Pub. 1 2019 Issue 4

J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 1 9 8 nebraska cpas BY LORI J. DRUSE, CPA, CHAIRMAN, NEBRASKA BOARD OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTANCY S TAT E B O A R D R E P O R T CPA EVOLUTION In May, the Nebraska Board of Public Accountancy (NBPA) was honored to hold its boardmeeting in Harold L. Hawks Hall on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus hosted by Dr. Aaron Crabtree and the UNL School of Accountancy. This meeting was unique because it included a panel discussion open to the public focused on the future of the CPA profession. The panel was made up of State Board members Shelly Stromp, Dr. Tom Purcell, and Marcy Luth joined by National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) representative Dan Dustin and Dave Swan from the SP Group in Lincoln representing the Nebraska Society of CPAs. Dr. Crabtree moderated the panel discussion on the future of the CPA profession aligning with the national discussion being largely developed by the CPA Evolution Working Group (CEWG), which was a joint project of NASBA and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). The CEWGwas formed to address if change is needed in the CPA licensure model in recognition of the rapidly changing auditing and accounting environment caused by the increased use and development of technology. The panel discussion covered a number of questions including: How do you see the profession changing over the next five to 10 years? What skills do young staff need now that they did not previously need? What skills will be more important for accountants in the future? What should schools be teaching in addition to or instead of very detailed accounting rules? Are smaller firms beginning to consider how data analytics can help them serve their clients? The panel discussed how CPAs are going to need a greater understanding of technology and data analytics as well as critical thinking skills in greater depth and in earlier stages of their careers to keep up with the rapid changes in technology and expanded use of data analytics in attest work. The panel also concluded that CPAs will need the ability to learn new things quickly to adapt to change in addition to being able to creatively develop and monitor internal controls of systems and have heightened skepticism and judgment in dealing with large volumes of data. Discussion also centered on how to teach students to interpret data and critically analyze information to determine what the results are telling them about the overall population and what should be removed from the curriculum to make room for these items. The panel considered that a number of smaller firms have Excel add-on packages they use in conjunction with their audit software and, as their clients acquire more sophisticated general ledger and other software packages, the firms that audit them will also need sufficient expertise in analytics so they can understand the output from those systems. Overall, comments from attendees were positive in that we had started a necessary conversation across our profession in order to stay relevant in the changing technological environment. In June, I attended NASBA’s Western Regional Meeting, where we were presented with an update from NASBA regarding the CPA Evolution project. According to the EvolutionOfCPA.org site, “The working group recommended that the CPA Exam evolve to test a candidate’s ability to use emerging technologies, audit systems, and controls, and examine and report on systems (e.g., through SOC attestation). The group also recommended that education requirements include relevant coursework on technology and analytics.” Following the update, NASBA and the AICPA reviewed recommendations from the CEWG and then turned to modifying the initial CPA licensure requirements. Leadership from the two organizations put together five principles to guide the development of a new licensure model. They want to hear feedback from the CPA profession by Aug. 9. I encourage you to get engaged. Review the principles and the request for input at EvolutionOfCPA.org. I have included the guiding principles here for easy reference: