What is over the horizon for the CPA Profession? What are the Top trends to Watch and the Time to Address is Now. The MACPA's Business Learning Institute was engaged to design and develop the grassroots future forum process used by the AICPA and the MACPA to get participation and feedback from the Profession. Starting with research by several futurists and using our i2a: Insights to Action Strategic Thinking System to engage grassroots CPAs in thinking about the future. They identified the Top Trends to Watch and implications for the future. It culminated with a re-calibration of the original CPA Vision developed in 1998.

1. MACPA Future Forums
April – June, 2011
14 Forums – 420 Participants

2. CPA Horizons 2025 Report
The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) initiated a project to re-visit the CPA Vision 2011 and called on
members of the CPA Profession to embrace the challenge of defining the future for themselves and those
they serve looking out to 2025. The AICPA commissioned research from several leading futurists that would
serve as the starting point of a conversation with the grassroots CPAs.
http://www.aicpa.org/research/cpahorizons2025/pages/cpahorizons2025.aspx
The AICPA formed an internal team that would focus on the project and selected MACPA’s Business Learning
Institute (BLI) to design and facilitate 16 in-person future forums in 8 cities across the US for interactive,
grassroots feedback about the future. BLI used its i2a: Insights to Action Strategic Thinking System, co-
developed with Gretchen Pisano of Sounding Board Ink as a framework to engage CPAs and capture their
insights about the future. The next two slides illustrate the i2a: Insights to Action system and the application to
the future forum process.
MACPA was selected based on our prior experience with the CPA Vision project from 1999 – 2003 and our
experience as a leading strategic planning group in the CPA Profession. Our CEO, Tom Hood, was tapped to
lead the CPA Vision Team after the Vision was created in 1998 under the leadership of Jeannie Patton (CEO
of the UACPA at the time and now with the AICPA).
Tom Hood and Gretchen Pisano facilitated the national future forums during April – June, 2011 in Hartford,
Dallas, Chicago, Albuquerque, Denver, Miami, San Francisco, and Pittsburgh. Our past chair, Kimberly
Ellison-Taylor serves on the AICPA CPA Horizons Task Force that will be presenting the results at the AICPA
Council meeting in Arizona in October, 2011.
Note: The i2a:Insights to Action strategic thinking system is also used in building leadership, strategic
thinking, collaboration, and alignment skills in the AICPA Leadership Academy, the MACPA Leadership
Academy and the Utah Association of CPAs Leadership Academies.
2

3. Future Forum Process – Desired Outcomes
> The wisdom of the crowd!
> Identification of the most important trends facing the CPA profession in the
future (2025)
> Crowd-Filtering of the trends with the time to address as now
> Creating our Vision for 2025 by revisiting the CPA Vision 2011 created in
1998 and recommending any changes including Vision, Purpose, Values
and Top 5 Services and Top 5 Competencies
> Insights to Go – Your takeaway of insights back to your organizations or to
use with your own career – a takeaway to help you strategically think
about the future
© 2011 American Institute of CPAs

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5. Macro Agenda
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6. CPA Horizons 2025 Report
The Maryland Association of CPAs (MACPA) ran a series of fourteen (14) Future Forums covering
420 participants and including their Board of Directors and a New/Young Professionals group. We
also ran two student-only sessions with a total of 34 college students.
http://www.macpa.org/Content/26046.aspx
The Maryland results are in substantial alignment and agreement with the results of the national
future forums. While the top eleven (11) rankings were different, only one trend was different in the top
ten list – Maryland CPAs added Shift to Consumer Power (moving from push to pull) in their Top
trends to Watch list.
The Vision alignment was even stronger in Maryland, possibly due to the additional and recurring
communication of the CPA Vision 2011. However the students thought the 2011 Vision was even
more relevant than both the National and Maryland groups.
When we look at the results in students, young professionals, and the average forums (which had
more “older” professionals, we see the young professionals focused on work/life balance, generation
gap, non-traditional services, value-added services (like value pricing), and technology. The students
started with mobile technology and were much more globally focused with diversity, globalization,
IFRS (standards), and technology.
An interesting note is that Steve King, Emergent Research in California (the futurist contracted by
Intuit Corporation for their 2020 project) validated the trends and noted that these same differences
(based on age of participants) came out of Emergent’s focus groups and research. He said the
trends from the Future Forum session he participated in (San Francisco) were similar to Intuit’s
research about the future trends out to 2020.
6

