OUTLOOK | CHAIR’S LETTER “We have several goals for the coming year that will help us build on the many accomplishments throughout our organization’s history and help us control our professional destiny.”
Controlling Our Professional Destiny by Focusing on What Matters By Steven A. Pullara, CPA, CGMA
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hank you for the honor and privilege of chairing the WICPA board of directors. I’m excited to continue the excellent tradition and legacy of my successors.
Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to have many wonderful mentors and to have collaborated and learned from the partners in my firm, my co-workers, client CFOs and controllers, and many fellow WICPA members. Some of the many lessons I’ve learned include the following: • We need to control our professional and financial destinies and those of our clients, business stakeholders, organizations and constituents to make the world a better place.
• It is important to focus on the critical few things that matter, using an 80/20 Pareto principle mindset, and not let the many unimportant things get in the way of our professional journey. One important responsibility we have is to build a pipeline of future CPAs. • We must reinvest in our profession, as we have a fiduciary responsibility to leave our profession, organizations and society in a better place at the end of our career.
• Finally, I’ve learned that I enjoy strategic planning and risk management to help guide organizations to a preferred future and want to be a leader, rather than just being along for the ride.
We have several goals for the coming year that will help us build on the many accomplishments throughout our organization’s history and help us control our professional destiny. For example: • We want to continue to promote our profession and communicate the expertise and core competencies of CPAs. • We also want to continue to provide networking and professional resources via the members-only WICPA Connect online community.
• We will continue to provide quality continuing education at a reasonable cost, whether virtually or (hopefully) in person.
One of my passions — and the most rewarding aspect of my longtime involvement with the WICPA — has been wicpa.org
working with the Public Policy Committee. The committee monitors public policy issues that impact the profession and recommends appropriate actions and responses to our state’s elected representatives and other policy-making bodies. Contributing to the WICPA Educational Foundation, which provides scholarships to deserving accounting students, helps us keep the legacy of the profession alive for those who may not have the means to pay all the costs themselves. The Foundation also sponsors other important programs, such as Reading Makes Cents, which helps create financial literacy at an early age by reading to elementary students, and the Young Entrepreneurial Scholars (YES) program, which helps to create opportunities for minority students and increase the diversity and inclusion in our profession. I would ask you as members to consider how you can help by taking a small step, such as one or more of the following: • Join and utilize the WICPA Connect online community to network and access other professional resources.
• Take advantage of our low-cost continuing education programs and conferences. • Join a committee to collaborate and network with other professionals.
• Volunteer with the WICPA membership outreach coordinator to make presentations to your local high school or college about the career opportunities in accounting and being a CPA. • Volunteer for the YES program.
• Contribute to CPAC/LIF and the Educational Foundation.
I look forward to another outstanding year working with the WICPA board members and professional staff to continue accomplishing goals that help us control and improve our professional destiny. Steve Pullara, CPA, CGMA, is a tax partner with BDO USA LLP in their Madison office. He leads the Wisconsin real estate and construction practice groups. Pullara also teaches financial management through UW–Madison’s School of Business, Small Business Development Center. Contact him at 608-828-3156 or spullara@bdo.com.
On Balance
May | June 2022
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