Future-Proof

244. The Neuroscience of Culture, with Don Rheem

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 06:00:00 -0400

What if culture isn’t soft at all, but one of the most powerful drivers of performance? In this episode of Future-Proof, we sit down with Don Rheem, founder of CultureID, to explore how neuroscience is reshaping the way leaders understand engagement, behavior, and results.

Don explains how the way employees feel at work directly drives how they perform, and why factors like psychological safety, trust, and recognition are not just nice-to-haves, but measurable business drivers. From the impact of managers on engagement to the hidden costs of disengagement, this conversation challenges leaders to rethink culture as a system that can be measured, managed, and improved.

This episode offers a practical, science-backed look at how organizations can create environments where people thrive and performance follows.

Resources:

Don Rheem LinkedIn profile
CultureID, tools and insights for measuring and improving workplace culture
Thrive by Design, by Don Rheem, book on the neuroscience behind high-performance cultures
MACPA Converge 2026, where Don Rheem will deliver a keynote on culture and performance

243. Rules, regs and reinvention, with Jeff Wilson

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 06:00:00 -0400

How is the future of the CPA profession being shaped at the regulatory level? In this episode of Future-Proof, we sit down with Jeff Wilson, the newly appointed chair of the Maryland State Board of Public Accountancy, to discuss the role regulators play in guiding the profession forward.

Jeff shares his perspective on addressing the CPA talent shortage, expanding pathways to licensure, and how state boards are thinking about emerging technologies like AI and automation.

This conversation offers insight into how regulators, practitioners, and professional organizations can work together to protect the public while helping the profession evolve and thrive.

Resources:

242. Secure the firm, with Luke Kiely

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 06:00:00 -0400

What does cybersecurity really mean for today’s CPA firms? In this episode, we sit down with Luke Kiely, Chief Information Security Officer at SmartVault and Chief Security Officer at ComplyWise, to explore why cybersecurity is no longer just an IT issue, but a firm-wide responsibility.

Luke breaks down how most breaches still begin with a simple email and a distracted click, why busy season increases vulnerability, and the practical safeguards firms can put in place without a massive IT budget.

This episode offers clear, actionable insight into protecting client data and securing the future of your firm.

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241. What’s next for audit? With Christina Ho

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 06:00:00 -0400

What does the future of audit oversight look like in a rapidly changing world? In this episode, we sit down with Christina Ho, who recently announced her departure from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), for an inside look at what’s next for audit regulation.

Christina shares her perspective on using AI and advanced analytics in audit oversight, the importance of common-sense regulation, and how regulators can balance investor protection with innovation and market resilience.

This timely conversation offers valuable insight into the forces shaping audit quality and trust in today’s capital markets.

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240. Creating joy with the Savannah Bananas, with Dr. Tim Naddy

Mon, 19 Jan 2026 06:00:00 -0400

What can CPAs and business leaders learn from one of the most entertaining organizations in the world? In this episode, we sit down with Tim Naddy, CFO of the Savannah Bananas, to explore how purpose, culture, and leadership drive performance in high-pressure environments.

Behind the dancing players and sold-out stadiums is a clear philosophy. The Bananas do not just play baseball. They create joy. Tim shares how a strong sense of purpose helps teams manage intense schedules, constant travel, and burnout, and why culture must be treated as infrastructure, not a perk. He explains how empathy, flexibility, and engaged leadership keep people energized and performing at their best.

You can hear more from Tim live as the keynote speaker at MACPA’s 2026 Converge event on April 30 at the BWI Hilton.

Resources:

239. Quality management, with Mike Manspeaker

Mon, 24 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0400

A major shift is coming to the accounting profession. In December 2025, a new suite of quality management standards will take effect, replacing the long-standing quality control framework firms have used for decades. This change goes beyond new policies; it reflects a broader mindset focused on continual improvement, risk awareness, and firmwide accountability.

To help us understand what is coming, we sit down with Mike Manspeaker, past chair of the MACPA board and a member of the AICPA Auditing Standards Board. With deep experience in peer review, audit evidence, risk response, and technology, Mike offers an insider’s perspective on why these standards matter and how firms can prepare.

Mike explains that the new standards are not burdens but tools that help practitioners deliver high-quality work and manage growing risks. We discuss the transition challenges firms may face and the opportunities to build a stronger culture of communication, leadership, and shared responsibility for quality.

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238. Succession planning, with Erin Daiber

Tue, 18 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0400

What happens when you are ready to step away from the business you have built? In this episode of Future-Proof, we sit down with Erin Daiber, founder of Well Balanced Accountants, to explore why effective succession planning starts long before retirement.

Erin shares practical guidance on developing future leaders, creating a culture that supports growth, and avoiding common pitfalls like confusing technical skill with leadership potential. She also breaks down what to do if you realize you do not yet have a clear successor and touches on the rising influence of private equity in firm transitions.

This conversation is a timely reminder that succession planning is not an end-of-career task. It is an ongoing strategy that helps you strengthen your firm today while preparing it for tomorrow.

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237. Seriously funny, with Greg Kyte

Tue, 04 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0400

There is no single path to success in accounting, and few people prove that better than Greg Kyte. In this episode of Future-Proof, we explore how Greg built a one-of-a-kind career that blends finance, comedy, and purpose in ways that challenge traditional ideas of what it means to be a CPA.

Greg is the Controller and CFO at Riverwoods Medical Arts Center in Utah, but that is only part of his story. He is also a stand-up comedian, keynote speaker, fraud expert, podcaster, cartoonist, and MC, using humor to bring humanity and connection into a profession often seen as buttoned up.

Originally part of MACPA's CPA Purpose series, this conversation digs into how Greg found meaning by bringing his personal passions into his professional life. Greg shows that joy, creativity, and authenticity all have a place in our work.

If you have ever felt boxed in by what an accounting career “should” look like, this episode is your reminder that you can bring your whole self to the profession and make it a lot more fun along the way.

Resources

236. The power of storytelling, with Jake DeKinder

Fri, 24 Oct 2025 06:00:00 -0400

In today’s data-driven world, information is everywhere, but what truly sets professionals apart is their ability to tell the story behind the numbers. In this episode of Future-Proof, we sit down with Jake DeKinder, Head of Client Communication at Dimensional Fund Advisors, to explore why storytelling may be the most essential skill CPAs can master.

Jake explains how data alone doesn’t inspire action; stories do. He shares his framework for effective communication, the Four S’s of Storytelling (scripts, stories, sketches, and supplements), and shows how authentic, human connection builds trust and meaning in client relationships.

Jake will also present at the MACPA’s 40th Annual Personal Financial Planning Conference on October 28, where he’ll dive deeper into how financial professionals can transform data into stories that stick.

It’s not just about communicating numbers; it’s about helping people see the meaning in their money.

Resources:

235. Estate planning for all, with Patrick Carlson

Mon, 13 Oct 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Estate planning isn’t just for the wealthy, it’s for anyone who wants to protect the people and causes that matter most. In this episode of Future-Proof, we sit down with Patrick Carlson, Associate General Counsel for Estate and Tax Product at Vanilla, to explore how simple planning steps can bring peace of mind to everyday clients.

Patrick, who’s presenting at the MACPA’s 40th Annual Personal Financial Planning Conference, shares practical ways to make estate planning accessible, meaningful, and essential for financial professionals. It’s not about doom and gloom — it’s about love, legacy, and making sure your wishes are honored.

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234. Reinventing tax season, with Samantha Bowling

Tue, 02 Sep 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Busy season horror stories of 80-hour weeks, sleepless nights, and lost weekends have long defined the accounting profession. But Samantha Bowling, managing partner at GWCPA, is rewriting that narrative.

This past tax season, her firm went bold: no weekends, a 50-hour cap, mandatory extensions, upfront pricing, and a 15% fee increase. The payoff? Nearly full client retention, lighter partner workloads, and a team that felt energized instead of exhausted.

In this episode, Samantha shares how GWCPA pulled it off, what challenges came with change, and why people-first innovations like these may be the key to attracting talent and future-proofing the profession.

If you have ever thought, “There has to be a better way,” you will want to hear this conversation.

Resources

Samantha Bowling, CPA, CFE, CGMA LinkedIn Profile
GWCPA Firm Website
MACPA Preferred Providers

233. The Road to 2040, with Tom Hood

Mon, 18 Aug 2025 08:00:00 -0400

Tom Hood, Executive Vice President of Business Growth and Engagement at the AICPA, shares his perspective on the forces shaping the future of accounting and finance through Accounting and Finance 2040: Rise to the Future Together.

In this conversation, Tom discusses the rapid evolution of the finance function, driven by generative AI, digital transformation, shifting business models, and changing workforce expectations. He examines the skills professionals will need to thrive, highlighting adaptability, curiosity, and strategic thinking alongside technical expertise.

Tom also offers practical advice for finance leaders and professionals on how to prepare themselves and their teams for what is coming next.

Resources:

Tom Hood, CPA, CGMA, CITP, EVP Business Engagement & Growth, AICPA LinkedIn
McKinsey Reports on CFO Priorities
Deloitte CFO Signals Report
Gartner Finance Insights

232. Making work fair, with Siri Chilazi

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 06:00:00 -0400

In today’s polarized climate, terms like DEI and diversity can spark debate, but the need for fairness at work remains just as important. In this episode, Siri Chilazi, co-author of Work Fair: Data-Driven Design for Real Results, joins the conversation to explore what actually drives equity in the workplace.

Instead of buzzwords or big proclamations, Siri focuses on small, practical changes that make a real impact. She shares how reducing bias in hiring, running more inclusive meetings, and building systems where talent has a true chance to shine can lead to meaningful progress. She calls this moment a reset, a chance to step back and ask what’s really working.

If you're looking for ways to create a fairer workplace grounded in evidence and action, this episode offers steps to get started.

Resources:

Siri Chilazim Author, Academic, Speaker and Consultant, website
"Make Work Fair: Data-Driven Design for Real Results", by Siri Chilazi, Iris Bohnet

231. Risk ready: What CPAs can’t afford to ignore, with Nicole Graham

Mon, 23 Jun 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Risk is evolving quickly, and CPAs need to stay ahead. In this episode of Future Proof, we talk with Nicole Graham, risk consultant at Aon, about how firms can turn risk management into a strategic advantage.

From cyber threats and regulatory changes to the everyday use of generative AI, Nicole shares real-world trends and practical tips to help firms stay protected. Learn how to spot red flags early, strengthen engagement practices, and embed a proactive risk culture across your team.

Smart risk management isn’t optional, it’s essential to building a future-ready firm.

Resources:

Ashley Graham, Risk Consultant, LinkedIn
Aon Insurance Services, an MACPA Preferred Provider

230. Find your purpose, change the world, with Paul Dunn

Mon, 16 Jun 2025 06:00:00 -0400

This week on Future Proof, Paul Dunn, award-winning entrepreneur, global business leader, and founder of B1G1 (Business for Good), joins the conversation to explore the true purpose of the accounting profession.

Paul challenges CPAs to shift from focusing on what they do to why they do it. He shares how small, purpose-driven actions can create lasting impact and how accountants can become storytellers who communicate the real value of their work. His message is clear: CPAs are heroes (they just don’t always realize it).

This uplifting episode is a powerful reminder of how purpose and impact can redefine the profession and inspire change far beyond the bottom line.

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229. Leading with purpose and passion, Lexy Kessler

Wed, 14 May 2025 17:00:00 -0400

This week on Future Proof, we’re joined by Lexy Kessler, partner at Aprio, former chair of the Maryland Association of CPAs, and now the third Marylander to chair the AICPA’s board of directors. Lexy brings insight, inspiration, and a powerful sense of purpose to this conversation.

She shares how a high school bookkeeping class sparked her career, why she was an early adopter of technology, and how a short break from public accounting reaffirmed her calling. Now in a national leadership role, Lexy is focused on deep listening, building trust across the profession, and addressing the talent pipeline with both policy and heart.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone seeking renewed purpose and direction in the profession.

Resources

228. A world beyond services, with Ron Baker

Wed, 07 May 2025 06:00:00 -0400

In this episode, Ron Baker, founder of the VeraSage Institute, challenges traditional views of innovation in accounting. Instead of focusing on technology like AI and automation, Ron advocates for transforming the value we provide to clients, shifting from transactional services to outcomes and personal growth. He highlights Fender's shift from selling guitars to teaching customers how to become musicians as a key example of transformation.

Ron also reframes burnout as "moral injury," the emotional toll of not living up to the deeper purpose of the profession, which is helping people. This conversation is full of actionable ideas to help CPAs evolve beyond billable hours and checklists. Tune in for a fresh perspective on the future of accounting and how to make a greater impact.

Resources:

VeraSage Institute
Ron Baker biography and work
Ron Baker's podcast, The Soul of the Enterprise
"The Experience Economy" book by Joe Pine and James Gilmore
PwC 2023 Consumer Insights Report
Deloitte’s Human Outcomes Study

227. Global talent playbook, with Tricia Katebini

Wed, 09 Apr 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Firms are facing major capacity and talent challenges—and many are turning to offshoring, or global resourcing, to keep up. But how do you make it work?

In this episode of Futureproof, GRF CPAs and Advisors partner Tricia Katebini shares how her firm built a global team that’s fully integrated into their culture and client service model.

Whether you’re just getting started or refining your approach, this episode is packed with practical insights to help you navigate the future of talent.

Resources:

226. The evolution of AI, with Pascal Finette

Mon, 03 Mar 2025 04:30:00 -0400

AI adoption is surging, but most companies struggle to scale its value. Tech expert and be radical co-founder Pascal Finette helps leaders navigate the evolving technology landscape—and today, he’s breaking down what businesses get wrong about AI and how to get it right.

With nearly 30 years in tech, including leadership roles at Google, eBay, and Mozilla, Pascal shares practical strategies for integrating AI, overcoming challenges, and driving real impact.

Listen in to learn how to harness AI for growth, efficiency, and innovation.

Resources:

Pascal Finette website
be radical
Boston Consulting Group (BCG) report, "Where’s the Value in AI?"
McKinsey & Company report, "AI in the workplace: A report for 2025"

225. Meet the new boss, with Mark Koziel

Mon, 10 Feb 2025 06:00:00 -0400

In this episode, I speak with Mark Koziel as he steps into his new role as CEO of the AICPA, succeeding Barry Melancon, who led the organization for nearly 30 years. Mark shares his vision for the profession, bringing a global perspective from his experience at both the AICPA and Allinial Global.

We discuss key challenges like talent shortages, technology, and regulatory shifts, as well as the importance of community and keeping the profession strong for future generations. From private equity risks to new opportunities, Mark sees every challenge as a chance for growth.

Whether you're a CPA, student, or leadership enthusiast, this conversation is packed with valuable insights.

