chief execs navigate “the whitewaters of change.”
by rick telberg
at large for the aicpa insider
state cpa societies are going nose-to-nose with the issues all cpas ? whether in public practice or private ? are facing. only they’re doing it with a view toward thinking globally and acting locally.
a thousand questions will no doubt be weighing on the minds of state society leaders at their annual gathering this week. and they may be surprised ? if not heartened ? to learn they’re all grappling with many of the same problems. the best of them will walk away with some smart solutions. all of them will be better informed and better equipped to deal with the issues and opportunities they all share within the profession.
irrespective of the upcoming national meeting, we canvassed a few of the leading thinkers in the state society community. their views are penetrating and some of their solutions worthy of replication across the nation.
for example, tom hood, executive director of the maryland association, is working from a list of almost 100 separate issues.
“yet when we looked for the root causes or fundamental drivers, there were only four,” he said, namely:
1) work-life balance (which includes staffing shortages, succession planning and student recruitment);
2) increased regulations and greater risk (post sarbox impacts);
3) training and development; and
4) impact of technology.
“each one of these had major impacts into each and every segment of our membership ? from sole practitioners struggling with the changing regulations and standards to public company cfos and large firms struggling to implement section 404,” hood said. “they all agreed that the profession was still navigating the whitewaters of change.”
for jim ahler at the north carolina association, state societies need to innovate with value-added benefits, services and programs to maintain member involvement. one of the problems he cited was the new wave of firm mergers, which reduces the base of the organization, and sometimes leads to a dearth of large-firm volunteerism, because they can fulfill most of the needs in-house.
in texas, john sharbaugh, like many other smart chief execs, is asking his members what they worry about.
the answers he gets most often are:
1. keeping current ? receiving timely and correct information, access to technical literature, keeping up with sarbanes-oxley requirements, keeping current with changes in technology.
2. human resources ? recruiting employees, staff turnover, hr problems, training staff, managing employees.
3. time management ? not enough time to do everything, deadlines, getting things done, managing priorities, time constraints, time demands.
4. client issues and problems ? expectations gap, fees, billing problems, maintaining clients, attracting new clients, clients not valuing cpa services, clients procrastinating, clients’ lack of understanding of accounting and tax rules.
5. regulations and standards overload ? increased number of standards, increased complexity of standards.
one response to “state cpa societies grapple with evolution”
jennifer, staff accountant, madison, wi
rick,
the article, “state cpa societies grapple with evolution,” pointed out issues that firms and companies need to address. i agree that solutions to the problems in the accounting industry needs to dialog among industry leaders.
i am a student member of the wisconsin institute of cpas and aicpa. i graduated with a b.s. in accounting and have worked for 5 years. i just left public accounting.
in fact, reason #1 “work-life balance” is the reason i left public accounting. i also believe points from john sharbaugh’s survey is part of the imbalance of work-life balance. as a staff auditor, i didn’t know how i was able to find time to manage my work load, especially during the busy seasons (auditors have more than one busy season); study for the cpa exam; keep up to date with the constant changes in law; and have a personal life.
one thing the article did not address is how each state’s accounting societies are taking steps to make these changes. the accounting industry as a whole have been aware of most of the issues for over 15 years. there is a great disparity between the education requirements and reparations for the cpa exam among states. in some states, college undergraduate courses are really not preparing students for the cpa exam. why is there such
differences in educational requirements and readiness between states when the uniform cpa license is recognized across states, especially when there is a shortage of student entering the field and experienced accountants?
while i do enjoy the rigorous work and challenging knowledge, i have been truly disappointed with the lack of professional development and support from the accounting societies and companies. it is baffling that some public accounting firms continue to run its practice “traditionally”, such as not offering comp time, flexible work week, etc.
i hope as part of your continued research on the topic, you discuss with the accounting societies the possibility of including accounting students, staff auditors/accountants in public accounting and industry as part of the brainstorm for the cure.
cordially,
jennifer