NJCPA Sets Organizational Vision

The NJCPA has a long-standing tradition of serving its members and the business community while helping to foster the next generation of accountants and CPAs. As the largest professional organization serving the needs of Garden State CPAs and aspiring CPAs, we have a lot on our plate. So, how do we become nimbler and more responsive to the needs of a changing market while still fulfilling our mission? It begins with a bold organizational vision: 

TO EQUIP AND EMPOWER NEW JERSEY’S ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE PROFESSIONALS TO THRIVE IN THEIR CAREERS 

Those are not just words — they mean something. As the chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, I have observed firsthand how we can work together to embrace our colleagues, help the profession grow and encourage the next generation of aspiring CPAs. 

This new organizational vision will serve as a beacon for the NJCPA, providing a framework within which strategic decisions and plans are made. We will continue to provide exceptional learning experiences, an inclusive welcoming community, tools and resources for our members and customers, while serving as the voice for New Jersey CPAs and the accounting profession. 

What’s changing? What we deliver and how we deliver it. Dissecting the vision statement, we see several supporting programs to help carry out this vision. These include: 

• Professional development. We will enhance the flexibility of our programming and supplement in-person training with anytime, anywhere training options that meet CPAs’ time and location constraints. The NJCPA also realizes that we need to extend the reach of our educational offerings to serve the entire profession. Staff from throughout the accounting and finance profession will partake in NJCPA’s professional development offerings, including analytics, information systems and professional skills, which will become as important as traditional technical training.
• Market assistance. The NJCPA will offer a suite of programs and firm benefits around pressing and evolving firm and company needs, such as marketing, technology and talent management. Through this new suite of business services, NJCPA will provide solutions to the challenges members and their businesses face, while assisting members to advance in their careers.
• Advancing public policy. Members and staff will play a more active role within New Jersey government, assisting legislators and regulators to make more informed decisions on tax and regulatory policies.
• Information sharing. We will strive to provide more in-depth guidance and best practices to help CPAs stay abreast of changes in the profession that impact them, their organizations and their clients. CPAs, in turn, will receive news and information in real time directly to smart devices based on their interests and what we know about each user. Greater use of new and existing information sharing/ innovation techniques will improve collaboration and engagement and build broader, better-connected CPA communities.
• Community building. CPAs will choose from a variety of modernized membership options, offering individuals the ability to create a customized collection of member benefits to match their needs and interests at a particular point in their life or career. They will also be able to attend smaller, targeted events designed to bring together individuals around a common interest. On a broader scale, firms and companies will be able to take advantage of organizational memberships, in which an organization can purchase a group membership for its qualified staff.
• Partnerships and alliances. Tighter collaboration between the NJCPA and firms, companies and related professional associations will facilitate insight sharing and provide CPAs with access to new resources and expertise.

Our intent is for this vision statement to guide us in helping you grow, innovate and continue to thrive in the CPA profession. Learn more about the vision by watching this short video:

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Brent M. Ashton Brent Ashton, CPA, is an assurance services partner at EY LLP. He is the chair of the NJCPA Strategic Planning Committee and a member of the Student Programs & Scholarships Committee.