Resources:

Mark Koziel LinkedIn Profile
Journal of Accountancy article, "Mark Koziel to become CEO of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants", by Kim Nilsen

224. Cracking the CAS code, with Amy Bridges

Mon, 03 Feb 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Client Advisory Services (CAS) has become one of the most profitable and in-demand service lines in accounting, with revenues surging 17% in two years. Amy Bridges, Senior Manager of Practice Development at CPA.com, unpacks key findings from the latest CAS Benchmark Survey, revealing how top firms achieve $250,000 in median net client fees per professional and why 90% have moved away from hourly billing. From pricing strategies to scaling advisory services, this conversation offers actionable insights for firms looking to maximize CAS growth.

Resources:

223. The critical importance of CPA advocacy, with Maryland Sen. Brian Feldman

Mon, 13 Jan 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Maryland's General Assembly is in session, facing a significant budget deficit. In this episode, State Senator Brian Feldman, CPA, breaks down the tough decisions ahead, including the potential taxation of professional services. He emphasizes why legislative advocacy is crucial for CPAs, who can influence tax policy and business decisions. Senator Feldman also explains how Maryland’s legislative process is accessible, offering CPAs a chance to make a real impact. We also discuss how Maryland’s economic, energy, and environmental policies will shape the future, making it vital for CPAs to be involved.

Resources:

Brian J. Feldman, Maryland State Senator
MACPA's annual CPA Day in Annapolis
MACPA editorial, "Fiscal concerns dominate Maryland's 2025 legislative session", by Bill Sheridan

222. Post-election pulse, with Lauren Pfingstag Vahey

Mon, 09 Dec 2024 13:30:00 -0400

What’s next for CPAs after the election? I sit down with Lauren Pfingstag Vahey, AICPA’s Director of Congressional and Political Affairs, to explore the impact of a new president and Congress on the profession. We discuss the future of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, potential new tax legislation, and the recent IRS funding boost from the Inflation Reduction Act. Lauren also shares insights on the possible restructuring of the PCAOB under SEC oversight and offers advice on how CPAs can stay actively engaged in legislative advocacy. Tune in to this essential conversation to navigate the evolving political and regulatory landscape.

Resources

221. What makes a great A.I. policy? with Maddie Grant

Wed, 04 Dec 2024 06:00:00 -0400

AI is the new social media—exciting, risky, and in need of guardrails. In this episode, we explore what makes a good AI policy and how to navigate the powerful tools reshaping our world. From confidentiality to data reliability, we cover key considerations for using AI responsibly.

Joining the conversation is digital strategist Maddie Grant from Propel. She shares insights on crafting effective AI policies, testing their strength, and understanding where we stand in this fast-moving AI era. Tune in for essential guidance on shaping AI policies that protect and empower your organization.

Resources

Maddie Grant, Culture Designer & Digital Strategist at Propel
Journey of Accountancy article, "Generative AI and risks to CPA firms" by Sarah Beckett Ference, CPA

220. Time to transform your business model? with Lisa Simpson

Thu, 24 Oct 2024 06:00:00 -0400

In this episode, we explore how your business model might be evolving, whether you realize it or not. Technology, demographics, and regulation are driving change across industries, and for business and CPA firm leaders, the big question is: how do we stay relevant?

I’m joined by Lisa Simpson, VP of Firm Services at the AICPA, to discuss the "Transforming Your Business Model" initiative, launched by the AICPA's Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS). This project helps firms identify outdated aspects of their business model and offers solutions across five key areas: governance, strategy, service offerings, talent, and technology. We take a deeper look at how this transformation can shape the future of your firm.

Resources:

219. Solving the talent puzzle, with Lexy Kessler

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 06:00:00 -0400

In this episode, we tackle the talent puzzle and discuss steps to secure the future of the accounting profession. I sit down with Lexy Kessler, Vice Chairman of AICPA and Mid-Atlantic Managing Partner at Aprio and member of the National Pipeline Advisory Group (NPAG), to dive into the finalized "Accounting Talent Strategy Report" and its bold solutions to the profession’s talent challenges. Lexy shares insights on how the report’s key themes have been well-received, and we explore trends like three-year bachelor's programs and shifting education preferences.

We also break down the report’s six recommendations, from retooling education to evolving business models. Lexy also speaks to the importance of collaboration and grassroots efforts like the National Pipeline Pledge.

Tune in to hear our full conversation about this report and it's implications for the future of our profession.

Resources

NPAG’s Accounting Talent Strategy Report
Lexy Kessler CPA, CGMA
Proposed “CPA Competency-Based Experience Pathway” from AICPA and NASBA
National Pipeline Pledge

218. CPA: The C is for 'cool', with Carla McCall

Thu, 29 Aug 2024 06:00:00 -0400

In this episode, we discuss the need to change the narrative around what it truly means to be a CPA.

I’m joined by Carla McCall, the 2024-25 Chair of the AICPA, to explore how the accounting profession can attract new talent by focusing on purpose and passion rather than just tasks and hours. By highlighting the “why” behind accounting—what makes it exciting, meaningful, and impactful—we can inspire the next generation to see the true value of a career in this field.

Carla’s views perfectly align with the MACPA’s “Purpose of a CPA” campaign, which encourages CPAs to share their personal stories and what drives them. We also discuss her plans for the year, insights on the industry’s future, and her leadership approach. Don’t miss this insightful conversation with a leader committed to showcasing the true purpose and value of the CPA profession.

Resources:

Carla McCall, CPA, CGMA, Managing Partner at AAFCPAs
Journal of Accountancy article, "New AICPA chair: ‘We need to promote the cool work we do", by Mari Sagedal
MACPA's Purpose of a CPA: Share Your Why

217. Cutting ties with clients, with Robert Albertini

Tue, 06 Aug 2024 06:00:00 -0400

This week, we're tackling a challenging yet crucial topic: when and how to fire a client. Some clients can end up costing more in time, effort, and frustration than the value they provide. Letting them go can sometimes be the best decision for your business. However, this process is not to be taken lightly—there are numerous pitfalls to avoid and best practices to follow. Thankfully, there are plenty of resources to make it easier.

Joining me this week is Robert Albertini, an account manager at Aon, which has been a longtime partner of MACPA. With over 25 years of industry experience, particularly in professional liability, Robert will share his insights and expertise on managing client relationships and knowing when it’s time to part ways.

Resources:

216. A career and its impact, with Alvin Katz

Mon, 29 Jul 2024 06:00:00 -0400

In this episode, we honor the remarkable career of Alvin Katz, Co-Founder & Director of KatzAbosch, a firm he helped build from the ground up in 1969 into one of the largest CPA and business consulting organizations in the Mid-Atlantic. As Alvin retires after 55 years at the helm, he shares his journey, the evolution of the profession, and the lasting impact of KatzAbosch on the Maryland community. Join us for an insightful conversation on building a lasting firm, embracing change, and the future of accounting and finance.

Resources

Alvin Katz, Co-Founder & Director of KatzAbosch
Alvin Katz LinkedIn Profile

215. Looking back ... and ahead, with Barry Melancon

Mon, 22 Jul 2024 06:00:00 -0400

This week's episode is about TRUST. We must rely on trust as we navigate change.

Our guest is Barry Melancon, who will be retiring as long-time President and CEO of AICPA as of December 31, 2024. Barry has been the "face" of the profession for decades.

This transition is another example of great change in our profession. Since Barry has been leading change, and has been teaching our profession to navigate shifts, we are all better prepared even for this particular moment in our profession.

Join us as we talk about the state of the profession, what's next for CPAs, and what's next for Barry himself.

A true visionary and thought leader, Barry gives us his wisdom on trust, change, and the future.

Resources

Preferred Providers: macpa.org
AICPA& CIMA: aicpa-cima.com
Barry Maloncon on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/barry-melancon-cpa-cgma/

214. Kitchen-table A.I. automations, with Ashley Francis

Mon, 24 Jun 2024 06:00:00 -0400

This week, we're diving back into the world of AI to uncover some practical ways this technology can take over tasks that are consuming too much of your time. At a recent MACPA Town Hall, 64% of accounting professionals admitted they haven't tried generative AI tools. Many might think they're not using AI at all, but the reality is they're likely interacting with it daily through virtual assistants, shopping recommendations, music playlists, facial recognition, and more.

To help us embrace AI more actively, we speak with Ashley Francis, a seasoned CPA, Microsoft MVP, featured speaker, and passionate AI advocate. Ashley provides insights and tips on seamlessly incorporating AI tools into your daily workflow. Through her newsletter and series of classes, "Kitchen Table Automations", she simplifies the integration of AI, making it more accessible and user-friendly for accounting professionals.

Listen to gain some practical, actionable advice to harness AI in your professional life.

Resources

Harvard Business Review article, "How People Are Really Using GenAI" by Marc Zao-Sanders
Mashable article, "I spent a week using AI tools in my daily life. Here's how it went." by Cecily Mauran
Ashley Francis, CPA: LinkedIn Profile
The Francis Group, PLLC
Kitchen Table Automations Newsletter

213. Tech's impact on tax, with Andrew Hatfield

Mon, 10 Jun 2024 06:00:00 -0400

A decade ago, there were predictions that certain accounting jobs would be replaced by automation. Now, in the age of AI, we're still here and thriving. Today's conversation focuses on how we can collaborate with technology to enhance our work and deliver greater value to clients.

To delve into this topic, I spoke with Andrew Hatfield, Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer of SafeSend, a long-time partner of MACPA. He and his team have released a paper discussing the role of AI, the importance of strengthening tech stacks in accounting firms, the shift from e-sign to e-file, the benefits of integrations and APIs, and the concept of a "single pane of glass"—a unified management console displaying data from multiple sources.

Andrew and I discussed how client expectations have evolved, and how the technologies and predictions in SafeSend's paper can improve relationships between firms and their clients, as well as the CPA's role in this transformation.

Resources:

SafeSend paper, "Top 7 Predictions for Tax Automation in 2024" by Andrew Hatfield & team
SafeSend
Andrew Hatfield LinkedIn Profile
Oxford Martin School article, "The Future of Employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerisation?" by Carl Benedikt Frey & Michael Osborne
Thomson Reuters report, "2024 generative AI in professional services"
CPA Practice Advisor article, "Most Tax Pros, Corporate and Public, Believe AI Should Be in Their Toolbox" by Isaac M. O'Bannon

212 AI: Artificial or augmented intelligence? With Kacee Johnson

Mon, 03 Jun 2024 06:00:00 -0400

Today we're touching on the AI subject once again - something we'll likely be talking about for some time given the projections about how this technology will turn the accounting profession on it's head. A recent Thomson Reuters report shows many within our industry are already using AI tools and there is growing optimism about AI's role in the industry.

While many accounting and finance professionals feel prepared to integrate AI, a significant number of CPAs remain unfamiliar with the technology. These professionals will need knowledgeable leaders to guide them. One such leader is with us today: Kacee Johnson, Vice President of Strategy & Innovation at CPA.com. Kacee will share her insights on AI in accounting, discussing CPA.com’s generative AI toolkit, practical use cases, initial steps for CPAs, and potential challenges in adopting AI technologies.

Join us for an insightful conversation to gain valuable guidance on leveraging AI in your accounting practices.

Resources

Thomson Reuters report, "2024 generative AI in professional services"
CPA Practice Advisor article, "Most Tax Pros, Corporate and Public, Believe AI Should Be in Their Toolbox", by Isaac M. O'Bannon
Deloitte Center for Controllership poll
CPA Practice Advisory article, "C-Suite is Optimistic About GenAI Use Within Finance and Accounting, Deloitte Says", by Jason Bramwell
Kacee Johnson AICPA profile
AICPA digital resource, "CPA.com Generative AI Toolkit"

211. Talent's impact on internal controls, with Dr. Rebecca Hann

Mon, 06 May 2024 06:00:00 -0400

In this episode, we're continuing our focus on the pipeline issue but this time we're looking at it's impact on corporate America specifically. Companies, big and small, are citing a shortage of skilled accounting personnel for weaknesses in financial reporting controls. This deficiency is a significant predictor of potential restatements of financial statements, affecting not only CPAs and firms but also investors.

Dr. Rebecca Hann, Assistant Dean of Doctoral Programs at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, discusses her recent study, "The Price of an Accountant Shortage: Evidence from Job Vacancy Duration and Internal Control Weaknesses." We explore the study's key findings, including correlations between the shortage of accounting talent and the frequency and severity of internal control deficiencies, as well as the duration of job vacancies in accounting roles. Additionally, we consider the role of purpose, the "why" behind we do, in addressing this issue.

Tune in for this crucial conversation on the profound impact of the accounting profession's challenges.

Resources

Wall Street Journal article, "The Accountant Shortage Is Showing Up in Financial Statements" by Mark Maurer
Accounting Today article, "The U.S. is short 340,000 accountants—just look at the wave of earnings report mistakes" by Jo Constantz
UMD Robert H. Smith School of Business, Dr. Rebecca Hann webpage
Dr. Rebecca Hann Scholarly Papers
Dr. Rebecca Hann LinkedIn Profile

210. Where will the pipeline dust settle? with Lexy Kessler

Mon, 22 Apr 2024 06:00:00 -0400

This week, we're diving into a well known, critical issue gripping our profession: the shortage of CPAs. It's a widespread challenge impacting businesses, causing staffing gaps, burnout, and compromised client service. The scarcity of expertise has escalated workloads, hindered recruitment and retention, and even led some firms to decline work due to insufficient manpower. To combat this, many organizations are resorting to measures like increasing compensation and offering more flexible work arrangements. The profession is undergoing a transformation to adapt and survive.

The ramifications extend beyond the accounting realm, influencing how businesses operate at large. Solutions are being sought across various fronts, including regulation, education, and cultural shifts. At the forefront of these discussions is our guest, Lexy Kessler, Mid-Atlantic Regional Leader and Partner at Aprio as well as a former chair of MACPA Board of Directors, who now chairs the National Pipeline Advisory Group. This group is spearheading efforts to formulate a unified strategy to address the talent shortage, leveraging unbiased research and stakeholder input. They've launched a national survey to gather insights and ideas for tackling this issue head-on. In our conversation, we delve into the progress of this initiative, its timeline, potential outcomes, and the individual CPA's role in bolstering the pipeline

Resources:

Financial Executive International article, "Navigating the Accounting Talent Shortage: Strategies for Business Growth and Efficiency" by Justin Smith
Forbes article, "Accountants Are Turning Away Work—Hurting Firms And Small Businesses" by Hitendra Patil
CFO Dive article, "Auditors say accountant shortage ramps up work pressure: CAQ" by Jim Tyson
Lexy Kessler, CPA, CGMA, Mid-Atlantic Regional Leader & Partner at Aprio
Lexy Kessler LinkedIn Profile
National Pipeline Advisory Group: Pipeline Survey

209. Is A.I. the answer? with Will Hill

Mon, 15 Apr 2024 06:00:00 -0400

We've spent a good amount of time discussing new technology (A.I. in particular) and what it all means for CPAs and our profession. However, amidst these discussions, we've overlooked the strategies for implementing broader changes, including new technology, ideas, mindsets, and work processes.

After browsing numerous articles, I came across a resonating approach: asking our organization, "What do we need? What problems are we trying to solve?" Then, we develop a plan, train others, and launch. This problem-focused strategy prioritizes identifying our challenges and leveraging new technologies to address them.

