My, How Things Change — or Do They?

By Tammy J. Hofstede

My 94-year-old grandmother, who was a very influential woman in my life and career, passed away in February. She was a rare breed, having been a woman business owner back in her day. As we were going through her things, we came upon a letter dated 1945 from the Oshkosh Business College (now UW–Oshkosh). Here is an excerpt from the letter that I found most interesting:

We are sorry … but the Oshkosh Business College is faced with an embarrassing situation this year. Schools are being filled to capacity. Formerly, our Accounting Course was open to men only. Now women are demanding entrance to this most lucrative field. OBC has an unusually fine Accounting Department. There are many CPAs among our graduates — all of whom are in the higher income brackets.

For those of us who were not around when schools were filled to capacity and accounting was only a man’s profession, I found this letter a reality check to reflect on how far the profession has come and the obstacles it has overcome. What challenges was the profession facing 80 years ago?

The profession and its leaders have been able to navigate through issues, tax and compliance changes, recessions, wars, Enron (and other) scandals and scrutiny, and constantly evolving technology, forcing them to continuously evaluate how to service clients and run businesses.

Change is constant. So have things really changed, or are there just different challenges — and new opportunities — facing us?

There are major issues and challenges facing us these days: Changes are coming to the CPA Exam (again) — for one thing, the time to take the exam is being extended to 24 or even 36 months. State societies and firms are discussing creative alternate pathways to obtain the 150-credit-hour requirement for licensure without impacting substantial equivalency and mobility infrastructure. We are still navigating the impact of COVID on employment, remote work and work ethic. The impact of a shrinking CPA pipeline and competition with other majors continues. Also continuing to challenge us are the boomer retirements; protecting the CPA license from deregulation efforts; and now, more than ever, numerous state society efforts to attract more students to the profession and encourage them to become CPAs — while also focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion for the profession.

Some seasons — and some chapters of this “book of change” — may feel overwhelming. We need to remind ourselves we can do hard things and get through them (as we always have). The accounting profession is not fragile, but resilient.

We can’t think in terms of permanence, as we truly cannot hold on to anything for long. But we always have the opportunity to learn from our challenges, to be better and to do things better. If we have reasonable expectations about where we are and where we want to go, we can learn and move on.

There is significant work ahead of us, and we will continue to boldly move forward. The WICPA will continue to monitor legislation in Wisconsin that could impact the profession and lobby at the federal level (and to our college educators) to include accounting in STEM; to observe what is happening nationally regarding licensure and the 150-credit-hour requirement; and to work together with other state CPA societies on exploring policy solutions, identifying strategies for collaborative outreach and partnerships, and understanding the flexibilities and limitations of substantial equivalency and mobility.

We have launched new member resources and have several new initiatives for the coming year, including our new education section on the website for students and educators (including several videos) and a pipeline campaign, “Level Up With Accounting” (coming this fall).

As we move into a new fiscal year, we thank you for your continued loyalty and membership as we continue to shape and protect this great profession. Stay tuned — there’s more to come!

Tammy J. Hofstede is president & CEO of the WICPA. Contact her at 262-785-0445, ext. 4518, or tammy@wicpa.org.

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