2026 RESEARCH REPORT • ACCOUNTING MOVE PROJECT

Caught in the Middle

How caregiving pressures are reshaping women’s careers in public accounting.

Every firm in this year’s study has watched people cut back hours to care for someone. Nearly half have seen caregiving slow a path to partnership. Not one has measured what it costs. The 17th annual Accounting MOVE Project looks at the hidden career cost of caregiving and what firms can do before talented people quietly disappear from the leadership pipeline.

  • 2026 benchmarks for women’s advancement across public accounting firms.
  • Real examples of how firms keep careers moving through caregiving
  • Practical next steps and a caregiving resource directory

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Flexibility keeps people employed. It doesn’t always keep their careers moving.

Accounting firms have spent years talking about the talent shortage. This year’s research looks at the people already inside: experienced professionals raising children, caring for aging parents, or both at once. Firms have answered with flexibility. The harder question is what happens to someone’s career after they use it.

What caregiving is doing to careers

100% have seen employees reduce hours or change schedules to care for someone
47% have seen caregiving slow advancement toward promotion or partnership
76% say the career impact falls mostly on women
0% have quantified the cost of caregiving-related turnover

Source: 2026 Accounting MOVE Survey. Averages across participating firms. Firm-level responses are weighted equally.

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INSIDE THE REPORT

What you'll find

  • Why caregiving is getting attention now. The demographic, economic, and workplace forces bringing a longstanding issue into sharper focus.
  • The career cost firms can’t see. Three in four firms say caregiving falls mostly on women, but most can’t say whether women pay a bigger price for it. Why that gap matters.
  • When flexibility works. What separates flexibility that protects a career from flexibility that only keeps someone employed.
  • Show them the map. Few firms have a formal alternative path to partnership, and even fewer say those paths are clearly communicated.
  • The legal picture. An outside legal perspective on caregiving, leave, and what firms owe employees.
  • The four MOVE factors. 2026 benchmarks for Money, Opportunity, Vital Supports, and Entrepreneurship.
  • Your next MOVE. Practical steps for your career paths, pipeline, and managers, plus a caregiving resource directory.
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2026 RECOGNITION

Meet the 2026 Best CPA Firms for Women and for Equity Leadership

Meet the firms recognized for making measurable progress in women’s advancement and leadership representation.

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