William (Bill) Caulfield, CGA (Hon.)

The Catalyst for CGA Growth

For nearly 30 years, as the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Certified General Accountants Association of British Columbia, Bill Caulfield worked tirelessly and enthusiastically to promote the CGA designation in the province.

Born in Vancouver in 1949, Bill started his extraordinary career at CGA-BC in 1974 as the registrar and office manager. In 1976, he was promoted to Director of Student Services, a position he held until 1983, when he became the Association’s sixth Executive Director.

His mission – and he chose to take it – was to promote the professional status and public profile of CGAs in BC everywhere he went and in whatever way possible. In the mid-1980s, he took the bold step of launching the Association’s first TV advertising campaign – the first of its kind in North America and, possibly, the world.

Over the next 25 years, Bill played an instrumental role in the Association’s marketing campaigns, including the adoption of a common logo and a new national brand for CGAs across Canada. Those pioneering efforts produced high brand recognition, and surveys consistently showed that CGA was one of the most trusted designations in BC.

He was a crucial participant and often the driving force behind many of the Association’s landmark achievements. He was intimately involved in the effort to ensure that the CGA educational program became a truly national program. To that end, he helped make sure that CGA-BC’s course copyrights would be held in trust by CGA-Canada for all CGA affiliates. He also developed and implemented a program of mandatory continuing professional education for all CGA members – a first for the accounting profession in BC and a program that was subsequently adopted nationally in 1986.

Bill was an early adopter of the Internet and e-commerce, believing these were important tools for giving CGA and its distance education program a competitive advantage. He was instrumental in the Association’s purchase of its first computer in 1976, its integration of computer technology into its curriculum, the development of its first website and, in later years, its employment of online services for CGA members and students.

He was instrumental in assisting CGA-Alberta in the successful challenge of an Alberta Securities Commission policy on audits, which had discriminated against CGAs in that province. He also worked with CGA-Ontario in its quest for full public accounting rights and played a leading role in ensuring CGA participation in the Canadian Public Accountability Board. 

Bill’s vision for CGA extended well beyond the province. In 1985, recognizing the importance and economic potential of BC’s ties to Asia, he helped establish the CGA education program in East Asia. After that, he helped draft the CGA-Hong Kong Affiliation agreement and played a significant role in CGA-Hong Kong’s transition to full affiliate status in 2003.

Bill received many honorifics and certifications during his life. Perhaps his proudest moment came when he was awarded an Honorary CGA designation in 1999 for conspicuous service and contributing to the growth and stature of the Association. He was one of only seven Honorary CGAs in BC.

This article first appeared in the April 2010 issue of Outlook, the CGA-BC magazine.