My guest is believes in this same approach: Will Hill, founder and owner of Will Hill Consults, a coaching and consulting firm serving the tax and accounting profession. Will emphasizes that understanding the problems we aim to solve can lead us to realize that the solution may not be what we thought (i.e. A.I.). The journey begins with identifying the problem, not the technology. Listen as we discuss the questions critical for our internal teams and clients.

Resources:

Will Hill Consults
Calculated Research & Technology (CR-T) article, "How to Implement New Technology in Your Organization"
Big Think article, "7 Essential Strategies for Adopting New Technologies"
Information Week article, "4 Tips for C-Suite Leaders to Accelerate Tech Wealth", by Andy Tay

208. The science behind purpose, with Britt Andreatta

Mon, 25 Mar 2024 06:00:00 -0400

My guest this week is Dr. Britt Andreatta, who has been a guest of this podcast before (check out ep. 163). Dr. Andreatta is a internationally-recognized thought leader and author who creates brain science-based solutions for today's challenges. Her most recent book is called, "Wired to Become: The Brain Science of Finding Your Purpose, Creating Meaningful Work, and Achieving Your Potential".

Her work relates directly to the "why" behind accounting - our purpose as CPAs. When it comes to the talent shortage, we believe connecting students and young professionals to that purpose will help grow our profession and secure our future. By re-centering on our core values and making our work engaging and meaningful, we can attract individuals who are eager to make a real difference.

Join me in a conversation with Dr. Andreatta, an expert in the research on the significance of discovering one's purpose. We'll explore how our profession stands to gain from a renewed emphasis on the purpose behind our work.

Resources

Britt Andreatta website
"Wired to Become: The Brain Science of Finding Your Purpose, Creating Meaningful Work, and Achieving Your Potential" by Britt Andreatta
CPA Practice Advisory article, "Where Have All The Accountants Gone?" by Garrett Wagner

207. A.I.'s keys: Curiosity, Usefulness, with Jason Staats

Mon, 11 Mar 2024 06:00:00 -0400

We've had some great conversations recently about A.I.; what it means for our profession and how to integrate it into our work. This week, I talk to Jason Staats, who has been on the leading edge of A.I. and has a wealth of knowledge to share with CPAs about this new technology.

Jason's main message about A.I. is that as groundbreaking and game-changing as A.I. is, it doesn't necessarily mean our profession will change radically at it's core. A.I. is a tool we can use in service of what our profession is charged to do.

CPAs do what we're trained to do - that will not change. What we do need to do is ramp up our curiosity about these new tools and how they will allow us to better serve our customers. Instead of trying to force A.I into every aspect of our work, a better approach comes by asking what problem we are trying to solve and how at all can A.I. can help.

Resources:

CPA Australian article, "Generative AI in business: how to navigate the ethics" by Susan Muldowney
Jason Staats LinkedIn Profile
Jason Daily Podcast
Jason Daily YouTube Channel

206. Not another leadership book, with Emmanuel Gobillot

Mon, 26 Feb 2024 06:00:00 -0400

In this episode, we welcome another longtime friend of MACPA, leadership expert and author of the new book, "This is NOT a Leadership Book: 20 Rules for Success", Emmanuel Gobillot. Emmanuel has been my go to source for all things leadership for many years. I speak to him about leadership as it relates to recruitment and retention, which is top of mind for everyone these days. Where do we find new CPAs? How can we get students interested in accounting again?

It's important for leaders to express why our profession is important and why our work matters - that "why" is what is going to get young people excited about a future career in accounting. The focus of many employees entering the workforce is their role in society, their purpose, and finding institutions that match their outlook. Those in leadership need to personify that "why" and start changing the narrative about this profession. Begin by understanding your organization's higher purpose; it should be aspirational and authentic.

Emmanuel spends a lot of time in his latest book speaking to authenticity, why it actually might be overrated UNLESS it's inline with your intent, your purpose, and the needs of your team. Listen in as we dive deep into his 20 rules to success and more.

Resources:

Emmanuel Gobillot website | LinkedIn | X
This is NOT a Leadership Book, by Emmanuel Gobillot
Forbes article, How To Attract And Retain Top Executive Talent Through Purpose, by Karen Greenbaum

205. A.I. strategy: Fire, ready, aim, with Pascal Finette

Mon, 05 Feb 2024 06:00:00 -0400

We're once again joined by Pascal Finnette, co-founder and chief heretic of be radical. Be radical is a guiding force for organizations seeking to restructure in anticipation of future challenges, and it inspires individuals to evolve into leaders prepared for the demands of tomorrow's world. I've engaged in numerous discussions with Pascal about shifting mindsets and embracing disruption. In this episode, we delve deeper into the realm of artificial intelligence, seamlessly continuing our exploration from the previous episode featuring Don Tomoff on how CPAs can initiate their journey with A.I.

Pascal recently delivered a thought-provoking address at the digital CPA conference, asserting, "Companies and individuals leveraging A.I. won't just outperform those who refrain from its use; they will exponentially surpass them." Similar sentiments have echoed lately, urging us to harness the power of A.I. to our professional advantage. The expectations surrounding the transformative impact of this technology on our work, lives, and the world are immense.

While most c-suite executives anticipate cost savings this year through A.I.'s contributions to increased productivity, streamlined operations, improved customer service, and enhanced I.T., it's essential to recognize that A.I. cannot entirely replace human expertise in addressing the intricacies of tax and financial assessment problems. Many of the cutting-edge technologies developed by vendors are still works in progress.

Despite ongoing refinement needs, the utilization and potential of A.I. are experiencing rapid growth, making it an undeniable game changer. In my conversation with Pascal, we explore how A.I. has already reshaped our work and lifestyles. We discuss the challenge of regulating A.I., the first steps CPAs should consider when integrating A.I. into their business, and focus on what isn't going to change.

Resources:

Pascal Finette website
be radical. website
Boston Consulting Group article, "From Potential to Profit with GenAI" by Jessica Apotheker, Sylvain Duranton, Vladimir Lukic, Nicolas de Bellefonds, Sesh Iyer, Olivier Bouffault, and Romain de Laubier
ZDNet article, "Using ChatGPT for Accounting? You May Want to Think Again" by Rajiv Rao

204. Out-of-the-gate A.I. strategies, with Don Tomoff

Thu, 01 Feb 2024 06:00:00 -0400

It's great time to talk about A.I. - the 1 year anniversary of ChatGPT just passed which set this whole artificial intelligence ride in motion. While A.I. has been around since the 1950s, it's exponential growth is really marked this past year both with the release of ChatGPT and Google's announcement of their own A.I. model, Gemini. Not long after, lawmakers in the European Union approved the A.I. Act which sets a new global benchmark for countries seeking to harness the benefits of A.I. while trying to protect against it's possible risks such as automating jobs, speaking misinformation, and endangering national security.

While I was at the 2023 Digital CPA Conference, I gained some great tips from sources about how A.I. "newbies" can get started in meaningful and productive ways. Here are some simple steps from keynote speaker, Pascal Finette:

Learn about it - simple enough but important to fill the gap between what we know and what we should know (listening to this episode is a great start)
Start small and build projects quickly - learn firsthand what is possible with this technology
Apply your experience to larger projects - use those smaller projects to inform what you can do with larger projects (crawl. walk. run.)

Another step-by-step resource to get you started is the "Generative A.I. Toolkit" for CPAs, recently released by CPA.com, which includes 7 steps for building your A.I. strategy:

Experiment
Focus on the near term
Consider client expectations
Research what solution providers are building
Define acceptable use
Put the technology's best feature to work
Ensure that humans maintain a key role in the process

These tips are a great foundation for our episode this week as I speak with Don Tomoff, Director at Invenio Advisors, LLC and longtime friend of MACPA. Don shares his wealth of knowledge and experience in the field of A.I. and explains which steps CPAs should take right from the outset.

Resources

Wired article, "Google’s Gemini Is the Real Start of the Generative AI Boom" by Will Knight
Generative A.I. Toolkit from CPA.com
Don Tomoff, LinkedIn Profile

203. Investor-friendly audits? with Jack Ciesielski

Tue, 05 Dec 2023 06:00:00 -0400

This week, we have a longtime friend on the show, Jack Ciesielski, CFA, CPA, MACPA member and owner of investment research firm R.G. Associates. Jack was recently quoted in a Wall Street Journal article about former inspectors who are calling for updates in the U.S. public-company auditing process. There are claims that while inspections are a useful tool to detect potential deficiencies in public companies, the reports are limited in scope, lacking details, and not released in a timely process. I speak to Jack about the PCAOB's investor advisory group - what it is and what it does, along with some of the biggest issues related to auditing that investors are concerned about. He also shares his thoughts about the issues presented in the WSJ article and what should be done to better help investors. Listen in to this timely conversation!

Resources:

202. Are you a reality-based leader? with Alex Dorr

Mon, 27 Nov 2023 06:00:00 -0400

This week's conversation is all about leadership, or more exactly "reality-based leadership". As we know, there's always drama in the workplace between management and other team members which can lead to a loss of enthusiasm for work and trust. I speak to Alex Dorr, VP of People Evolution about the most comment causes of workplace drama, the role leaders play in alleviating these issues, and what CPA leaders should be doing to get past this drama. Listen as we talk about all the stuff that goes beyond the water cooler.

Resources

201. Leading through change, with Okorie Ramsey

Mon, 02 Oct 2023 06:00:00 -0400

This week, we meet a new leader for new times: Okorie Ramsey, the new chair of AICPA. He's a CPA, CGMA, and currently the VP of SOX at Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. and Hospitals.

Okorie plans to continue to build upon the platform of the most recent past chair of AICPA, Anoop Mehta, by helping others grow personally and professionally, driving DE&I initiatives and preserving trust in the profession. In addition, he plans to face our newest challenges, namely the rapid advancement of technology and our continuing challenge of filling our talent pipeline - making sure our profession remains viable.

With these challenges in mind, Okorie has a 3-pronged agenda:

Innovation to advance the profession
Instilling integrity and trust into sustainability
Supporting the next generation and giving them advanced opportunities to succeed

I was fortunate enough to dive into these 3 priorities in depth with Okorie, discussing what the future holds for accounting & finance professionals.

Resources

Okorie Ramsey, CPA, CGMA, PMP, NACD.DC Linkedin Profile
AICPA-CIMA news article, "New AICPA Chair Looks to Foster Innovation and the Next Generation"

200. Talking tax ahead of busy season, with Steven Lyon

Fri, 25 Aug 2023 06:00:00 -0400

Episode 200! Thanks to all the listeners here to celebrate this milestone.

In this episode we're talking about the coming tax season (never too early right?). A lot of tax headlines to discuss this episode:

IRS announces that this coming filing season, taxpayers may be able to file most documents and returns electronically and by 2025 the IRS will digitize all paper file returns when they are received
IRS might push for an early end to the employee retention tax credit as the number of "legitimate claims" declines
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration says that while the IRS has done a good job of addressing cyberthreats, it needs to do a better job with documentation
New tech being built called IVIX, the first AI powered platform to help governments address financial crimes and tax evasion
Tax prep companies like H&R Block and TaxSlayer have for years been sharing Americans sensitive financial data with tech giants like Meta and Google in a potential of violation of federal law

I speak with Steven Lyon, Senior Manager, Product Specialists with SafeSend to discuss all these updates and how to meet challenges as practitioners.

Resources

Steven Lyon LinkedIn Profile
AP News article, "IRS aims to go paperless by 2025 as part of its campaign to conquer mountains of paperwork", by Fatima Hussein
Accounting Today article, "IRS good at addressing cyberthreats, but not documenting them" by Chris Gaetano
IVIX website
CNN article, "Tax prep companies shared private taxpayer data with Google and Meta for years, congressional probe finds", by Brian Fung

199. CAS opportunities in spend management, with Jayson Brannon and Dan Luthi

Mon, 14 Aug 2023 06:00:00 -0400

Talking about Client Advisory Services, widely known as "CAS", this week; specifically spend management. Spend management goes beyond expense management in that all company funds are brought together in one centralized location so finance leaders have full visibility to set, track, and control spend before it occurs. These spend management capabilities provide a better understanding about spending patterns, leading to more valuable client interactions and growth for firms.

To find our more about spend management trends and how firms can get started with these services, I speak to Jyson Brannon, VP of Sales & Partner Services at CPA.com and Dan Luthi, Partner at Ignite Spark Accounting.

Resources

Accounting Today article by Kalil Merhib, "Voices Spend management: An approachable CAS opportunity"
CPA.com Expense & Spend Management Survey Report
Jyson Brannon, LinkedIn Profile
Dan Luthi, LinkedIn Profile

198. Hybrid work's sweet spot, with Alex Kirillov and Jim Brady

Mon, 07 Aug 2023 06:00:00 -0400

Today's show we talk about remote work, hybrid work, talent shortage, and everything in between. Since COVID, many futurists felt remote work was here to stay as "the new normal" and many employees felt a certain power in being able to request working from home. However, there were some large organizations that began to require employees come back to the office full time even though studies showed employees not only preferred remote work but were just as productive working from home.

Now, we're seeing that there can be a balance between the extreme of employers demanding working in the office and employees demanding they work from home full time. Hybrid work arrangements are now offered by the majority of companies which offers a sort of "truce" between employers and employees.

My guests this week are seeing this same harmony in hybrid work; Alex Kirillov and Jim Brady are executives who have noticed better collaboration, stronger culture, and clearer communication when companies strike the balance between coming into the office and working from home. Here's our conversation about how to make room for both.

Resources:

Business Insider article, "Here's a list of major companies requiring employees to return to the office" by Shana Lebowitz, Marguerite Ward, Emily Canal, Rebecca Knight, and Alexandra York
Fortune article, "Bosses and workers are finally reaching a ‘truce’ on remote work" by Alicia Adamczyk
Flex Report by Scoop, Companies by Office Requirement
Alliant Group

197. Inspiring next-gen CPAs, with Christine Aspell

Wed, 26 Jul 2023 06:00:00 -0400

In this episode, I get a chance to talk with Christine Aspell, the newly appointed chair of MACPA's Board of Directors. MACPA has a long history of pulling in leaders with some of the best diversity of thought in their profession. We lean on these leaders not only to help MACPA serve members but also help our profession flourish as a whole.

Christine is Managing Partner and Audit Partner at KPMG's Baltimore office, with 25+ years of experience providing assurance services to clients. She is passionate about the future of this profession, particularly when it comes to diversity & inclusion, advancing women in the profession, and helping the talent pipeline leading to profession.

The pipeline is a huge concern as of late and multiple solutions have been proposed centering around education and regulatory requirements. Christine is taking a different tact; she wants to reconnect CPAs with a purpose behind their work and to share that purpose with students and young professionals who are hungry for work with meaning.

"Our profession continues to change rapidly as technological advancements and regulatory changes and demographic trends reshape what we do and how we do it, but even amid that change, one thing remains constant: our purpose. The what, how, and even who of our great profession will adapt and change, but what won't change is our why." says Christine.

