Annual Meeting of Members Summary
June 26, 2020
More than 400 members attended TXCPA’s first virtual Annual Meeting of Members. The program, sponsored by Goodman Financial, featured a conversation with U.S. Senator John Cornyn, as well as updates on Society business.
Your September/October digital issue of Today’s CPA will include a full summary of the meeting. Below are a few highlights.
The meeting began with presentation of the 2019-2020 awards, honoring contributions made by volunteers during the past year. Thank you to our awards presentation sponsor CPA Charge.
Honorees included the following:
- Meritorious Service to the Accounting Profession – Dr. Rosie Morris, CPA-Austin
- Distinguished Public Service – Terri Hornberger, CPA-Dallas
- Outstanding Committee Chairman – Gary Tonniges, Jr., CPA-Fort Worth, Business Industry & Issues Committee
- Young CPAs of the Year – Jimmy Hudson, CPA-Permian Basin, CGMA, and Lindsey Skinner, CPA-Central Texas, CGMA
- Outstanding Chapter Award Winners: TXCPA San Angelo and TXCPA Permian Basin
- Distinguished Member - J. Randy Vogel, CPA-San Antonio
- The 14 members honored as 2019-2020 Rising Stars
- Chairman’s Special Recognition Recipients: Celina Cereceres, CPA-Houston, David Donnelly, CPA-Houston, Julia Hayes, CPA-Southeast Texas, Lucas LaChance, CPA-Dallas, Steve Phillips, CPA-Fort Worth, CGMA, Blake Rodgers, CPA-Dallas, Ben Simiskey, CPA-Houston
Following the award presentation, the meeting was called to order by Immediate Past Chairman Lei Testa, CPA-Fort Worth, CGMA, who virtually passed the gavel to Chairman Jerry Spence, CPA-Corpus Christi to begin the meeting.
The financial report and budget were presented by Immediate Past Treasurer Billy Kelley, CPA-Permian Basin, CGMA, Treasurer Edie Cogdell, CPA-San Antonio, CGMA, and TXCPA CFO Steve Phillips, CPA-Fort Worth, CGMA. View a copy of the slides shared in the treasurer's report here. The board approved both the Society and CPE Foundation budgets for 2020-2021.
Our special guest speaker was U.S. Senator John Cornyn, who discussed the U.S. government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, racial injustice and raising awareness of the related issues, the economic impact of the global health crisis, and potential new rounds of government funding to help meet continuing personal and business needs. You can view a video replay of the conversation here.
Next, attendees heard a State of the Society presentation from various TXCPA Executive Board members who highlighted activities and key initiatives at TXCPA. View a copy of the slides shared in this update here.
Attendees then heard an update on the 2020 strategic planning process, including insights into the process and the direction the plan is moving in. A proposed final plan will be presented to the Board of Directors in January for their approval.
The meeting ended with business reports from the CPE Foundation, Peer Assistance Foundation, Accounting Education Foundation and TXCPA CPA-PAC. View the video reports here.
The Board of Directors passed the following motions during the meeting:
- Minutes from the Midyear Board of Directors Meeting held January 24-25 in Houston were approved as presented.
- Motion to approve Distinguished Member status for Randy Vogel was ratified.
- Motion to dissolve the separate legal entity for the Accountancy Museum and transition the assets and objective of documenting and sharing the history of the profession in Texas to the Accounting Education Foundation.
- Motion to approve the proposed 2020-2021 budgets for the Society and CPE Foundation as presented.
- Motion to approve new Accounting Education Foundation trustees.
TXCPA thanks our generous sponsors and engaged attendees for their participation in this first-ever virtual Annual Meeting of Members! We look forward to seeing you in person in Austin for our Midyear Board of Directors and Members Meeting and Advocacy Day in January 2021.