Accounting

The most-read stories of 2024 in accounting

Published

2 years ago

January 2, 2025

Business Finance News

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

2024 was a significant year across the accounting profession, with a host of pressing issues such as the worsening talent shortage, moves by top firms like PwC and RSM US restructuring their operations, the effect of President-elect Donald Trump’s return on the tax landscape, and more.

With that in mind, here are our most-read stories from the past 12 months, highlighting some of the developments that caught our readers’ attention.

Why accounting firms are bleeding talent

Article by Frank Gargano

The talent shortage facing the accounting profession is well known at this point, as graduates with accounting majors are deterred by uncompetitive wages and a lack of education on career paths — while existing accountants leave the field entirely. Amid this identity crisis, firms are starting to look inwards for solutions.

Data from the most recent ADP National Employment Report published in October showed that the service-providing sector added 101,000 jobs in September, 20,000 of which were for roles in professional and business services like accounting and tax preparation. The month before, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1,500 new postings were described as accounting-related openings.

But many in the field say the hurdles to becoming a licensed CPA, including the test itself, are simply not worth the payoff.

Click here to read the full article.

Appeals court reinstates BOI injunction

Article by Michael Cohn

A federal appeals court has reversed itself, reinstating an injunction on beneficial ownership information reporting by businesses only days after lifting it.

On Dec. 23, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a stay of a preliminary injunction by a federal district court in Texas that had temporarily paused a requirement for filing BOI reports with the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network under the Corporate Transparency Act of 2019 in the case of Texas Top Cop Shop Inc. v. Garland.

The plaintiffs petitioned the full appeals court for an en banc rehearing to consider additional issues in the case. They argued that the panel’s decision conflicted with a 2012 Supreme Court decision in the case of National Federation of Independent Businesses v. Sebelius, ignored potential violations of the First and Fourth Amendments, and improperly discounted serious harms that the plaintiffs and the public would suffer. They also argued that the decision to reinstate the Jan. 1 reporting deadline, which was only a few days away, disregarded the interests of millions of entities subject to the CTA, which aims to deter criminals from using shell companies for illicit purposes such as money laundering and terrorism financing.

Click here to read the full article.

Reshaping the pyramid

Article by Daniel Hood

Consider the pyramid.

For much of its modern history, the public accounting profession has relied on the pyramid — at least metaphorically — in building both the ownership and management structures of CPA firms, and it has proven a remarkably enduring model, to the point where it was effectively the only model from the 1930s up until the late 1990s, and remained overwhelmingly the most common model for the first two decades of the 21st century.

But while the pyramids of Giza look likely to last far into the future, the pyramid model of accounting firms is facing serious challenges, specifically over the last four years, as more and more firms experiment with a host of new or newly popular models for how firms can be owned and managed.

Click here to read the full article.

Developing talent and professional training for personal growth tiny person concept. Potential improvement and motivation boost with leader appraisal or encourage as skill watering vector illustration

Accounting talent shortage worsens

Article by Michael Cohn

The shortage of accounting talent continues to plague the profession and appears to be getting worse. As the pipeline dries up, 83% of senior leaders report a talent shortage this year, up from 70% in 2022, with 10% this year saying it’s worsening, according to a CFO Pulse report released on Aug. 6 by accounting solutions provider Personiv.

More than 300,000 accountants and auditors left the accounting profession between 2020 and 2022, a 17% decline, according to The Wall Street Journal.

As outsourcing gains wider use, the report found 90% of surveyed CFOs outsource some of their accounting functions, and 90% of those respondents said they can easily find qualified accountants when they need them. That enables them to leverage specialized talent to maintain efficiency and focus on strategic goals.

Click here to read the full article.

Donald Trump listens to a question while speaking to members of the media before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C.

Trump’s victory: What it means for taxes

Article by Daniel Hood

After a presidential campaign that saw a steady stream of tax proposals aimed at a wide range of constituents, Donald Trump will return to the White House next January, when he can begin trying to deliver on those promises.

One of the most significant areas of focus will be on the expiring provisions of the former and future president’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was a signature achievement of his first term. Republicans have taken control of the Senate, but control of the House remains in question as votes continue to be counted.

Extending all the provisions could cost as much as $4.6 trillion, according to Rochelle Hodes, Washington National Tax Office principal at Top 25 Firm Crowe.

Click here to read the full article.

Accounting and analysis with laptop and calculator

The riskiest jobs in accounting

Article by Chris Gaetano

We’ve been hearing it for years, but especially in 2023 as generative AI rocked the world: Automation and artificial intelligence are here and they’re coming for all the routine, mundane, repeatable tasks that have traditionally been accountants’ bread and butter.

However, allowing machines to do this frees up human accountants for higher-value, strategically oriented tasks that will help firms do more with less in the face of a diminishing talent pipeline and outside disruption. Professionals will be able to work on the things that are really interesting to them and discard all the drudge work that no one ever wanted to do anyway.

