'What a difference a year makes'
After a year at the AICPA's helm, Maryland's Lexy Kessler reflects on a profession confronting rapid change — and why talent, technology, trust and a growing sense of unity give her confidence in its future.
A year can change a lot.
When Lexy Kessler began her term as chair of the AICPA and the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, she made listening and connecting with the profession a priority. Over the next 12 months, she did plenty of both.
Kessler — a former chair of the Maryland Association of CPAs and now vice chair of the MACPA Foundation — traveled extensively, visiting state CPA societies, attending conferences and board meetings, speaking with students, and meeting accounting professionals around the world. Along the way, she gained a front-row view of a profession navigating extraordinary change.
What did she find? A talent outlook that is showing encouraging signs. Growing experimentation with artificial intelligence. New questions surrounding private equity and alternative practice structures. A profession increasingly aware that the skills CPAs need are changing. And, perhaps most importantly, a renewed appreciation for the principles that have always defined the profession: trust, ethics, integrity and quality.
As Kessler handed the AICPA chair’s gavel to her successor, Jan Lewis, she joined the MACPA’s “Future-Proof” podcast to reflect on what she heard, what she learned and why she believes the profession may be more united — and better positioned for the future — than it has been in years.
Here are highlights from that conversation.
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