dedicated “innovation sprints” where teams can prototype new ideas
• Establish appropriate metrics for innovation initiatives that balance short-term performance with long-term potential
• Develop a “minimum viable product” mindset that emphasizes quick market feedback

3. Cross-Functional Innovation Teams

Innovation rarely emerges from isolated departments. The most powerful ideas come from combining diverse perspectives and skill sets.

To break down silos:

• Form cross-functional innovation teams that include representatives from technology, client services, and business development
• Create clear accountability structures without imposing rigid processes that stifle creativity
• Establish regular forums for sharing insights across the organization

Take a Phased Approach to Innovation Implementation

For accounting firms looking to enhance their innovation capabilities, a phased approach makes this shift more manageable:

Phase 1: Assessment

• Evaluate your current innovation capabilities
• Identify organizational barriers to experimentation
• Set baseline metrics for innovation outcomes

Phase 2: Foundation Building

• Develop structured innovation processes
• Establish cross-functional teams
• Allocate resources specifically for innovation initiatives

Phase 3: Execution

• Launch pilot programs in targeted areas
• Scale successful initiatives
• Measure and communicate results to build organizational momentum

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

In our innovation journey, we’ve encountered several common pitfalls that accounting firms should be wary of:

• Over-reliance on competitor analysis: While understanding the competitive landscape is important, innovation requires looking beyond what others are doing.
• Analysis paralysis: Gathering data is valuable, but at some point, you need to act on incomplete information.
• Insufficient resource allocation: Innovation requires dedicated time and funding—it can’t be an afterthought.
• Fear of cannibalizing existing products: Sometimes, the best innovation requires disrupting your own successful offerings.

Measuring Innovation Success

Effective innovation measurement requires both leading and lagging indicators:

• Leading indicators might include the number of experiments conducted, client feedback on service prototypes, or team feedback on new technologies.
• Lagging indicators include revenue from new services, client retention improvements, or efficiency gains.

The key is balancing quantitative metrics with qualitative assessments of how innovation is changing your firm’s capabilities and market position.
Conclusion

In today’s accounting landscape, innovation isn’t optional—it’s a survival requirement. Firms that create systematic approaches to identifying client needs and testing new solutions, services and technologies will have a true advantage in an increasingly competitive market.

Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Education have all been caught in the crosshairs of the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. Now, accountants predict that the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board could be next.

Trump’s nomination of Paul Atkins to replace former SEC Chair Gary Gensler has been seen by many to be a sign of deregulation on the horizon, with further estimates that Atkins will reshape the PCAOB’s leadership makeup if confirmed to the SEC. Other possible scenarios include the consolidation of the PCAOB into the SEC.

Lara Long, managing director at the New York-based business advisory firm Riveron, said players in the capital markets see Republican control of the White House and Congress as a strong sign that regulatory actions will “either be reversed or will significantly decline.”

“So far, no one is 100% sure of the PCAOB’s future, including whether the agency will be folded into the SEC,” Long said. “Many insiders feel that whatever happens with the PCAOB will not eliminate the need for the financial markets to have an audit regulator.”

Read more: The regulatory forecast: Less, and lighter

Data published by Cornerstone Research in February recapped the PCAOB’s enforcement action trends over the last 20 years. In the decade that followed the first finalized enforcement action from the board in 2004, activity was calm, with 72 auditing actions against a mix of 126 respondents that included 53 audit firms and 73 individuals. Monetary penalties were roughly $5 million.

That trend took a dramatic shift in 2015, when the PCAOB finalized 34 auditing actions and submitted close to $10 million in penalties — double the total for the prior 10 years.

Between 2015 and 2024, the board finalized a total 302 auditing actions against 466 respondents and issued monetary penalties in excess of $86 million. Last year accounted for roughly 40% of the penalties issued for the decade.

“The PCAOB continued aggressive enforcement in 2024, finalizing 30 auditing actions in the first half of 2024, more than triple the number of actions finalized in the first half of 2023,” Jean-Philippe Poissant, one of the report’s co-authors and co-head of Cornerstone Research’s accounting practice, said in a statement. “In one in five auditing actions, the PCAOB alleged violations of not only auditing standards, but quality control standards and ethics and independence, as well.”

Similar data released in a March report by the Brattle Group offered predictions into how this trend could change under the new Trump administration.

“We expect that the combination of Trump 2.0 and ongoing constitutional challenges [like] Jarkesy and Doe vs. PCAOB matters will bring a sea change in auditor enforcement activity,” the report said.

