By William J. Hayes, managing editor, Pennsylvania CPA Journal

The 2018-2019 Pennsylvania CPA Journal Editorial Board is an extremely forward-thinking, dedicated group. How forward-thinking? How dedicated? Well, at our recent annual meeting of the board, each member was asked to give us three feature ideas for our upcoming cycle of issues. So many members attended the meeting and so many tremendous ideas were given, that I received an in-meeting email from a member suggesting that perhaps we should limit the ask to two ideas.

That’s right. The ideas were so good we had members actively campaign for less great material.

This treasure trove has since been sorted, scheduled, and placed on our editorial calendar. Here is an overview of what our jam-packed issues will include over the next year.

For our fall 2018 issue, we will offer features on angel funding for start-ups, an update on fiduciary rules, and CPAs transitioning into retirement. Winter 2019 will tackle the accounting implications from a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that allows states to legalize sports gambling, and what that could mean to Pennsylvania. But why stop at one Supreme Court case when you can dive into two? The issue will feature South Dakota v. Wayfair and its potential impact on the tax on purchases made over the internet. Our third may be just as pressing: it will discuss the latest developments on the changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 – just in time for year-end tax prep.

One of the areas that received a lot of attention from members at the meeting was technology and how its growth will affect CPAs as they serve their clients and conduct their jobs. With that in mind, we scheduled an exploration of technology and artificial intelligence for spring 2019. This feature will serve as a broad look at how the CPA profession is being redefined with each passing innovation. Then, the 2019 digital-only edition of the Pennsylvania CPA Journal will follow with a drill down into many aspects of accounting and technology. So far, we have features scheduled on cybersecurity audits, machine learning, and blockchain. Other pieces in the works include technology’s effect on ethics, the need to integrate technological learning into the accounting classroom, advising clients on cryptocurrencies, and more. This follows on our initial efforts this year at focusing on a critical theme with the digital edition. This spring we took a comprehensive look at federal tax reform.

In a competitive marketplace, CPA firms can no longer solely depend on accounting and tax services to keep a leg up. Many are pursuing business advisory services. The summer 2019 edition will cover best practices in this area, as well as features on implementing the new lease accounting standard, establishing a mentoring program that benefits all, and fending off age discrimination in the workplace by keeping yourself relevant. The fall 2019 issue will include what you need to do to take a properly planned risk assessment program from paper to practice, the intricacies of calculating business income losses for individuals, and what professionals can expect when transitioning from for-profit to nonprofit work environments.

As I said earlier, the Pennsylvania CPA Journal Editorial Board is a hard-working, creative group. But that doesn’t mean that they can do it all alone. If you would like to get involved by authoring an article for the Pennsylvania CPA Journal or have an idea you would like to present for consideration, find out the right person to get in touch with at our Author Articles webpage.