CPA CONVERSATIONS  PODCAST

The public accounting world is changing, and not just through technology. The skills one needs to excel at building a book of business – an important aspect needed to achieve the status of partner – have evolved. Amy Franko, founder and president of Impact Instruction Group and author of The Modern Seller: Sell More and Increase Your Impact in the New Sales Economy, joined us to discuss the definition of modern business development, the five skills CPAs need to become expert at selling, and how best to learn what it takes.

When it comes to searching for new clients, the office is not the only place CPAs can be found on a daily basis. They go to the gym. They go out to lunch. They overhear people on the train. Well, according to Perceptive Business Solutions Inc.’s Bryce Sanders, those places can be just as effective for expanding your book of business as your workspace. Get these tips and more on our latest episode of CPA Conversations!

Effective marketing is a plus for all firms, but it can be especially vital for small practitioners. From online reputation management, to engaging websites, to leveraging your local listings, Hugh Duffy of Build Your Firm Inc. walks us through what small CPA firms can do to optimize their marketing efforts and help the business thrive.

Social Security numbers. Medical data. Financial information. The volume of personal information kept inside employee benefit plans is huge, and that is why these plans make such ripe targets for cybercriminals. It falls to employee benefit plan sponsors to make sure the bad guys are kept out. In a preview of “Cybersecurity for Benefit Plan Sponsors and Auditors,” her column from the summer 2019 Pennsylvania CPA Journal, JulieAnn C. Verrekia, director of quality control for Torrillo & Associates LLP in Glen Mills, discusses techniques hackers use to get employee benefit plan information, resources for plan sponsors looking to strengthen their security, and why auditors of employee benefit plans have to stand ready to ward off would-be infiltrators.

According to Paul Lally, lead partner of the business transition group for Wipfli LLP, the “missing middle” is the gap between the entrepreneurial vision that sparks a business’s formation and the long-term vision that ensures a company’s survival. In a preview of “Cross Over the Missing Middle to Secure Succession Plan,” his column in the summer 2019 Pennsylvania CPA Journal, Lally joins us to discuss the psychological reasons why business owners push off succession planning and why it would benefit them to think about it from the minute they open the doors.

The term cryptocurrency might sound futuristic, but it is quickly emerging in the present as an opportunity for many in the public and investing community. It’s vital that CPAs and financial planners know what they are, why they are attractive to clients, and what the risks are. To go into detail on cryptocurrencies, we talked to Matthew May, COO and founder of full-service financial firm Acuity.

In a preview of his presentation at the May 30 PICPA Pennsylvania School District Conference, Dr. Timothy Shrom discusses the benefits of benchmarking for school district business officials, value-added strategies that exist to help school districts improve the process, and steps to take to ensure benchmarking efforts net useful results.

In a preview of the feature he coauthored with John Alarcon and Cory Ng in the upcoming digital-only special edition of the Pennsylvania CPA Journal, Accounting and Technology: PICPA’s Guide to an Evolving Profession, Troy Fine, manager, risk advisory services, for Schneider Downs & Co. Inc. in Pittsburgh, discusses artificial intelligence and machine learning. He shares how we use it in everyday life, the conveniences it can bring to the accounting workplace, and steps CPAs will have to take to remain relevant in an increasingly technological workplace.

Most have long been aware of the benefits cloud computing in the area of data storage. But are you familiar with the positive effect it can have on hiring and retention. To bring these aspects to light, close management software provider FloQast delivered Cloud Technology Advances the Accounting Profession: A Survey of Accounting and Finance Professionals. Mike Whitmire, in fact, discusses the report in the upcoming digital-only Pennsylvania CPA Journal special edition, Accounting and Technology: PICPA’s Guide to an Evolving Profession, which will be released April 25. In this podcast, Blake Oliver, director of product marketing for FloQast, goes deep into the HR benefits of cloud computing.

