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Firm Management

AWSCPA to Join AICPA

The AWSCPA’s, a professional organization representing women CPAs, National Board has unanimously agreed to support an Memorandum of Understanding with the AICPA. The following is a letter from the ASWCPA:

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The AWSCPA’s, a professional organization representing women CPAs, National Board has unanimously agreed to support an Memorandum of Understanding with the AICPA. The following is a letter from the ASWCPA:

Dear AWSCPA Members:
The AWSCPA National Board is pleased to announce that we have unanimously agreed to support a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the AICPA that will further the goal of supporting women in the profession.

We are very excited about this opportunity! For 84 years, AWSCPA has been dedicated to serving the needs of women CPAs. We have successfully broken down walls and created ladders to climb over walls. It was never easy, but we did it.

As the times have changed, we have reinvented ourselves to remain relevant. We have sought out new resources, partnerships, and opportunities to support women as we transition through careers and life. Due to our intimate size, we were sometimes overlooked and not heard…until now.

For the first time since our inception, AWSCPA has the opportunity to showcase our strengths on a larger platform. The AICPA can provide the women of our organization the resources, knowledge, and skills that we cannot, while continuing to honor what makes us unique.

This MOU would allow our members to connect with an expanded community of professional women in all realms of the accounting world as mentors, role models and friends. Women CPAs no longer have to choose between professional organizations. We can achieve both our personal and professional goals in one place, with a large fellowship of women to support us.

We are thrilled about the possibilities this strategic positioning presents for our AWSCPA members!

As excited as we are about this opportunity, we understand that you may not fully share our feelings or have questions about why change is needed. To help address your concerns, we will share our reasoning as to why the National Board unanimously voted to support the MOU with the AICPA, why we believe this agreement is in the best interest of women in the profession and how it aligns with our mission to support the whole woman CPA.

At its peak in the late ’80s, AWSCPA was a membership organization of 5,200+ members and 40+ affiliates. Although we have been pleased to see a positive reception for our programs and offerings through a small increase in membership recently, our current organization is only 10% of what it had been at its peak.

We have worked hard to enhance value for our members, and we have seen some promising success with our Lifelines program and our regional structure. However, it has been challenging to scale these successful offerings with limited resources.

In addition, several Affiliates recently informed us that they are struggling to maintain a full board and are considering dissolution. Some members have provided us with feedback that the value provided by AWSCPA is not commensurate with the membership dues paid. The cost to support the administrative functions necessary to sustain basic operational activities (e.g., processing membership renewals, maintaining the member database, updating the website) has been a strain for an organization of our size, even considering how lean we run (e.g., National Office administration is provided by a former board member for significantly discounted fees, board meetings are held virtually, and board members receive no reimbursement for any AWSCPA related expenses).

We have considered the idea of sun-setting the organization over the past few years. However, we love this organization, which has stood the test of time since 1933.We do not want to give up on our purpose. We are thankful for this unique opportunity to carryforward our brand and mission through this mutual agreement with the AICPA.

The terms of the MOU with AICPA are as follows:

In exchange for assignment of the AWSCPA Intellectual Property (logo, name, etc.)

AICPA will:

  • Create a new task force for AWSCPA in support for the Women’s Initiatives Executive Committee (WIEC)
  • Provide discounted introductory AICPA membership dues for AWSCPA members who are not currently AICPA members
  • Develop communities and programming for women members of the AICPA, including former AWSCPA members, as the WIEC deems appropriate

AWSCPA will also

  • Dissolve as a legal entity in accordance with bylaws and relevant laws, and
  • Encourage members of AWSCPA to join AICPA

At the July 21, 2017, board meeting the AWSCPA National Board voted to recommend dissolution and to assign the AWSCPA Intellectual Property to the AICPA in accordance with the MOU. Now it’s up to you as members to vote as well. We will be holding a virtual membership meeting for all current voting members in accordance with our bylaws. Voting members will be given three options: (1) accept the MOU with the AICPA, which calls for transferring AWSCPA’s intellectual property and dissolving the entity; (2) dissolve the entity outright or (3) abstain from the vote. Prior to the virtual meeting, we are committed to addressing any concerns you may have regarding this agreement. 

 

We have compiled an FAQ document to address some questions you may have, such as:

 

Q: What is the alternative to the MOU with the AICPA? 

Q: What happens to the dues that I have paid to AWSCPA National? 

Q: What happens to the money that AWSCPA has? 

Q: What happens to Affiliates? 

     …

In addition, we have scheduled FAQ meetings for our members to learn more about this agreement. These meetings are scheduled for: 

 

August 9, 2017 3 p.m. Central

August 17, 2017 11 a.m. Central

 

The AICPA has shared some sample resources to demonstrate the value you can receive through its membership. These tools are usually only available to AICPA members, and we hope that you will find them beneficial.

Excerpt from the PCPS Trusted Client Adviser Toolkit: provides thought provoking questions designed to encourage deeper relationships with clients.

CGMA Business Model Framework: helps stakeholders consider the business model of their organizations (or clients) through a series of lenses, with the ultimate aim of enhancing decision-making.

Thank you for being such a valued member of AWSCPA. We appreciate your personal contribution in making AWSCPA such a special organization. We are excited about the opportunity for a new chapter for AWSCPA, and we need your support to help us carryforward our mission and name. Please vote in favor of this relationship with the AICPA.    

 

Sincerely, 

AWSCPA National Board 

 

AWSCPA National Board