The Visioning Process created an unparalleled, nation-wide outreach to all segments of the professionÑan opportunity for the profession to speak to itself about its concerns, viewpoints, issues, needs, and hopes for the future.

The process brought some surprises and some important insights. CPAs have far more in common than they realized, regard-less of the segment in which they practice their profession. The challenges of education, both pre- and post-CPA examination, are the same whether for a sole practitioner or a CFO. Demands to meet public, customer, employer and client needs are founded in the same driving forces across the profession.

The profession has a unique opportunity to expand the values of the profession into a much wider circle of influence. Capitalizing on the values and competencies that CPAs use to serve the traditional public interest, the profession is refocusing the unique combination of values and competencies into non-traditional areas such as industry, government and education, to serve a world desperate for sound information and judgment. Diversity remains a challenge, but also an opportunity to leverage the 360-degree view of the business and economic marketplace that CPAs serve.