CliftonLarsonAllen, a Top 10 Firm with offices in Minneapolis, is supporting recent legislation in Minnesota that would lower the traditional 150-hour requirement for CPA licensure.
In February, the Minnesota Society of CPAs got state lawmakers to introduce legislation to create three paths to licensure: the traditional 150 credit hours and one year of work experience; plus new proposals for 120 credits and two years of work experience; or 120 credits and both one year of work experience and 120 CPE credits, earned concurrently (
"CLA fully supports the Minnesota legislation," said CLA CEO Jen Leary. "I personally believe it's sparking some great conversation. To increase the pathway to the CPA exam is a priority of CLA's, and it's a priority of mine."
Objections have been raised to getting rid of the 150-hour requirement, with the American Institute of CPAs noting, for example, that it could imperil the ability of a CPA to move across state lines and practice in other states.
"I believe that the No. 1 issue that has been noted is mobility," said Leary. "That is true if Minnesota is the only state that goes down this road. I think it's too soon to say, because there are other stakeholders and states that are having conversations, which I think is healthy for us."
She believes the legislation could be helpful in attracting young people to the accounting profession.
"One of the misconceptions about the Minnesota legislation is that it's looking to get rid of the 150," said Leary. "That's not true. When you read the legislation, you see they're providing what they say is three pathways. And the one pathway that would be most intriguing to the high school students that I speak to is the 120 hours, plus the two years of work experience. It's the same one that I had the opportunity to become a CPA in, and this is why I'm so passionate about it because I am a product of a college education with a ton of student loans and not a lot of financial support. I couldn't have afforded another year of college."
She has been talking to high school students to get them interested in the accounting profession. Last month, CLA launched a high school internship program in conjunction with Future Business Leaders of America (
"I see that when I speak with high school and college students, many of them are working while they go to school," said Leary. "The idea of being able to be equipped for a great career as soon as possible so they can start earning is definitely a priority. For that reason, and others, I support the Minnesota legislation wholeheartedly. And I think it is a great idea to create additional pathways."
Along with Guylaine Saint Juste, president and CEO of the National Association of Black Accountants, Leary recently met with the leaders of accounting departments at three historically Black colleges and universities. Leary wrote about the experience in a
"When we were at that roundtable that we hosted with NABA, we were talking about the 360-degree problem that we have, which is the pipeline," said Leary. "I believe that the certification process is definitely one of them. We also need to look at how we're supporting students when they're in high schools. We have a lack of accounting teachers at the high school level, so that is a problem. We also recognize that accounting faculty in colleges and universities have an opportunity to continue to be supported by the business community. We were talking about exploring potential internships for accounting faculty, to keep their skills top notch, and to keep us connected to the universities. We also talked about the branding issue that we recognize. It is not seen as a career that is attracting the masses right now, which is one of the indicators that we see. There's no silver bullet here, but we are ready to do the hard work to get 360 degrees around this problem."
CLA is launching its high school internship program in over a dozen locations around the country and planning a social media campaign to promote it.
"You will see CLA leaning into a number of different initiatives," said Leary. "One is support of Minnesota and the legislation. Two is the high school internship program that we are launching in 15 markets. Three, our increased connectivity to our colleges and universities, specifically around those that have diverse populations, to see how we can support those students and their faculty, and a high focus on our messaging and social media presence, how we can help with the branding of accounting and the CPA into the future. We're going to be a firm to watch this summer. We have our high school students very well connected into a program to create the social media platforms we need into the future. I'm really excited to see what they come up with. That will be something we launch probably in the September timeframe."
Bringing in the young
Firms are offering higher starting salaries to try to recruit new accountants, but it's not necessarily attracting more young people to the field.
Despite more attractive starting salaries, accounting is still not the dream job of most young people.
"There is an interest in getting high school students career exposure now," said Leary. "That is something that we will absolutely look to foster even more. But then when we get to really talk to them about what they want in their career, accounting is not the No. 1, 2 or 3, or maybe even the No. 5 [choice], so we have to work on getting that up to the top three. The things that are trending right now are things like finance, data analytics, data science, forensics — those are very attractive. I believe we could be in that top three if we talk more about the power of a career in accounting in a different way. The initial thought is very focused on the compliance work we do, which is very important , but when you think about the future of client service, it's going to be digitally led, and it's going to have a very strong consulting slant to it. And that is something that is attractive to the younger generation."
Social media is having an impact on young people's career aspirations, with seemingly everyone wanting to be an influencer in some way.
"The No. 1 thing when I ask high school students what they want to do in the future, outside of this world, is be an influencer," said Leary. "Part of the CLA internship program is that we're going to help them understand how to start a business and how to do all the accounting for it, and what's the business model behind being a social media influencer. We're trying to take things that are relevant to high school students today, and then show them how accounting is really a language that can help them be successful in many different things. If they choose to build a career with us in the future, great. But if they just choose to understand more about accounting, I think that's a win as well."
As accountants, they may be able to help the various social media influencers who may be
CLA has also been prioritizing the recruitment of diverse young people to the firm, with the help of NABA and other organizations.
"I'm proud to say we have a team of 10 people who are exclusively focused on ensuring that we are building a strong workforce and we have all of our diversity efforts prioritized," said Leary. "That is a big investment for us from where we were just two years ago. That's in addition to the investments that we're making with NABA."
CLA is going to be attending NABA's convention in New Orleans this summer and will be exploring other conferences where it can partner with the Association of Latino Professionals for America, and Ascend, a group for Pan-Asian professionals.
Leary isn't deterred by the recent backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, as well as environmental, social and governance initiatives, in states like Florida and Texas that are introducing legislation aimed at dismantling DEI and ESG programs in corporate America.
"CLA is about building a sustainable organization," said Leary. "I say all the time, we are built to last. We've been in business for 100 years. We'll be in business for 100 more. So making sure that we have a strong workforce means that we have a diverse workforce, so we will continue to pour into those efforts. And looking forward to how CLA is a good steward to the communities that have frankly built us is very important to us. When we talk about ESG, we talk a lot about sustainability, how we can give back and really what impact we're having within our communities."
During a board meeting last month, the members talked about increasing the firm's investment in the CLA Foundation, which provides grants coast to coast.
"For us, it's about sustainability and building the workforce of the future," said Leary.
The firm is continuing to grow and recently hit $1.663 billion in annual revenue, putting it at No. 8 on Accounting Today's 2023 list of the Top 100 Firms. Leary is expecting it to hit $2 billion soon.
"It took us almost 100 years to hit our first billion on Halloween of 2019," said Leary. "But by the end of this year, we'll hit our second billion, so 100 years to get one, four years to get two. We are doing things a little bit differently, investing in the next generation."
