AICPA’s New Leadership Position Personifies Commitment to Small Firms Society Member Fills the Post

AICPA’s New Leadership Position Personifies Commitment to Small Firms Society Member Fills the Post

Hoping to forge a stronger relationship with a critical and large segment of its membership, the American Institute of CPAs has launched a new initiative to address the needs and challenges of small CPA firms. New York State Society of CPAs member James C. Metzler has been appointed to help lead the effort.

A longtime member of the public accounting community, Metzler will serve as vice president–small CPA firm interests, supervising the AICPA’s firm practice management initiatives. His responsibilities will include advocating for small firms on legislative matters, acting as a liaison between them and the Institute, and helping CPAs deliver quality services to their clients. Metzler will report to Alan Anderson, AICPA senior vice president–member and public interests.

“Small firms—that’s America,” Metzler said.

He should know. As a partner of 24 years with Buffalo-based Gaines Metzler Kriner & Company LLP, Metzler, a former president of the NYSSCPA Buffalo Chapter, says he can remember sitting around dining room tables with owners of multigenerational businesses, advising them on a number of areas from estate planning to information technology. The experience served him well and helped him become a multidisciplinary practitioner.

“With a small firm, you roll up your sleeves and become a jack-of-all trades,” said Metzler, a member of the AICPA’s Governing Council.

The Buffalo native also was founder and chairman of IT consulting company GEMKO Information Group Inc, a division of Gaines Metzler Kriner, and cofounded ConvergenceCoaching LLC, a leadership and marketing consulting company for small and mid-sized CPA firms.

The Job Ahead

“It’s clear that there is a recognition by the Institute that we need to build a tighter small-firm community,” Metzler said, when asked why the AICPA decided to create the leadership position. “…It’s no secret that our membership has been clambering for that, wanting us to be more connected.”

To help make the connection, Metzler said he and Anderson have developed a number of objectives. These include strengthening the small-firm environment, creating more channels of feedback and focusing on every area of the AICPA that has an impact on small firms and their clients, ensuring that Institute objectives are compatible with their interests.

“The rub has been that something comes out of the Institute and (the response is), ‘Oh my gosh, that doesn’t apply to my clients,’” Metzler said. “Now there is an inside person with a position that will put small and medium firm interests on the table.”
Metzler also plans to get out in the trenches, traveling around the country holding forums and discussions about AICPA programs and priorities and getting responses from the Institute’s small-firm membership.

If the numbers are any indication, Metzler will be traveling a lot. Of the more than 330,000 members who belong to the AICPA, approximately 39 percent, or 131,000, work in public practice. The majority of these individuals belong to firms with 10 or fewer AICPA members.

According to Metzler, part of his job entails addressing issues that face most small firms, including leadership and succession planning, sales and marketing, staffing and retention, partner alignment and business planning, and working in alliances.

“It’s my job to show them how to keep their uniqueness, but still be able to continue to elevate with their clients,” he said.
In an AICPA press release, Metzler said the new initiative also will focus on developing programs that guide and support small firms that could be impacted by trickle-down legislation from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.