7. Summary – Top Trends to Watch - Maryland
1. Information Security, Privacy & Data Protection
2. Changing Communication (mobile, text, social)
3. Shift to consumer power (push to pull)
4. Increasing complexity of rules & standards
5. Generational Differences & Succession Planning
6. Technological evolution (cloud, XBRL, and Social)
7. Information overload
8. Work-Life Balance (4)
9. Increased Globalization and Competition
10. Diversity
11. US Deficit
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8. Line of Sight – CPA Vision
Nat’l MD students
I can see myself in the CPA Vision 2011 4.4 4.2 4.6
The CPA Vision 2011 is relevant & on target 4.1 4.2 4.4
Core Purpose & Core Values are relevant 4.4 4.4 4.7
Core Services continue to be relevant 3.9 4.2 4.2
Core Competencies continue to be relevant 4.2 4.4 4.4
Reference
the
three
summary
reports
from
mee1ngs
and
individual
CPA
Vision
Feedback
Forms
as
follows:
1.
Top
Trends
to
Watch
includes
summary
and
details
by
forum
by
city
2.
Line
of
Sight
includes
the
group
insights
aGer
the
CPA
Vision
exercise
&
discussion
3.
CPA
Vision
Feedback
Summary
is
a
summary
of
all
future
forums’
individual
forms
Together
these
can
be
used
to
edit
the
CPA
Vision
2011
and
bring
forward
for
2025
8

9. CPA Vision 2011
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10. Feedback from Participants
Overall
Session
Ra1ng
8.42
(overall
comment
was
too
short)
Discussion
Leaders
8.70
The
forums
were:
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11. Top Trends and Implications
Several other facilitated sessions with MACPA’s Board and several groups of young professionals
provide additional insights to this report. All of which involved the i2a:Insights to Action
methodology:
1. MACPA Board of Directors – after reading in-depth reports from the future in 2020 – 2025,
developed the Top Trends and the Time to Address is Now.
2. MACPA New/Young Professionals (NYPN) participated in a session at the MACPACPA
Summit in June, 2011 and developed the trends and opportunities
3. AICPA EDGE Conference for Young Professionals in New Orleans (August, 2011) weighed in
after a keynote speech by Tom Hood on Leadership in the New Normal and developed the
slides on how leadership is changing & what do young professionals need in the future.
4. Tom Hood & Pam Devine facilitated a session at the AAA Conference in Louisville, KY in
June, 2011 where CPA firm COOs and administrators developed the Top 7 Leadership Issues
facing CPA Firms.
5. MACPA’s Leadership Academy facilitated a conversation about Leadership and emerging
leaders in September, 2011
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12. Top
10
Trends
from
MACPA
BOD
(and
the
1me
to
address
is
now)
1. Pressures
on
Gov’t
&
rising
deficit
2. Changes
in
learning
–
informal
&
on-­‐demand
3. The
cloud
=
flex,
global,
work
anywhere
4. Increasing
complexity,
ambiguity
&
change
5. Globaliza1on
and
economic
shiGs
6. Informa1on
overload
7. ShiG
to
consumer
power
(push
to
pull)
8. Workforce,
demographics,
the
“she”
economy
9. Going
mobile
10.
Social
media
=
business

13. MD New / Young Professionals
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2025. All rights reserved.

14. MD New / Young Professionals
Top Opportunities
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2025. All rights reserved.

