President's Corner: An update on your association's Strategic Plan In the fall of 2011, the CPAmerica board of directors determined the need for a new strategic plan for the associat ion. It was built on our vision of “Improv ing through Sharing,” but for the A LAN D EICHLER P RESI D ENT first time, it laid out simple, documented expectations of members - that is: to continuously improve, make more money, build relationships both within and outside of the association, and to bring prestige to firms. The final strategy was approved by the CPAmerica membership at the Council of Members Meeting in September of 2012 and reaffirmed at a similar meeting in 2014. The most notable outcome of the January 2012 planning session that created this strategy was the Visitation Improvement Program (VIP) acting as a major tactic of the new strategy. With more than 70 VIP meetings in the books, the program has exceeded all expectations in providing yet another venue for member sharing. Besides VIP, the current strategic plan is made up of four additional supporting tactical plans; The Good Members Guide, Heightened Awareness for Continuous Improvement, Expertise Connections, and a Top 10 Relationship plan. Each has been supported by specific programs resulting from the strategic planning effort. It’s been nearly six years since the board determined the need for an updated strategic plan. Your current board of
directors has decided to review the current strategy and consider staying the course, updating the plan, or replacing it with a new strategic plan. To that end, the board conducted its first preliminary session looking into potentially changing the strategic plan on June 12 of this year. Michael Platt (of The Platt Group and Inside Public Accounting) shared his views with the board regarding the future of both firms and associations in the coming months and years. The objective of this session was to prepare the board to better determine the direction of the association and whether to update the strategic plan. Another similar session will be held on September 25, 2017 in Washington, D.C., just prior to the CPAmerica Leading Partner Retreat. Executive Vice President – Firm Services for the AICPA, Mark Koziel, will provide his point of view to assist the board in its strategic planning preparation.
members to provide suggested direction and approaches for the association. We look forward to your thoughts and ideas. The determination or confirmation of an organization’s direction is a very important time for any entity. As CPAmerica is a member-driven association, it is even more important to get your thoughts and ideas. Please take the time to give us your opinions and feel free to reach out to any of us here at CPAmerica.
The current plan is to conduct a strategic planning session this coming January at CPAmerica headquarters in Gainesville. In addition to the new board members that will be elected in September, 2017, the board has invited this year’s retiring board members to join the group. Sam Allred will facilitate the planning session as well as add his perspective. In the coming months, the board will be reaching out to leading partners for the annual board member calls. They will be using this regular call to seek further input. In addition, we are planning to add a sidebar on our homepage to allow all
2017 Crowe Horwath International Annual Meeting Chicago, Illinois October 29 - November 1
104 N. Main St. Gainesville, FL 32601 (352) 727-4070 www.cpamerica.org
This meeting presents the opportunity to spend time with other International members and further develop strong relationships in the Windy City, a.k.a. Chicago, Illinois Send feedback and member Cross-border meetings designed to strengthen your international business
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