We must keep moving.

• Author: Simitian, Richard
• Position: Message from the chair - California CPA and its members

I found out very quickly that many things were being done by CalCPA that were valuable to myself as a professional and valuable to my firm. Soon after I got involved with CalCPA, I was appointed to CalCPA Council. Since then I have done what I can to stay involved and ended up on the Board. I learned early on that, if you were willing to put in the time and you showed interest, there was an opportunity to fill a leadership role. I eventually moved up the ranks and I am honored to serve as CalCPA's 2013-14 chair.

Membership Movement

CalCPA surpassed 30,000 members in 2007. In 2012, we surpassed 40,000 members. These are tremendous accomplishments in a fairly short period of time. We have been welcoming new members at an unprecedented pace. And keeping these members is essential to our organization.

Lately, we have seen some "movement" in our member demographics. We have 10 times as many students today compared to five years ago. We have doubled the number of CPA candidates in the last five years. We have also seen movement from the executive category of membership into the retired and life categories. And we have seen a bit of a loss in the number of licensed CalCPA members.

We are doing the right thing by investing in the future and increasing the value and services that we provide future CPAs. We are thrilled to be in the position where we have recently surpassed 40,000 members. But we need to make sure we continue to engage--and retain--existing members. The task at hand is for all of us to dig deep and take ownership in CalCPA's mission and vision.

I believe that our single, largest asset very well could be the CalCPA brand. How do we move the mentality of marketing from being something that is created and mailed or emailed out to something that we all take part in, as ambassadors of the profession? Each point of contact that we have with other members and CPA professionals brings us the opportunity to provide a positive, meaningful experience that strengthens the connection to the profession and the connection between the profession and CalCPA.

Connection to the Profession

One of the top motivators to join CalCPA is "the connection to my profession." Our members admire our ability to support the profession, improve the image of the profession and provide a connection to the profession. And we provide high-level educational offerings to ensure CalCPA members are indisputably California's finest CPAs and leading business and finance...