Richard Simitian has been elected as the new chairman of the California Society of CPAs for 2013-14.
Simitian, who is the regional audit practice leader of Grant Thornton LLP's West Region, plans to strengthen relationships between CalCPA and California accounting firms.
During his year as chair, Simitian said he will seek to "open dialogue on various topics of interest" with firms and ask them how CalCPA can assist them. He also will encourage feedback from young and emerging professional members on how CalCPA can be relevant to their needs.
"We offer an extremely high level of educational offerings to help ensure that CalCPA members are indisputably California's finest CPAs," Simitian said in his address to CalCPA leadership during inauguration ceremonies. "Newcomers to the profession want to be able to impact the organization and impact the decision making very early on in their careers," he noted.
Smitian will also work on retaining new members and developing their leadership roles. He said CalCPA will work toward increasing membership from the California's new CPA licensees and will continue to promote accounting careers to students.