Christine is hoping to collect and share stories about how CPAs help their clients who in turn help their communities; how CPAs help people lead better lives. These are the stories that will inspire others to become a part of this profession. Listen to learn more about this initiative and to hear Christine's own inspirational story.

Resources

Christine Aspell, MACPA Chair of Board of Directors, Announcement

Christine Aspell LinkedIn Profile

196. Leading with significance, with Joey Havens

Mon, 26 Jun 2023 06:00:00 -0400

This week I speak with my friend, Joey Havens, Partner for Strategic Growth and previously Executive Partner at HORNE LLP. Joey runs an executive blog, Be Better, filled with advice about being a better leader, better person, be future-ready, and how to flourish in a changing world. Recently, he became a best selling author with his book, "Leading with Significance: How to Create a Magnetic, People-First Culture". People-first is the right tactic to take these days given issues with burnout and retention. It's also been noted that customer satisfaction is intrinsically tired to employee satisfaction; you'll see more success in your business if you consider the professional fulfillment of your team. Keep in mind, it's not just about caring for your employees, it's about helping them forge a meaningful, purposeful career path. By "them" we're being inclusive of gender, races, identities, and backgrounds.

I speak with Joey about his book and what it really means to "lead with significance"; what this adds to conversation about putting people first and how so-called soft concepts like love, caring, service can actually be some of the most powerful leadership strategies around.

Resources

Joey Havens Website

"Leading with Significance" by Joey Havens, available on Amazon

Joey Havens LinkedIn

195. Tax and CAS: It works, with Jasen Stine

Mon, 12 Jun 2023 06:00:00 -0400

We're talking about advisory today, something on everyone's mind; how do we incorporate more value added advisory services? What types of advisory services should we offer? What technology do we need? How do we price these services? How do we staff them? The profession has been laser focused on CAS for awhile and still, there are so many questions to answer.

When it comes to CAS, top-performing firms showed a median growth rate of 16% just last year and are optimistic about continued growth. These top firms implicate key strategies for success:

Dedicated CAS staff
Using technologies to drive efficiencies
Standardize processes
Raise fees to reflect the value provided
Explore creative staffing and capacity building measures
Educate clients and staff on CAS

My guest this week, Jasen Stine, Tax & Accounting Education Leader at Intuit, speaks with me about what tax advisory really looks like; what types of services that are most in demand, what type of clients we should look for, what pricing looks like and possible first steps for those who are looking to explore this area.

Resources

Jasen Stine LinkedIn Profile

CPA.com CAS Benchmark survey

Intuit Podcast: Account Trends

194. Packing the pipeline, with Liz Barentzen

Mon, 22 May 2023 06:00:00 -0400

This week we're talking about the pipeline: the talent crisis that's on everyone's radar in our profession. The most recent AICPA trends report found that accountants are leaving their jobs in unprecedented numbers and fewer students are opting to go into accounting.

Now that we've recognized this problem, a number of solutions have been presented such as adjusting certain requirements and regulations for CPA candidates. One major point we need to address is making sure the accounting career path is accessible to those of all backgrounds, allowing our profession to be more diverse and inclusive.

Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) has launched a campaign, Accounting+, designed to strengthen the accounting pipeline and reach Black & Latinx students at the high school level. In this episode, I speak with Liz Barentzen, VP of Operations & Talent Initiatives at CAQ, where she oversees strategies to attract and retain talent. Liz breaks down what Accounting+ is, what the response has been, and what roles CPAs can play in all of this.

Resources

Liz Barentzen LinkedIn Profile
Business Insider article by Erica Sweeney,"Why There's a Shortage of Accountants and We Should Be Worried"
CAQ Accounting+ website

193. The weak link in strengths-based work, with Marcus Buckingham

Mon, 08 May 2023 06:00:00 -0400

I want to talk about engagement this week - according to a 2023 Gallup report, fewer than 1/3 of employees are engaged in their work. Study after study shows that employee engagement is directly linked to business performance. The secret sauce for engagement is part strength and part passion; things that we enjoy doing not just what we're good at. In this episode, I speak to Marcus Buckingham about identifying how we truly enjoy spending our time, aka "red threads", that you should weave into your daily activities in order to build your engagement.

Resources

Marcus Buckingham website

Love and Work: How to Find What You Love, Love What You Do, and Do It for the Rest of Your Life

192. Tech, talent and the future of audit, with Christina Ho

Mon, 01 May 2023 06:00:00 -0400

In this episode I speak with Christina Ho, a board member of the PCAOB, about the two most significant audit quality challenges we face today, in her opinion: technology and talent.

"Talent is the cornerstone to audit quality. Without well trained talent, there is no audit quality." - Christina Ho

Resources:

Christina Ho LinkedIn Profile

Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) - Christina Ho Board Member Profile

Bloomberg article, "The Accountant Shortage Threatens Capitalism's Future" by Adrian Wooldridge

191. The future of finance, with Tom Hood

Mon, 24 Apr 2023 06:00:00 -0400

A good conversation with a good friend; this week I speak with Tom Hood, CPA, CGMA, CITP, founding CEO of BLI, Executive Vice President of Business Engagement & Growth for AICPA-CIMA.

We talked about the trends that are impacting finance professionals, the opportunities that exist in this post pandemic world, and ideas emerging from the Future of Finance Leadership Advisory Group - a group of senior finance executives who's initial meetings resulted in a crowdsourced vision of what the future of finance looks like.

Resources:

Journal of Accountancy article, "The changing role of the CFO", by Anita Dennis

Business Learning Institute powered by AICPA-CIMA

Tom Hood LinkedIn Profile

190. Benchmarking CAS, with Amy Bridges and Beth Allen

Mon, 17 Apr 2023 06:00:00 -0400

"We’re really seeing this evolution of CAS that’s happening here, 12-15 years after we started talking about this as a separate service line that was gaining traction" - talking about what's new on the CAS front with Amy Bridges, Professional Development Manager at CPA.com, and Beth Allen, Partner and Head of Client Accounting Services at GreerWalker LLP.

Client Accounting Services (CAS) is an area of the profession that is quickly growing and likely to continue to grow in the foreseeable future. Listen to our discussion about how this could effect you and other firms.

Resources:

2022 Benchmark survey

Amy Bridges Profile | CPA.com

Beth Allen Profile | GreerWalker LLP

189. The alchemy of accounting, with Ingrid Edstrom and Mathew Heggem

Mon, 10 Apr 2023 06:00:00 -0400

Today we discuss what the younger generation is looking for in their work and career: a sense of purpose. I speak with Ingrid Edstrom and Mathew Heggem, founders of the Alchemy of Accounting Network (AAN), about how we should change - given the social and environmental issues that confront us today - how can our profession have the greatest, possible positive impact on the world around us. Join the conversation and help us find the answers.

“Let’s see what learning & growth can come out from having a diversity of ideas in the room.” - Ingrd Edstrom

Resources:

"New Movement Advocates for Major Shift in Accounting Profession" by By Alina Nikishina.
Accounting Alchemy Network (AAN)
Mathew Heggem LinkedIn profile
Ingred Edstrom LinkedIn profile

188. U.S. joins global e-invoicing movement, with Alex Baulf

Mon, 27 Mar 2023 06:00:00 -0400

This week I revisit a conversation I had last year with Alex Baulf, Senior Director, Global Indirect Tax at Avalara, to discuss the E-Invoice Exchange Market Pilot - who's involved, what comes next, and what CPAs need to know.

Tax authorities want more now, they want to look not at a sample of data, but they want to look at every single transaction and they don’t want to wait until 6 months, a year, 2 years after the fact…it’s too late then.” - Alex Baulf

Resources:

Alex Baulf LinkedIn Profile

Avalara Website

187. Cybersecurity: Knowledge is power, with Stan Sterna

Fri, 24 Feb 2023 06:00:00 -0400

“You work all your life to build up a practice, you want to make sure you’re addressing exposure needs" - Stan Sterna

186. The many faces of inclusion, with Jessica McClain

Mon, 13 Feb 2023 06:00:00 -0400

“We need the different thoughts, the different mindsets the different perspectives - we need you" - Jessica McClain, CPA/CITP, CISA, PMP, CGFM

185. An advocate for the people, with Brooke Lierman

Mon, 30 Jan 2023 06:00:00 -0400

"...Really came to know and understand and appreciate just how uniquely situated the Maryland Comptroller's office is to make a difference on economic matters, to build financially resilient communities, to make Maryland a great place to do business..." - Brooke Lierman, Comptroller of Maryland

Resources:

https://brookelierman.com/

184. Ethics in A.I., with Enrico Palmerino

Mon, 02 Jan 2023 06:00:00 -0400

In this episode we're talking about ethics in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Rumblings about the future of AI have been surfacing as well as questions about whether human biases are affecting the decisions AIs are making. Those questions are finding their way into our profession.

A recent Accounting Today article reports a growing number of accounting service solutions are using AI for a wide range of applications. The accounting profession has spent $1.5 billion on this type of software in 2021 and is projected to spend $53 billion by 2030, according to a report from Acumen Research & Consulting. The Accounting Today article notes that despite this rapid growth, "too little attention has been paid to the ethical considerations that come with it". Sage's CTO, Erin Harris says in a quote, "The current issues are less to do with the accidental creation of a robot overlord and more about the insertion of human biases into the code". The main issue is not the technology in it of itself, it is our human biases impacting the way the technology works.

Biometric Update, recently published an article listing the 6 key considerations for ethical AI in financial services:

Fairness & bias
Trust & transparency
Privacy
Accountability
Security
Social benefits

The author, Matt Peake, writes, "If just one of these fails, it can have series consequences for individuals and businesses".

However, the upside is that there are groups developing AI committed to the betterment of our world.

I speak with today's guest, Enrico Palmerino, Founder & CEO of Botkeeper, about the role of ethics in AI, the types of biases in AI, how we can protect ourselves and our clients from these biases, and what the future marriage of AI and human intelligence looks like.

Resources

183. MarylandSaves: Retirement savings made easy, with Glenn Simmons

Mon, 19 Dec 2022 06:00:00 -0400

This episode, we're talking about saving for retirement, specifically how we can help our employees save more money for retirement.

The general story we keep hearing is, as Americans, we aren't saving enough. The economy is playing a role, with 54% of Americans either reducing the amount they are saving or stopping all savings due to inflation, based on a survey by Allianz. The survey also showed the following:

43% respondents report having to dip into retirement savings to meet rising costs
75% say they are worried the cost of living will impact their retirement plans
25% of U.S. workers have no retirement savings at all
36% believe their retirement plans are on track

Even more statistics show those who are close to retirement age do not have enough to support themselves for an extended period of time. This is an issue that impacts us all. Local and state governments are likely to shoulder a share of the financial burden when it comes to those who don't have retirement savings (which means we'll all have to chip in for support).

But in Maryland, and handful of other states, there is help on the way. A new program, MarylandSaves, was launched on September 15th 2022, making it easier for employers to provide workers with access to a retirement plan.

MarylandSaves is a byproduct of a law that was passed in 2016 by the General Assembly, mandating that employers in Maryland who pay their employees with an automated payroll system or service must offer their employees access to a retirement plan. Maryland become just the 5th state to enact what Glenn Simmons, my guest today, calls "a state sponsored auto IRA program".

Employers who participate in MarylandSaves, or offer another qualified program, will receive an annual waiver for their yearly $300 State Department of Assessments & Taxation Report filing fee. To qualify for the 2023 waiver, employers must enroll by December 1st 2022. However, you can still earn that waiver beyond 2023 just by enrolling in the program. The waiver applies every year after you enroll.

In this episode, I speak with Glenn Simmons, Executive Director of the Maryland Small Business Retirement Savings Program - the driving force behind MarylandSaves. Together we dive deeper into how programs like this work, how employers like you can get started, what it means for your employees, and what a difference this can make in the lives of future retirees.

Resources

Allianz Press Release; Inflation Causing Majority of Americans to Stop or Reduce Retirement Savings
PwC, Retirement in America Report
Marylandsaves.com
Glenn Simmons, Executive Director/CEO at Maryland Small Business Retirement Savings Program, LinkedIn profile

182. Cultural Opportunities....and Landmines, with Stacey Rodgers

Mon, 07 Nov 2022 06:00:00 -0400

Culture - one of those slightly misunderstood topics. A lot of ideas about culture are different from person to person. My goal with speaking to Stacey Rodgers, Executive Director of People & Culture at Cohen & Co., is to get a little closer to a mutual understanding of how to define "culture" in an organization.

In my personal view, culture within an organization is based on a shared set of values and professional identity; who we are, why we exist, and our purpose. Once you're clear on all those definitions, it becomes a part of your vision and mission. You also start hiring people based on that cultural fit, which drives how an organization functions and succeeds.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on workplace culture. An article from California Management Review, How Have Organizational Cultures Shifted During the COVID-19 Pandemic, reports the pandemic has led organizations to emphasize certain cultural elements and downplay others. There is an increased emphasis on flexibility, transparency, supportiveness, decisiveness and confronting conflict. In exchange, there is a decreased emphasis on customer orientation, individualism, detail orientation, results orientation, and collaboration. In general, culture has shifted away from high performance orientation to one that prizes empathy, understanding and mutual support.

These changes are interpreted positively or negatively based on employees with different backgrounds - the shift has been jarring for many. One main solution to cultural related issues is improved communication between leaders and employees. A PwC article, How the pandemic can change workplace culture for the better, by James Thomas, points out that while remote working may seem "cheap" to organizations, it comes with hidden costs to your culture. Lockdown has resulted in social isolation, which can be addressed with collaborative virtual solutions and treating mental health as a necessity.

There's so much to touch on when it comes to culture, which is why I'm glad to speak to Stacey Rodgers and gain additional insight into how culture can provide opportunities and how to address cultural issues as they arise.

Resources

California Management Review article: How Have Organizational Cultures Shifted During the COVID-19 Pandemic by N. Derek Brown, Yixi Chen, Hope Harrington, Paul Vicinanza, Jennifer A. Chatman, Amir Goldberg, and Sameer Srivastava
PwC article: How the pandemic can change workplace culture for the better by James Thomas
Cohen & Co. Profile: Stacey Rodgers, CPA, MAcc
Stacey Rogers, Executive Director of People & Culture, LinkedIn

181. The ABCs of ESG, with Alyssa Rade

Mon, 31 Oct 2022 06:00:00 -0400

Today, we dive into ESG: Environmental, Social & Governance. Investors are increasingly applying these non-financial factors as they investigate which public companies they will invest in and regulators are increasingly requiring that companies include these types of factors in their financial statements. There are plenty opportunities for accounting and finance professionals in this new area.

In this episode, I speak with Alyssa Rade, Chief Sustainability Officer at Sustain.Life, which offers solutions that are uniquely designed to make taking climate action easier and more affordable for companies of all kinds. She helped me understand how wide ranging the implications of ESG really are. We talk about what ESG is and what it isn't; what all this means for CPAs in public practice, business & industry, those in public companies and private, for investors and auditors - there's so much to consider and discuss. Listen in!

