Pub. 1 2019 Issue 4

9 nebraska society of cpas W W W . N E S C P A . O R G CPA Evolution: NASBA & AICPA’s Guiding Principles 1. TheCPAprofessionmust adapt quickly due to the technological disruptions in areas such as data analytics, robotics, artificial intelligence, and more. As such, the competencies, services, and attitudes of CPAs need to continually evolve in order to protect the public interest. 2. The CPA profession and state boards of accountancy recognize that technological and analytical expertise are essential to performing assurance work, as well as the other services that are currently, or will be in the future, core to professional accounting. 3. The CPA profession and state boards of accountancy acknowledge that sustaining the profession and continued public protection require rethinking initial licensure requirements. 4. The profession, and therefore entry into the profession, must be redesigned to attract individuals with technological and analytical expertise. This includes non-CPA professionals whose technology and analytics skills are critical to the performance of assurance and other core services, as well as non-accounting major students. All must demonstrate minimum required competencies necessary to perform professional accounting services as a CPA. 5. The changes must be rapid, t ransformat iona l, and substantive without negatively impacting candidates currently in the pipeline. These guiding principles generated a lot of discussion at the meeting , especially the second sentence ofNo. 4 above. The content of the CPA exam; howoften the content should change, including what Lori J. Druse, CPA is an audit managing director with more than 26 years of public accounting experience with Deloitte in Omaha. She is a member of the Nebraska Society of CPAs and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). She currently serves as chairman of the Nebraska Board of Public Accountancy as well as on the administration and finance and invest- ment committees of NASBA. Druse is also second vice chairman of the Lincoln YMCA and a member of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln School of Accountancy Advisory Board. You may contact her at ldruse@ deloitte.com. should be removed to make room for new topics; and the education and experience requirements were discussed and all are up for debate. I have seen firsthand how innovations in artificial intelligence, automated processes, and robust data analytics are changing how CPAs deliver services. CPAs need more skills and knowledge in technology andanalytics toperformour services. I encourage all CPAs to take an active role in this evolution by visiting theEvolutionOfCPA. org website, reading the FAQs included therein, and providing your thoughts toNASBAand the AICPAbyAug. 9. This is our profession andwemust drive change to stay relevant to support evolving auditing and accounting needs. On another note, I am close to completing my two four-year terms serving on the Nebraska Board of Public Accountancy. I have truly enjoyed the experience and recommend applying to anyone who may be considering joining the State Board. It has been an honor addressing the issues facing our profession while serving the public interest as a State Board member. If you are interested in serving on the Nebraska Board of Public Accountancy, please visit Gov. Pete Ricketts website at https://governor.nebraska.gov/board- comm-req for further information. t NEDCPA-1218