CPA Success

CPAs make a righteous (and record-breaking) noise

Question: How big of a deal was the 2012 edition of CPA Day in Annapolis?

Answer: A year ago, more than 150 MACPA members attended the annual legislative event -- 20 percent more than the previous record. This year, we pulled in about 170 members. That's about 13 percent than last year's record.

That's huge.

We've been saying it for years, but here it is again: The more CPAs who make their voices heard, the louder our message becomes.

This year, we were absolutely deafening.

"CPAs have enormous credibility, and what you're doing is absolutely crucial," said Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot, who stopped by the event to talk with those attending. "There's an old saying in politics: If you're not at the table, you can often end up on the menu. Maryland CPAs should have a place at the table. They should have a higher visibility on fiscal responsibility and fiscal discipline and why those things leads to social responsibility and the ability to pay for the things we want. The fact that you're here in Annapolis is very commendable, and all of your members should support that."

They did that in record numbers this year, including more than 60 first-time attendees who offered this plea to those who weren't there:

"Absolutely get involved," said Kelly Bugg of Bieger and Waller in Columbia. "Understand the impact that we're making and what would happen if we didn't do this. If we weren't here, the result would be things the CPA community wouldn't be happy about."

Scary thought, indeed. But the word is getting out. CPAs are learning a huge lesson: In a changing and complex world, collaboration is usually the answer. During legislative season in Maryland, that means collaborating with lawmakers. That's what happened on Jan. 18, and it may have made all the difference.

• Check out photos from CPA Day.
• Read our position papers: Oppose sales taxes on services | Retain contributory negligence rule

We'll be following the progress of CPA-related bills throughout the 2012 session of Maryland's General Assembly at our sister blog, Legislative Insider. Be sure to follow along.

And be sure to check out the Maryland Chamber Action Network as well. Run by the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, the blog tracks important legislation at both the state and federal levels.

Happy reading. As always, it's going to be an interesting session.

Our top 25 posts of 2011

Oh, man, I almost forgot.

Not to be outdone by everyone else on the planet, here's our own "Best of 2011" list -- the 25 most popular CPA Success posts of the past year.

Here we go, in order:

1. Tax prep winners? CPAs in a landslide
2. Attention, Virginia: Your tax deadline is still April 15
3. End of the road for 'American Idol' CPA
4. The evolution of the CPA as CFO
5. Are you creating value ... or just punching the clock?
6. Maryland CPA legislative / regulatory update
7. IRS offers PTIN exemptions for non-signing preparers
8. Firm of the future: Does it look like this?
9. Is accounting a depressing field?
10. Hot job for the next decade? Try 'accountant'
11. That's one sweet-soundin' CPA
12. Welcome to tax season. Let's get busy!
13. How to choose a major: Step 1 -- pick accounting. QED.
14. Top seven leadership challenges facing CPA firms
15. IRS, states offer post-Irene tax relief
16. What's the value of your professional association?
17. Soft skills are hard ... and required
18. Stress? It's a state of mind.
19. Still not convinced about social media?
20. What do young professionals want?
21. Maryland native earns Top 10 score on 2010 CPA exam
22. In defense of Gen Y (a.k.a. the millennials)
23. Don't jump the gun on new CPA exam applications
24. XBRL: Coming to a theater near you
25. Why XBRL? Easy -- more time for clients

And by the way ... happy New Year!

Workflow, people, technology drive future-ready firms

Everyone's thinking about the future these days.

• There's the CPA profession, which took a good, hard look at its future in last month's CPA Horizons 2025 report.


• There are the folks at Intuit and Emergent Research, whose groundbreaking report "Intuit 2020: Twenty Trends That Will Shape The Next Decade" set the stage for the profession's Horizons 2025 project.


• There are Maryland's young CPAs. They've followed up the Horizons 2025 work by building a blueprint for the future of CPA leadership, identifying their biggest opportunities for growth and creating action plans, timelines and desired results for each. (Keep an eye out for their eye-opening white paper; it's coming soon.)


• And there are a million others, too, from Emmanuel Gobillot and Rick Richardson to Andrew Zolli and Dr. Jim Canton, all offer their vision of what tomorrow will bring.

Now, you can add CCH to that list.

At its 2011 User Conference in San Antonio, the software giant has released its Future Ready Firm Survey, a report that takes its own stab at identifying the things CPA firms must do to thrive in the future.

"With a strategic view of their client and practive needs, (future-ready firms) anticipate changes and innovate across workflows, optimizing processes, people and technology," the report states.

CCH's firms of the future are focusing most of their effort in four areas:

Tools and technology: Sixty percent of audit firms and 44 percent of tax firms will embrace cloud-based solutions, with larger firms doing so even more frequently. Mobile strategies also loom large, with most firms prepared to rely on mobile solutions extensively.

Workflow and processes: This is an area of glaring weakness. The report finds that 83 percent of audit firms and 61 percent of tax firms say their current processes need to be reassessed or improved.

