Each year, we cover Baruch College's Financial Reporting Conference, which brings the leading names at accounting standards setters and regulators together with interested practitioners. The discussion often revolves around recent accounting standards and their implementation, and this year's conference was no exception. But another topic of interest to many of the day's speakers was the wide array of risks that go beyond accounting and financial reporting issues to the most significant emerging threats to business operations and performance.

The importance of cybersecurity—highlighted by the proliferation of privacy breaches and accompanying monetary losses—was on the minds of many speakers. Cybersecurity represents a material issue for all businesses. The standards governing its reporting and assurance, and thus the role of accountants and auditors in the process, are still being developed. Now is the time for CPAs to shape the conversation.

Another topic of concern was the ability of financial reporting standards and processes to keep pace with the marketplace. Concerns about transparency, international comparability, and sustainable practices featured prominently in the debate over the direction of financial reporting. What kinds of information are users looking for? And what kinds of information are businesses willing to report and provide assurance on? These questions are perennially part of the professional dialogue, but have come to the fore-front as standards setters and regulators look beyond recently completed projects and focus on the agenda of the future.