Professional Services 2025: PETERS, STEPHANIE R.

Peters has led the state’s professional association for CPAs since 1997, representing nearly 13,000 members in both the public and private sectors.

The accounting industry has faced a dearth of workers in recent years; in 2024, Peters told Virginia Business that, while CPA staffing levels had become more stable in recent years, staffing levels industrywide were “still critical.”

But VSCPA made strides in helping with this challenge. In March, Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed legislation backed by the VSCPA to add a new pathway to CPA designation and ensure practice mobility for out-of-state CPAs. Now, prospective CPAs aren’t required to obtain 150 education hours to become certified in Virginia.

Peters serves on the executive committee for the Virginia Council on Economic Education and has served as president of the CPA Society Executives Association’s board and on the American Institute of CPAs’ Peer Review Board and the AICPA/National Association of State Boards of Accountancy’s Uniform Accountancy Act Committee.

Peters holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree from Virginia Commonwealth University. She is a graduate of Lead Virginia and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organization Management.

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