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How Does the Tax Sections Strategic Plan Affect Tax Education?
Editor:
Editors note: Ms. Nellen and Dr. Swingen are members of the AICPA Tax Divisions Tax Executive Committee. Ms. Nellen was also a member of the Divisions Strategic Planning Task Force. Dr. Swingen served on the Divisions Strategic Implementation Task Force. For more information about this column, please contact Dr. Swingen at jaswingen@ualr.edu. In November 2003, the Tax Executive Committee (TEC) approved a strategic plan proposal for the AICPA Tax Section, titled Looking to the Future: Today, tomorrow, and beyond...; see www.aicpa.org/download/tax/tax_section_strat.pdf. The document specifies the Tax Sections mission and goals and will guide its future activities. This column discusses the new mission and its objectives, and the implications for tax education.
Internal Assessment In recent years, the accounting, auditing and tax professions have faced difficult times. High-profile scandals involving accountants who failed to follow the highest ethical and professional standards have tarnished public perceptions of CPAs integrity. Federal and state lawmakers and regulators are imposing stringent new rules on the profession. It was this turbulent environment that essentially made the AICPA and the Tax Section assess internal strengths and weakness, as well as external opportunities and threats, and develop a strategic plan.
The Planning Process A good strategic planning process should be all-inclusive, with input from a wide range of stakeholders. The groups involved in the Tax Sections course were the TEC, Strategic Planning Task Force (SPTF) and Strategic Implementation Task Force (SITF). Each task force included representatives from the TEC, AICPA staff and a cross section of Tax Section members. A professional consultant facilitated both task forces work. The SPTF began work on the strategic plan in November 2002. One basic question it addressed was: What does the future hold for the AICPA Tax Section? Although the future will in part be determined by external factors, over which the Tax Section has minimal control, it still largely depends on the course set and the actions taken in response to a changing environment. After lengthy and insightful discussions, the SPTF revised the Tax Section mission statement and developed seven goal statements. The TEC reviewed and refined the report and approved it in January 2003. The SITF met in May 2003 to craft strategies for achieving the mission and goals that the SPTF developed. Essentially, it brainstormed to develop action plans for achieving the various goals, the timeframe for executing the plan and assessment or evaluation targets. Next, the task force prioritized the numerous plans and addressed resource issues. The TEC reviewed the SITFs report in August 2003 and further refined and prioritized the goal statements/action plans, before approving the plan in November 2003.
The Tax Sections Mission The keystone of any strategic plan is a mission statement, which declares an organizations primary purpose and reveals how it wants to be perceived. The participants in the strategic planning process debated at length whether the AICPA (and, particularly, the Tax Section) is (or should be) primarily a trade organization or a professional organization. One staff participant suggested that this distinction should be viewed as a continuum, and that the Big AICPA is (and clearly should be) closer to the trade-organization end. This would suggest that the organizations primary purpose is to serve members.
Even
though many individuals join the Tax Section primarily
TPA The strategic plan includes a goal statement that the Tax Section should once again become the pre-eminent source of objective, authoritative, and comprehensive advice on tax policy and administration. Historically, the Tax Section has been a strong advocate for good tax policy. Its staff and Tax Division volunteers have regularly provided input to tax lawmakers on proposed law changes. For many years, it has championed tax simplification. Its publications (e.g., the detailed analyses of alternative tax systems and the Social Security system, and a recent series of tax policy statements that specify criteria for better tax laws) have been well received by tax policymakers. In spite of this advocacy, there is now a perception that Tax Section input is no longer wanted, nor is it held in as high regard. The TPA includes two action plans to restore the Tax Sections pre-eminence and credibility:
To
execute these action plans, the Tax Section will need to foster a
culture of objectivity and avoid perceptions that advocacy efforts are
self-serving. Comment: Some believe that the Tax Sections recent
efforts
PEI During its deliberations, the SPTF asked the fundamental question: How can the Tax Section ensure that its members follow the highest ethical standards of tax practice? Two strategic goals that emerged were to restore respect for the profession and assist members in being the most trusted tax advisors. The Tax Section has long believed in the importance of high ethical standards. The Statements on Standards for Tax Services 18 (SSTSs), approved by the TEC in August 2000, included the following preface:
The strategic action plans specifically related to the PEI goal statement call for better communicating the mission, and continuing efforts to develop and maintain high ethical standards and education concerning those standards. Members need to accept and affirm the mission and understand the importance of professional ethics and integrity in achieving it. External stakeholders also need to be made aware of the mission and to once again perceive that the profession holds itself to high standards of ethics and integrity.