Of course, regardless of whether or not anyone necessarily wants to do these things, there are still people whose job it is to do them — at least for now. Because as technology improves, the range of tasks that can be automated will only grow wider, increasing the risk for disruption. This, over time, will greatly alter the shape of the profession and the behavior of firms, which itself will alter career paths and force many out of their comfort zone with little choice but to adapt to these changing circumstances.

Click here to read the full article.

Baby season vs. busy season

Article by Paige Hagy

Having a second child wasn’t even in the cards for Erica Goode until she knew she was going to quit her accounting job.

Goode started her career at the Big Four before moving to corporate accounting. Instead of a busy tax season, she had a busy audit season, so when she got pregnant with her first kid she requested a part-time schedule for when she returned from maternity leave.

“I can do the math,” she said. “I realized that my kid was going to spend more of their waking hours with their daycare provider than they would with me, and I just wasn’t OK with that.”

Click here to read the full article.

Tired frustrated young asian businessman feeling stressed holding head with hands, business problem failure concept

Accounting standards blamed for lack of accountants

Article by Michael Cohn

The 150-hour rule for obtaining a CPA license is getting blamed in many quarters lately for the shortage of accountants, but another culprit may be the proliferation of complicated accounting standards, according to a recent academic study.

The study, released last December, examined the role that accounting rules from the Financial Accounting Standards Board, especially the restrictiveness of U.S. GAAP, has played in the declining supply of accountants.

“The study looks at how growing regulation within accounting and the increase in accounting rules issued by the FASB have changed the accounting profession and the role of the accountant,” said Anthony Le, a Ph.D candidate in accounting at Columbia University, who carried out the study.

Click here to read the full article.

PwC shakes up U.S. firm

Article by Michael Cohn

PricewaterhouseCoopers US is realigning its organizational structure across three lines of service — Assurance, Tax and Advisory — starting in July, only about three years after it restructured into two sides: Trust Solutions and Consulting Solutions. PwC US is also adding a new operating committee to run the firm.

A spokesperson said the new structure would better serve client needs, their buying patterns and the market. It takes effect July 1. The new operating committee includes assurance leader Deanna Byrne and tax leader Krishnan Chandrasekhar.

PwC US’s incoming senior partner, Paul Griggs, announced the changes in April via a LinkedIn post.

Click here to read the full article.

RSM lays off 3% of staff

Article by Paige Hagy

Top 10 Firm RSM US laid off 5% of its consulting workforce, as well as an unspecified number of employees in assurance, on Sept. 20.

Employees in the consulting practice were notified in a virtual meeting with the practice leader and a human resources representative on Sept. 20, a source inside the firm who was impacted by the layoffs told Accounting Today.

Approximately 240 employees across the consulting practice were affected, and those employees will finish their projects by early next week, according to an email sent after the meeting. The firm said that it planned no further reductions.

Click here to read the full article.

Accounting

Continuous Auditing Transforms Corporate ERPs

Published

5 days ago

July 21, 2026

Business Finance News

continuous auditing transforms corporate erps

As corporate accounting departments cross the threshold into late July 2026, the adoption of continuous, automated auditing systems has reached a definitive turning point. Driven by advances in artificial intelligence and deep integration with modern Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platforms, leading finance organizations are moving away from traditional, periodic post-hoc audits in favor of real-time, 100% transactional verification. This technological transition is redefining internal control environments, reducing compliance costs, and eliminating the structural delays inherent in legacy quarterly closing processes.

Unlike traditional auditing frameworks that rely on statistical sampling—a process that inevitably leaves operational blind spots—continuous auditing software monitors operational data feeds continuously. Every purchase order, electronic invoice, payroll disbursement, and cross-border wire transfer is automatically cross-referenced against established corporate governance parameters, regulatory tax schedules, and anti-fraud algorithms in real time. Anomalies or unauthorized ledger entries are flagged instantly, allowing internal audit teams to investigate and remediate compliance gaps immediately rather than months after the close of a financial period.

The implications for executive financial management are far-reaching. By embedding continuous verification directly into daily transaction workflows, chief financial officers gain uninterrupted visibility into the organization’s true financial standing. Real-time balance sheet auditing eliminates the severe operational bottlenecks associated with month-end and quarter-end financial reconciliations, freeing accounting professionals to focus on strategic financial modeling, tax planning, and capital allocation rather than manual data entry and spreadsheet consolidation.

However, implementing continuous auditing requires accounting leadership to invest heavily in data governance and technical upskilling. Internal audit teams must evolve from manual ledger reviewers into system architects capable of auditing complex algorithms and validating automated data pipelines. Accounting firms and corporate controllers that master continuous auditing will establish a resilient compliance framework capable of meeting stringent international regulatory standards with total transparency.

