About Insight
Thought. Leadership.
In supporting the Illinois CPA Society’s mission of “enhancing the value of the CPA profession,” and serving as a voice backing the Society’s broader initiatives, Insight Magazine and its family of supporting publications aim to encourage and inspire Illinois’ accounting, business, and finance professionals to create positive change in their professional and personal lives and communities through relevant, meaningful, and insightful thought leadership, news, and information.
With the added goal of helping our diverse readers do their jobs better and get better jobs, we craft content aimed at helping professionals at all stages of their careers engage in navigating the trends and challenges impacting the CPA profession and business communities they serve.
We focus on the people behind the numbers, how the numbers impact the people, and how the people impact the profession.
Frequency & Distribution
Insight Magazine is published quarterly in print, with issues in the spring, summer, fall, and winter. Insight is free to members of the Illinois CPA Society and is available in print, online, and as a digital edition. We also regularly publish online-only Insight Digital Exclusives to enhance and supplement our print offerings.
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Reprints
We strongly encourage the sharing of our digital content and welcome reprint requests for our exclusive articles. All reprints require proper attribution. Please contact us with your reprint requests.
Writing for Insight
Freelance writers, industry experts, and ICPAS members who have an interest in contributing to Insight Magazine are invited to submit original manuscripts for review and potential publication. We’re always looking for new and engaging content, and topics we frequently focus on include:
> Corporate Finance Trends and Leadership
> Public Accounting Firm Management
> Business Development
> Trends and Controversial Topics in the Accounting and Finance Profession
> Technology
> Leadership Strategy
> Career & Professional Development
> Young Professional and Generational Issues
> Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
> The Economy (regional, national, and global)
> Tax, Accounting, and Financial Reporting
> Fraud
> Hiring, Retention, and Talent Management
We strongly suggest that you read recent issues of the magazine to acquaint yourself with the type of work we publish before submitting a manuscript. Every article that we publish is edited or reviewed by our editorial staff before it is distributed to our members and across our public web and social media platforms to thousands of professionals in the accounting and finance industry. We apply our internal editorial standards to evaluate articles for distribution to ensure a consistent level of quality. Here’s what would qualify/disqualify your work from being published:
Things that enhance the chances of your article being published:
• Quality: Read our mission statement. Your article must be insightful and interesting, conveying useful information or thoughtful points of view. We’re more concerned with quality than quantity. Be original. Do your best work.
• Style/Proofreading: Our publications aim to be thought provoking and conversational rather than academic or stilted. Although we spend a great deal of time editing everything we publish, give us a hand by trying to avoid major typos, errors, or inconsistent formatting. We generally recommend following AP style.
• Headlines: Please include a clear and descriptive title and subtitle for your article that reflect what your article is about.
• Profile: Including a one- or two-sentence bio helps readers know more about you and your expertise/credentials.
Things that disqualify your story from being published:
• Ads and promotions: If you have a product or service to sell, use our advertising channels. Our articles are meant to be informational and inspirational, so please do not include advertising for products, services, or brands or salesy calls-to-action in your work.
• Copyright violations: You must properly cite your sources and/or have the rights/permission to use any content that is not your own.
• Content violations: We will not publish articles that advocate or promote intolerance or prejudice against individuals or groups, are highly politicized, or consist of unsubstantiated or misleading claims.
• Content focus: All articles should be applicable to the target audience. Our members/readers are accounting and finance professionals working in every aspect of the industry, from academia to leading Fortune 500 companies. While every article will not matter to every member, please only submit articles that address the trends, challenges, and changes in the industry or business world that would matter to these types of professionals.
Awards
Insight is an award-winning publication read by more than 22,600 professionals across the nation and around the world.
2023 Graphic Design USA, American Graphic Design Award for "A CPA Diversity Report: Uncovering the Barriers to Success"
2023 Tabbie Award for "A CPA Diversity Report: Uncovering the Barriers to Success" in the Diversity & Inclusion Journalism (Bronze) and Special Issue (Honorable Mention) categories
2023 Graphic Design USA, American Inhouse Design Award for "A CPA Diversity Report: Uncovering the Barriers to Success"
2018 Graphic Design USA, American Inhouse Design Award for "The Culture Conflicts"
2015 Communications Concepts Apex Award of Excellence for Feature Writing, “10 Worst Business Decisions Ever Made” (Spring 2014 Edition)
2014 Association Trends All Media Contest, Gold Award for Annual or Quarterly Magazines or Journals
2013 Apex Award of Excellence, Magazines & Journals, Publication Excellence
2012 Apex Award of Excellence, Magazines & Journals, Publication Excellence
2011 Magnum Opus Bronze Award, All-Around Publication Winner, Best Association Publication
2011 Apex Award of Excellence, Magazines & Journals, Publication Excellence
2011 Graphic Design USA, American In-House Design Awards, Certificate of Excellence, Publication Design
2010 Magnum Opus Silver Award, Best CSR/Green Series or Article
2009 Magnum Opus Honorable Mention, Best CSR/Green Series or Article
2008 Apex Award, Magazine & Journal Writing
2007 Magnum Opus Award, Best All-around Association Publication
2006 Apex Award, Magazines & Journals
2006 Apex Award, Magazine & Journal Writing
2004 Apex Award, Magazines & Journals
2004 Apex Award, Magazine & Journal Writing
2002 Apex Award, Magazine & Journal Writing
2002 Chicago Women in Publishing Excellence Award, Writing/Editing
2001 Apex Award, Feature Writing, "When in Rome"
2001 Apex Award, Best Redesigns
2000 Apex Award, Magazine & Journal Writing
2000 Apex Award, Best Rewrites