PHILADELPHIA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#Accounting–The Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) released their latest Insights report, 2025 Workforce Transformation and Talent Management Strategies. The white paper offers a practical roadmap to help firms address evolving challenges in the profession, from shifting business models to upskilling and talent development needs.
“This report is a blueprint for building talent-first, tech-forward firms equipped to thrive in today’s rapidly evolving workforce,” says PICPA’s CEO Jennifer Cryder, CPA, MBA. “Change is never easy, but standing still is no longer an option. Our goal is to help firm leaders move with purpose and turn intention into action.”
Surveying more than 200 accounting firm leaders of various sizes across 31 states, the report finds a disconcerting conflict: 75% of firm leaders believe their firms will need the same or more staff to meet future demand, yet 52% also stated they expect their firm to be at least 20% smaller in the next five years. There’s a clear disconnect between firms’ staffing expectations and available talent, both in terms of the number of qualified candidates and their technical expertise.
As technology and talent shortages disrupt the accounting profession, the traditional “pyramid” model built on high-volume entry-level hiring no longer fits. This report dives deeper into the “Inverted Pentagon” model, a framework that shifts the focus to precision hiring at the entry level, with greater emphasis on upskilling, retaining, and advancing junior and middle-level staff through greater specialized roles.
One persistent challenge is that firms have been slow to foster change: 53% reported having done “very little” to address workforce transformation, and 71% of firms only have a “basic” training and development program or no program at all. Only 6% of firms rate their advisory training programs as highly effective. The top cited inhibitors of change are insufficient staffing for transformation efforts (47%) and financial constraints for training/technology (43%).
The lack of investment stands in contrast with the growing demand for critical skills development, especially among junior staff. According to firm leaders, the most critical skills for entry-level staff to develop are financial data analytics and visualization (53%) and proficiency with technology tools such as robotic process automation, artificial intelligence, and cloud-based accounting platforms (50%). At the same time, barriers preventing entry-level staff from progressing are high workloads (47%) and limited internal training (34%).
The inverted pentagon model offers a strategic solution to help firms focus on upskilling staff and embedding technology into workflows, thus reducing the need for high-volume hiring. In tandem, it can help support the development of in-demand skills like data analytics and AI tools. Practical steps are detailed within the report, with the future success of accounting firms summarized in the “6 Ps” of transformation: Precision hiring, Proactive retention, Practical technology implementation, Pricing expertise, Practice area expansion or focus, and People acceleration.
“This is a moment for transformational action,” says Cryder. “Our hope is to equip accounting firms with the right tools and resources so that they can adapt to the broader trends we are seeing, without losing that human-centric, trusted-adviser mindset, or the ability to deliver the high-value work for which CPAs are respected.”
To learn more about the findings and recommendations from this report, visit www.picpa.org/insights.
About the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA)
The Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) is a premier statewide association of nearly 20,000 members working in public accounting, industry, government, and education. Founded in 1897, the PICPA is the second-oldest state CPA organization in the United States. To learn more about the PICPA, visit www.picpa.org.
Contacts
Trevor Davis
Gregory FCA for PICPA
[email protected]
215-475-5931
