A recent article in the Journal of Accountancy, written by Anita Dennis, notes that technological transformation means change, and change can be unsettling. After several years of disruption in their work lives, many employees seem to be suffering from change fatigue. When Gartner surveyed workers in 2016, 74% were willing to support organizational change. By late 2022, that number had plummeted to 38%.

Firms need to carefully plan and execute changes in their audit technology if they want to effectively implement transformational change. According to Dennis, here’s what to pay attention to in change management.

According to an article in CFO Dive, companies are turning to interim financial leadership more frequently as they struggle to fill widening gaps in their accounting and finance functions.
Author Grace Noto says that “competition to nab skilled accounting talent has only become fiercer in recent years amid a worsening shortage of accounting professionals, leaving companies with critical gaps in their financial leadership and function. In addition to surging demand for interim CFOs, requests for senior vice president or vice president-level financial professionals — such as controllers and the heads of financial planning & analysis — rose by 114%, according to the Business Talent Group (BTG).”
Historically, Noto adds, “many companies have looked to fill roles in FP&A, audit, financial reporting and up to the CFO or controller chair with employees that have previously worked for an accounting firm, but dynamics have changed in recent years where many roles in accounting are now outsourced.”
The rise in demand for audit, accounting and similar skills is “a logical consequence of the declining pipeline of accounting majors and CPA candidates,” Jack Castonguay, an assistant professor of accounting at New York’s Hofstra University, said in an email, noting that “with accounting firm dynamics, largely insufficient salaries and work-life balance leaving firms struggling to attract people to the profession, the companies needing these people are now logically also struggling. You cannot disconnect the two.”
The narrower pipeline of new accounting graduates plus a high rate of retirement in the industry can leave the employees that are left overworked, increasing the likelihood of mistakes, according to a report by Fortune. “Significant attrition” in the accounting department for retail brand Tupperware contributed to a delay in the company’s ability to file its annual 10-K form on time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, for example, the second consecutive year the brand will be filing late.  
“Fewer grads lead to fewer public accountants which leads to fewer qualified and experienced hires for companies to place in their internal accounting-focused roles,” Castonguay said. “The dynamic makes me wonder how the temporary or outsourced staffing firms are finding candidates at their staffing firms. It’s possible that will be the next shoe to drop.”
On the labor side, notes Noto, “changing ways of working may also be affecting how employees want to work; while there may be shortages in certain areas, the company is not necessarily seeing a slowdown of new candidates joining their platform. 
Companies may also be more motivated to try out on-demand talent as they look to plug critical skill gaps in their workforces. According to the BTG’s report, 95% of executives surveyed said that they anticipate difficulty finding the “ideal combination of skills, capacity and expertise” inside their teams. Today’s companies “now are starting to really open up and look at how they can blend full time talent with more independent talent and tapping into those capabilities at the desired time.”
That includes how they might be approaching interim leadership; many firms are looking for on-demand talent to help provide critical support for larger-scale projects or initiatives, according to BTG, a category that makes up 27% of all talent requests. Interim leadership can provide benefits to companies who are in transition or who are undertaking major changes, according to a 2023 CFO Dive report citing BTG data from that year.
For more, see Interim CFO requests skyrocket 46%: BTG | CFO Dive.

According to an article in Chief Executive, making parity a priority, getting personally engaged and intentionally celebrating successes will ensure you don't lose your most talented female leaders.
“We often talk about the glass ceiling that prevents women from reaching senior leadership positions,” the article says. “But the reality is that women are thwarted much earlier in their attempt to climb the ladder to the top — there’s a broken rung far down the ladder that’s keeping them from taking that first step up to manager. Fixing this broken rung is the key to achieving parity. This broken-rung inequality surfaces early in women’s careers and compounds at each subsequent level.”

According to the article, there’s good news though. “Organizations have begun to recognize that gender parity in leadership roles is a competitive advantage and delivers better business outcomes. And yet, despite some hard-fought gains, women’s representation is not keeping pace. At the highest levels, less than 22% of leaders are women and, for women of color, the number is less than 6%.”

The article suggests three critical ways for top leadership in any organization to become part of the change that creates gender parity in leadership roles:
1. Make gender parity in leadership roles a strategic priority at every level in your organization starting at the CEO and board levels. You can do this by gathering data on your current state of representation at every rung of the ladder, starting from recruitment, all the way to the most senior levels.

“Create a cadence to measure and report progress of the entire pipeline every quarter from your current state to your desired state– with the same rigor as you measure other business outcomes such as your revenues and profits. If the pipeline is not making the progress for you to achieve your desired outcome, you must understand the root causes and allocate resources to fix them.”

Tie meaningful financial rewards for leaders to make meaningful progress and to find innovative ways to increase representation. “Remuneration drives behavior (both conscious and unconscious) and plays a critical role in where they allocate their limited time and attention, especially in our fast-paced and constantly disruptive workplaces where there are multiple and sometimes competing priorities.”

