Talent Pipeline and Development of Women Leaders in Accounting

It’s no secret that our industry needs leadership talent, successors who want to be CPA firm partner-level contributors. There’s a big group of them right at the doorstep, but we continue to struggle to bring the number of women leaders in accounting organizations anywhere near parity with the number in the profession.

According to the 2025 IPA survey, women account for 57% of total staff. However, they account for only an average of 24%-27% of partners in firms over $5M, according to the 2025 Rosenberg Survey. That’s a notable gap.

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I appreciate that the trend has been going upward overall throughout the last decade, and I also want to highlight that, as an industry, we have the opportunity to advance more women to leadership roles where we need talent.

It’s common to think there’s not much more that can be done, and that it’s on women to figure out that leap to leadership, especially if they want to get promoted while balancing personal interests. Taking the back seat is one approach, but if you’re looking for some new ideas to further develop your leadership pipeline, here are a few tactics to consider:

1) Engage in sponsorship

Different from coaching and mentoring, sponsorship is when one leader or executive takes the time to provide growth and leadership opportunities for a specific future leader over a long period of time (several years or more).

They don’t just tell them “you should go attend two mixers this year.” They put the future leader’s name forward to lead projects (client and internal); they take them along to sales calls and networking events and actively introduce them to business contacts of all ages; they delegate leadership roles that may be outside the protégé’s comfort zone, knowing the experience will be valuable. Mentoring and coaching conversations are often part of sponsorship, but sponsorship is more impactful and doesn’t wait for the aspiring leader to find their own opportunities.

Have you reached out to someone you see as having that future-leader potential and assigned them work opportunities where they can demonstrate their skills to others at the firm and develop faster? Choose one person and give it a shot.

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2) Honor flexible work arrangements

This isn’t new, but it’s often not well executed. Firms offer reduced schedules but still expect the same level of responsiveness and client work, so new parents (for example) end up working the same number of hours as before the schedule change but only get paid 80% under their new arrangement. Or, if they do take the time off, they’re classified as people who aren’t career-focused or don’t want to pull their weight. This often sidetracks or delays promotions.

Certainly, a person who is getting more overall experience typically does have a stronger skill set. But I caution firms to look at true development and career interest when evaluating leadership aptitude, not just hours worked. It is possible to learn, grow, and achieve in the workplace with a reduced schedule. The arrangement should also allow for a proportional reduction in charge-hour requirements, so that learning, leadership, and development of other staff can all continue – rather than cutting only the non-charge portion of someone’s schedule.

Have you asked any of your flexible-work-arrangement team members how they feel the program is going for them? That’s a great place to start.

3) Set specific goals

Like any change or area of focus, the clearer you are about the result you’re seeking, the more likely you are to get there. Define what you envision your firm’s leadership ranks looking like in the next 5–10 years, and what it will take to get there. If you’d like to add two women partners, have you identified who they are? You may need to find three potential candidates in case one of them doesn’t work out.

Bonus: Recruiting entry-level and lateral-hire women is easier if these young professionals can see others like them in leadership positions.

What has your firm found to be successful in developing women leaders? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.