Staffing and culture: Most firms nationwide say they have "the right people doing the right work," but some say they have people on staff who are overqualified for the work they're doing. Many are tapping into the knowledge of their younger workers for help with technology, tax and audit issues.

Practice management and analytics: About three-quarters of firms say they will use business intelligence software and cloud-based practice management solutions.

• Download the CCH report here.

In short, says CCH President and CEO Mike Sabbatis: Even if you're wildly successful, that's no excuse for not improving. Sabbatis turns to Will Rogers to boil it down: "Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."

Interesting, isn't it, how so many of these future reports dovetail into similar themes -- technology, 
demographics, professional development, being nimble and collaborative and forward-thinking. It seems everyone knows what needs to be done going forward.

The next challenge is to do it. Let the work begin.

Like us? Vote for us!

The presidential primaries are still months away, but the really important voting starts now.

We're talking, of course, about The Mobbies.

Short for "Maryland's Outstanding Blogs," The Mobbies are an annual contest run by The Baltimore Sun.

This year, CPA Success appears in the "Best Uncategorized Blog" category -- which, coincidentally, is one of the most awesome oxymorons I've ever encountered. If we receive enough votes, we'll also be considered for the "Best Overall Blog" award.

• Vote for CPA Success here.

Voting runs through Nov. 10. You're allowed to vote once every 24 hours, so vote early, vote often, and tell your friends!

Let's put CPAs on top of the Maryland blogging honor roll.

What is the secret to success in the future?

How do you prepare for the future when you don't know what is going to happen five minutes from now?

Crowdsource it.

The AICPA and state CPA societies collaborated and crowdsourced the future of the CPA profession over the past year and recently released the CPA Horizons 2025 Report, which outlines the process and conclusions. This report was unanimously adopted by the governing AICPA Council at its fall 2011 meeting.

MACPA past Chair Kimberly Ellison-Taylor served on the Advisory Panel and was front and center on a panel at Council to discuss the findings and the work. The group took the results and synthesized them into the final report, which was discussed and updated with the comments of more than 300 council members. The comments were added and the report published overnight for the vote on Wednesday morning. That is crowdsourcing at its best.

The process involved more than 5,600 participants via the web, 1,000 in intense grassroots future forums (500 nationally across eight cities and 600 in Maryland), focus groups, interviews with regulators, and the final input of the AICPA Council. All told, those efforts generated 75,000 comments.

Here are some of the insights in the report, "Embracing the Future" (page 45):

• It is a small world after all: Every business must become a global business.
• The future is here: Embracing the future now will ensure our viability in the long run.
• Change is inevitable: Technology is changing the way we work, and the change will continue.
• Generations are working side by side: Baby Boomers are not retiring (soon) and Millennials are bringing a new set of skills and ideals into the workplace.

What we must do:

• Be open to change: Embrace, don't fear the future.
• Be nimble: Adapt traditional services and establish new ones to take advantage of change.
• Be collaborative: Work with each other and with the global community to shape and execute the standards and services that will emerge over the next decade.
• Be forward-thinking: Assess and evaluate the current and future environments and plan accordingly.

Download your copy of the CPA Horizons 2025 report here.

If you are in or near Maryland, stop by one of our townhall meetings (4 hours of free CPE) and hear about the latest results. 

Resources:

• MACPA's CPA Horizons Project: See the top trends to watch and an actual report from the Future Forums.
• See a series of videos from CPAs, students, educators, young professionals about their experiences in the future forums.
• How about holding a future forum for your firm or organization? Click here.
• CPA Horizons 2025 website, full of great resources and research from leading futurists from the AICPA.
• Prior posts from CPA Success here and here.
• Pictures from the Future Forums.

Save the Bay, step 1: Check your mail

A quick reminder for all of you tax preparers out there: Your clients have a chance to save the polluted Chesapeake Bay -- and you have an opportunity to help.

It'll come with a simple check-box donation on state income tax returns. Those interested will be able to enter the amount of their donation on Line 35 of their Maryland income tax return. The donations will go to the Chesapeake Bay and Endangered Species Fund and are split evenly between the Chesapeake Bay Trust and the Wildlife and Heritage Division of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

Folks with the Chesapeake Bay Trust have begun sending information to CPAs around the state with details about how they and their clients can get involved. With busy season closing in, preparers will want to keep an eye on their mail for details about how the program works. Check your mailbox, or view and print the mailer here.

According to the DNR, the donations will be used to promote:

• Chesapeake Bay education and restoration projects for students.
• Stream cleanups and tree plantings by community volunteers.
• Habitat research, protection and enhancement for threatened plants and animals.
• Protection of Maryland's endangered species.

Just a friendly reminder. Do your part. Help your clients do their part.

Maybe we can breathe some new life into the Bay.

Save the Bay at tax time. Here's how.

We interrupt this blog to bring you this public service announcement. Bear with us; we think it's worth it.

The problems confronting the Chesapeake Bay -- most notably pollution and the resulting depletion of numerous species of fish, shellfish, crabs and oysters -- are daunting and well documented.

Now, there's something all of us can do to help.

