Women now make up nearly 60 percent of U.S. accountants and auditors, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. They are drawn to the profession in large numbers. We reached out to three women leaders at different stages of long careers in accounting to get their perspective on what drew them in, what kept them, and what they see changing.

Most people enter accounting expecting a career built on technical precision: taxes, compliance, audit. What our colleagues described is a profession that demands something additional, and increasingly rewards it: relationships, judgment, and the ability to help clients make sense of their businesses. That is where leadership in accounting is being redefined.

Accounting Is a Relationship Business

Melissa Griffiths, CPA Alliance Relationship Director for the Western Region at BDO, came in expecting a numbers-driven field and found something different.

“What ultimately drew me to the profession was the people,” she says. “Accounting is often viewed as a numbers-driven field, but in reality it is a relationship business. The most successful professionals are those who can combine technical expertise with the ability to listen, communicate, and build trust. That was the biggest learning for me, as I didn’t realize how dynamic and exciting the profession is. Whether it’s advances in technology, the growth of advisory services, or changing client expectations, there is always something new to learn, and I find that fascinating.”

Griffiths’ career advice carries the same theme. “Success will be determined as much by the relationships you build as the technical skills you develop,” she says. “Early on, it’s easy to focus on becoming an expert and proving you belong in the room, and while those things matter, careers are rarely built on expertise alone. The people who open doors for you, challenge your thinking, provide mentorship, and advocate for your growth often have as much influence on your career trajectory as any certification or credential.”

She sees the same relational dynamic shaping how women are advancing now. “I think it’s the shift from simply having a seat at the table to having a voice in shaping the profession,” she says. “Women are increasingly influencing firm strategy, leading major practice initiatives, and defining what leadership looks like. The traditional one-size-fits-all model is giving way to a broader understanding that careers can be built in different ways, and many firms are recognizing that talented professionals may move between service lines. This flexibility is creating more opportunities for women to advance.”

Her advice for women starting out cuts against the instinct to wait for certainty. “Confidence is not the absence of uncertainty,” she says. “Many talented professionals, especially women, wait until they feel completely ready before pursuing a new opportunity. In reality, growth often happens before you feel ready. Some of the biggest career leaps come from trusting yourself, raising your hand, and being willing to learn along the way. Focus on growth instead of perfection, and remember that a career is a marathon, not a sprint.”

The Profession Rewards Performance

Candace Duncan entered public accounting planning to stay three or four years. She stayed forty.

“Accounting was a field where I saw many job opportunities,” says Duncan, a retired KPMG partner. “I started in public accounting and never planned to stay more than three or four years. After 40 years in the profession and more than a dozen different jobs, it was the perfect place for me and opened many doors personally and professionally. It is a great field for both men and women, as you are evaluated on your results.”

What Duncan expected was a practical career with clear demand. What she found was a profession that kept opening into something larger. The results-based standard she describes is what she credits for that: a measure that applies regardless of who you are, one that kept rewarding her as she moved across roles and built something she hadn’t planned on building.

The AICPA and CPA Practice Advisor’s Most Powerful Women in Accounting awards, now in their thirteenth year, recognize 25 leaders annually across firm sizes, specializations, and roles. The range of honorees reflects how broadly women have built senior influence in the profession when given consistent opportunity to do so.

AI Is Delivering on the Original Promise

Liz Scott’s first accounting job disappointed her. The compliance work felt disconnected from the depth she had hoped to bring to the profession.

“Compliance offered little reward compared to my initial hopes for the profession,” says Scott, an accounting technology consultant at Accounting Lifeline. “Now, for the first time, with AI agents, I am seeing that original dream come to life.”

Firms have moved quickly in the direction Scott describes. Wolters Kluwer’s 2025 Future Ready Accountant report, drawing on responses from more than 2,700 professionals worldwide, found that 93 percent of firms now offer advisory services, up from 83 percent in 2024. The 2025 Intuit QuickBooks Accountant Technology Survey found that 79 percent of accountants expect advisory work to grow in the next year, with 94 percent of those expecting higher firm revenue as a result.

For Scott, AI is what makes the deeper work achievable. “As a profession, we finally have access to the data and trend analysis we have always needed to make a real difference for businesses,” she says. “To provide true advisory services, we need access to all data points so we can see and advise on the full picture. With AI agents, we can connect these dots for the clients we serve.”

She’s specific about what has changed for her. “With AI, vibe coding is the skill needed to produce daily, actionable insights,” she says. “For me, accounting is alive with passion again because I can clearly see the future of where we are headed. No more spreadsheets.”

A Profession That Keeps Opening Doors

The picture these three women draw, across different decades and roles, is of a profession that keeps confounding its own reputation. Duncan stayed forty years in a field she planned to leave after four. Griffiths found a relationship-driven career where she expected technical work. Scott found AI delivering, finally, on the advisory depth she had hoped for when she started.

The profession is moving toward what all three describe it being at its best: relational, judgment-driven, and consequential for the clients it serves. Firms that build around that reality have something genuine to offer the next generation of professionals who will arrive, as most do, expecting something narrower than what accounting turns out to be.