Key Takeaways from the AICPA Conference and What to Watch in the Year Ahead

Last week, several WilliamsMarston professionals attended the 2025 AICPA Conference on Current SEC and PCAOB Developments, which took place in Washington, D.C. At the conference, stakeholders convened to discuss the newest issues, trends, and developments in accounting and financial reporting.

This year, attendees noted that the conference reinforced the trends that were already being seen in the industry, rather than introducing new rules. Messaging from the regulatory agencies in attendance focused on clarity, consistency, and practicality.

Simplification and Capital Formation at the SEC

SEC leadership emphasized their intention of encouraging capital formation and reducing unnecessarily burdensome requirements on smaller public companies seeking to go public. Chairman Atkins acknowledged that there are currently 40% fewer public companies than there were 20 years ago, and highlighted his intention to reverse that trend by reducing the weight and cost of being a public company.

To implement this goal, Chairman Atkins highlighted the SEC’s recent change of policy relating to mandatory arbitration provisions, activist investor reforms, and forthcoming cryptocurrency-related rules.

Reporting and Disclosure Outlook

When looking ahead to 2026, representatives from the SEC, FASB, and PCAOB indicated that financial professionals should expect a lot of rulemaking proposals to come in the new year, including a controversial proposal that would shift quarterly reporting to semi-annual reporting. The announced intention to revisit these established rules indicated that a mindset within these regulatory organizations in favor of refining existing rules over expansion of regulation.

Companies looking to measure up to these standards should remain focused on quality data and consistency in disclosures.

Artificial Intelligence: Ubiquitous and Evolving

Aside from regulations, artificial intelligence (AI) emerged as a dominant theme across sessions, cutting across discussions on governance, risk, and reporting. But despite the robust discussions and advisory committee recommendations, new prescriptive AI disclosure rules are unlikely to be proposed in 2026, as SEC leadership signaled that existing requirements already provide a sufficient framework for addressing material AI-related impacts.

Broader policy concerns remain across the industry around fragmented state-level AI regulation, with a growing preference for a more unified federal approach.

What to Expect in 2026

In 2026, financial professionals should expect a continued emphasis on pragmatic regulation and capital formation. While AI will remain a core governance and disclosure consideration, experts should not expect new disclosure rules or oversight regulations that go against the existing frameworks.

The changes expected in 2026 are likely to bring incremental change as the SEC responds to on-the-ground economic concerns, rather than sweeping reform.