The Future of NAEA

This being my first column as president of the National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA), I want to thank you for entrusting me with this role.”

A little bit about how I ended up here: I am a transplant from Southern California to New Jersey. My first career was in the telecommunications software industry. I
decided in 2007 to make a big change and become an enrolled agent (EA) and financial advisor. After interning in the EA practice my sister and her partner manage, I passed the Special Enrollment Examination (SEE) in 2008 and immediately joined NAEA. I started attending New Jersey Society of Enrolled Agents (NJSEA) meetings, became a National Tax Practice Institute™ (NTPI®) fellow, and in the summer of 2012 NJSEA President Chris Thornton asked me to join the NJSEA board of directors. That led to me attending the NAEA Schuldiner/Smollan Leadership Academy (SSLA), serving as NJSEA president, attending numerous NAEA Affiliate President’s Exchanges and serving on the NAEA Bylaws and Membership Committees.

I have spent the last five years working with NAEA colleagues focused primarily on membership. Each one of us thinks about membership at least annually when it is time to pay our dues. So, why are we all members? What do we get from NAEA that makes our membership worthwhile? Just as there are many different career paths an EA can take, there are many different answers to this question.

Many of us work as sole practitioners, but many of us also work in small EA firms, or for large accounting and national tax preparation firms. For some, this is a first
career, and for others, a second or third career, perhaps unrelated to prior occupations. We trend towards an older age group. But we are not an aging profession. There are 20 percent more EAs in our profession today than 10 years ago. My point is we are a surprisingly diverse profession.

So, why are we NAEA members? I have found that every time we tried to quantify the value of our membership, the answers were as diverse as our members’ experiences. We receive the EA Journal six times a year packed with relevant, informative articles. The weekly E@lert and Tax Break e-newsletters help us stay current. Our advocacy work and PAC help protect EA rights to practice, with major legislative battles being won in the United States Congress and in several states. Current efforts are working to educate legislators and to reverse legislation that disadvantages EAs in Minnesota and New Mexico. Education at the national, affiliate, and chapter level is the primary source of continuing education for most of us. What is most important to me is the community of colleagues that make up our association. I have never called another EA and had him or her turn me down when I had a question needing an answer. We are a unique professional community in our willingness to help each other to succeed.

That said, NAEA finds itself at a crossroads. Association membership in many professions is in decline and NAEA is facing a similar trend. To attract the next generation of members, NAEA needs to create opportunities for members to connect and learn in new ways. We need to help new members build their businesses and careers, to educate members at all skill levels, and to become trusted advisors to our clients in the face of rapid automation of the basic services we have traditionally offered. This is where NAEA’s board of directors will spend much of its effort in the coming year. We plan to conduct an independent assessment of the needs and interests of EAs. This study will look at what values members, prospective members, our affiliate leaders, the IRS, and other constituencies want or need NAEA to provide for them. When you are contacted, please give us your candid thoughts. This assessment will drive the creation of an updated strategic plan focused
on delivering more value to members and prospective members. I look forward to reporting on progress throughout my term as your president.