AICPA COUNCIL APPROVES VISION PROGRAM

At its fall meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the AICPA Council formally adopted the vision statement and core purpose that came out of the CPA Vision Project--2011 and Beyond. This grassroots program started well over a year ago and sought to give CPAs a target for growth and prosperity into the next century. Council approved the following:

Vision Statement: CPAs are the trusted professionals who enable people and organizations to shape their future. Combining insight with integrity, CPAs deliver value by--

* communicating the total picture with clarity and objectivity,

* translating complex information into critical knowledge,

* anticipating and creating opportunities, and

* designing pathways that transform vision into reality.

Core Purpose: CPAs...making sense of a changing and complex world.

In her inaugural address Olivia Kirtley, incoming chair of the AICPA, identified implementation of the program as one of her major initiatives for 1998/99. A 44-page booklet on the vision program will be distributed to all AICPA members in January. The booklet explains the process that was followed in developing the vision and contains a nine-page self-assessment form to help CPAs get started. The booklet ends with the directive that "It's up to you."

A new independent group called the CPA Vision Team, headed by Tom Hood, executive director of the Maryland Association of CPAs, has been created to oversee the profession-wide implementation of the future vision. The team is preparing for the next major step in the CPA Vision Project: the National CPA Vision Strategy Workshop. At the workshop, representatives from all states and jurisdictions will begin designing programs to advance the core purpose and vision statement as well as the national top five core values, services, and competencies created in future forums last year and also approved by Council. The workshop is scheduled for January 25th and 26th, 1999.

The team includes six state society executive directors, six delegates from the January 1998 National Future Forum, and four AICPA staff members. It is charged with ensuring that the CPA Vision Project stays grounded in the grassroots CPA population.