YEAR IN REVIEW – 2011
Membership
Total membership as of Nov. 30, 2011, was 8,418. In line with the strategic plan we continually strive to grow the INCPAS membership. Specifically, we continued work with the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency to increase the Society’s membership market share among Indiana’s licensed CPAs. This year, the staff focused on attaining those who are currently licensed in the state of Indiana, but have never been an active member of the Indiana CPA Society. Marketing efforts aimed at reaching these individuals focused on showing them what they are missing by not being a member. In the fall, over 500 of these nonmembers were invited to attend a Professional Issues Update for free. All 1,066 potential members received a copy of the winter issue of CPA IN Perspective. It is our belief the Society benefits from increased membership in many ways; more members provides diversity of thought and helps the Society represent the profession with the public, legislators and regulators.
The Society also continued its efforts to recruit new and soon-to-be CPAs to the Society as a means of filling the professional pipeline for the profession. Young Pros Parties, launched in 2009, continued with much vigor and success. New professionals were encouraged to attend, regardless of their membership status. These events are a fun way to get current members more engaged while also reaching out and showing the potential of the profession and the Society to nonmembers.
Professional Development
Despite a rough few years with members experiencing downsizing, slashed travel budgets and even unemployment, we hoped to see strong seminar participation in 2011 since it was a reporting year. A&A and Ethics updates in 12 locations around the state proved popular once again. A&A drew an average of 45 people per class, while Ethics drew an average of 53 per class. Seminar attendance was strong through August, but for a second year, September fell substantially under budget with 228 fewer in attendance than anticipated. 2011 wrapped up with Winter Frenzy, a three-day event featuring 24 four-hour classes. As of Dec. 19, there were over 1,200 registrations which helps make up the deficit from September. Thanks to the reporting year and success of Winter Frenzy, we anticipate ending the year with over 9,200 registrations (8,792 budgeted). This would be a slight increase from 2008, the previous reporting year.
In addition to traditional classroom seminars, we continued to partner with various webinar providers to expand our webinar offerings. Our attendance continues to grow in this arena.
A few conferences really stood out in 2011. We made a change to the format and content provider for the Controllers Conference and saw our largest attendance ever with 155 people. Additionally, the Business and Industry conference was the strongest it has ever been with 190 attendees, while our A&A Conference attracted 206 attendees – the highest since 2006. Our Not-for-Profit Conference continues to be our largest conference with over 300 attendees for the past two years. INCPAS staff and project teams worked hard on improving the agenda, speakers and overall member experience in 2010 and we’re seeing the effort pay off!
In August and September, INCPAS President & CEO, Gary Bolinger, CAE again presented a series of Professional Issues Updates for CPAs throughout Indiana. Gary led 16 programs in 13 cities and reached over 2,200 members this year – a record since the programs began in 2000! These 4-hour presentations, which are complimentary for members, help members keep up with professional and societal trends that have an impact on Indiana CPAs.
Leadership Cabinet/ Emerging Leaders Alliance
Leadership Cabinet is a member advisory group that meets twice a year with the Society’s board of directors and Emerging Leaders Alliance to learn about, discuss and provide input on key professional and Society issues. Established in 1999, LC is a demographic snapshot of the Society’s membership with 96 members serving during the 2011-12 term. Twelve members are serving their first term on LC, including three members who moved up from ELA. Members are appointed to one-year terms with the potential to be reappointed by the board in future years.
Nine leadership cabinet members were appointed in 2011 to serve as the Leadership Cabinet Advisory Council. Through governance and leadership trainings coupled with past board member mentors, LCAC members serve as the primary pool for board of director candidates.
The Emerging Leaders Alliance was created in April 2005 to complement Leadership Cabinet. This select group of young leaders is made up of members with seven years or less of experience. Currently, there are 50 members Twelve new members are serving their first term in 2011-12. ELA meets with Leadership Cabinet and the board twice annually. The eight- member ELA Leadership & Governance Council provides additional input and program support for young professional initiatives.
