Keiter Leaders Featured in Article on Virginia’s New CPA Pathway

Virginia’s new CPA pathway opens doors for the next generation of accountants

A recent Virginia Business article explored how Virginia’s upcoming CPA licensure changes, which take effect in 2026, are reshaping the profession’s talent pipeline. The reform will allow candidates with a bachelor’s degree (120 credit hours) to become licensed CPAs after two years of work experience and passing the exam, removing the long-standing 150-hour requirement.

In the piece, Keiter’s Managing Partner Gary Wallace and Human Resources Director Mandy Nevius shared insights on how the change can help attract more students and young professionals to the field.

Nevius called the new pathway “a wonderful thing” and emphasized how it can make accounting more accessible to students who might otherwise be discouraged by the extra coursework and associated costs. She pointed out that many high schools no longer offer accounting classes, so “people don’t even know about this career,” and old stereotypes of accountants as “pocket protector” number-crunchers in dark offices can still persist. In reality, she emphasized, today’s accountants are professionals who interpret complex information and explain it clearly so they can help clients make better decisions.

At Keiter, that message is resonating. The firm generally engages 30 to 35 interns and employs between eight and sixteen recent graduates annually, making approximately twelve visits each year to Virginia universities for recruitment purposes. Nevius described the change as significant and said she is already seeing the impact of Virginia’s new CPA pathway, with more entry-level students looking for jobs than in past years.

Wallace noted that the old 150-hour requirement did not always translate to deeper accounting knowledge; He values his master’s degree from the University of Virginia for its tax focus and believes graduate study remains useful for those in highly specialized fields. At the same time, Wallace emphasized that a traditional master’s degree is not the only route to becoming a CPA as many professionals can gain comparable expertise by learning on the job with guidance from strong mentors.

Both leaders underscored the need for flexibility and real-world experience in developing the next generation of accountants. Early recruiting trends already suggest renewed student interest- an encouraging sign for firms and the profession across Virginia.

Read the full article here.

At Keiter, we remain focused on helping develop future CPAs through internships, mentorship, and campus engagement throughout Virginia. We support our CPA candidates in the following ways:

• Assistance towards the cost of a review program of your choice (up to $2700)
• Paid time off for test taking days (up to 32 hours)
• Bonus for passing the exam ($4,000 for one year, $3,000 after a year- includes exam fees, registration, etc.)

Learn more about accounting careers at Keiter.