April 2006
Letter from the International Chair

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Dear Colleagues,

On January 1, 1996, CKL International merged with International Accounting Associates to form AGN International. This merger brought together 122 member firms with gross revenue of $458 million. Six years later, AGN International merged with TAG International.

As we celebrate our 10th Anniversary, we are over 200 firms, located in 83 countries, with just over US $1 billion in gross revenue. This ranks us as the 18th largest accounting association in the world.

We can be very proud of our short 10-year history, but we cannot become complacent.

According to International Accounting Bulletin, AGN's revenues grew only 1% last year — there was only one association in the top 18 that did less. Growth for the sake of growth is not what I aspire to. My partners will
tell you that I am a slave to profit. I don't want Gamble Givens & Moody to be the largest firm, but I do want it to be the most profitable.

We, as an organization, must add value to our member firms so that they can stay healthy and competitive. In our 10-year history, AGN has achieved a critical mass that must be leveraged to allow each member firm to move forward.

There are not enough hours in the day to do all we need to do by ourselves. We must work and learn from our other AGN International associates to find what works, what doesn't and how to accomplish our goals.

We refer constantly to "knowledge management" as the keystone to our organization's future success. This knowledge management comes in two forms:
1 You need to be sure that your firm's data, expertise and capabilities are current on the AGN web site; and,
2 You
need to attend and participate in your regional meetings and the World Congress in Montreal (I cannot begin to tell you what a learning experience we had in China) on September 17-19. You'll find information about the pre-Congress tours being offered elsewhere in this issue as well as at www.agn.org.

Together, we can make the next 10 years even more spectacular than the last. I covet your thoughts and comments about how to make AGN International a stronger more valued asset.

I look forward to seeing many of you at the regional meetings and World Congress.

Many thanks

William A. Moody, Jr., CPA
Gamble Givens & Moody, LLC
Charleston, South Carolina, USA

WMoody@ggmcpa.com

 

 

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