By Mike Colgan, PICPA Executive Director and CEO

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As the calendar flips from April to May, and “busy season” for many of our members continues to fade from their rear view mirrors, let me be among one of the first to welcome you back to the PICPA. During the first quarter of the calendar year the PICPA is busy providing networking and CPE events geared to members in industry, creating and responding to media opportunities to position CPAs as thought leaders on tax issues, and planning second semester activities at colleges and universities across Pennsylvania. The end of a busy tax season for our members represents the beginning of a busy season for PICPA networking, and we look forward to re-engaging with members.

May begins a new fiscal year for PICPA and our chapters. A spring highlight is the upcoming chapter annual meetings to install officers, reveal new strategies, and recognize outstanding volunteers, membership milestones, and successful CPA candidates. PICPA Council will meet and discuss strategic priorities and discuss recommendations from our Governance & Structure Task Force.

The PICPA Foundation kicks-off your CPE reporting year with an expanded list of webinars and on-demand CPE to complement the high quality seminar and conference presentations, and is well prepared to help you meet your new four-hour ethics CPE requirement through a variety of course delivery vehicles. June brings the retooled Annual CPA Convention back to Pennsylvania, an excellent opportunity to network, learn and grow in Philadelphia with outstanding speakers.

I would be remiss, however, if I did not mention a few highlights that occurred during busy season that you may have missed:

• Last week PICPA was honored to receive the 2013 Workplace Diversity Award from the National Association of Black Accountant’s (NABA)Philadelphia Chapter at their annual awards banquet. This award recognized the outstanding effort of our Diversity Committee in the development of their research paper Increasing Talent, Clients and Revenue for your Organization: The Business Case and Toolkit for Diversity. The committee is now working to finalize their student diversity event to be held Oct. 3, 2013, at the Pyramid Club in Philadelphia with NABA, ALPHA, and Ascend. You can find other initiatives of our Diversity Committee on the PICPA website. 
• The Fiscal Responsibility Task Force released their 2013 report in February with a news conference in the Capitol in Harrisburg. The report is designed to provide strategic and technical expertise to help Pennsylvania’s policymakers address the state’s fiscal challenges. The report addressed pensions, financially distressed municipalities, prevailing wage, taxation, efficiencies in streamlining state government, and infrastructure issues. The Task Force did an outstanding job positioning CPAs as thought leaders. 
• PICPA has been at the table working with the Corbett administration to design a comprehensive tax reform package for the 2013-2014 state budget. In addition, we are working closely with the Department of Revenue to reform the Board of Finance and Revenue Appeal Process – this access would not be possible without the high level of regard and respect for Pennsylvania CPAs by the Governor and General Assembly and the tireless work of our State Taxation Committee.

This is a great time of year to remind members of the PICPA Promise:

PICPA preserves the legacy and propels the integrity of the CPA profession. Belonging to PICPA, along with more than 20,000 members, you have the professional and personal support to refine skills, expand knowledge, connect with like-minded people, and achieve bigger and better things at every stage of your professional life.

We look forward to re-engaging with all of our members during the next several months. When you have the opportunity to meet with a member of PICPA leadership or the team at these upcoming events, please share your thoughts on how PICPA can deliver more value to you, and thank you for your commitment to the profession and support of PICPA!