CPA2Biz Portal MULLING BEGINS ON PHASE II AGREEMENT - Brief Article

California CPA, Oct, 2001

CalCPA special task force is in the process of reviewing the CPA2Biz Phase II agreement from the Shared Services LLC, a joint venture between the AICPA and participating state societies. The agreement arrived in September.

State societies that sign the new agreement will be guaranteed an annual $5 per member royalty payment over the next five years, which could eventually increase to as much as $20 per member based on CPA2Biz's profitability. Participating state societies will have access to the national membership database via CPA2Biz.

The new contract also includes a 10-year agreement that automatically renews 10 times.

The Phase I agreement, in which all state societies participated, ended May 31. CalCPA then signed an interim agreement until Phase II of the deal was worked out.

All state societies, except New York and Vermont, signed an interim agreement.

The task force, led by Technology Committee Chair David Primes, is reviewing the contract and will submit recommendations to the CalCPA and Education Foundation boards for final approval before Dec. 31, when the interim agreement expires.

Task force members represent a cross-section of CalCPA leadership and include: David Cieslak, Florence Rust, Paul Regan, Everett Harry, Gale Case, Robert Jones, Jessie Powell, Pam Hunter and Loretta Doon. Other task force members include CalCPA Chair David George, and CalCPA Past President Don Gursey as well as Education Foundation and CalCPA staff.

"There will be changes--what they are and how quickly they will take effect is hard to tell," says CalCPA CEO Susan Waters. "We are taking this agreement and its implications very seriously."

Waters adds that CalCPA's Web site will remain intact, whether or not the agreement is signed.

Stay tuned.