During the 2011-12 term, LC and ELA are focusing on member value proposition, risk assessment and knowledge management; areas identified by INCPAS Board task forces for the Society’s strategic plan.
Project Teams
Fifty-six members participated on seven project teams in 2011, including case study competition, business & industry, financial services, fraud, IIRC working group and not-for-profit conferences, and tax institute.
Committees
The Society had two standing committees in 2011 – peer review and ethics. A total of 34 members participated.
Advisory Councils
The eight-member Government Relations Advisory Council works to uphold the integrity of the profession by monitoring and facilitating issues resolution through the Society’s relationship with the Board of Accountancy and the Professional Licensing Agency.
The Society worked closely with the new PLA director and compliance staff to educate and provide outreach to members about license issues. Ongoing efforts will ensure members are aware of requirements for license renewal in 2012. Rulemaking continues to be focused on aligning professional standards references with current standards. The rule allowing applicants to apply for, but not sit for the Exam before completing the 150 hour requirement, came into effect in 2011 as did the clarification of the 4-hour ethics requirement.
With the historic walk-out by Democrats during the 2011 session, there was little time for legislators to address many issues. However, the Society was successful in getting the client records and peer review transparency legislation passed (HEA 1233), as well as the alignment of Indiana statute with federal laws on electronic filing thresholds.
The eleven-member Tax Resource Advisory Council is responsible for issues resolution with state and federal tax-related entities. Addressing the top three member issues of online filing for corporate returns, communication with practitioners and taxpayers, and collections and assessments, TRAC members met regularly with representatives from the Indiana Department of Revenue and also attended the DOR’s Annual Public Hearing. TRAC also met with IRS representatives and participated in IRS Practitioners Liaison meetings, AICPA and IRS meetings and served as a resource for legislators and staff related to tax issues in Indiana.
CPA Branding
The Society continued implementing a goal in its strategic plan in 2011 by promoting the advantages of being an INCPAS member. Ads were placed in BizVoice magazine, the Indianapolis Business Journal and the IBJ’s Book of Lists, and the Small Business Resource Guide. Total advertising dollars spent in FY 2011 was $26,528.50.
The Society again partnered with the Indianapolis Business Journal on the fourth annual CFO of the Year awards that were voted on in the fall and presented at a breakfast on Dec. 9 with more than 400 attending. The Society was an Underwriting sponsor for the second consecutive year in 2011 and assisted the IBJ with promoting award nominations to its members.
Another major branding initiative was the ninth annual CPA Day of Service on Sept. 23. Nearly 950 CPAs and staff participated at over 60 volunteer projects in 18 counties around the state, breaking the old record for participation by almost 300. Media coverage was achieved in many cities and counties.
The Society also continued to participate in the AICPA CPA Ambassador Program and held a fourth CPA Ambassador training session on July 14 with 10 INCPAS members participating. The total number of trained Ambassadors in Indiana is now 43. The Society continues to pursue speaking engagements and media interview opportunities for Ambassadors with Indiana media.
Publicity
In 2011, 1,580 press releases were sent to newspapers, 329 sent to business journals and magazines, 343 to radio stations and 97 to television stations. We are no longer sending out the weekly Money Management columns. Press releases were sent on topics such as board appointments, conferences, INCPAS awards, Leadership Cabinet/ELA meeting participants, Professional Issues Updates, CPA Day of Service, Case Study Competition, INCPAS new hires, staff Institute graduations, appointment of Charles Johnson as new chair, and Outstanding Accounting Majors. The estimated circulation/people reached for 2011 is well over 17 million, however, Vocus is no longer giving us an accurate count of circulation reached.
Sponsorships
The Society continued to offer a platinum, gold and silver sponsorship levels in 2011 along with special sponsorship categories for CPA Celebration. Total sponsorship revenue for the year was $40,431.25. In addition, the Society offered a new sponsorship opportunity for its diversity programming and generated $28,500.
