New AICPA chair eager to seek solutions
Lexy Kessler is passionate about listening and applying her 40 years of professional experience to be an ambassador for the accounting profession.
Lexy Kessler, CPA, CGMA, is a self-described problem-solver who wants to make a difference. For her, finding a solution is fulfilling.
“[A challenge] is like a puzzle,” Kessler said. “How do you navigate it? How do you work through it? What are the things you bring to the table, to this equation? Maybe it’s not the solution you or the client would like to have, but you do the best you can with what we’ve got.”
Kessler’s enjoyment of problem-solving will be useful as she takes over as the 2025–2026 chair of both the AICPA board of directors and the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, representing AICPA & CIMA.
Kessler brings 40 years of experience into her new role. She has worked with the same core firm since college. When that firm, Rockville, Md.-based Aronson LLC, merged in 2023 with Aprio, Kessler became the Mid-Atlantic leader for the Atlanta-based top 25 firm. She remains an Aprio partner but has stepped away from the Mid-Atlantic leadership role to concentrate on her duties as AICPA and Association chair.
Kessler has been involved with the AICPA for about a dozen years, volunteering with various committees and taking on the role of chair for both the Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) Executive Committee and the National Pipeline Advisory Group (NPAG).
“Because of the work she did [with] the National Pipeline Advisory Group and because of her growing up in a firm that became a top 100 firm and merged into another top 100 firm, she’s seen the profession at different firm sizes,” said Lisa Simpson, CPA, CGMA, AICPA vice president—Firm Services, who worked closely with Kessler during her time with the PCPS Executive Committee.
Kessler’s years of public practice and AICPA committee involvement have given her a deep understanding of the challenges accounting and finance professionals face. From continuing efforts to enhance talent recruitment and retention to addressing questions about executive orders issued by President Donald Trump, Kessler is ready to listen and seek solutions, collaborating with various groups.
“She is grounded in what we’ve done as a profession, but she’s also very innovative. She has an eye on the future,” said William Balhoff, CPA/CFF, CGMA, former director and CEO at Postlethwaite & Netterville in Baton Rouge, La. “She’s fearless about doing the things we need to do to change and be better.”
Balhoff, who has known Kessler since the 1990s, helped steer her career in a new direction when he recommended she get involved with the AICPA’s firm membership section, also known as PCPS, during his year as the incoming chair of the AICPA (he served as the 2013–2014 AICPA chair).
“It was like my whole world opened up,” Kessler said of her PCPS experience, adding that she had no idea how much interacting with PCPS members would affect her thinking and personal growth. “It’s amazing what it does to you,” she said. “Just having a broad base of knowledge will serve you well in whatever you do.”
Kessler is excited to build on the work of the previous AICPA chairs and put her problem-solving skills to the test with a focus on increasing opportunities for the next generation of accountants and leaders, maintaining the profession’s reputation as trusted advisers for strategic planning about business operations, and supporting the profession’s continued transformation.
“I want to continue with being an ambassador … helping to move our profession one more step forward,” she said.
REMOVING RECRUITMENT BARRIERS AND DEVELOPING FUTURE LEADERS
Becoming an accountant after graduating from the University of Maryland provided Kessler with financial stability, upward mobility, and mentorship opportunities for which she’s incredibly thankful. Communicating these benefits to key audiences, particularly college graduates coming into the profession, is one step in the multifaceted challenge of recruitment and retention.
“When you hear her and see her, she just inspires,” Balhoff said. “When people on campuses see her and when she represents the profession, it’s going to inspire people to get involved and say, ‘Yeah, this is the right profession for me.'”
Kessler knows that in tackling the profession’s pipeline problem, she’s working against a nagging stereotype that accountants only file taxes. At a speaking engagement several years ago at her alma mater, Kessler presented the audience with a snapshot of her week’s calendar. “You see any accounting on there?” she asked, adding that the many client meetings on her schedule showed that accounting is “all about business. It’s about helping clients.”
son-in-law, Mark Li; daughter, Eleni Li; granddaughter, Ella Li; and husband, Iver. (PHOTO BY CONNOR MCLAREN/TIMELESS PICTURES)
It’s also about helping other accountants succeed, according to Kessler’s mentor and friend, Lisa Cines, CPA, CGMA, who served as Aronson’s managing officer for six years. “What Lexy is really passionate about is what she can do in supporting the growth and development of talent as an individual,” Cines said. “Where public accounting tends to herd people together, she’s great at recognizing the individual and allowing the individual to set their course and be successful.”
Under Kessler’s leadership, NPAG identified ways to accelerate talent pipeline solutions, addressing many root causes of the CPA pipeline problem: affordability challenges, negative perceptions, and lack of awareness with high school-aged students.
‘SKATE TO WHERE THE PUCK IS GOING’
To sustain the profession’s reputation as trusted advisers, Kessler recommends that accountants anticipate business decisions the way hockey players foresee play progressing on the ice.
“We need to be like a hockey player as a profession and skate to where the puck is going,” she said. “If we listen to where the market is telling us we need to be, we will be just fine.”
son, Tyler; daughter, Eleni; and husband, Iver. Kessler has visited five
continents. (PHOTOS BY CONNOR MCLAREN/TIMELESS PICTURES)
Kessler acknowledges that plans to sustain the profession overlap with bringing more individuals into accounting. There need to be more pathways that make the licensure process more accessible and seamless, she said.
Progress has been made on that front.
The AICPA and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) released an exposure draft in March that proposed a third path to licensure that allows individuals to earn their CPA license by obtaining a bachelor’s degree with requisite accounting and business courses, completing two years of professional experience, and passing the CPA Exam. Several states have passed legislation adding a third path.