Resources:

Journal of Accountancy article: How firms are seizing the ESG opportunity, by Andrew Kenney

Sustain.Life website

Alyssa Rade LinkedIn Profile

180. Health is wealth, with Jill Myers

Tue, 11 Oct 2022 06:00:00 -0400

Are you physically, mentally, physically well? That seems to be the key question these days. There's more of a focus on individual wellness in the workplace today, especially in the wake of the COVID pandemic.

People who are happy and well are more productive than those who are unwell. It all boils down to the fact that we've only got one body, one mind, one life to live, so we better make it count.

Wellness, or lack there of, is going to translate directly into quality of life. Employees today know this and are demanding more in terms of wellness from their employers. An article from The Washington Post titled, "Gen Z workers demand flexibility, don’t want to be stuffed in a cubicle", by Danielle Abril, notes that for the young generation of workers, money may not always be the top job priority. Instead their list includes flexibility to work from the office and remotely, wellness and mental health initiatives, as well as meaningful work in culture.

For employers, accommodating for these preferences may become increasing important as Gen Z workers are expected to more than triple to 87 million by 2030 in Australia, France, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom and United States, accounting for 30% of total employment, according to a study by Oxford Economics. The Washington Post article also quotes Linda Jingfang Cai, vice president of talent development at LinkedIn, “We’re seeing this young cohort of workers demand that employers care about them as whole people".

There's a trend to dedicate time in order to recharge during the "5-9" hours in order to function well during the standard "9-5" workday. An Accounting Today article, "Burnout is note a badge of honor", by Randy Crabtree, states that when you feel burnt out, you try to work harder but are less productive, making you get down on yourself. This creates a toxic environment for employers and employees.

We need to reassess priorities, recognizing that we only have this single life and considering how we want to spend it. I sit down with Jill Myers, an integrative nutrition health coach and CPA, who helps people on their journeys to health & wellness. Jill and I discuss the obstacles between us and better wellness, the consequences of not getting well, and the steps to getting there.

Resources:

Washington Post article, "Gen Z workers demand flexibility, don’t want to be stuffed in a cubicle."

"Burnout is not a badge of honor" by Randy Crabtree

Yodaya Wellness

Jill Myers LinkedIn profile

179. Getting meta about virtual worlds, with Glenn Friedman

Mon, 26 Sep 2022 06:00:00 -0400

Talking all things metaverse with Glenn Friedman, CEO of Prager Metis, a global CPA firm that made headlines this year as one of the first accounting firms to set up shop in the metaverse.

The metaverse is loosely defined as a new iteration of the internet - a virtual world running in parallel to the real, physical world. You can create a virtual avatar of yourself and interact with other avatars anywhere throughout the world to do almost anything; business, learning, networking, entertainment, commerce, and more.

The metaverse is reminiscent of "Second Life", a virtual world that was popular 10-15 years ago. It was, and still is, known as an "exclusive haven of self-expression". When Second Life started to become popular in 2007-2008, it become known that a very real economy existed in this space, which required CPAs. Training and education opportunities were developed to help accountants navigate this virtual world.

At the time, the Maryland Association of CPAs created "CPA Island" in Second Life, a designated space where resources could be provided for young professionals and educators to help them get started in this virtual world. However, the experience was less than optimal given the restraints of technology at the time and overall interest waned.

Now, in 2022, looking at the metaverse, questions arise: how is it an improved experience compared to Second Life? How does it interact with the new platforms for virtual learning and communication? There has been a lot of news surrounding the metaverse lately and accounting firms are jumping back into the virtual world. Accounting Today published a recent poll from Big Four firm, PwC, showing the following:

67% of executives are actively engaged in metaverse projects
20% report they are currently "looking into it"
82% believe it will become "business as usual"
Despite the fact only 9% of the executives currently use any of the existing environment

Those who are in the metaverse see the potential in the areas of client collaboration, business demos, recruiting, and training. I spoke with Glenn to find out how the metaverse compares to Second Life, and whether there are new opportunities in this space that will mold the future of the profession.

Resources:

Prager Metis, Metaverse Services

Glenn Friedman, CEO, Preger Metis, LinkedIn

PwC 2022 US Metaverse Survey

178. Anoop Mehta: A blueprint for growth

Mon, 05 Sep 2022 06:00:00 -0400

Anoop Mehta, long time CPA, MACPA member, and just the second Marylander to chair the AICPA, is one of the sharpest, smartest people I know. He is a proponent of greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in the accounting and finance world. As an Indian-American who immigrated to the United States with his parents at just 12 years old, Anoop followed a path to a more diverse, inclusive profession. Not only has he followed this path, but he is helping to pave it as we speak. Listen to hear his unique, inspiring, story and the ways in which he's helping make progress in the area of DEI.

Resources:

The Path - The Anoop Mehta Story - MACPA

Maryland’s Anoop Mehta named AICPA chair

Anoop Mehta, LinkedIn Profile

177. Value starts with relationships, with Michelle Golden River

Mon, 22 Aug 2022 06:00:00 -0400

When I initially sat down with Michelle Golden River, Growth & Profitability Strategist and Founder of Fore, LLC, we planned to discuss advanced pricing and where the profession stands today. We began by talking about how CPA firms can switch from a time based billing model to pricing work in advance.

However, the discussion evolved into a conversation about relationships. Advanced pricing comes down to value - what value are you delivering to clients and what is that worth? To know that, you need to know your clients. To know your clients, you have to talk to them and build relationships.

Joey Havens, Managing Partner of Strategic Growth at Horne, dug deep into this concept with his blog post "What if I Really Am a Trusted Advisor?". In this post, Joey asks is that really what we should be aiming for? He ran his team through an exercise of what their current client experience was like vs. what the team wanted it to be, "We needed a litmus test to help understand our present reality around client relationships, experience, and level of service," Joey explains, and this is the test they began implementing:

List your top five clients that you serve as their trusted advisor across the top of five separate pages.
For each client, write down their strategic goals.
What does your client see as their biggest challenge or risk?
Write down the date when you proactively contacted and scheduled a meeting with this client and collaborated on either of these key issues or a possible opportunity we identified as the primary reason for the meeting.

Joey goes on to explain that through this exercise, his team realized they were not unlike most in our profession, excellent first responders. However, as a firm, they were not delivering on the "trusted advisor's" promise. It should be a collaborative relationship, providing significant value beyond fees, and being part of a client's "inner circle".

Before you can start talking about adding value and how to price that value, you need to learn more about clients. CPAs need to build relationships, which means having intimate conversations with clients, asking them questions, and really listening to their answers to find out how you can help. Michelle Golden River thinks about this at a deeper level and talks through the definition of "value" with me in this week's episode.

Resources:

176. Burn ladders, build bridges, with Dr. Alan Patterson

Mon, 15 Aug 2022 06:00:00 -0400

Time to dive into the “purpose” conversation. That’s the idea that we, as leaders, have an obligation, a responsibility, to help our employees find the purpose behind their jobs — the “why” behind their work.

My guest on the podcast this week is Dr. Alan Patterson. He’s a Business Learning Institute thought leader who has guided hundreds of clients in professional and leadership development, including the Broad Institute, Federal Reserve Bank, Hewlett Packard, Johnson and Johnson, Kite Pharma, Major League Baseball, and the United States Navy.

He is a frequent conference and workshop presenter and a best-selling author whose most recent book is out now. It’s called Burn Ladders, Build Bridges: Pursuing Work With Meaning And Purpose. We sat down recently and talked about how we can go about surrounding ourselves with people who will help us do work with meaning and purpose — and just as important, how we can become those types of people for others.

Resources:

175. Riding out the Great Resignation, with Gabrielle Bosche

Mon, 25 Apr 2022 06:00:00 -0400

Whether you like the phrase or not, “The Great Resignation” is real. People are leaving work in droves. That’s presenting challenges for employers. How do we find the right people? How do we keep them? How do we understand what they want?

Gabrielle Bosche is a bestselling author, two-time TEDx speaker, and is frequently called upon to speak and consult on millennial motivation and engagements for Fortune 500 Companies, presidential campaigns, and government agencies. She’s also going to be the keynote speaker at the MACPA’s 2022 Business and Industry Conference.

She says understanding what employees want often comes down to a single word. Purpose. Does your organization stand for something significant beyond just making money? And do they understand how their jobs help bring people closer to realizing that purpose?

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is produced and published by Crate Media.

174. Tax compliance circa 2022, with Sona Akmakjian

Mon, 18 Apr 2022 06:00:00 -0400

In this episode, we look at recent tax changes through a regulatory and compliance lens with Sona Akmakjian. Sona is Avalara’s Senior Director of Global Accounting Strategic Partnerships. She’s also a CPA with 29 years of transactional tax services and automation experience.

Sona talks about the impact the pandemic has had on business and taxes, including things like e-commerce, the supply chain, the workforce, and its overall impact on tax compliance. We also talk about Wayfair, where we stand now that the Supreme Court’s decision to grant states the authority to tax remote sales is almost four years old, digital transformation, and the use of technology moving forward as the landscape continues to change.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is produced and published by Crate Media.

173. Regulation's revolution, with Mike Manspeaker

Mon, 11 Apr 2022 06:00:00 -0400

Mike Manspeaker is an Assurance Services Partner with Smith, Elliott, Kearns & Company in Maryland and has over 40 years of experience working with private companies and employee benefit plans. He is also very active in the peer review process, performing them as the CPA on Staff for Coastal Peer Review, an organization that administers reviews for North Carolina and Maryland firms. Mike is also a member of the AICPA Accounting and Review Services Committee. And, he serves on the Auditing Standards Board Attestation Standards Task Force as well as the Audits of Less Complex Entities Task Force.

If it’s not clear already, when it comes to the regulation of our profession, Mike knows his stuff. There’s a lot going on in this area that accounting and finance professionals need to know about. Tune in.

Resources:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/michael-manspeaker-cpa-077a8268

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

172. Resilience, perseverance and strength, with Kelly Mann

Mon, 28 Mar 2022 06:00:00 -0400

What you’re about to hear is an incredible true story about resilience, perseverance, and strength while creating and growing a business from scratch – all while dealing with some of the most devastating news a person could face.

Kelly Mann is a CPA and the co-founder and CEO of AuditMiner, a tool that is used by CPAs to save time and increase quality in their 401(k) audits. There’s no better way to close out Women’s History Month than by hearing more about this amazing journey — taken by one of the most amazing women you’re likely to meet these days.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

171. CPA 101, with Jerry Maginnis

Mon, 21 Mar 2022 06:00:00 -0400

The pipeline into the CPA profession is always an important topic for the future of our industry. How do we make the profession more appealing to young people deciding where to place their future?

Jerry Maginnis recently released a new book titled "Advice for a Successful Career in the Accounting Profession: How to Make Your Assets Greatly Exceed Your Liabilities." He is a former managing partner at KPMG's Philadelphia office who is now an executive in residence who supports the Accounting Program at Rowan University in New Jersey, where he helps prepare students for their transition from academia into the workforce.

He talks about the types of advice he's offering young professionals these days, including the importance of working with your strengths, embracing change, and avoiding burnout. He also offers some thoughts for veterans in the profession — including how we can best welcome new folks into the profession and how we can keep them here once they arrive.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

170. Changes of state, changes of thought, with Pascal Finette

Tue, 15 Mar 2022 06:00:00 -0400

Pascal Finette is co-founder and "chief heretic" with be radical, which researches, develops, and teaches tools and frameworks designed to transform their clients into practical futurists and successful disruptors.

He recently gave a talk as the keynote speaker at the Digital CPA Conference, where he spoke about the correlation between disruption and "state changes" – moving from one state to another, like solid to liquid to gas

He talks about what happens to our skills, our processes, and our existing strategies when we encounter state changes like this. We also explore how we have to change our mindsets and ask different, better questions to arrive at solutions for today's problems.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

169. The power of curiosity, with Todd Kashdan

Wed, 09 Mar 2022 06:00:00 -0400

It pays to be curious. The role that curiosity plays in wellness and well-being, emotional intelligence, and the benefits it offers to leaders are vastly underrated.

Todd Kashdan literally wrote the book on curiosity. He is a professor of psychology at George Mason University and he founded George Mason’s Well-Being Lab. Winner of the 2013 Distinguished Early Career Researcher Award by the American Psychological Association, his work has been featured in media outlets throughout the world. He’s the author of five books, including “Curious? Discover the Missing Ingredient to a Fulfilling Life.”

We talk about his definition of curiosity, the connection between it and wellness, how curiosity can help us find a little more purpose and meaning in our lives, and how finance and accounting pros can foster a greater sense of curiosity in their work.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

toddkashdan.com
Read: Curious? By Todd Kashdan
Learn more about Todd’s new book, The Art of Insubordination
Read: A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger
Read: Questions are the Answer by Hal Gregerson
8 Habits of Curious People

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

168. Showcasing possibility, with Dalton Tong

Mon, 28 Feb 2022 06:00:00 -0400

As we’re wrapping up Black History Month and recognizing the contributions of Black Americans, we are closing down the month with a bit of a look ahead. We’re still taking stock of achievements from our past, but this time we’re doing it with an eye toward the future as well.

Joining that conversation, today, is Dalton Tong. He’s a CPA and a CGMA with a career that’s steeped in health care and health management, in addition to accounting and finance. He's been a senior lecturer at the Carey Business School at Johns Hopkins University since 2014. Before that, he worked as Vice President, Executive Vice President, and President and CEO of the Greater Southeast Healthcare System, and as Vice President of Finance at Harbor Hospital Center, formerly South Baltimore General Hospital.

Tong has a number of achievements to his name, but rather than talking about them, he wanted to discuss and highlight the impact those achievements may have on the future generation of CPAs. He calls it “showcasing possibility,” letting future generations know what’s possible so that they can step forward with confidence and hope.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

167. Cybersecurity is everyone’s business, with Clar Rosso

Mon, 14 Feb 2022 06:00:00 -0400

Cybersecurity is more important than ever before. This is not just something that business leaders have to worry about. Everyone, from the top to the bottom of your organization, is responsible for cybersecurity.

Clar Rosso is the CEO of (ISC)^2, or ISC squared, as it’s written. They bill themselves as the world’s leading cybersecurity professional organization. They have more than 160,000 certified members throughout the world, and they’re committed to helping their members learn, grow, and thrive so they can help keep all of us a little safer. Before joining (ISC)2, she worked in communications for the California Society of CPAs and as an executive with the American Institute of CPAs.

She helps us understand just how big the threats are; what businesses should be doing to protect themselves, their employees, and their clients; and what remote employees should be doing to protect their employers.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

166. Remembering Maryland's first Black CPA, with King, King & Associates

Tue, 01 Feb 2022 06:00:00 -0400

In celebration of Black History Month, we’re giving flowers where they’re due, to Benjamin King Senior, Maryland's first black certified public accountant, the 47th in the country, who went on to become chairman of the Maryland state board. To best understand Mr. King and his impact, we’re joined by his children who’ve kept his minority firm and wide influence on the profession going strong: Pamela King-Smith, Kara King-Bess, and Anthony King.