Platinum (title) sponsors included The National Bank of Indianapolis for the Controllers, Not-for-Profit and CPAs in Business and Industry conferences, and the fall LC/ELA meeting; Becker Professional Review for the Educators Conference; and the IU Kelley School of Business Master of Taxation Program for the Indiana Tax Institute. The National Bank of Indianapolis was also the presenting sponsor of CPA Celebration.
In addition to the platinum and presenting sponsors, 2011 featured a mix of returning and new sponsors. Returning sponsors included Accounting Practice Sales, DWD Technology Group, the Hulse Group at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, Hylant Group, CCH a Wolters Kluwer business, PrimePay, Protexture Accountants Program, Robert Half International, Thomson Reuters, Tilson HR, and Walker & Associates Insurance/CAMICO. New sponsors included Ebbinghouse Law Group, Newkirk, Pinnacle Computer Services, TASC Online, and Xcel HR.
Diversity sponsors included PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, KPMG LLP, Deloitte LLC, BKD, LLP, Crowe Horwath LLP, Ernst & Young LLP, Clifton Gunderson LLP, Engaging Solutions, LLC, Indiana University, Butler University, Ball State University, the University of Southern Indiana, Indiana Wesleyan University, Martin University, the University of Indianapolis, and Brightpoint, Inc.
Student Initiatives
The Society continued its presence on college campuses by attending Beta Alpha Psi, accounting club and classroom meetings. In 2011, INCPAS staff and young professionals gave 19 presentations discussing the value of the CPA designation with 668 students.
INCPAS continued the High School Ambassador program. Currently there are 74 members serving as High School Ambassadors.
Electronic Communications
The Society’s biweekly member e-newsletter, CPA e-Perspectives, went through a redesign in May. The new design features a streamlined, mobile-friendly version of timely news in the CPA profession. CPA e-Perspective averaged 1,689 unique opens per issue or a 29 percent open rate. The e-news averaged 535 unique clickthroughs each issue.
Information Technology
The year started by focusing on improving backend services. The Society’s web server and services moved to a new data center in order to reduce costs and improve control of the environment and services. Back-up services were also changed to increase efficiency, as well as reduce costs. These changes were also a major move toward business continuity/disaster recovery planning that we have worked on throughout the year and will continue into the future.
INCPAS also began the year by sending out the Member Information Update e-mail to all members in January 2011. More than 30 percent of members responded to the message with updates to the information we have on them, which allows us to keep in touch and provide them with the information and services they need. In February these updates also allowed us to successfully send credit letters to everyone who received CPE from us in 2010.
Web Site
Incpas.org offered two new features for members in 2011. Members who want to volunteer for our many opportunities will find an easier, streamlined process. After logging in, members simply choose up to three opportunities they are interested in and in the order of their interest. Once the member submits their choices, the information is saved to the member’s record providing a history of interest information is maintained and provide staff with key information.
The second new feature of the web site allows members to make donations to the PAC, Educational Foundation and Case Study funds from their shopping cart. Rolled out in April to coincide with membership renewal invoices, this new feature allows members to easily make donations while purchasing CPE or membership. Members may also make donations to the funds without purchasing other products or services.
In 2011 we began two projects that will not be complete until 2012. In early 2011 we began planning for a web site re-design. After evaluating several web companies, we chose a firm that has experience with our database system. One of the key elements we want to provide to our members in a new web site is closer integration with our member database. In addition, we want a web site that is easier to navigate and find information members need most, and allows key content to be viewed on multiple devices. The project officially kicked off in October and the new site is expected to launch in April 2012. In the last half of 2011 we also began planning for an upgrade to our database that will provide additional features for both staff and members.
