The impact of AICPA Town Hall — from episode No. 1 to No. 100

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, the world changed overnight, and the accounting professional required immediate guidance. Accountants needed help navigating the new world of shuttered businesses, remote work, Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, various emergency tax credits, and a host of other disruptions.

From that need, a powerful new forum emerged for the profession.

“We created something called Town Halls, and we have kept them going past COVID,” said Barry Melancon, CPA, CGMA, the CEO of AICPA & CIMA, together as the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants. “Yes, they were created initially to push out current information that was changing by the moment in the COVID space, but the world hasn’t slowed down, and so we continue to do it.”

In fact, the 100th episode of AICPA Town Hall, which officially debuted on April 10, 2020, took place live Tuesday in Las Vegas. The second episode, on April 16, 2020, moved the series to its more typical Thursday at 3 p.m. ET timeslot and included the “Town Hall” name for the first time.

Always free for AICPA members, the Town Hall drew a large audience for its 100th episode between those attending at AICPA & CIMA ENGAGE 2023 and those tuning in virtually.

Melancon is a regular guest on the show, with Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com, the business and technology subsidiary of the AICPA, serving as host for the first episode and nearly all subsequent episodes. Most weeks, a popular technical update and practitioner-focused strategy segments are led by Lisa Simpson, CPA, CGMA, vice president–Firm Services for AICPA & CIMA.

The majority of the fast-paced, hourlong profession updates are accessed remotely, but that doesn’t mean Town Hall hasn’t created a valuable community of connections.

“It has carried on because the thirst for leading information has been proven by the reaction of our members,” Melancon said. “The feedback that we get is amazing. Not only the feedback that we get about the Town Halls, but the feedback about information — thousands of pieces of feedback on a biweekly basis that gets sorted and put into our intelligence inside the organization for addressing issues.

“It’s very, very powerful.”

To date, the number of Town Hall views has reached 800,000. Most viewers watch live every other Thursday — and receive one CPE credit to boot — but a growing number of AICPA members are accessing it after the fact via a Town Hall portal created at the end of 2022 that gives additional resource access and communication points, or through the Town Hall podcast.

About 2,500 people tuned in to the first episode three years ago, focused — as many of the early additions were — on the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and its PPP loans. Fast-forward to the present day, and about 10,000 people consume each episode on average (including 2,000 through on-demand options).

“It has evolved to be a high-impact news broadcast on the most pressing issues facing the profession,” Asgeirsson said. “We saw it as an important medium to continue the dialogue with members and deliver timely content and analysis specific to their unique opportunities and challenges as practitioners.”

Guests have included regulators, members of Congress, IRS executives, CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, thought leaders, futurists, keynote speakers, economic experts, firm leaders, and more.

Erin Kehrer, CPA, has been attending the Town Hall since its inception. At the time, she was a controller for a private company and was looking for guidance on how to secure PPP funding.

“I watched the first couple of episodes and realized how great it was and the information coming across was incredible, and very timely,” she said. “After that, I continued to watch as often as I could.”

Now a tax manager at Gerding, Korte & Chitwood, PC, CPAs in Columbia, Mo., she has tuned in live to nearly every single Town Hall. “With the Town Hall it’s new. It’s updated. It’s good information.”

Kehrer said that Town Halls keep her up to speed on important issues, including updates on IRS issues, which directly affect her work with clients. “It’s a free broadcast with the latest and greatest information,” she said. “I don’t know why you wouldn’t dedicate an hour of your day every other week to get this information. It puts our firm in a much better place.”

To celebrate the 100th episode, Asgeirsson announced that AICPA members can now gift one colleague a free Town Hall pass for a full year of access.

— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Bryan Strickland at Bryan.Strickland@aicpa-cima.com.