They tell us about how, based in a rough neighborhood in Baltimore, their father became a trusted voice of his peers. How he, devoted to bettering the people and community around him, helped small businesses grow and establish themselves as generational assets – best demonstrated by their longest tenured client, a minority-owned funeral home in DC that dates back to 1912 and has been a serviced account of King, King & Associated since 1957.

More than co-founding his own firm, as an educator and mentor, Benjamin King inspired and empowered countless young, mostly minority, students to become CPAs themselves. During his time teaching at Morgan State, he became known for shepherding students through the often challenging internship and experience requirements, through his own firm, to ensure they met their goals and stayed on track for graduation.

Mr. King was keenly aware of his place in history. The waves of change were visible in his life, and still are, as we highlight his legacy in 2022. Tune in to this moving roundtable discussion where we honor his accomplishments and shine a bright light on the path he laid for others to follow.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

King, King & Associates

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

165. Auditing for ESG, with Ami Beers

Mon, 24 Jan 2022 06:00:00 -0400

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues are all the rage in accounting and finance circles. ESG criteria are a set of non-financial factors that socially conscious investors can use to assess their potential investments, such as how the company manages relationships with employees, suppliers, customers, and the community, the company’s impact on nature, and executive pay, internal controls, and shareholder rights. This is a fairly recent shift in the mindset of stakeholders, but it is only getting more popular and it can no longer be ignored.

Here to discuss the impact of ESG is Ami Beers, the Senior Director on the Assurance and Advisory Innovation Team at the Association of Certified Professional Accountants. She is responsible for the development of assurance and/or advisory services guidance and criteria, thought leadership, and member and market communications to maximize awareness and advisory services on business reporting such as the ESG.

She shares what auditors need to be aware of with these engagements, the issues that they’re running into, how we can begin to prepare, and the opportunities it opens for CPAs.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

164. The importance of legislative advocacy, with Tom Hood

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 06:00:00 -0400

It’s legislative season here in Maryland, and getting involved in the process is more important than ever for the CPA profession.

With more changes coming that promise to directly impact the accounting and financing profession than we’ve ever seen, our world is on high alert. We need to stay on top of those changes – which is why it’s nice to have a little help from CPA societies.

We take a close look at what’s happening in Annapolis right now, because there are sure to be similar stories playing out in whatever state you’re located in. To help us with that is Tom Hood, former CEO of the Maryland Association of CPAs, current executive vice president of Business Engagement and Growth at the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, and chair of the MACPA’s Legislative Executive Committee.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tomhood

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

163. Dousing burnout, with Dr. Britt Andreatta

Mon, 03 Jan 2022 06:00:00 -0400

It has been a stressful couple of years for everyone. People are working longer and harder with fewer breaks, fewer vacations, and fewer days off, which is bleeding into our personal lives, especially those of us still working from home.

Dr. Britt Andreatta is an internationally recognized thought leader who uses her background in leadership, neuroscience, psychology, and education to create brain-science-based solutions for today’s workplace challenges. She’s also a bestselling author and a top 20 learning influencer for 2021.

She talks about the symptoms of burnout, the real-life impact it can have on individuals and organizations, what employees can do to protect themselves, and where they should turn for help. This is a very important conversation that impacts each of us and our organizations in profound ways.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

162. The search for work … and for workers, with Lauren Welkie

Mon, 27 Dec 2021 06:00:00 -0400

Today, we’re talking about jobs: Job hunting, searching for employees, filling the pipeline, The Great Resignation, and more.

Our guest is Lauren Welkie. She manages strategic partnerships at ZipRecruiter, which is feeling the effects of The Great Resignation in a different way than most organizations. As Yahoo News said recently, “ZipRecruiter is finding itself in a sweet spot right now, as the demand for labor to support the economic recovery remains intense. And it showed up in the company's latest earnings report. ZipRecruiter saw third quarter sales surge 107% from a year ago. The company also lifted its full year sales and profit outlooks.”

Lauren talks about the trends that she’s seeing in the market right now, the things that job candidates say they want most and what job seekers should be doing to make themselves attractive to employers. We cover the flip side, too, and discuss what employers should be doing to attract and keep talent in this new age of employment.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

ziprecruiter.com

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

161. How finance can leverage A.I. for good, with Neil Sahota

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 06:00:00 -0400

Usually, when we talk about AI in this profession, the conversation is all about automation, the things that artificial intelligence takes off our plate so we can create more value for our clients, face to face.

But today, we look at AI’s potential for impact on big global issues like poverty, hunger, climate change, sustainability, and inequity. Of course, we bring the conversation back to what role accounting and finance might play in all of that.

Joining that conversation is Neil Sahota. Neil is an IBM Master Inventor, an AI advisor to the United Nations, chief innovation officer at UC Irvine, and a best-selling author, among many other things.

He’s also a founding member of the UN’s “AI For Good” initiative, a global community that’s centered on identifying practical applications of artificial intelligence to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and scale those solutions for global impact.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

160. What’s new in tax? With Edward Karl

Mon, 06 Dec 2021 06:00:00 -0400

As we round out the year, tax professionals have more than just the holidays to look forward to. Tax season is upon us and there’s a lot to talk about this year.

Edward Karl is the Vice President of Taxation for the American Institute of CPAs. He’s also a member of the Maryland Association of CPAs. He has his finger on the pulse of our nation more than almost anyone in the field. He joins us today to help break down all the changes happening for the upcoming tax season, review what’s in the Build Back Better infrastructure package, and comment on the state of IRS customer service.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

159. Barrett Young ... the strongest CPA you've ever seen?

Mon, 29 Nov 2021 06:00:00 -0400

Barrett Young is a partner at Garbelman Winslow CPAs, a firm in Southern Maryland, and a Strongman competitor. You recognize the Strongman brand from those mind-blowing competitions on TV where people lift massive rocks and logs, or pull trucks, or flip huge tires. Those are the kinds of challenges that Barrett thrives on. We talk about how he got into such a heavy passion and how his work in the gym overlaps with his work at the firm.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

158. Our profession’s future? 'All are welcome,' with Crystal Cooke

Mon, 22 Nov 2021 06:00:00 -0400

This week, we’re focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Crystal Cooke, Director of Diversity and Inclusion for the American Institute of CPAs, helps us shed light on these important topics. We talk about where our profession stands today, what changes are happening already, and what else needs to be done going forward.

Crystal took her current role in February of 2020, just before the summer was enveloped in so many violent tragedies across the country. These events and society’s reaction to them brought social issues back into the spotlight, and gave new, heightened, meaning to her responsibility.

She talks about what it was like to start the role in that kind of environment and takes a closer look at our profession as a whole — how far it’s come in the areas of diversity and inclusion and what each of us, individually, can do to help make it more equitable for all.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

aicpa.com/diversity
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/crystal-cooke-114788170

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

157. Managing your remote teams, with Jennifer Wilson

Mon, 15 Nov 2021 06:00:00 -0400

We are a remote work world now. Which means, for all of you leaders and managers out there, that we have to figure out how to best manage remote workers. That means finding new ways to manage technology, engagement, wellness, culture, and trust.

Jennifer Wilson is co-founder and partner of ConvergenceCoaching, a national consulting firm

dedicated to developing leaders and transforming teams. She is also one of Accounting Today’s 100 Most Influential People in Accounting, one of INSIDE Public Accounting’s Top 10 Most Recommended Consultants, and one of CPA Practice Advisor’s Top 25 Thought Leaders and Most Powerful Women in Accounting.

Jennifer gave a talk at the 2021 AICPA Engage conference on the topic of remote work, and she shares her insights here with us today. We touch on what the future of work looks like, potential landmines that employers have to watch out for with remote arrangements, the opportunities that these kinds of environments offer, and what employees themselves can do to make the transition easier.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

156. Off-script: Better leadership through improv, with Peter Margaritis

Mon, 01 Nov 2021 06:00:00 -0400

Let’s talk about comedy and how it relates to business. In this episode, Peter Margaritis joins the podcast to talk about just that, and his new book, “Off-Script: Mastering the Art of Business Improv.”

Improv, at its core, is about building a conversation out of what another person says instead of relying on our own agendas. In our business settings, most of us want to control the narrative to ensure ideal outcomes. We want to script the conversations, manage the problems, predict the future, and most importantly, win.

But good leaders become better leaders by doing the opposite — by letting go of control, and going off script in their conversations, negotiations, and brainstorms. This improv-inspired approach builds the mental muscles we need to be more than merely present in the meeting, but to collaborate with others in truly authentic, empathetic ways.

This might be a totally new role, but we can do it. Peter Margaritis can help us get there.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

155. Augmented reality and the future of the profession, with Dina Broydo and Rachelle Hernandez

Tue, 28 Sep 2021 06:00:00 -0400

We’re going to take a closer look at augmented reality (AR), also known as mixed reality. Augmented reality combines our real world with virtual information, images, sounds, or other media that augments our experiences in the real world. There are some really interesting case studies of how AR is being used in innovative and productive ways.

Here to help us understand AR better are Dina Broydo and Rachelle Hernandez. Dina is a Manager in BDO’s Forensic Investigations and Litigation Services Practice, and Rachelle is an Experienced Senior Associate with BDO’s Digital Analytics and Automation Practice. They share how BDO is using this technology, how it’s worked for them, what they’re hearing from team members and clients, and even the role that the pandemic has played in how BDO is rolling out the technology. As the use of this technology becomes more widespread, it undoubtedly will have implications for other areas of the profession moving forward.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

154. Accounting's future rests with people who care, with Dr. Freeman Hrabowski & Kimberly Ellison-Taylor

Tue, 21 Sep 2021 06:00:00 -0400

Dr. Freeman Hrabowski is the president of the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and he recently announced his retirement after three decades at the helm of UMBC. He will officially step down in June 2022. He's a leader in every sense of the word, particularly when it comes to educating and graduating an incredibly diverse and inclusive student body.

Joining him is Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, accounting and finance's Wonder Woman. She's former chair of the AICPA, and the Maryland Association of CPAs, and chair of way too many organizations to mention. She's a graduate of UMBC, and she and Dr. Hrabowski have quite a history.

Together, they have some interesting thoughts about the accounting profession that are going to make this a valuable conversation.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

153. Remembering 9/11

Fri, 10 Sep 2021 06:00:00 -0400

We are 20 years out from 9/11, the tragic event that changed everything in the US. We all have our 9/11 stories – the things we remember most when we think back to that fateful day.

To mark the occasion, we’re going to hear from some of the leaders in the accounting and finance profession, their stories, where they were when it happened, and how the event has impacted the profession. Those leaders are:

AICPA President and CEO, Barry Melancon
Tom Hood, Executive Vice President of Business Growth and Engagement with the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants
Jessica McClain, Controller for Brand USA and a member of The MACPA Foundation.
Ed Rommel, a retired CPA, a former partner with TRS CPA Group, and a former chair of the Maryland Association of CPAs’ Board of Directors.
Tim Samuel, CFO of Bridgeway Community Church, and a member of the MACPA’s Board of Directors.
Lexy Kessler, a partner with Aronson, and current MACPA Board Chair.
MACPA President and CEO, Jackie Brown

Let’s spend some time today looking back – and looking forward.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

152. Pandemic PFP: The impact on clients and practitioners

Mon, 30 Aug 2021 06:00:00 -0400

We’ve dissected this pandemic in every way possible so far – its impact on our world, our health, our businesses, our employees, and the future of work – as well as its impact on leadership, innovation, technology, and the pace of change in general. It’s all speeding up, right?

But let’s take a closer look at how COVID-19 has impacted the world of financial planning – not only for clients and the state of their finances, but for businesses, practices, and how the profession is changing as a result of this crisis.

Lyle Benson is president and founder of L.K. Benson & Company in Baltimore, and he joined us back in the summer of 2020 to talk about some specific worries around personal finance and savings during the early days of the pandemic. Today, we’re doing a deeper dive into financial planning.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

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151. Tragedy’s silver lining, with Lee Frederiksen

Tue, 24 Aug 2021 06:00:00 -0400

Lee Frederiksen is a business strategist, a behavioral psychologist, and the managing partner of a marketing firm called Hinge which caters to the professional services industry.

Lee makes the case that more professional service firms have been positively impacted by the pandemic than negatively impacted.

This crisis has been difficult for people in many ways: jobs, businesses, and even lives lost. We can talk about money all day, but, in the end, this crisis is about human beings who were here a while ago and aren’t here now. This has been a human tragedy of immense proportions.

Lee has some fantastic insights, and ones you’ll want to keep in mind, because this likely won’t be the last crisis we go through in our lives given how fast things are changing.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

hingemarketing.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/leefrederiksen

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

150. People, pipeline, pandemic: A view from the top

Mon, 16 Aug 2021 06:00:00 -0400

Bill Pirolli is the new chair of the American Institute of CPAs and a partner with DiSanto Priest & Co., in Warwick, Rhode Island. He gives us his take on the future of the profession, some of the things he has his eye on, and his priorities for the coming year – all of which will impact everyone in the profession.

Bill has been thinking about pipeline issues, engaging the next generation of CPAs, keeping interest in the profession strong, and making sure we’re providing tomorrow’s CPAs with the skills they need to thrive.

That’s just one of the issues on his agenda for the coming year. He’s also thinking hard about things like diversity and inclusion, navigating the profession through a post-pandemic world, and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. We talk about all of that and more as we look towards the future.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

149. Anirban Basu and the Chamber of Data

Mon, 09 Aug 2021 06:00:00 -0400

Anirban Basu is chairman and CEO of Sage Policy Group, an economic and policy consulting firm headquartered in the great city of Baltimore, Maryland. He is one of the most popular speakers on the MACPA educational circuit, chair of the Maryland Economic Development Commission, and of the Baltimore County Economic Advisory Committee. He was named one of Maryland’s 50 most influential people. When it comes to the economy, he knows what he’s talking about, so we’re going to take a quick look with him – at Maryland, United States, the COVID factor, housing, all of it – and see what he has to say.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

148. Should you make the move to .cpa? With Chris Cromer

Mon, 19 Jul 2021 06:00:00 -0400

We’ve discussed the .cpa domain before – a new domain that’s available exclusively to CPAs. There are many benefits involved with this domain (for both you and your clients). The domain has been out there since earlier this year, so we thought now would be a good time to take stock of where things are for people. How’s this domain working for everyone? How many people have used it? What about it has worked? What lessons have been learned? What would people do differently if they could change things? There’s been much excitement surrounding .cpa domains, but do they live up to the hype?

Chris Cromer is going to help us make sense of everything. He’s a technology expert focused on the applications, networking, infrastructure, compliance, and security for the CPA.com web properties, including CPA.com, AICPAStore.com, RIVIO.com, the CPA.com email service extension, and the .cpa domain.

We’ve had the .cpa domain for around six months, now. Chris gives us insights such as the uptake, what the popularity means for the domain itself, the benefits on offer, and more.