“We’re in the middle of that right now … but it will take a few years to get us to where we need to be,” Kessler said. “We can continue working towards the North Star of sustainability of our profession. I do think it’s doable.”
WORKFLOWS ENHANCED THANKS TO TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS
Kessler supports the use of disruptive technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) to help inform clients’ data-driven decisions.
Specialized training in data analytics is in high demand at organizations. An advanced understanding of data analytics applied to financial and nonfinancial datasets can assist with decision-making efforts, forecast trends, identify risks, and more. Accountants can strengthen competencies through data analytics certificates and prepare for advisory roles and strategic planning for business operations.
her grandmother’s recipe. Baking is one of Kessler’s favorite pastimes. (PHOTO BY CONNOR MCLAREN/TIMELESS PICTURES)
“It’s about getting ahead, anticipating, and leading the business community as far as what direction we’re going,” Kessler said. “Again, skating to the puck. Where do we see it going?”
Kessler’s push to further embrace technology doesn’t surprise Kayla Kania, CPA, Mid-Atlantic regional leader at Aprio, who first met Kessler at her job interview in 2005. “I was sitting there, across from her, and she’s talking about how excited she is that Aronson is going paperless,” Kania said. “It resonated with me because someone that had been doing this job for 20-plus years at that point was excited about such a drastic change in her life. And that’s Lexy, always embracing change.”
But Kessler also supports guardrails to ensure the results of disruptive technology can be trusted.
AI has enhanced forecasting, communication, transaction management, data analysis, trend identification, security and compliance, and more, freeing up the time for accountants to spend more time with clients. But emerging technologies are not without challenges and ethical considerations, and human intervention will continually be needed.
“Technology will replace some of what we do, which gives us the opportunity to replace that to what we want to be doing,” Kessler said.
Technologies like AI are expanding the offerings and capabilities of accounting and finance professionals. The accountant’s value is strengthened to understanding, interpreting, and communicating the stories of each business.
BE YOUR OWN ADVOCATE AND BUILD COMMUNITY
Whether it be for personal or professional growth, Kessler believes everyone should be their own fiercest advocate.
Kessler acknowledges that it wasn’t easy starting her career in the 1980s and entering a profession dominated by men. Having women mentors helped her build community and learn balance between having a career and being a mother of two. “But I also had to advocate for myself,” Kessler said. “You can look for avenues for help, but it’s just as important to advocate for yourself and you have to be proactive with it.”
Self-advocacy took on a new meaning when Kessler was diagnosed with breast cancer six years ago. The early-stage cancer was caught during a routine mammogram, and Kessler’s treatment plan included chemotherapy and radiation. Had the cancer not been caught, it could have spread quickly.
“Prior to the diagnosis, we had just booked a trip with our kids to Antarctica,” Kessler said. She completed treatment successfully and made it to Antarctica — traveling to every continent is a bucket list item for Kessler. She’s made it to five out of seven.
“I don’t want my story to be about cancer because it’s not. But to ignore it doesn’t share who I am and what I have been through,” Kessler said. “The experience strengthened my resiliency to overcome challenges, which has helped me to also make progress in focusing on the bigger things, moving on from the smaller stuff, and trying to help others do the same.”
PATH TO SOLUTIONS STARTS WITH LISTENING
Kessler is coming into the role of AICPA chair during a time of unfolding uncertainty. Rapid changes enacted by the Trump administration have created questions, confusion, and potential challenges.
This current climate, Kessler said, feels reminiscent to when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. “They’re two very different things, but the impact [of both] is like trying to drink out of a firehose. It’s uncharted territory.”
Kessler will be watching closely how policies, regulations, and other laws will affect the work of CPAs and influence the next generation of accountants. Because so many groups — investors, business leaders, shareholders, stakeholders, and more — often turn to accountants during times of economic uncertainty, Kessler is steadfast on ensuring that accounting and finance professionals can offer wise counsel.
“There are a lot of financial issues that Congress doesn’t 100% understand, and [the AICPA] will be there to help them,” Balhoff said. “Lexy will be a great communicator to help that happen.”
Her best strategy is to default to what she’s good at — learning about people and problem-solving.
“I have learned how important it is to listen,” Kessler said. “To listen to what people are saying. To listen to what people are thinking. Because if you pull all of that together, somewhere in there are the solutions. We just need to listen.”
Lexy Kessler, CPA, CGMA
Term as AICPA chair began: May 14, 2025.
Title: Partner at Aprio.
Family: Husband, Iver Kessler; son, Tyler Kessler; daughter, Eleni Li; son-in-law, Mark Li; granddaughter, Ella Li.
Location: Rockville, Md.
Education: Bachelor of Science.
Fun fact: “I love baking. I decorated cakes for my children as they grew up, and I can’t wait to decorate cakes for my granddaughter, Ella, when she’s old enough.”
Best advice you ever received: Putting pressure on yourself is actually what makes you good at what you do. Just balance that level of pressure.
About the author
Jamie J. Roessner is a senior content writer at AICPA & CIMA. To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Jeff Drew at Jeff.Drew@aicpa-cima.com.
LEARNING RESOURCES
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June 9–12
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CPE SELF-STUDY
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AICPA & CIMA MEMBER RESOURCES
Articles
“Leading Change in Accounting: A Step-By-Step Guide,” JofA, Dec. 1, 2024
“A Tale of Transformation for Accounting Firm Business Models,” AICPA & CIMA, May 31, 2023
Podcast episodes
“AICPA & CIMA CEO About Accounting: ‘The Opportunities Are Endless’,” JofA, Feb. 18, 2025
“Seeing the Future: 4 CPA Leaders Look Ahead to 2025,” JofA, Dec. 19, 2024
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