2. Get personally engaged. Participate in women’s events to demonstrate that they are a priority for you and deserve your precious time. The author delivers many keynotes at women’s conferences and only once has she had a large tech CEO on a panel with two women of color talking about the importance of and his commitment to having women in leadership roles.

It is a well-known fact that women will not apply for or accept a role until they feel 100% qualified for a role, says the article. “In today’s business climate, many leaders will accept their first answer as their final answer because they believe that is what the women truly want.” Oftentimes women underestimate their worth and their potential especially when they don’t see senior leaders who look like them, so they need you to see their potential and encourage them to take a chance on themselves and seek higher level roles
You should also become a visible sponsor by advocating for women in rooms where they are not present to set an example and encourage other leaders to do the same. “Show your trust and confidence in them by putting your credibility on the line and recommending them for leadership roles or growth assignments that will enable them to learn meaningful and relevant competencies, which will prepare them for future leadership roles.”

3. Intentionally celebrate success. Publicly recognize the leaders at your company who are making meaningful progress in advancing gender parity in leadership roles. Recognize both the individual who is promoting women as well as the women themselves. Intentionally seek women leaders who are performing well and stand them up as role models.

The article concludes that, “when you help achieve gender parity in leadership roles, women will finally be present in every room where decisions are being made — diminishing negative stereotypes and biases in the workplace once and for all. Your promotion of your female employees into leadership roles is not just for them, but also for all the other women who will come after you. You are helping blaze a trail for them and changing the world of business forever.”

A recent Journal of Accountancy article by Kevin Brewer notes that finance leaders are still concerned about the expanded use of generative AI programs, such as ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot, but more than a quarter of them say that hasn't stopped their organizations from experimenting with the technology.

According to the first quarter AICPA & CIMA Economic Outlook Survey, 71% of executives said they were at least moderately concerned about potential privacy, ethical or accuracy risks associated with the use of generative AI tools, with 42% expressing significant concern. The survey adds that the level of concern about the risks is about the same as the previous quarter. This quarter, only 6% of respondents expressed "no concern at all" about the tools.

The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) has announced the launch of the first comprehensive suite of global standards on ethical considerations in tax planning and related services, incorporated in the IESBA Code of Ethics.

According to an A´ril 15, 2024 news release, “following certification by the Public Interest Oversight Board (PIOB), the standards establish a clear framework of expected behaviors and ethics provisions for use by all professional accountants, and respond to public interest concerns about tax avoidance and the role played by consultants in light of revelations in recent years, such as the Paradise and Pandora Papers.” 

Once again, following up on yesterday’s news item – “Health, Safety Risks Are Top of Mind for Boards, Global Survey Show” – this D&O Survey, which elicited more than 900 responses from 52 countries around the world, provides valuable insights into the risks that are of concern to corporate directors and officers.

Notably, says the report, “social risks have climbed the ladder, with health and safety risks being considered a very or extremely important concern for 84% of respondents, up from an average of 45% over the previous three years. It now represents the number one overall concern, up from number five last year, knocking cyber-attacks off the top spot, where it has been for the last three years.”

The financial institutions results from the Global Directors´ and Officers’ Survey, published annually by WTW, a multinational insurance services company, show that, in the finance sector, corporate directors and executives believe cyberattacks still pose the most significant risk to their organizations this year. “However, strikingly for the first time this year we see health and safety coming in as a very close number four, with 83% of financial services and insurance respondents identifying it as a risk concern (compared to only 35% in last year’s survey).”

An article in ZDNET, written by David Gewirtz, says that we can harness the best of generative AI despite job disruption fears. “Generative AI has the potential to be a force multiplier for individuals working on projects. That said, it's hard to foresee whether AI will increase its value and threat, or find its value reduced – thereby also reducing its potential for world domination.”

This is undoubtedly a rapidly evolving field, Gewirtz says. “We've only dealt with generative AI and ChatGPT for just over a year, and we've seen the scope of improvement, pushback and ongoing problems.”

Gewirtz outlines some factors that could diminish the usefulness of these tools as we move forward:

Gurbir S. Grewal, The SEC’s Director, Division of Enforcement, pointed out, at the April 3, 2024 “The SEC Speaks” event, that “in the decade since we brought our first crypto enforcement actions, our approach has been consistent, principled, and tethered to the federal securities laws and legal precedent. After all, every lawyer here knows what the test is to determine whether a crypto asset was offered and sold as an “investment contract,” and therefore a security: it’s the Howey test. It’s not the “essential ingredients” test, or the Beanie Baby test, or some other test that industry folks might like to create for themselves.”

An April 4, 2024 article in WorkLife notes that navigating the hiring and job interview process is stressful for most candidates — but especially those who are neurodivergent. “Candidates with certain conditions, like autism spectrum disorder, may face heightened social anxiety and processing and communication delays during interviews. They also may take a job posting too literally and not even apply if they don’t meet the exact stated requirements. Or those with ADHD might seem to get easily distracted or off track, leading an interviewer to think they aren’t that interested in the role.”