To keep learning, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

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147. The future of finance in Maryland, with Lexy Kessler

Mon, 05 Jul 2021 06:00:00 -0400

Lexy Kessler is the partner in charge of Aronson’s Government Contract Services Group and chair of the AICPA’s PCPS Executive Committee. As of July 1st, she is the new chair of the Maryland Association of CPAs Board of Directors. We’re going to look at her priorities this year and the trends impacting CPAs in Maryland and beyond. Of course, diversity and inclusion in the pipeline are always a focus – however, Lexy is also excited to step into what she calls “MACPA 3.0,” stepping into the opportunities for the association that look ahead, past the current leadership and structural changes.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lexykessler
“The CPA Pipeline Report: Decoding the Decline”
“Time commitment, relevance push people away from CPA Exam”

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

146. The pitfalls and potential of working from home, with Kassi Rushing

Mon, 21 Jun 2021 06:00:00 -0400

You would be hard-pressed to think of an area that has a greater impact on the working world than where we work. The pandemic has taken the cat out of the bag – so to speak – and there’s no putting it back. Working from home is here to stay. Now it’s up to us to keep it productive.

Kassi Rushing is a communication and people strategist who works with organizations to bring their cultural visions to life. She's got experience and expertise in workplace culture, high-performing teams, diversity, equity and inclusion strategy, leadership and pipeline development, employee engagement, and communication strategy – all of which makes her the perfect person to talk about the future of work. Kassi gave a GREAT presentation at one of the MACPA’s recent town hall meetings.

She talks about some of the landmines that employers need to watch out for, the opportunities that are there for those of us who figure out how to do this right, what employees can do to help make this transition easier, and a look at the future of work itself.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

kassirushing.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kassirushing
“Allowing More Work From Home? Avoid These Common Mistakes”

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145. The CAS mindset, with Hitendra Patil

Mon, 31 May 2021 06:00:00 -0400

It seems as if everyone wants to offer client accounting services, but not many know where to start.

Hitendra Patil is the Head of Customer Success at AccountantsWorld. He is a fixture in Accounting Today’s list of The 100 Most Influential People in Accounting. And he’s one of the biggest fans – and, certainly, one of the most knowledgeable people on the subject – of client accounting services. He has a new book called “The Definitive Success Guide to Client Accounting Services.”

He talks about the opportunities that CAS provides, the barriers getting in the way of their adoption, the new skills we’ll have to learn to be successful, and what’s in the future for CAS. Like everything else these days, it’s evolving fast. If you’ve been thinking about diving into the CAS pool, this is a great place to start.

To learn more and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

144. Bending curves and building careers, with David Nour

Mon, 24 May 2021 06:00:00 -0400

David Nour is CEO of The Nour Group, where they're all about building strategic relationships to help leaders reimagine the future. He's an advisor to Fortune 500 execs, a professor at Emory University, and the author of 11 books. His latest is “Curve Benders: How Strategic Relationships Can Power Your Non-Linear Growth in the Future of Work.”

What are curve benders? How do you define "strategic relationships?" What is non-linear growth? What is the future of work? And how does all this fit together?

David joins us to talk about his notion of curve-benders and how they are more than just strategic relationships. They are a series of forces that change how we live, work, and even play.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

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143. Accounting's future starts now, with Donny Shimamoto

Mon, 10 May 2021 06:00:00 -0400

Donny Shimamoto is the founder and managing director of IntrapriseTechKnowlogies, an advisory-focused CPA firm in Honolulu. He’s also an incredibly active volunteer and thought leader for the American Institute of CPAs, doing work in information management, IT, and assurance services.

His latest project is leading the launch of the new Center for Accounting Transformation. Its mission statement reads: “The Center enables transformation by guiding members through the adoption and change required in order to step into the future of the accounting profession. We are not here to convince people to change, but rather to empower those who seek an alternative to the status quo.” We talk about how they are doing that, and why.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

142. Tax pros are people too, with Kelly Phillips Erb

Mon, 03 May 2021 06:00:00 -0400

Kelly Phillips Erb runs a very popular Twitter account under the handle, TaxGirl. She has written a regular Forbes column for years under the moniker, and now she’s doing the same for Bloomberg. She’s been interviewed by every big-name media company in the business about all things tax: CNN, Reuters, Time, NPR, ABC, CBS, MarketWatch, and more. She is also a managing attorney with ErbLaw, based in Glenmoore, Pennsylvania.

We talk about the state of tax professionals more than a year into the pandemic, how the industry has changed due to it, and of course the ways it will continue to evolve moving forward.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

141. The ties that bind are people, with Andrew Codd

Mon, 26 Apr 2021 06:00:00 -0400

Andrew Codd is the host of Strength in the Numbers Show, a top-rated podcast aiming to help solve significant problems in the finance industry. He’s also an author, speaker, coach, trainer, and a senior member of After-Sales Finance Operations for Dell. Based in Ireland, Andrew brings an international perspective to the profession's issues and offers a fresh opinion on potential solutions.

Andrew Codd listens to people in various roles throughout the industry, giving him valuable insight into making it future-proof. We talk about some of the ties that bind accounting and finance pros, the importance of that human element to the future of our work, and some of his favorite lessons he’s learned after more than 300 episodes.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

140. As leaders, women rule, with Jacquelyn Tracy and Jessica McClain

Mon, 19 Apr 2021 06:00:00 -0400

Jacquelyn Tracy is chair of the AICPA's Women's Initiatives Executive Committee. Jessica McClain is a member of the board of directors of the MACPA Foundation, which works to build a diverse talent pipeline to ensure the strength of the CPA profession for years to come.

We talk about the excellent work being done by both of these organizations, the role of women in the profession, and why it's crucial that we expand it for future generations.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

139. The anticipation advantage, with Amy Zalman

Mon, 12 Apr 2021 06:00:00 -0400

Dr. Amy Zalman is the former CEO and president of the World Future Society. While she was there, she repositioned the World Future Society for renewed future global impact — helping a transformational organization transform itself. She’s also the founder of Oryx Communications and chair of information integration at the National War College, where she’s introduced new ways of understanding information to future senior leaders so they can better inform their perspectives on the ways the world is changing — not just technologically, but also culturally and geopolitically. She’s currently the founder of Prescient, a foresight consultancy that helps leaders and companies anticipate new opportunities, markets and threats before the competition does. In Prescient’s words, “Our clients manage the future by creating it.”

Amy Zalman talks about anticipation: Is it a skill, a mindset, or a bit of both? How does it differ from critical and strategic thinking? How can we tell if we’re moving fast enough? And how should we start reimagining this profession going forward? It’s a fascinating and essential conversation with one of the world’s true deep thinkers in this space.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

138. The path to excellence is 'extreme humanism' | with Tom Peters

Mon, 05 Apr 2021 06:00:00 -0400

Tom Peters is the co-author of “In Search Of Excellence” and author of seventeen other best-selling books. He’s a legend in the business and consulting world, devoted to studying what makes leaders great and how to achieve business excellence.

Tom’s latest book, “Excellence Now: Extreme Humanism,” may also be his last. In the afterword to the book, he says, “This book, in effect, IS my memoir. It is solely devoted to the things that I care deeply — VERY deeply! — about. The ideas are not complex; they require no mastery of calculus or chemistry or physics. But the practice thereof is honored in the breach more often than not. Collecting and sharing these ideas are my life’s work and, indeed, my life.”

In this conversation, Tom talks about joy, compassion, caring, kindness, patience, and positivity — the kinds of skills that everyone else calls “soft skills.” Tom is adamant that they are truly hard skills, that they’re the ones we need to master because they pay off in the most significant way in the long run.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

tompeters.com
Twitter: twitter.com/tom_peters
Read: “Excellence Now: Extreme Humanism”

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

137. Inclusion: Race, gender, and generations, with Kimberly Ellison-Taylor

Tue, 30 Mar 2021 06:00:00 -0400

As we near the end of Women’s History Month, and with Black History Month still firmly in our memory, it’s essential to take a look at diversity and inclusion in the CPA profession — both how far we’ve come and how much further we have to go.

Kimberly Ellison-Taylor is a former Maryland Association of CPAs chair, a former AICPA Chair, and the executive director of finance thought leadership for Oracle. She is also the incoming chair of the AICPA’s National Commission on Diversity and Inclusion, and the incoming president of Beta Alpha Psi, the international honor society for accounting and finance students and professionals. She has her pulse on the profession’s D&I initiatives. She talks about what the AICPA’s National Commission is focusing on these days, how generational issues factor into the diversity-and-inclusion conversation, and how we can start moving this conversation away from groups of individuals and toward more inclusiveness across the board.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

136. Finance's strategic evolution | with Jennifer Elder

Mon, 15 Mar 2021 06:00:00 -0400

As the world evolves, the concept of leadership is evolving as well. And the leaders of today are finding they need new skills to succeed.

Jennifer Elder is a thought leader, trainer, and business coach dedicated to the concept of business transformation. She offers programs through the Business Learning Institute about strategic leadership, and she’s going to share about it from a corporate finance perspective. She tells us how finance is taking on a more strategic role in most organizations, what characteristics set strategic leaders apart from the rest of the pack, how finance’s role will continue to evolve, and how the pandemic impacts all of it.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

135. Finding energy, restoring balance | with Greg Conderacci

Mon, 08 Mar 2021 06:00:00 -0400

If you’re feeling a serious lack of energy in your life right now, know that you’re not alone. People around the world are starting to face this as we move past year one of the pandemic. But there are strategies for moving past this energy drain, and Greg Conderacci is here to share some of them with us. Greg is a senior fellow with the Business Learning Institute, a consultant, and a faculty member at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He has researched and written extensively about personal energy’s impact on careers and organizations.

Greg talks about the different types of energies that are at play in an environment like this, the signs that we might be about to hit that wall, and the strategies for bringing a little balance back into our lives.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

134. The personal impact of change | with Karl Ahlrichs

Mon, 01 Mar 2021 06:00:00 -0400

If there’s one word that describes the past year with a fair amount of accuracy, it would have to be “change.” It’s been a year of unprecedented change, in a lot of ways, and that change impacts each of us — often in ways that are very personal.

Karl Ahlrichs is going to help us explore how change impacts us and what we can do to adapt. Karl is a bestselling author and an acclaimed national speaker who works across all industries and has a wealth of experience in human resources, operations, and senior-level problem-solving.

He talks about the personal impact of change, the different types of change, the different ways in which we process it, the four stages we all go through when dealing with change, and the most important thing we should be focusing on as we work our way through any sort of change.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

133. Saving your financial future | with Rachel Richards

Mon, 22 Feb 2021 06:00:00 -0400

Personal finance isn’t always a fun topic to talk about. But the sooner you start to think about it, the less stress it’s going to cause down the line.

Rachel Richards took this principle to heart when she paid her way through college by selling Cutco Knives, graduating with no debt. She took her love of helping people with their finances and her talent for sales and became a financial advisor, but her heart wasn’t really in it. She found the world of investment properties and worked that until she was 27, quitting her job and retiring while living off of the $15,000 a month in passive income that she earned from her 40 residential rental units.

She’s the author of two books, “Money Honey” and “Passive Income, Aggressive Retirement.” She’s also written an online course entitled “Get Your Financial Shit Together.” She certainly has her finances together. She shares what lessons she learned along the way, what advice she might offer young professionals as they begin their savings journey — and even what older savers might be able to take from her journey and apply to our own.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

132. Automating corporate compliance | with AJ Yawn and Jeff Cook

Wed, 17 Feb 2021 06:00:00 -0400

We have spent the past several years talking about the exponential advancement of technology and what it all means for our profession. Most of those conversations tend to gravitate toward the public practice side of the profession, but today we’re taking a closer look at how those advances in technology are impacting things like financial reporting, cybersecurity, auditing, assessments, and other compliance-related issues. Because tech trends are impacting those things just as heavily as any other area of the profession. There is quite a bit to consider when it comes to automation within finance and accounting departments, and AJ Yawn and Jeff Cook of ByteChek are going to help us keep it all straight.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

131. Where we've been ... and where we're going | with Tom Hood

Mon, 08 Feb 2021 06:00:00 -0400

There are some big changes taking place at the Business Learning Institute. Tom Hood, now the former president and CEO of the Maryland Association of CPAs and the Business Learning Institute, is the new executive vice president of business growth and engagement for the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants — the global arm of the American Institute of CPAs. Before Tom closes out his time with the MACPA, we capture some of his wisdom so that we can learn from it going forward. He talks about where the profession was 24 years ago, how far it’s come in the past quarter-century, and most importantly, where it’s going from here.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

130. Wanted: A more diverse profession | with George Willie

Mon, 01 Feb 2021 06:00:00 -0400

George Willie is a managing partner with Bert Smith & Company, a CPA and management consulting firm with offices in D.C., Baltimore, and the Virgin Islands. He has served as chair of the AICPA’s Private Companies Practice Section and the Montgomery County Employee Retirement System Board of Investment Trustees, and is also an immigrant originally from Jamaica. He has some great stories to tell, and some great insights into the CPA profession’s efforts around diversity and inclusion, the importance of mentorship, the work that groups like the Maryland Association of CPAs are doing to drive the profession forward in this area.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

129. What to know about PPP Round 2 | with Erik Asgeirsson and Lisa Simpson

Mon, 25 Jan 2021 06:00:00 -0400

We’re approaching the third wave of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) relief, and while we’ve seen these before, there’s good reason to be prepared for what’s new this time around.

Erik Asgeirsson is the president and CEO of CPA.com. Joining him is Lisa Simpson, who leads the American Institute of CPAs’ Private Companies Practice Section in the development of practice management tools that address topics that are most important to firm owners.

They talk about where we stand with this latest round of funding, what they’re hearing from firms and their clients, what CPAs should know at this point in the process, whether they’re expecting things to go a little more smoothly than they did in earlier PPP rounds, and how things are going with the new CPA Business Funding Portal, which is designed to help CPAs better manage their clients’ loan applications and forgiveness requests.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

128. Digital transformation in corporate finance | with Wayne Slater

Mon, 18 Jan 2021 06:00:00 -0400

There are so many changes being made in the world of finance. Many of them could be seen coming, but due to the pandemic, those changes are being made much faster than anyone could have guessed.

Wayne Slater is the director of product marketing for Prophix, which helps mid-market companies achieve their goals with innovative, cloud-based Corporate Performance Management software. He talks about the accelerations that are disrupting corporate finance, how businesses have had to shift in order to meet those challenges, and the types of new tools finance leaders need to put their businesses and their people in a position to succeed.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

127. Looking back ... and ahead on the CPA profession | with Allen DeLeon

Mon, 11 Jan 2021 06:00:00 -0400

Allen DeLeon is a founding partner of DeLeon & Stang in Gaithersberg, MD, and is one of the most active volunteers in the Maryland Association of CPAs. He’s a member of the boards of directors for numerous community organizations and he has a solid pulse on what’s going on in the profession. Allen retired at the beginning of 2021, and as he steps away from his day-to-day duties, he talks about how things have changed during his career, and how he sees the future playing out for the profession. Sometimes, in order to become future-ready, we have to take a good, hard look at our past while we prepare for what’s to come.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

126. Choosing to thrive as 'the worst year ever' comes to an end | with John O’Leary

Mon, 28 Dec 2020 06:00:00 -0400

John O’Leary is a thought leader, a world-renowned speaker, and best-selling author of “On Fire” and “In Awe.” When he was a kid, he burned himself really badly—he suffered burns on 100 percent of his body. Doctors gave him a 1 percent chance of survival.

