March Issue

Society Participates in National Vision Conference

By Joanne S. Barry

Officers, executive directors, and other key staff members from all 50 state societies discussed the vision for the future of the accounting profession at an AICPA national vision conference held in late January in Tucson, Ariz.

More than 150 participants examined implementation strategies to align the vision with the goals of their members' firms, businesses, and organizations. This "Vision-to-Strategy" conference was coordinated by the CPA Vision Team, headed by Tom Hood, executive director of the Maryland Association of CPAs.

The core vision, purpose statement, and national top five core values, services, and competencies were created last year as a result of national future forums with input from each of the 50 state societies and three jurisdictions. (See the accompanying sidebar for the results.) The vision process was a professionwide initiative to address the challenge of defining the future for CPAs and the clients and businesses they serve.

At the Tucson conference, participants developed collaborative strategies to begin implementing the vision. Discussion focused on several themes, including the following:

* The profession is at a critical juncture, and this is an unprecedented time of opportunity for CPAs.

* Strong alliances and collaboration between the state societies and the AICPA could accelerate progress in helping members profit from these opportunities.

* CPAs must move in an efficient and effective manner toward the marketplace. The most successful future for the profession lies in moving from information-based services to higher economics-based services in the emerging knowledge age.

"The message is clear that the profession's future success is dependent upon the delivery of higher value to clients and employers," Hood said. "We who serve and support the profession need to do everything we can to enable our members to deliver that value."