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AI
KPMG has a new way of pushing staff to make breakthroughs using AI — handing out cash prizes [Business Insider]
The firm will award “outsized monetary awards” for the most “exciting ideas” that create value for clients or enable KPMG’s back office to operate more efficiently, said Fisher. Fisher declined to specify the exact dollar amounts, but he said that, in most cases, the cash prizes would be “materially larger than an end-of-year variable compensation award.”
An economist’s guide to taxing AI that replaces human labor [CT Insider (Opinion)]
All this rapid technological change is having impacts not simply on corporate bottom lines, these changes have the potential to transform human social interaction permanently and dramatically, in ways that even the industrial revolution of the 18th- and 19th centuries failed to do. Primary among these changes is the elimination of wide swaths of jobs Americans have taken for granted. This includes jobs in the professions such as accounting, finance, education, law, and even medicine. China and the United States militaries are envisioning a world where even human soldiers are not necessary when AI soldiers can do the job. We are not prepared for these changes.
Talent
More CEOs envision hiring than firing due to AI, CEO survey finds [Axios]
9% of CEOs plan to reduce their workforce because of AI investments this year, according to the 2026 KPMG U.S. CEO Outlook Pulse Survey. 55% expect to increase hiring in 2026 as a direct result of AI, while 36% expect no change.
Inside PwC Canada’s skills-based reset while keeping performance human [Human Resources Director]
In a sector racing to integrate AI, Boisvert recognized the importance of technological transformation — but she’s firm that skills, not technology, are the key to organizational change. “We are very clear that AI is here to empower humans, not replace them,” she says. “Technology gave us skill and insights, but judgment, trust, and accountability always sit with people.” With PwC, Chief People Officer Sonia Boisvert says she’s focused on building a skills-based organization. “Skills are becoming our foundations in hiring, development, and career progression,” she says. “We’re moving away from static roles and focusing instead on the skills people bring, how those skills evolve, and how they can be applied in different contexts — this creates more agility, inclusion, and opportunity for our people.”
PwC Australia shifts Assurance graduate intake to meet expected demand for diversified skills [PwC]
PwC Australia has announced it will broaden its Assurance graduate recruitment, aiming for 50% of its 2027 intake to come from non-accounting backgrounds. This decision is a response to two urgent challenges: a projected shortage of accounting talent and the rapidly changing demands brought on by AI and technological disruption.
Sad News
California family wants answers after loved one found dead in French Quarter [4WWL]
For a week now, friends and family members of Ameet Kapoor have been asking WWL Louisiana to tell his story. The 49-year-old tourist from the San Francisco area was last seen in the French Quarter in the early hours of Friday, March 6, and originally considered missing. The Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office later confirmed that he died. Kapoor’s family says he’s a partner with the accounting firm of Ernst and Young. His LinkedIn profile says he is an international tax/transfer pricing professional with 20 years of auditing and taxation experience in public accounting and government tax administration. His family describes him as a brilliant, warm, life of the party, who leaves behind a wife and young son. Friends say he’s a very well-known professional internationally and locally, in California.
Meanwhile, in the Middle East
Deloitte remains fully operational amid tensions with safety-first approach [Consultancy.me.com]
Deloitters in the Middle East are still hard at work despite, uh, regional disruptions since February 28.
Deloitte has now joined the list of companies providing such reassurances, stating that it “remains fully operational in the Middle East” and is “dedicated to supporting our communities and helping our clients navigate this difficult time.” “The safety of our people remains our highest priority as we monitor developments closely and act in line with relevant local guidance.”
PwC, Deloitte evacuate Dubai offices as regional tensions escalate – report [International Accounting Bulletin]
Major consultancies PwC and Deloitte have evacuated their offices in Dubai’s business districts amid escalating tensions in the region due to the ongoing conflict in Iran. The companies took the step after Iran warned it could strike economic and financial assets, Daily Sabah reported, citing AFP.
Gender Equality
Glass Ceiling Shattered? [CPA Journal]
By purely looking at the trends in the accounting profession, it appears that the glass ceiling initiative had a significant impact in terms of gender equity. In 1989, 4.1% of partners in the nation’s largest accounting firms were female. The AICPA’s 2021 Trends report stated that 39% of partners in accounting/finance functions of US CPA firms were female in 2020. This was further supported by the 2023 NYCPA-Rosenberg Survey that reported that the percentage of female partners in all size firms of the participating New York CPA firms in 2022 was 26%. These reports suggest that the accounting profession has positively benefited from the glass ceiling initiative, with the percentage of female partners increasing nearly tenfold on a national level over this 30-year period, increasing from 4.1% in 1989 to 39% in 2023.
News
Richard Kahn, Epstein’s accountant, tells Congress he didn’t know about abuse, saw no red flags in spending [CBS News] An accountant who worked closely with Jeffrey Epstein for more than a decade and serves as an executor of his estate told members of Congress on Wednesday that he “was not aware of the nature or extent of Epstein’s abuse of so many women until after Epstein’s death.” Richard Kahn was one of Epstein’s closest associates in his final years, managing his finances, investments and other minutiae, such as renovations on Epstein’s private Caribbean island. He was subpoenaed to appear before the House Oversight Committee, and testified behind closed doors that he did not socialize with Epstein. “Had I learned of any of his horrific behavior, I would have quit work immediately,” he said, according to his prepared opening statement, which was provided to CBS News.
Tax
New Washington tax law could affect Seahawks, Schneider says [ESPN]
Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider said he believes Washington state’s new income tax on high earners will eventually have a negative impact on the team’s ability to sign free agents. The Seahawks have been one of eight NFL teams that play in states with no income tax, along with the Las Vegas Raiders, Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, Tennessee Titans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Mamdani Wants New York Estate Tax Threshold Cut 90% to $750,000 [Bloomberg]
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani wants to slash New York state’s estate tax exemption threshold by almost 90%, from a more than $7 million limit to $750,000, and raise the top estate tax rate from 16% to 50%. The proposal was included among nearly a dozen potential revenue-raising ideas Mamdani’s office circulated in a memo in recent weeks to state lawmakers negotiating the state budget.
IRS paper check changes trigger tax refund delays for more than 830,000 filers [CNBC]
House Ways and Means Committee Democrats this week sent a letter to Treasury Secretary and acting IRS Commissioner Scott Bessent, seeking answers about the more than 830,000 IRS notices sent to filers about refund delays for paper payment requests. “Having reviewed the IRS notice and called the IRS phone lines, we learned that there is no simple process for these taxpayers to request an immediate release of their refund by paper check without waiting at least 10 weeks,” wrote Reps. Danny Davis, D-Ill., and Terri Sewell, D-Al., who each serve as ranking subcommittee members.
Filing taxes is painful enough without worrying that your accountant is judging you [MarketWatch]
“A CPA has to normalize awkward topics,” said Kat Grier, an Atlanta-based certified financial planner at Merit Financial Advisors. “You have to ask open-ended questions and be vulnerable. That opens the door for them to be vulnerable back.” For instance, tax preparers might reveal how they used to measure their self-worth by how much they earned — and feel shame seeing their peers with nicer cars or bigger houses. This type of honesty can spur clients to confess their own hangups about wealth and money.
White House: No Permanent Tax Cut on Rich [