The top 10 trends to watch for 2012 (and the time to address is now), according to 1,200 CPAs in future forums around the United States, are:

1. Changing demographics: Aging workforce, diversity, four generations in the workplace
2. Increased globalization, economic shifts and increasing competition
3. The technological revolution: Cloud, social, big data and XBRL
4. Issues around information security, privacy and data integrity
5. Shift to consumer and employee power (from push to pull)
6. Changes in the way we communicate: Mobile, text, Skype
7. Work-life challenges or conflict: "Do more with less," 24/7 work
8. Information overload: Filter failure
9. Increasing complexity of rules and standards (IFRS, GAAP, PCAOB, SEC)
10. Economic uncertainty: Deficit, debt and pressure on government

See the 10 key insights from the CPA Horizons 2025 report here.

Speaking of crowdsourcing the future, see the views of leadership in the future by our young professionals from MACPA's Leadership Academy.

We have been gathering resources and programs to help CPAs and businesses and have them organized by trend topic here. (Dlick on the trends to see blog posts, podcasts, articles, and courses.)

What do you think is the most important trend to address in 2012? 

More resources about the future:

• MACPA's complete report from 14 future forums in Maryland here.
• CPA Horizons 2025 Project from the AICPA.
• View the AICPA's research about the world in 2025 here.