Social Media
The Society updated its social media strategy again in 2011 to better leverage social media, INCPAS Community, webinars, video and other relevant emerging technologies to benefit members. The INCPAS group on LinkedIn continues to grow and has increased to 811 members in 2011. We will be creating LinkedIn subgroups in 2012 for tax, young professionals and nonprofit members. The INCPAS page on Facebook has 574 fans. The INCPAS Student page has increased its fan base to 114 fans. A decision was made to take a hiatus from using the INCPAS Twitter account in 2011; however, @incpas still has 1,792 followers. INCPAS Community has struggled in 2011 to engage members – 50 messages (28 by INCPAS staff and 12 in the tax forum) were posted in 2011 with many posts not receiving a response from members. By the end of 2011, our INCPAS YouTube channel has received 4,273 video views. In 2011, we created Inside INCPAS videos to be posted on our YouTube Channel which have increased engagement of our staff and INCPAS members who participate in the creation of the videos. The social media releases sent out via PitchEngine in 2011 average over 100 views.
Case Study Competition
In October and November, the Society held its 12th case study competition. Indiana colleges with accounting departments were invited, and 11 schools submitted written cases for this year’s competition. Teams offered recommendations on knowledge management. Once prepared, the written portion of the case was reviewed and judged and the top six teams – announced as finalists – were required to give an oral presentation to a panel of judges in an effort to support their written report statement. Teams delivered a presentation to a panel of judges who served as partners at the fictitious firm.
Thirteen firms and companies plus INCPAS members contributed a total of $7,325 for this year’s competition. St. Mary’s College, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and Manchester College, respectively, won first, second and third place and cash prizes of $1,000, $750 and $500 per student. Honorable mention teams included Indiana Wesleyan University, Purdue University Calumet and Valparaiso University, with each team member receiving $100. The oral presentations coincided with CPA Celebration on Nov. 18 so finalists and winners could be recognized.
Diversity Summit
The second INCPAS Diversity Summit was held Aug. 5 at the University Place Conference Center in Indianapolis. The Diversity Task Force organized the event to address diversity awareness and outreach efforts in the CPA profession. One hundred twenty-three people registered for the Summit and 10 outstanding accounting students received scholarships.
This year, the Society launched the INCPAS Scholars program. The Scholars program is a year-long career awareness and mentorship program largely supported by Indiana CPA firms and businesses that employ CPAs. Scholars are provided with continued mentorship and leadership opportunities and will become familiar with career opportunities as a CPA as well as will be encouraged to complete their high school education and pursue a college degree. Fifteen candidates were selected from a competitive pool of 37 students. These students represent 9 different high schools and are sophomores, juniors and seniors.
On Oct. 5, 145 Marion County high school students registered for Game On: CPAs in Action, held at the Hilton in downtown Indianapolis. Students heard from a panel of young CPAs, learned business etiquette, went on firm tours and heard from recent college graduates discussing lessons they learned in college.
New this year, firms and businesses were given the option to support all of the Society’s diversity initiatives for one sponsorship fee. Ultimately, $29,500 was raised. See the sponsorship section for a list of the firms, companies and colleges/universities who supported the Society’s diversity programming.
Financial Update
The financial statements for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011, showed an increase in net assets of nearly $46,000. Fiscal year 2012’s financial forecast expects a modest increase in net assets for the year. Audited financial statements are available on the member section of the Society web site or by contacting Mike Barker, CPA, CISA, vice president – finance at (317) 726-5021 or mbarker@incpas.org.
Peer Review
The peer review committee processed 156 peer reviews during 2011 under the AICPA practice-monitoring program. Eleven additional firms enrolled in the program during 2011 and will be administered during 2012-13. The Peer Review Committee along with Technical Reviewers continue to develop the concept of a Peer Reviewer Mentoring Program in order to aid in successful performances for new reviewers. The Indiana State Board of Accountancy has appointed Cynthia Peck, CPA, Tony Smith, CPA and Roger Doctor, CPA to the first Peer Review Oversight Committee.