Accounting

U.S. Imposes New 50% Tariffs on Canadian Imports Under Rare Legal Provision

Published

6 days ago

July 20, 2026

Business Finance News

U.S. Imposes New 50% Tariffs on Canadian Imports Under Rare Legal Provision

WASHINGTON — In a major escalation of cross-border trade friction, U.S. President Donald Trump has signed executive orders imposing new 50% tariffs on a wide selection of Canadian exports, citing discriminatory practices by Ottawa targeting American auto, dairy, and beverage industries.

The new duties, announced Monday, will take effect in 30 days. They target a broad spectrum of consumer and industrial goods—ranging from wine, liquor, and milk products to commercial cement, furniture, clothing, and hockey equipment.

Untested Legal Mechanism

To enact the sweeping measures, the administration invoked Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930—a rarely used legal provision allowing the executive branch to levy additional tariffs of up to 50% on foreign nations deemed to discriminate against U.S. commerce.

White House officials noted that Section 338 addresses trade discrimination rather than national security or economic emergencies. The move comes months after prior global emergency tariffs faced legal challenges in domestic courts, signaling Washington’s pivot toward alternate statutory authorities to maintain import duties.

Senior administration officials briefed reporters that the measure directly responds to Canadian provincial bans on U.S. alcohol, restrictions on American vehicle exports, and import quota disparities affecting U.S. dairy and cheese producers relative to third-party trading partners.

“While the administration continues to secure reciprocal trade agreements globally, Canada retaliated against efforts to protect domestic industry,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer stated.

USMCA Impact and Carve-Outs

Significantly, the newly ordered 50% duties will apply to designated items even if they otherwise comply with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

However, the administration confirmed key targeted exemptions:

Energy products (including oil and natural gas)
Potash and critical minerals
Fish and seafood
Goods already governed by sector-specific duties (such as existing steel and aluminum tariffs)

Administration representatives emphasized that the tariffs do not stem from recent disputes concerning drifting Canadian wildfire smoke, noting that policy options regarding environmental spillover remain under separate review.

Canadian Response and Market Reaction

Following the White House announcement, the Canadian dollar experienced a sharp decline against the U.S. dollar, falling approximately 0.4% during evening trading.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney issued a statement emphasizing that Canada’s earlier counter-duties had merely matched previous U.S. trade actions. “Canada stands ready to engage intensively to address outstanding issues with the U.S. to the mutual benefit of our citizens,” Carney stated, pointing to detailed proposals Ottawa submitted to modernize the USMCA framework.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford took a firmer stance, urging a “dollar-for-dollar” reciprocal response if the measures go into effect on August 19.

With a 30-day implementation window before the duties officially lock in, industry associations and trade groups on both sides of the border are calling for urgent bilateral negotiations to avert further supply chain disruption across North America.

Accounting

Automated Continuous Auditing: Transforming Compliance and Real-Time Financial Oversight

Published

6 days ago

July 20, 2026

Business Finance News

Transforming Compliance and Real-Time Financial Oversight

The traditional accounting paradigm—defined by periodic monthly closures and post-hoc annual audits—is rapidly giving way to continuous, automated financial oversight. As of July 2026, forward-thinking accounting practices and multinational corporate finance departments are leveraging continuous auditing systems powered by advanced machine learning models. These systems monitor operational transactions in real time, shifting audit methodologies from sample-based post-analysis to absolute, 100% transaction-level verification.

The operational advantages of continuous auditing are transformative. Standard auditing procedures historically relied on statistical sampling, which, despite rigorous methodology, inherently left gaps where anomalies or fraudulent transactions could go undetected for months. Modern continuous auditing platforms integrate directly with enterprise resource planning (ERP) databases, instantly cross-referencing purchase orders, invoices, bank feeds, and tax records. Any deviation from established control parameters or unusual transaction behavior triggers immediate flags for internal audit teams, dramatically reducing detection lag from quarters to seconds.

Beyond fraud prevention, continuous auditing fundamentally alters internal reporting and decision-making. Executive leadership no longer has to wait weeks after the close of a quarter to evaluate precise financial standing; real-time verified ledger data provides an uninterrupted view of operating margins, tax liabilities, and cash flow dynamics. This real-time visibility enables corporate controllers to adjust capital allocation strategies dynamically, mitigating liquidity constraints and capitalizing on emerging commercial opportunities far more efficiently than competitors bound to legacy reporting cycles.

However, implementing continuous auditing requires accounting professionals to acquire new analytical capabilities. The role of the auditor is evolving from manual data reconciliation toward system validation, algorithmic model governance, and strategic risk interpretation. Accounting firms and corporate finance departments must invest in continuous technical education, ensuring that audit staff possess the data engineering skills necessary to design, maintain, and evaluate complex automated compliance systems.