Society Puts Finger on the Pulse of CPA Journal Readers

Survey Shows Journal’s Strong Points

By Simon Eskow

Readers of The CPA Journal overwhelmingly look to the monthly magazine as an authoritative source that makes them feel up-to-date on professional issues, especially in taxation, financial planning and audit and attest matters, according to a survey commissioned by the New York State Society of CPAs.

The survey—the first poll of CPA Journal readers in at least a decade—indicated respondents find the magazine’s articles practical, with information that many readers cannot find anywhere else.

“We did find really strong feelings that the magazine is held in high regard,” said Steven Edelman, chairman of the CPA Journal Business Activity Committee. “It really helped give us a feeling for who reads the magazine and how they read it. The question becomes how can we use the results to help with editorial.”

Magazine staff members were already in the middle of a redesign when the NYSSCPA commissioned Research USA, Inc., to conduct the survey in January. The survey results confirmed for staff members that readers have responded well to the magazine’s new look and tailored editorial content, while the CPA Journal Business Activity Committee will consider in June what steps the NYSSCPA might take to improve the magazine even further.

“The survey reaffirmed the concept of who is reading the Journal, why and how it helped them,” said Editor-in-Chief Robert Colson. The survey indicated that the heavier readers tend to be CPAs within the first five years of their careers—who want to learn more about the profession—and older CPAs who want to keep up with new developments.

Colson said that appealing to the wide group of readers is tricky. The Journal enjoys a reputation for independence on everything from tax law to statements from the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

“We want to continue to be a source of analysis, critique and debate, and we’re about the only publication out there that does this,” Colson said.

Survey Says

The polling organization worked with NYSSCPA Marketing Manager Peggy Urso to send surveys to 1,000 of the magazine’s roughly 40,000 readers; the survey enjoyed a response rate of almost 50 percent. Respondents were enticed by automatic inclusion in a drawing for a PalmPilot PDA.

According to the survey, 62.5 percent of the respondents have read three of the previous four issues, with a majority skimming the articles until they found a topic of interest to them. In this way, 71.9 percent of the readers “usually or sometimes find new ideas or gain new ways of thinking,” according to a summary of the survey. Most of the readers—about 85 percent—say The CPA Journal makes them feel “up to date” and even more—90 percent—call the magazine “an authoritative source of reliable information.”

Analysis of the survey indicated that 87 percent of the readers find the magazine somewhat or very useful to their professional needs, with government, not-for-profit employees, readers under 45 and senior management finding the articles most useful.

About 90 percent of the readers are strongly or moderately interested in personal finance and taxation, and 83 percent are very interested in accounting issues. Respondents feel the Journal should focus on discussion of tax policy (86.2 percent), practical implications of accounting standards (84.1 percent) and opinions and positions on issues affecting the accounting profession (79.9 percent). Almost 76 percent place a high importance on New York business and economic issues.

The survey also set out to measure what kind of article the respondents are likely to read. Most are very or somewhat likely to read short opinion and perspective pieces (82.4 percent) and more are interested in short articles on matters of professional interest (92 percent).

The Journal Is the Destination

While the survey affirmed what The CPA Journal staff believed about the magazine’s readership, some results were surprising, and the staff is looking into how to use that information to help. Colson said he was surprised that readers appear to be more interested in opinion pieces than interviews.

The survey also questioned whether readers—the vast majority of whom are NYSSCPA members—would be interested in receiving continuing professional education (CPE) through study of and examination on articles appearing in the magazine. More than half said they would be willing to pay for such a service. The percentage was even higher for respondents under the age of 45. Colson said the staff is determining demographic information for the possibility of offering CPE services through the publication.

Survey information also will help the magazine from a business perspective, according to Edelman.

“We think this will help us focus the editorial content of the magazine and help us attract new advertisers,” Edelman said.
Meanwhile, Colson said, the magazine will continue with its redesign—which incorporated a switch to four-color press throughout the entire magazine last year, and a reorganization of content into topical departments.