Ethics
The ethics committee opened six new cases in 2011 and had nine open cases continue from 2010. The committee received six written complaints. One case came to the committee via the AICPA. The AICPA opened five new cases related to INCPAS members. Two members remain on suspension from previous years. Four cases were closed with a letter of no violation, one case will be monitored, and two cases ended with a letter of required corrective action. One case is on deferral. Cases investigated in 2011 involved tax preparation and filing, misleading firm name, improper solicitation of clients, removing client records from firm, disclosing confidential information, mishandling of client funds, holding out as a CPA without an active license, and other acts discreditable. Committee members also fielded a number of calls from the public and members with questions about potential violations. Brian Cusimano is the new Compliance Director for the IN Professional Licensing Agency. In this capacity, Brian reports to the Board of Accountancy and is primarily responsible for compliance and enforcement investigations related to CPAs, APs and PAs in Indiana.
CPA Celebration
Held at the Indiana Roof Ballroom on Nov. 18, the theme this year was comic book superheroes and villains, and 560 guests attended. The Society handed out 11 awards, celebrated the Case Study winners, and recognized 96 successful Exam candidates. The evening’s entertainment featured themed music, photo booths and following the awards presentation, attendees had the opportunity to try their hand at gaming tables for a chance to win door prizes. An after-party exclusive to Successful Exam Candidates and their guests was held at Harry & Izzy’s.
Affiliates
INCPAS now has 234 affiliates in four categories (paraprofessional, firm administrator, non-CPA accounting professional, other business professional). Affiliates receive news and information affecting the profession, member rates to attend INCPAS events, and sponsorship and advertising opportunities. Affiliates gain the most benefit when they participate in Society events and actively engage CPA members.
Member Benefits
Insurance — CAMICO, created by CPAs for CPAs, offers professional liability insurance coverage and a risk management program for members. They also serve as a resource for members at various INCPAS conferences. Additionally, INCPAS members may take advantage of insurance and benefit plans through Hylant Group including medical, group term, life, office property/liability, auto and homeowners, and disability.
Room Rentals — Professional and comfortable meeting space is available for rental to members at a discount. INCPAS classrooms, conference rooms, and board room are available for rent to members at a discounted rate. The INCPAS office includes two classrooms that seat 40 each, a conference room that seats 16, and a board room that seats 24. Audio and video capabilities include ceiling mounted projectors, electronically retractable screens, internet access, and VCR and PowerPoint digital feeds.
Career Center — The INCPAS Career Center gives job seekers and employers in Indiana an exciting and affordable employment resource. Job seekers benefit from confidential resume postings, job search controls, and an easy application process. Employers now enjoy several new benefits too, which include unmatched exposure, easy online job management, resume database access, and valuable members-only discounts.
Research and Reference Materials — INCPAS partnered with CCH to continue to provide a discount on the U.S. Master Tax Guide, and also offer 30 percent off of the regular price on more than 170 other CCH publications. With new online ordering, more members than ever took advantage of this efficient and economical way to get the resources they need.
Networking — A variety of networking events were held for members and non-members in 2011. We enjoyed great weather at the sold-out Indianapolis Indians game. We also continued our series of networking events aimed at our new and soon-to-be CPAs throughout the state. The Young Pros Parties held in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and South Bend, reached over 225 young professionals – more events are being planned for the coming year.
Find a CPA — 250 firms have subscribed to our popular Find a CPA service at incpas.org. With a free listing or a premium option, this service provides a convenient and affordable way for local firms to get their name in front of potential clients. As a trusted referral source, the Society receives several calls a year for CPA referrals. These inquiries are directed to Find a CPA.
CPA to CPA Consultation — Almost 200 members are now signed up for this consultation service created in 2007 to allow members to connect, interact and network with peers. Members who have technical or professional questions regarding client or practical problems can participate in the CPA to CPA Consultation Program. Provided at no charge, this program is designed to put members in touch with a peer-to-peer network in order to receive limited advice or counsel in a particular area of accounting. All services are entirely confidential and members who participate have provided great testimonials about the power of CPA to CPA as a networking tool.
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