Employers are increasingly dissatisfied with their health care benefit expenses, and many are looking to value-based purchasing strategies to achieve a better bang for their buck. This has the potential to greatly disrupt the way health care is financed and delivered. To learn more, we talked to Neil Goldfarb, president and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health, who will discuss the topic at length at the June 11-12 PICPA Health Care Conference.

CPAs working in not-for-profit and government accounting fields are increasingly getting more responsibility with regard to cybersecurity and the protection of financial data. This topic will be explored at greater length at PICPA’s 2019 Government & Not-for-Profit Conference on July 22-23, but Sassan Hejazi briefly explains some of the next-level thinking needed to prevent sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands. Hejazi is a director of technology solutions with Kreischer Miller in Horsham, Pa.

While the accounting profession is making strides in its attempts for greater diversity in the workplace, it’s not going to matter if accounting leaders do not work on the inclusivity part of the equation. Staff’s thoughts and opinions once they have settled into the office matter greatly when it comes to retention. In this episode of CPA Conversations, we talk to Mike Fetzer of consulting firm Culture Factors to find out the benefits of inclusive leadership and how individuals can best develop this important skill.

Benjamin Hall, vice president and managing director of JKJ Retirement Services in Newtown, Pa., and Susan Diehl, QPA, CPC, ERPA, president of PenServ Plan Services Inc. in Horsham, Pa., discuss adding value to client relationships in the world of employee benefit plans. Both Hall and Diehl will be joined by Melissa Kurtzman of Littler Mendelson and Jill Gilbert, CPA, of RKL LLP to discuss this topic at greater length at PICPA’s 2019 Employee Benefit Plans Conference on May 21 in Malvern.

Cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, robotic process automation: everywhere you look, business processes are becoming more digitized. According to a recent report from RSM US LLP, CFOs need to take a larger role in driving the strategies of their organizations when it comes to technological progress. To discuss the report, we spoke with Bill Kracunas, a principal with RSM, about his takeaways from the responses.

In today’s competitive CPA marketplace, you must make sure that your best and brightest CPAs remain invested and engaged. To explore ways to achieve this goal, we spoke to Jennifer Wilson, partner and cofounder of ConvergenceCoaching LLC, in a wide-ranging discussion on some of the most pressing topics in the accounting workplace.

According to Brian Jones, CEO of Windmill Capital Management in Menlo Park, Calif., solar tax equity has been increasing in popularity since 2008. Solar tax equity is an ownership position in a solar project that receives most of the tax benefits from the project. Jones discusses the tax planning opportunities surrounding this concept and what they mean for corporate accountants.

Death from unintentional injury ranks as the third leading cause of death in the United States. Forensic CPAs are frequently tasked with calculating the future earnings of these individuals for the purpose of litigation. This task is complicated when the person in question is an undocumented immigrant. In this episode of CPA Conversations, Marion Wickersham of Forensic Resolutions Inc. discusses this topic, which is derived from the Forensic Accounting column in the spring 2019 Pennsylvania CPA Journal.

Outsourcing accounting functions is not a new concept for businesses, but it’s also a legitimate option for understaffed CPA firms during tax season. Randy Kreider, CPA, president and founder of InHome Accountants, explains the types of work that can be outsourced, client disclosure requirements, and how outsourcers can be managed.

As the ages of baby-boomers in the United States rise, the rate of elder financial fraud is expected to grow as well. It’s the job of CPAs to know the signs of elder financial fraud and do everything within their power to ensure that it does not happen to their clients. Such is the premise of “Elder Financial Abuse Is a Growing Problem: CPAs Can Help Prevent It,” a feature from the spring 2019 Pennsylvania CPA Journal. We discuss the article with authors Howard Silverstone and Irina Balashova of Forensic Resolutions Inc.

With phishing still the preferred mode of attack for most hackers, it’s well past time to move beyond the simple email alert as the main way of telling employees not to click on suspicious emails. In this episode of CPA Conversations, Eldon Sprickerhoff, founder and chief innovation officer for eSentire, says firms and companies must consider detailed cybersecurity training for all employees.