The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) has introduced the Profession Ready Initiative, a research-driven programme focused on identifying the skills that early career certified public accountants (CPAs) will need in an AI‑enabled business environment.
According to the association, the programme will seek to identify skills gaps among early career professionals and accelerate efforts to close them.
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AICPA Public Accounting CEO Susan Coffey said: “The Profession Ready Initiative is pivotal to addressing one of the profession’s most pressing needs.
“We need to understand what it will take for the next generation of CPAs to thrive in an increasingly complex business world.”
Under the initiative, research company SkillEdge will lead a study to assess the tasks early career CPAs perform and the skills required to perform effectively. The research will also evaluate how job expectations align with current education programmes and identify where extra professional development is required.
The AICPA will examine two early career stages: entry‑level CPAs and licensed CPAs with around four years of experience.
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By GlobalDataThe aim is to identify current needs and anticipate how skill requirements are likely to change through to 2030.
According to the AICPA, the initiative will produce three main outputs.
These include a skills framework to guide training and development for early career CPAs and create learning solutions that use emerging technologies to help professionals build skills more quickly.
It will also help university teaching resources to align academic preparation more closely with workplace needs.
Throughout 2026, the AICPA plans to run surveys, focus groups and discussion sessions with practitioners, employers, educators and other stakeholders to pinpoint the capabilities required of early career professionals.
The organisation also noted that the initiative is intended to serve as a potential road map for other fields facing similar questions about preparing new talent as AI and other external forces reshape roles and expectations.
