Genuine Learning Blog: 2025 AICPA Fall Council Recap

In this week’s Genuine Learning Blog, we’re excited to recap the recent AICPA Fall Council meeting held in Denver, Colorado, Alex’s home state! It’s hard to believe it has already been six months since the last meeting, and this was Alex’s seventh council meeting. We truly love attending these events, as they provide such valuable insights into the accounting profession and opportunities to engage and move things forward.

Council Meeting Agenda Highlights

We started the day with a session titled “Rise to the Future Together,” led by AICPA CEO Mark Koziel. Mark’s presentation was packed with updates about what’s happening in our profession now and what’s coming in the future, covering everything from different CPA pathways, regulations, legislation, to broader business outlook topics like tariffs. If you’re able, we encourage you to pause and take a look at the slide listing all those items, as there’s a lot Mark covered that we couldn’t recap in full here!

Next up, we had a unique panel discussion with the Alliance for Responsible Licensing. Several CEOs from other licensed professions, like landscape architecture, joined to share what’s happening in their worlds with licensure and deregulation. It was reassuring to see that these issues aren’t unique to CPAs and that there’s a collaborative effort nationwide to address them.

A particularly memorable part of this Council meeting featured guest speaker Bill Stainton. He spoke about “creating opportunities and connecting the dots,” sharing anecdotes like how he helped launch Bill Nye the Science Guy’s career. His message was to not hesitate on new ideas, sometimes you just have to go for it and see where it leads.

We also had a hands-on group activity and got an update on the Rise 2040 Initiative, which aims to set the collective vision for the profession looking forward fifteen years. Initial insights were shared from various facilitation sessions. Ultimately, the Rise 2040 project will culminate in a report laying out the future for accounting professionals as we approach 2040.

Day Two: Advocacy and Workforce Development Updates

Day two focused on advocacy at the federal and state levels. Mark Peterson, AICPA Executive Vice President of Advocacy, gave a federal advocacy update. We also reviewed a map showing which states have implemented or are considering CPA pathway legislation. The blue states have active legislation, gray ones are moving toward it but haven’t introduced bills yet, and others have already enacted changes, each with different effective dates.

James Cox, AICPA VP for State Advocacy and State Society Relations, covered how states are tackling issues like CPA licensure, workforce development, deregulation, and continuing professional education (CPE). Florida, for example, defeated a bill last year that aimed to remove many licensing regulations, but it’s likely to resurface.

On workforce and talent, there’s a move away from the term “pipeline” in favor of “workforce development.” The timeline presented showed key milestones in CPA workforce initiatives, highlighting the evolution from the NPAG report to new licensing pathways.

On a Personal Note

On the fun side, Alex had the opportunity to do some marketing and filming for the Rise 2040 Initiative with fellow AICPA Leadership Academy alumni Kelly Mann, and even filmed her first TikTok video with Lexi Weber from AICPA, who actively engages students in the CPA profession.

We always look forward to the chance to connect with colleagues, whether at our traditional coffee dates, or catching up with the Leadership Academy Alumni. These council meetings are about more than updates; they’re about relationships and collaboration.

Final Thoughts

Thanks for joining Alex for this recap of one of her favorite professional events, the AICPA Council meeting. It’s inspiring to see the energy and dedication across our profession, and we look forward to continuing the conversation.