How do you stay on top of the rapidly changing CPA profession?
Collaboration and conversation. The wisdom of the crowd. MACPA town halls / professional issues updates.
And did I say they are free? Four hours of free CPE to keep our members current and help them during these difficult times.
Sept. 12 marked the beginning of the MACPA's “town hall season,” when we engage almost 2,000 of our members in a town hall-style meeting set around a professional issues update (see our slide deck below). We use several engagement tools, including in-line polling (using www.polleverywhere.com), a survey instrument, and plain old Q&A, to get the pulse of Maryland CPAs.
This forms the basis of what we focus on as priorities and how we respond to our member needs. It also mobilizes our grassroots to help us advocate on their behalf in Washington D.C., Annapolis, and at the State Board of Accountancy.
On Sept. 12 in Rockville, with more than 150 CPAs in attendance, here are some of the highlights:
On the economy:
- In midst of strong recovery 0%
- Recovery is fragile – cautiously optimistic 22%
- Recovery is very fragile 46%
- Businesses are still struggling 32%
The No. 1 Maryland legislative concern? Sales taxes on tax, accounting and consulting.
Overall insights from the session:
“Loved the discussion about the future trends and economic update. Legislative and regulatory discussion always great. Wish we had more time to talk about the leadership issues. MACPA's agenda is spot on — keep up the great work.”
Below are the resources we promised to the group:
Presentation loaded on Slideshare.net and downloadable. (Click the view on SlideShare button and select “download.”)
(a great book about how leadership is changing and why)