STM Although the focus of the mission statement is to serve the public interest, the majority of the strategic goals and action plans developed during the strategic planning process tended to address member-related issues, for two reasons: (1) meeting member needs and building a strong membership base are essential to an organizations survival; and (2) identifying member needs and charting a course of action are relatively easy. Action plans for the greater good are much more difficult to design and implement. The STM goal statement includes the following:
The first of these goals has a strong technology focus and reflects the changing nature of tax practice. Specific action plans for this goal are technical chat rooms, list serves, email distribution of information to members and a more user-friendly website. Action plans to enhance the image of Tax Section members include advertising and public relations campaigns. The development and support of pro bono tax services were also proposed. Although many Tax Section members (particularly those in education) do participate in free tax-assistance programs, other professional organizations are far more public-service-oriented. In-creasing efforts to support or provide pro bono tax services would be consistent with the Tax Sections public interest mission, while at the same time improving the publics perceptions of the profession. The last two goals listed above are related. The accounting profession, like others, faces a frightening demographic fact: baby boomers are fast approaching retirement age. At the same time, there are concerns about the number and quality of students pursuing accounting majors and careers; see www.aicpa.org/members/div/career/edu/sagdpar.htm for a recent report titled, Supply of Accounting Graduates and the Demand for Public Accounting Recruits. Many of the Tax Sections strategic activities and services can be continued only if membership levels are sustained. Actually, to fully achieve the mission and goals, membership needs to grow.
The Future Many organizations are now engaging in strategic planning processes. Unfortunately, too many plans are not effectively implemented. Once the process is completed and the new mission statement displayed prominently in the lobby and published in a newsletter, many strategic plan documents are filed away and forgotten. In other instances, they become static or unchangeable, even though an organization is evolving. Tax Section leadership has shown a strong commitment to execution of the strategic plan. Early in 2004, the TEC appointed a new task force to oversee the staffs implementation of the strategic plan. It will work closely with Tom Ochsenschlager, who recently joined the AICPA staff as Vice President, Taxation, and also with the TEC, to prioritize action plans and to suggest revisions as new opportunities or threats develop. Individuals and groups who have reviewed the plan since its approval have already suggested a number of changes, such as further prioritizing and shortening the list of action plans. Interestingly, these same individuals have then proceeded to suggest additional action items to consider. Some have expressed concerns about the public interest mission and whether this precludes members from taking public advocacy positions on clients behalf. Others have indicated that the plan fails to adequately address the needs of certain groups, particularly members in industry.
Tax Education How do the Tax Sections mission and the goal statements affect tax education? Educators can play a significant role in furthering the mission in three areas. They can (1) strengthen the discussion of professional ethics and integrity in their curriculum; (2) expose students to tax policy issues; and (3) increase their efforts to identify and recruit the best and brightest students.
Tax
educators generally agree that ethics should be included Tax policy is a topic that few business school tax educators address. Law school tax students (particularly those with a political-science background) are more likely to be exposed to policy. Although it is unlikely that undergraduate tax courses will, or should, address tax policy, policy issues should be covered in some depth in graduate tax programs. If the Tax Sections of the AICPA and state societies plan to continue their advocacy for better, fairer and simpler tax laws in the future, they will need tax professionals who understand the underlying issues. The third role, and possibly the most important one that tax educators can play in implementing the strategic plan, is for educators to work with the AICPA and the Tax Section to recruit more and better accounting students and to stimulate their interest in tax as a career. |
