CPA Now Blog

At PICPA’s first blended learning class participants had to complete four-hours of on-demand “homework” before attending the class. This type of program allows participants to take half the class on their own time, and the other half discussing the issues with the other participants.

By my calculations, it took 2,402 member contributions to reach 311,540 consumers, based on our data from May 1 – Nov. 15, 2014.

For the third time, the PICPA Fiscal Responsibility Task Force is gearing up to put the spotlight on the top fiscal issues facing Pennsylvania as we enter a new legislative session and bring in a new administration. Also for the third time, the task force’s report will examine the public pension situation in Pennsylvania.

CPAs volunteer for many different causes in their communities and love doing it. This year Jerry Maginnis, PICPA president, wants to shine a light on all these volunteer activities.

The variety of CPA job options and the opportunity to make good money have always been a part of the message because most students have been receptive and interested in those points. More recently, though, there has been a shift to also convey the higher purpose of an accounting career as we work to appeal to the millennial generation and the one behind it.

I always think of September as the beginning of the PICPA year. Everyone seems refocused after enjoying some vacation during the lazy, hazy days of summer, and calendars start to tighten up.

The PICPA’s “busy season” is just beginning to roll with the start of chapter annual meetings. I look forward to this renewal every spring — the weather improves, member activity resurges, and many networking opportunities open up for our members.

The #GuardianCPA tax campaign is the brainchild of PICPA’s CPA Image Enhancement Committee. It describes some of the complicated tax changes that could require the assistance of a CPA to more accurately complete this year’s tax return.

How interesting would it be for firm partners to learn that a benefit considered a big deal by a senior partner has little or no influence on a younger firm member when making choices about staying or leaving a firm? Do you know how your firm’s benefits stack up with others?

I find myself reflecting on the past year and looking forward to the new challenges that lie ahead. But before I get too far ahead of myself, I need to express some gratitude for the reason the PICPA exists – our members!

I work closely with PICPA’s Pennsylvania CPA Journal Editorial Board and the CPA Image Enhancement Committee, and these questions are what we talk about at the committee meetings. The conversations are interesting, enlightening, engaging, and, believe it or not, fun!

The end of a busy tax season for our members represents the beginning of a busy season for PICPA networking, and we look forward to re-engaging with members.

I don’t know about you, but when I first heard that the pope had resigned, I was waiting for the punch line. By now, we know it wasn’t a joke. The white smoke confirmed that there is a new leader of the Catholic Church. How does that relate to accounting? Change. Succession planning. Diversity.

The PICPA will be in full strategic mode over the next several months, and, based on recent member volunteer activity, we will have plenty to keep us busy. The PICPA could not function, and could not be effective, without the countless hours that our members provide.

PICPA leadership has decided to review our governance and structure model to determine its ongoing effectiveness in the changing profession in which you operate, as well as to be sure that we are providing engagement, or volunteer opportunities, to all of our members across multiple generations.

The talent and commitment of our member volunteers who choose to engage with the PICPA directly contributes to the value that all members receive for belonging to the organization. And the more members who become involved only strengthen the PICPA and improve our value to you.

The PICPA Professional Issues Update tour around Pennsylvania is an excellent opportunity for PICPA members to receive two hours of free CPE while interacting with PICPA leadership and your peers on key issues affecting your profession.

The Philadelphia Business Journal recently published a special report, "The Quest for Diversity: Accounting Lags Behind" that discusses how the profession’s poor performance trails others in recruiting minorities. Are you rolling your eyes yet? I’ve been to enough Diversity Committee meetings to guess that you probably are.

It never ceases to amaze me though, that we continue to get members to step up to the plate for media interviews, phone banks, and other tax assistance programs, regardless of the time of year. I could understand if our call for volunteers elicited a few, “It’s tax season, don’t bother me” responses, but luckily, that’s not how 40 members responded who helped us fill volunteer requests so far this tax season.

As a communicator, I’ve done a fair amount of research on intergenerational issues. I know lots about the traits of the boomers and generation X’s and Y’s. I won’t say it keeps me up at night, but I have wondered how the next generation will be coined?