Read more: Expect a tempest in tax under Trump

Learn more about the recent activity from the PCAOB and what experts across the profession think the future will hold for the organization.

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PCAOB sanctions nine firms in KPMG’s network

Officials with the PCAOB censured and fined nine firms in KPMG’s global network of firms for both violating quality control standards and neglecting to shed light on who performed the audits.

Firms impacted by the sanctions and roughly $3.374 million in fines include KPMG Auditores Independentes Ltda. in Brazil, KPMG LLP in Canada, KPMG S.p.A. in Italy, Somekh Chaikin in Israel, KPMG LLP in the U.K., KPMG Cárdenas Dosal, S.C. in Mexico, KPMG Samjong Accounting Corp. in South Korea, KPMG AG in Switzerland and KPMG in Australia.

“It is essential that investors and audit committees know where issuers’ audits are being conducted and by whom so that they can make informed selection and ratification decisions,” Erica Williams, PCAOB chair, said in a statement this month. “These violations prevent investors and audit committees from obtaining important information.”

Read more: PCAOB sanctions KPMG network firms in 9 countries

Is it the end of the PCAOB and SEC’s crackdown on auditors?

The first half of 2024 was rife with enforcement actions from the PCAOB and Securities and Exchange Commission, but that trend was quelled in the second half of the year due to a notable Supreme Court ruling and a rash of lawsuits against the PCAOB.

Data from the Brattle Group showed that both organizations brought 58 enforcement actions against auditors last year, keeping pace with the 60 actions the previous year and the 59 actions in 2022. But experts predict that leadership changes at the PCAOB and SEC, coupled with a second Trump administration, could drastically hamper this trend.

“Activity appears to have been substantially impacted by the Supreme Court’s SEC vs. Jarkesy ruling, which found that the regulator’s use of administrative proceedings to seek financial civil penalties for securities fraud was unconstitutional,” Alison Forman, co-leader of Brattle’s Accounting Practice, said in a statement. “We expect fallout from Jarkesy and similar constitutional challenges facing the PCAOB — as well as the new presidential administration — to dramatically shift the enforcement landscape moving forward.”

Read more: PCAOB and SEC crackdown on auditors appears to be ending

Auditor outcry sees rollback of PCOAB firm and engagement metrics

Following widespread outcry from auditing firms and companies, the PCAOB has walked back two proposed standards on firm reporting and firm and engagement metrics it approved last November.

Both standards failed to obtain the required additional approval from the SEC in order to take effect. Under the new guidance, firms would have been required to provide the PCAOB with details on their partner and manager involvement in audits, workload, training hours, experience of audit personnel, retention, allocation of audit hours, restatement history, fees, governance, network relationships, cybersecurity and more.

“Among our concerns was the potential unintended consequence of the rules prompting small and midsized audit firms to stop performing public company audits, impacting companies that depend on those audit firms as they seek access to U.S. capital markets,” Sue Coffey, the AICPA’s CEO of public accounting, said in a statement, according to the Journal of Accountancy.

Read more: PCAOB withdraws rules on firm and engagement metrics, firm reporting

Could the Trump administration dissolve the PCAOB?

Industry experts eyeing the governmental downsizing led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency are beginning to prepare for a similar scenario at the PCAOB.

In speaking at a February meeting of the Accountants Club of America in New York, AICPA and CIMA president and CEO Mark Koziel remarked that the lack of general public awareness of the PCAOB leaves the organization with a smaller pool of advocates working to keep it alive when compared to other organizations.

“When you think about the fact that the PCAOB, if they were to shut it down, and DOGE would be able to take credit for it, who would oppose it?” Koziel said. “It has a $400 million budget, none of which is paid for by taxpayers. … But it’s a $400 million win, if [Elon Musk’s DOGE] could say it publicly in some way, shape or form.”

Read more: AICPA prepares for the possible end of the PCAOB

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Diving into the PCAOB’s record $35M in fines in 2024

Last year was an active enforcement year for the PCAOB, as officials levied more than $35 million in fines.

The largest of the bunch was a $25 million fine against KPMG Netherlands, after the PCAOB found via a 2022 whistleblower report that employees were cheating on the firm’s internal training program by sharing answers with one another over a five year period. This was the largest civil money penalty in the PCAOB’s history.

Further actions include the board’s decision to revoke a firm’s registration after repeated rule violations and failing to comply with the organization’s investigation, as well as a $150,000 fine for KPMG China partners for audit standard violations.

Read more: PCAOB imposed $35M in fines in 2024