With a simple check-box donation on their state income tax return, Marylanders can help support the work of the Chesapeake Bay Trust, an organization that wants to bring positive change to the Bay and its tributaries via stewardship -- specifically, through "grant programs, special initiatives, and partnerships that support environmental education, demonstration-based restoration, and community engagement activities."

It's all pretty easy. If you or your clients would like to help, simply enter the amount of your donation on Line 35 of your Maryland income tax return. The tax return check-off donations go to the Chesapeake Bay and Endangered Species Fund and are split evenly between the Chesapeake Bay Trust and the Wildlife and Heritage Division of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

According to the DNR, the donations will be used to promote:

• Chesapeake Bay education and restoration projects for students.
• Stream cleanups and tree plantings by community volunteers.
• Habitat research, protection and enhancement for threatened plants and animals.
• Protection of Maryland's endangered species.

And for you CPAs out there, this is a terrific opportunity to do your part by spreading the word to your clients, associates and friends. Sign up to join "CPAs for a Cleaner Bay," then keep an eye out for further details from the Chesapeake Bay Trust later this fall.

Find out more in this brief video:

There's only one Chesapeake Bay. Here's our opportunity to make sure it gets well.

Find out more at the Chesapeake Tax Conference
Representatives from the Chesapeake Bay Trust will be on hand at the MACPA's annual Chesapeake Tax Conference, scheduled for Sept. 22 at Martin's West in Baltimore. They'll be handing out materials and offering details about how you can get involved in the program. Get details about the conference and register here.

Tom Hood a top influencer ... again

I know he won't, so I'll do Tom Hood's bragging for him.

The MACPA's fearless leader, the CPA profession's resident visionary and CPA Success's friendly neighborhood co-blogger has once again been named to Accounting Today's annual list of the 100 most influential people in accounting.

I know, I know -- ho-hum, right? Tom makes this list pretty much every year. It'll be news when he doesn't make the cut.

Still, it's a pretty big deal to those of us who know and work for him -- and for MACPA members as well. Tom's leadership and forethought keep the MACPA on the cutting edge and our members a step ahead. We're proud of him, and we're proud to work for him.

Even cooler is this: Accounting Today asked each of this year's influencers to name the three people they believe are most influential, and Tom was near the top of that list as well, joining such accounting heavyweights as AICPA chief Barry Melancon, SEC Chair Mary Shapiro, FASB Chair Leslie Seidman and President Obama.

That's pretty good company -- and for Tom, it's evidence that his vision is spot-on.

Congratulations, boss. Take a bow.

And congratulations, too, to the rest of our friends who made the list -- you know who you are. In these chaotic times, your work on behalf of the profession has been extraordinary and invaluable. Keep it up.

Passion or bust

 
Have you ever had one of those moments when someone says something so profound, so righteously perfect, that it makes you take stock of everything you believe?

I have. It came during the 2011 AICPA E.D.G.E. Conference in New Orleans, an event designed to give young professionals the skills they need to become leaders in the CPA profession.

During a panel discussion titled "Sky High: Personal Success Stories," Nicole Morris explained why she turned her back on the corporate fast track to teach the next generation of CPAs as an accounting professor at Champlain College.

"I decided not to do anything that I'm not passionate about," she told the crowd.

After my head stopped spinning, I thought: What if we all did that? How different would the world be? How much happier? How much more productive? How completely awesome?

We only get one shot at this thing, folks. Life's too short to do things that suck. Find your passion. Get good at it. Work hard. Demand excellence from yourself.

And guess what? That passion is contagious. Others will follow your lead.

A pipe dream? Maybe. Too many people settle for good enough these days.

And what a cop-out that is. Good enough isn't nearly enough -- not at work, not at home, not in anything we do.

Not when you put it in the context of our singular life.

Thanks for the inspiration, Nicole!

New volunteers take MACPA reins. Join them.

It's July 1 -- time again to welcome another slate of volunteer leaders to the MACPA's Board of Directors.

At the top of the list is Chair Allen DeLeon, who is keeping his eye on a number of looming issues -- private company standards, XBRL, and a special autumn session of Maryland's General Assembly that promises to keep the MACPA's legislative volunteers hopping.

At the end of the day, though, “I’m sure the issues will find us to a large extent,” he said.

That's been the norm recently, hasn't it? Chaos reigns, and the fantastic rate of change makes it diffuclt to plan for that chaos. The issues find us.

The MACPA's volunteers often save the day, but there's more in it for them than just heroism.

“It wasn't until later in my career that it dawned on me how important it was to contribute my time and efforts to various organizations and the benefits you get from that,” said DeLeon, founding partner of DeLeon and Stang in Gaithersburg. “What inspires me is trying to help young people understand that earlier in their careers, not just for their own benefit but for the benefit of others. I tell them, ‘Don't worry what you can get. Concentrate on what you can give, and the rest will take care of itself.’”

Read more about DeLeon's agenda, then meet the rest of the MACPA's 2011-12 officers and directors.

And think about joining our team of volunteers. Something tells me we're going to need during the next year.