State CPA Societies in Action: The Texas Society of CPAs (TXCPA)

One of the oldest and largest societies in the United States, the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants or TXCPA currently has 28,000 members.

Founded in 1915, the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants (TXCPA) provides a wide array of professional resources for CPAs. TXCPA also provides education and professional development opportunities while actively defending and promoting the CPA professional throughout the state.

[State CPA Societies in Action is a series of articles spotlighting the varied educational, advocacy, networking and professional activities of the state CPA societies across the U.S.]

Current Members: 28,000+
Founded: 1915
Headquarters: Dallas/Addison, Texas
www.tx.cpa

Mission Statement:

The Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants exists to support its members in their professional endeavors and to promote the value and high standards of Texas CPAs.

In addition to its headquarters in Addison, Texas, TXCPA has 20 local chapters in the following areas:

Abilene
Austin
Brazos
Central Texas
Corpus Christi
Dallas
East Texas
El Paso
Fort Worth
Houston
Panhandle
Permian Basin
Rio Grande
San Angelo
San Antonio
South Plains
Southeast Texas
Texarkana
Victoria
Wichita Falls

Current TXCPA members are provided with an array of benefits including access to its professional services foundation: TXCPA CPE Foundation, Inc,. which offers members more than 500 continuing education programs in a variety of formats. The foundation offers both in-person and online learning opportunities, and offers a variety of conferences for 2023 including:

Technology Conference
Energy Conference
Women’s Leadership Conference
Nonprofit Organizations Conference
Texas School Districts Accounting & Auditing Conference
Advanced Health Care Conference
Practice Management Conference
Financial Institutions Conference

In addition, there are webcasts and self-study programs offered, along with various CPE bundles. TXCPA also has a peer review program that was created in 1989 and is designed to work with state legislators and government agencies to better understand the importance of the CPA profession.

To further support the accounting profession and young adults considering a career in the accounting profession, TXCPA created the Accounting Education Foundation, which awards scholarships to Texas students while also recognizing Texas educators. The Foundation also offers an Accounting Excellence Award annually to an outstanding accounting student at participating Texas colleges and universities.

TXCPA membership continues to grow steadily, with the Society currently estimating membership growth of nearly 2% for the last two years. Much of the growth is contributed to an active investment in attracting and engaging with members early in their career, with much of the growth centered on Future CPA and New CPA Membership categories.

TXCPA continues to lead the charge to advocate for its members and for all CPAs. “The accounting profession has always been an evolving profession, and we as the leading advocate for Texas CPAs recognize our unique responsibility and role to help our 28,000 members navigate and manage change, stay current with what’s most important, and adapt their careers and their organizations to be responsive to the changing environment,” said Jodi Ann Ray, CAE, TXCPA President and CEO.

Looking forward

TXCPA will continue to reach out to both new and established CPAs and accounting and finance professionals throughout Texas for 2023 and beyond. Part of that outreach includes completing work in their 2020-2024 Strategic Plan, which focuses on the following initiatives:

Continuing to build the CPA pipeline in Texas,
Educating stakeholders and regulators on the importance of professional licensing to protect the CPA license and advocate for the profession overall,
Growing TXCPA membership to maintain Society influence and reach across the state
Providing learning resources and support for accounting and finance professionals and future CPAs.