Mark Koziel, CEO of the American Institute of CPAs and the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, discusses the findings of a survey of more than 6,000 CPAs in 25 countries about the future of the profession—and what it means for CPAs and CFOs.
Global Finance: What surprised you the most in your interviews?
Mark Koziel: There are three major trends: changes in demographics, significant regulatory impact on our businesses, and technology. In 2011, we were talking about the arrival of the cloud. Now, we don't talk about that anymore; today, it's all about AI. I don't know that CPAs are fully prepared to accept everything that comes their way, but they are very open to that conversation. They believe there is a strong future for the financial profession. AI is a catalyst for change. That's a big theme.
At the core of who we are as an industry, there are two big things that really emerged: trust and ethics. We need to accept the fact that we are a trusted profession and that we have strong ethical standards behind us so that we can move forward. And that, I guess, surprised me a little bit, that people still want that so much.
GF: As companies embrace AI, CFOs are drawn into governance. Is that a good role in finance?
Koziel: I talk a lot with our CFOs about the idea that they need to control AI within their organizations, like they do financial control. If you think about the fact that between COSO-the internal control framework used worldwide-and now, ISO 42001 [the governance standard on AI use]there is a certain level of certainty with AI. The finance function can be a true strategic business partner, helping lines of business to look at things like: Are we using the right information? Are we getting the result they need? How do we analyze it? How do we verify?
Last year, I heard a lot of people talking about the person in the loop. After all, he is the best person. A person should be the one leading it, judging it. We are already seeing how AI is being used in a variety of different industries. Banking is a good example, especially in banking and loan decisions. But we know that there may be hallucinations. How do you take it, from a leadership perspective, to be able to say that we have control to ensure that we get the business outcome?
Think of a sales manager in an organization; they can have a financial person on their side, who can navigate how to make sales decisions. Regardless: Should we be selling in this geography? Should we be selling this product line? Should we remove this product line? All that will be with this financial cooperation.
GF: How is the role of the CFO itself changing under these pressures?
Koziel: Demands in the C-suite and CFO are more as a strategic advisor than as a historian. That was an important change, to be more strategic: a CFO who blocks decisions versus one who provides information, insight, and strategic advice to the organization. Technology will come and go, but how does it help an organization strategically? That's the key.
GF: You described the problem of skill development at the entry level in this field. What is the impact on CFO management teams?
Koziel: I grew up as an accountant in Buffalo, New York. I look at what audit professionals need to do today. Accounts receivable—95% of it is automated, whether it's AI or robotic process automation—and this continues to evolve and get smarter. My measure of success as a new auditor at the time was how quickly I could make copies of things like accounts receivable confirmations. The skill set we are asking of young professionals is now evolving rapidly, yet they still don't have the nuts and bolts to figure things out.
They are asked to do financial analysis right out of university and skip what we consider an important training ground: on-the-job training about deductions and credits. How do I grow my team if they don't have that first two years to do that? The challenge of skills development is common in all aspects of business, whether it is a CFO sitting in London or a CFO in Malaysia or a partner in a CPA firm in the US.
GF: The headlines suggest that AI is driving layoffs in accounting. Is that what you see?
Koziel: Speaking privately with employers, AI has nothing to do with it; there's a lot of Covid-19 hangover for people who have held on to them longer than they should have. And then you also have, with a soft economy, fewer people leaving. When a few people leave, and when you don't do what you should have done in those earlier years, all of a sudden you're building the highest level of staff you've ever had, and organizations are going to make a move. So it hasn't been an AI-driven layoff, but everyone wants to go there.
GF: Where is this sector growing globally, and where is it under pressure?
Koziel: On the pipeline side, the US numbers are encouraging. We saw a 12% increase in accounting enrollment for the fall 2024 and spring 2025 semesters, and a 7% increase for the fall 2025 semester. I think the driving force is the economy; accounting stability. It's a steady job, and we've seen a lot of interest as the economy slows down. We also saw an increase in test takers. So for us, the pipeline has been good. The question will always be whether it is full enough and whether there will be enough jobs based on how accounting will change in the future.
Africa has been an important base for us. In South Africa we are doing very well, but we continue to see great growth there. We see the same in Ghana, Zimbabwe, and to a lesser extent Nigeria. China continues to be a strong growth market for us as well, in addition to India. We have CGMAs and CPAs where they have a strong US CPA presence through back office operations at many of our US firms. That's where the other growth is. If you lack talent globally, you should look for those markets where there are job opportunities around the world.
GF: It is estimated that 75% of all CPAs are baby boomers. Are they retired and replaced?
Koziel: We cannot replace individual retiring CPAs and those entering the profession; numbers do not occur physically. And we are not the only ones who suffer from this; it's every job, every industry. Commercial, all, for the sake of the prosperous generation. More people are retiring than entering. The decline is what I would call all post-war economies, and the growth is in the developing economies.
GF: Private equity has moved into accounting. What does this mean for work and research quality?
Koziel: Large firms continue to grow and small firms continue to shrink. Now, I think, we have 12 companies with more than one billion in revenue; that number, 10, 15 years ago, was less than four. Private equity started in the UK, and you have it in the Netherlands, peppered across Europe, Australia. Germany is beginning to see it, although it is trying to control it a little.
My main concern, always, is quality. I worry about it when I wake up, I worry about it when I go to sleep: making sure we have the quality we need. Private companies specifically state that they are all about quality. I always say that there has never been an audit failure, for example, if they follow the standards. And for private companies, if they're going to really transform the business in five to seven years, they won't have a liability in the third year. Their planting value drops quickly, so they are incredibly cautious.
GF: The Trump administration is floating about moving public companies from quarterly to annual reporting. He reportedly had a window into that conversation.
Koziel: I was in [Securities and Exchange Commission] Chairman Paul Atkins' office the next morning, and he had a two-hour phone call with the president the night before, after the president sent his Truth Social post on the subject. Is twice a year enough? Is the community still protected? Maybe certain industries and maybe the market and investors will ask for something different, but it's really trying to simplify the process. Whether it's yearly or quarterly, we'll support it. We will support the market as needed.
