Just eight weeks into his new role as CEO of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, Mark Koziel is already juggling a range of hot button issues that don’t exactly square with the industry’s staid reputation.
From concerns about the Trump administration’s reportedly deep job cuts at the Internal Revenue Service impacting service and uncertainty about the future of the Public Company Accounting Standards Board — the U.S. audit watch dog that grew out of the Enron accounting scandal — to CPA licensure reform, Koziel is taking the reins of AICPA as finance professionals are grappling with a number of looming changes.
That’s made for a busy start for Koziel who hasn’t been shy about speaking his mind. He made headlines with his comments that the association is preparing for the possibility that the PCAOB Board might be folded into the Securities and Exchange Commission. Last week, amid reports that more than 6,000 IRS workers were expected to be fired, the AICPA issued a release with a statement from its new leader reiterating its long-held priority of ensuring the IRS has the resources it needs to allow tax preparers to do their jobs and serve taxpayers.
In a wide ranging interview with CFO Dive Koziel tackled some of those tough topics. When it comes to the PCAOB, he said it was possible that the watchdog could be “rolled up” into the SEC with Paul Atkins poised to become SEC chair, noting that Atkins had previously spoken out against the watchdog back when he was an SEC commissioner.
“Based on what we see in D.C., everything is on the table,” Koziel said, adding that he doesn’t have a position on what should happen with the PCAOB. “That is for someone else to decide. Our job is to make sure that our members can still serve the public in a way that allows for the trust in the financial information from public companies.”
Laying down a marker
Koziel said he has not yet heard from its members of any unusual delays stemming from the recent IRS disruptions. But he characterized the release as “laying down a marker” to signal that the AICPA was concerned and on the lookout for adverse impacts. “Our first priority is that our members are able to serve their clients,” Koziel said in the interview, noting that the IRS has assured the AICPA that they have the staff to get their jobs done during the busy season. In addition, he said it appeared layoffs would be in the collection and enforcement sections, two areas that aren’t as involved in day-to-day operations.
Asked whether the AICPA would reach out to the Trump administration if difficulties related to services emerge, he demurred. “That’s not our focal point. I don’t have a bat phone to the White House but we will be vocal,” he said, noting that there are other issues that the group will be pushing for such as automatic extensions. For now, with the March 15 tax filing deadline for partnerships or S corporations approaching along with the April 15 deadline for individuals and C corporations, he said the AICPA wants to give the issue a little bit of time to play out.
‘Members have spoken’ on 150 hours
Koziel is also taking the reins as a controversial shift toward reforming CPA licensure is gaining momentum. This month Virginia became the second state after Ohio to pass new CPA pathways legislation that offers alternative routes to becoming a CPA that don’t require 150 hours of college credit.
The push to offer alternatives to the requirement — effectively five years of college — previously drew pushback from the American Institute of CPAs, which raised objections related to concerns about a hodgepodge of state requirements making it difficult for accountants to work in states outside the one where they gained their license. But last year the AICPA pivoted to support the shift.
Asked what his views were on the emerging lchanges in licensure designed to address the accounting talent shortage, he said he takes his lead from the members who support it. “The members have spoken. It’s clear this is the direction that many have wanted to go,” Koziel said in the interview. But he noted that AICPA needs to help members navigate the new system in the transition period, making sure that there are guardrails around a system called “automatic mobility” that allows members to work across states.
A homecoming
In taking the CEO position, Koziel, 56, is joining the AICPA for the second time in his career. Prior to returning, he most recently served as president and CEO of Allinial Global, a major accounting firm association, according to his LinkedIn profile. He started his career with a three-year-stint in the audit and accounting group of Lumsden & McCormick in Buffalo, New York and also worked in media planning before joining the American Institute of CPAs in 2006, working his way up over a 14-year-period to senior roles such as EVP of firm services.
The appointment of Koziel also represents a big change at the top for the AICPA: his predecessor and mentor Barry Melancon held the role of CEO for three decades. The Durham, North Carolina-based organization saw its own structure change in 2017 when the American Institute of CPAs and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants were combined as the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, which has 597,000 AICPA and CIMA members, candidates and registrants located in 188 countries and territories.
The breadth of Koziel’s responsibilities, coming at this time of great change for U.S. policy is notably substantial, according to Omar Roubi, an instructor of accounting at the University of Colorado Denver. “I can only imagine how difficult it will be for him and his team to focus on all of the things,” Roubi said in an email, noting that he believed any role that Koziel plays with regard to the PCAOB’s future will define his tenure.
For his part, during the interview Koziel used humor to deflect a suggestion that he has more than a full plate of work ahead of him. “Nah, accounting’s boring,” he told CFO Dive with a laugh.