15. AICPA
EDGE
How
is
leadership
changing?

16. How
is
Leadership
changing?
• More
democra1c
–
moving
from
push
to
pull
• Flexible
&
adaptable
–
capable
of
responding
to
faster
rates
of
change
• Increased
risk
&
less
1me
to
make
decisions
• Con1nuous
learning
(L>C)
for
individuals
and
organiza1ons
• Need
for
more
younger
leaders
• Long-­‐range
vision
+
strong
core
values

17. AICPA
EDGE
What
do
Young
Professionals
Need
to
become
Future
Leaders?

18. What
do
young
professionals
need
to
be
leaders?
• “SoG
skills”
broader
and
more
diverse
knowledge
in
leadership,
management,
change
&
business
development
• Ability
to
tap
into
networks
(AICPA,
others)
to
con1nuously
learn
(including
social
media)
• Learn
and
teach
collabora1on,
&
leadership
• How
to
embrace
change
and
be
flexible
&
adaptable
• Learn
how
to
lead
teams
• Bridge
the
gap
between
“older
leaders”
and
“younger
leaders”
• Learn
about
themselves
(Strengths-­‐based
leadership)
so
they
can
be
more
purposeful,
proac1ve
&
mo1vated

19. AAA Conference – Top 7 Leadership Challenges
1. Succession
planning
2. Accountability
and
buy-­‐in
3. Communica1on
(lack
thereof)
4. Managing
millennial
5. Work
/
life
balance
6. Leadership
development
7. Managing
change
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20. Leadership Mind Stretcher
20

21. Summary – Top Trends to Watch - Draft
1. Information Security, Privacy & Data Protection – cloud (12)
2. Changing Communication (decline of face-to-face) (11)
3. Shift to consumer power (push to pull) (9)
4. Global rules & standards –IFRS – complexity (7)
5. Global Competition, Rise of the Rest (7)
6. US Deficit (6)
7. Aging population, loss of wisdom, knowledge transfer (5)
8. Information overload, complexity (5) (Need for critical thinking & filter)
9. Work-Life Balance (4)
10. Increased Globalization (4)
11. Diversity – Cultural Fusion – Beiging of America (3)
12. Education (2)
Note: Only #3 was new relative to national results (ranking was different)
21

22. “It is not the strongest of
the species that
survives, nor the most
intelligent, but the one
most responsive to
change.”
Source: Charles Darwin
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23. Links
AICPA CPA Horizons websites
http://www.cpahorizons2025.org
http://www.aicpa.org/Research/CPAHorizons2025/Pages/CPAHorizons2025.aspx
Future Forum overview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1TkFXX7F78&feature=related
Videos from the road:
Students (from educators perspective)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0OA651O1yo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAFeTZjOpRA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d81NqdeAV_I&feature=related
Young Professionals
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a48Q-W_D1Ps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhtZv3MlSOg&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jJfsxwUCbE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0OA651O1yo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAFeTZjOpRA
Pictures
http://www.flickr.com/photos/macpa/sets/72157625988187664/
23

24. Meeting Details
MACPA CPA Horizons 2025
Facilitated Future Forums
Apr – Jun, 2011
This booklet is a graphic meeting summary of the series of fourteen (14) Future Forums
held from April – June, 2011 in Maryland for the AICPA’s Horizons 2025 Project.
The pages are reductions of large visual displays created on-site using BLI s I2A Insights
to Action – Strategic Thinking System, provided by Tom Hood, CPA.CITP, CEO of the
Business Learning Institute & Gretchen Pisano of Sounding Board Ink (a strategic partner
of BLI). The meetings were facilitated by MACPA Team Members certified in the i2a:
Insights to Action Strategic Thinking System
www.bizlearning.net/live/i2astrategicplanning
For more information regarding this gathering and its outcomes, please contact Jackie
Brown, COO of the Maryland Association of CPAs
24

25. For
more
informa1on
on
the
Insights
to
Ac1on™
Strategic
Thinking
System:
Tom
Hood,
CPA.CITP
Twimer
@tomhood
CEO
Maryland
Associa1on
of
CPAs
Blog
www.cpasuccess.com
Business
Learning
Ins1tute
Blog
www.bizlearningblog.com
hmp://www.bizlearning.net/live/i2astrategicplanning
hmp://www.bizlearning.net/live/i2afutureforums
hmp://www.bizlearning.net/live/i2aleadership
(800)
888-­‐481-­‐3500
(toll
free)
tom@bizlearning.net
LinkedIn:
hmp://www.linkedin.com/in/tomhood