And yet he survived. Not without some issues. He spent months in the hospital, he had numerous surgeries, his fingers were amputated—all of this around his 10th birthday. But he survived, and he persevered.

This has been a wildly difficult year for almost anybody, but we can all move forward with a sense of gratitude and awe—but don’t forget the lessons that this time has taught us.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Learn more: johnolearyInspires.com
Read: "In Awe"

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

125. State legislative issues start with finance | with Tom Hood

Mon, 14 Dec 2020 06:00:00 -0400

What’s happening at the state level that might have an impact on the accounting and finance world? There’s a lot that’s going on in state capitals across the country that bears watching. Here to talk about all of this is Tom Hood, the president and CEO of the Maryland Association of CPAs and the Business Learning Institute. The issues we’re talking about today are things that Tom is watching in Maryland, but these could be issues in any state in the nation. Nearly all states are either dealing with issues like these right now or are watching these issues very closely in the event that they might have to deal with them down the road.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

124. The post-pandemic office and the future of work | with Cheryl Duvall

Mon, 07 Dec 2020 06:00:00 -0400

Cheryl Duvall is the Consulting Practice Area leader for Gensler’s Southeast Region, the renowned global integrated architecture, design, planning and consulting firm with more than 5,000 professionals in 50 offices worldwide. Cheryl talks about the nature of work, what our workspaces will actually look like going forward, whether or not we will need offices in the future, how leadership is changing as a result, and the skills future-ready leaders will need to develop.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

123. What’s your 'And?' | with John Garrett

Mon, 30 Nov 2020 06:00:00 -0400

What we do isn’t who we are; we are all something more than our job. So, what’s that thing that really defines us?

Our guest John Garrett, for example, is a CPA, yes. AND he’s an author, a standup comedian, an Emmy Award nominee, and a thought-provoker — he’s a lot besides just a CPA, and he’s encouraging all of us to find our “and” too. He recently wrote a book on the topic — “What’s Your And? Unlock the Person With the Professional” — to teach others how sharing your personal passions improves work performance, builds culture, and strengthens relationships with colleagues and clients.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Learn more at thejohngarrett.com
Read: “What’s Your And? Unlock the Person With the Professional”
Listen: “What’s Your And?” podcast

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

122. Cybersecurity and COVID-19: How to protect your firm and your clients | with Scott Fleszar

Mon, 23 Nov 2020 06:00:00 -0400

As with pretty much every other trend out there, this pandemic has acted as an accelerator for cyber threats. This was a big problem before COVID-19, but it’s an even bigger problem now. And that makes this week’s conversation particularly relevant, and it’ll likely only become more relevant over the coming months.

To help us get ahead of this unsetting trend, we had a conversation with Scott Fleszar, chief operating and strategy officer for SafeSend. SafeSend’s mission is to accelerate the tax and accounting profession with innovative, emerging technologies that help practitioners work more efficiently and better serve their clients. One of their products, SafeSend Returns — which provides accounting firms an automated, centralized and standardized way to assemble and deliver tax returns digitally — recently won an Innovation Award from CPA Practice Advisor. SafeSend Returns

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

safesend.com
SafeSend Returns: safesend.com/safesend-returns/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/safesend
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/cpaperless-llc
Twitter: @safesendreturns
Future Learning Framework
"Internal auditors grapple with cybersecurity and crisis management amid coronavirus"
“Now in hackers’ crosshairs: Accounting and finance firms”

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

121. The 3 Ps of taxes: Politics, policy ... and patience | with Edward Karl

Mon, 16 Nov 2020 06:00:00 -0400

Joe Biden is the president-elect of the United States of America, but the future of America’s tax policy is going to largely depend on the way a few remaining Senate races turn out. There are a lot of questions about how things will turn out, but Ed Karl is going to try to clarify a few things. Ed is vice president of taxation for the American Institute of CPAs, a member of the Maryland Association of CPAs, and he’s got a good sense of the tax situation in our country.

Ed joined us not long after Biden was projected to win to talk about the impact of the election, the pandemic, and a number of other issues, and not just the prospect of new tax policy but on the upcoming tax season as well. And if you had to boil it all down to one word, he said that word might be “patience.”

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

120. Creating the Progressive Accountant | with Twyla Verhelst

Mon, 09 Nov 2020 06:00:00 -0400

Twyla Verhelst is one of the top 50 women in accounting. She is head of the Accountant Channel and leader of the New Accounting Professionals Program at Freshbooks. She’s also a CPA and has deep personal experience in advisory accounting, so she knows how to leverage technology and create high-value client experiences.

We’ve discussed the need to create the “Future-Ready CPA,” and Twyla has a different term for these CPAs of the future. Twyla believes CPAs and accountants have to stop thinking of themselves as business historians and instead start thinking of themselves as progressive, pushing the industry and leading us forward. Listen to learn how you can become a progressive CPA.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

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119. Finance, football and the future of the profession | with Jeff Goering

Mon, 02 Nov 2020 06:00:00 -0400

The world of financing touches everything—including sports. Jeff Goering is the CFO of the Baltimore Ravens NFL team.

He talks about how life as a CFO for an NFL team differs from your typical job in finance—and the ways in which it doesn’t. He also discusses the impact COVID-19 is having on teams, how corporate finance has changed in recent years, and how the role of the CFO has changed right along with it.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

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118. DEI in accounting 'still a challenge' | with Anoop Mehta

Mon, 26 Oct 2020 06:00:00 -0400

Diversity and inclusion is important. If we want to future-proof our careers, our organizations, our profession, it has to include diversity, equality, and inclusion.

Anoop Mehta is president of Science Systems and Applications in Lanham, Maryland. It’s a leading provider of scientific research and development, engineering, and information analytics services in the Earth and space science disciplines. He is also a former chair of the Maryland Association of CPAs’ Board of Directors, and a current member of the Board of Directors for the American Institute of Certified Professional Accountants, and a council member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. He’s also an immigrant, an Indian-American, and he has a unique take on this country and this profession, and what the future holds.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

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117. Me and my bot: The future of accounting | with Byron Patrick

Mon, 19 Oct 2020 06:00:00 -0400

Byron Patrick is a chameleon of sorts, changing his specialty with the times and staying ahead of the curve. He’s a good friend of our host, Bill Sheridan, who met him in 2006 as the Director of IT for KatzAbosch in Maryland. He had just created a virtual office for the firm in an online virtual world called Second Life. Virtual space is a great place to teach and learn, and other platforms have come along since then and proved it right. Byron was thinking about this concept long before anyone else in the profession.

He went on to co-found an organization that focused on remote work technologies and solutions in 2008, also well before remote work became a popular idea. He joined the Board of Directors for the Maryland Association of CPAs and eventually chaired that board during the 2013-14 fiscal year, becoming one of the youngest MACPA chairs ever in the process.

In 2019, he joined the team at Botkeeper, which provides automated bookkeeping and accounting solutions for firms, as their director of pre-sales and solutions. In this conversation, he talks about automation, A.I., and what they allow firms to do that they can’t or haven’t thought about before.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

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116. How A.I. will change everything | with Alexander Hagerup

Mon, 12 Oct 2020 06:00:00 -0400

Alexander Hagerup is the founder of Vic.AI, a strategic partner of the MACPA and the Business Learning Institute. Alex is a serial tech entrepreneur based in New York with a strong passion for artificial intelligence.

Alex joins us to talk about A.I., and how far we’ve come, and where we are now in terms of the automation possibilities that A.I. gives us. And maybe most importantly, why CPAs should be paying attention to this, and what this technology will do for us that will improve our lives, and the lives of our clients and customers.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

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115. Great leadership is healing leadership | with Ed Kless

Mon, 05 Oct 2020 06:00:00 -0400

Ed Kless is senior director of partner development and strategy at Sage, a senior fellow at the VeraSage Institute, and the co-host of the Soul of Enterprise podcast.

Ed believes that so much of the leadership advice available out there, in hundreds of books on every topic imaginable, completely misses the boat on what great leadership is about. And that, to Ed, is “Healing Leadership.” Ed shares with us what that term means, how most people are getting it wrong, and how you can learn it and practice it in your business and life.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

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114. Integrated reporting: Value beyond the numbers | with Charles Tilley

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 06:00:00 -0400

Financial performance isn’t the only metric of value we should care about, so why is it all that we report on?

We’re living in a different time. We’re working for different organizations that are impacted by different issues, and we need financial reports and tell different stories and communicate different values than those of the past. Integrative reports intend to fix this problem by including factors in addition to financial performance: reliance on the environment, social reputation, human capital skills, and more.

Charles Tilley is CEO of the International Integrated Reporting Council, and previously chaired the IIRC’s technical task force, which is the group responsible for developing the Integrated Reporting framework. He joins us to get everyone up to speed with Integrated Reporting, what the benefits are for organizations and stakeholders alike, and what the future of this type of reporting might look like.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

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113. Are you master of your domain? .CPA now available | with Erik Asgeirsson

Mon, 21 Sep 2020 06:00:00 -0400

There are some important changes coming to the internet in the form of top-level domains. These are the parts of a website that come after the dot in a domain name. There are seven original top-level domains, which were created in the early days of the Internet — .com, .org, .net, .int, .edu, .gov, and .mil. Today, the number of top-level domains available has exploded, and now, .cpa has finally arrived, and it is one you will want to pay attention to. Like everything else with the profession, there are elements of verification and trust embedded in .cpa that don’t exist in other domains.

Erik Asgeirsson is president and CEO of CPA.com, and he shares why the world needs another top-level domain, and why you need to seriously consider securing yours now, because there’s never been a better time than now. If you’re a CPA or work for a CPA firm, the changes happening will affect your brand, your SEO, your marketing, and, most importantly, the trust and integrity you’ve built with your clients and customers.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

CPA.com
Twitter: @ErikAsgeirsson
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/erikasgeirsson
Read "The Cybersecurity 202: Internet domain names are ripe for scam during coronavirus crisis"

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112. Trump vs. Biden on tax policy | with Tony Nitti

Mon, 14 Sep 2020 06:00:00 -0400

With the upcoming elections fast approaching, we are going to make a level-headed comparison of the two candidates through the lens of their tax policies. How does each candidate differ when it comes to their ideas about individual and corporate taxes?

Joining us to discuss the topic is Tony Nitti. Tony is a tax partner with RubinBrown in Aspen, Colorado. He also teaches the graduate tax programs at both the University of Denver and Golden Gate University. He writes about tax issues frequently for The Tax Adviser, Taxes Magazine, the JofA, and Accounting Today. He’s also a featured tax writer for Forbes.

Tony Nitti talks about the many ways in which President Trump and Joe Biden differ when it comes to tax policy, from individual and corporate tax rates, capital gains, deductions, tax credits, and more.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

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111. Value Pricing 2.0: Subscribing to your CPA? | with Ron Baker

Mon, 07 Sep 2020 06:00:00 -0400

Ron Baker has been a vocal evangelist in favor of the concept of value pricing—the idea of charging based on the value you provide, rather than on the amount of time you spend providing it. He has spent more than 20 years trying to convince people in the accounting profession to throw away the timesheet, but now he’s come to the conclusion that there’s something else that may work instead—something he calls the subscription model, “Value Pricing 2.0.” It’s a completely different business model, and one that we all need to be paying very close attention to.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

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110. You can't spell 'improvement' without improv | with Peter Margaritis

Mon, 31 Aug 2020 06:00:00 -0400

The skills involved in mastering improv are the same critical skills for becoming a great leader. Peter Margaritis is a CPA, a thought leader with the Business Learning Institute, and a comedian doing stand up in his free time. He knows all about improv, and more importantly, how it connects to CPAs and finance professionals. Good leadership requires connecting with and listening to others, being in the moment, being flexible, and following our intuition, and Peter is going to tell us how all of that comes together through the magic of improv.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

petermargaritis.com
Podcast: petermargaritis.com/category/cym-podcasts
Read: "Improv Is No Joke"

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109. ROWE your way to a better culture | with Jody Thompson

Mon, 24 Aug 2020 06:00:00 -0400

With so many people working from home, companies are being forced to re-examine how they measure productivity and input. Is time spent in front of the computer really the greatest factor for measuring employee contribution? Jody Thompson co-created the Results-Only Work Environment system, or ROWE, in 2003. Since then, it’s gained global traction and has influenced the cultures of countless organizations around the world, and we’re seeing a resurgence of it now as more and more companies adopt remote working.

Remote teams that have adopted ROWE have been responding very positively for one key reason: Autonomy. It’s one of the three things that all employees want. We get to hear straight from the creator of ROWE what she thinks about what’s going on in the world today and how ROWE has paved the way for the massive changes we’re experiencing.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

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108. 100 steps on the path to purpose | with Sebastian Terry

Mon, 17 Aug 2020 06:00:00 -0400

11 years ago, when Sebastian Terry was 24 years old, he lost a friend. The sudden death shook Sebastian to his core, to the point where he re-evaluated his own life and asked himself, “Am I happy?”

His answer was, “No.”

Sebastian started looking for more happiness in his life. He wrote down a list of 100 things that he thought might make him happy — 100 things that he wanted to accomplish and that he thought might bring him a sense of joy — and as he started crossing things off his list, other people were inspired by his example. They started their own lists, which turned into Sebastian writing a book, speaking at events, and starting a movement.

We’re all so wrapped up in everything going on in the world that not many of us have stopped to ask ourselves these questions lately: Am I happy? Am I living a purposeful life? What’s on my list? How can I help others? The closer we can get to answering those questions, the brighter the future is going to be for all of us.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

100things.com
TEDx Talk: “100 Things - What’s on Your List?”
Instagram: instagram.com/seb100things

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107. The power of positive leadership | with Gretchen Pisano

Mon, 10 Aug 2020 06:00:00 -0400

With everything that’s going on in the world today, it could do us all some good to spend more time on positivity. Gretchen Pisano is co-founder and CEO of pLink Leadership, a group that combines strategy, leadership development, and coaching with a focus on the “link” between the practice of positive psychology and better business results. She’s a professional certified coach, she has a master’s in applied positive psychology, and she’s a student of the teachings of Barbara Fredrickson and Brené Brown.

We’ve all dealt with struggles recently. This conversation offers insights that anyone could benefit from — to help us all not only feel a little better but to actually thrive.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

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106. The future of CPA leadership | with Tracey Golden

Mon, 03 Aug 2020 06:00:00 -0400

Tracey Golden is the new chair of the American Institute of CPAs and the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants. She’s also a CGMA and an audit partner with Deloitte. In her acceptance speech, after her election, she used the COVID-19 crisis as a backdrop for her thoughts on the role CPAs play as trusted advisors who will help lead us on a financial path forward and through this crisis. Here’s what she said:

“We are truly living disruption – not incremental change but a radical break from the familiar. Our profession has a crucial role to play in helping navigate this disruption. We are here to help businesses and individuals get through these tough times, learn from them, and grow.”

She outlines three ways that accounting and finance professionals can position themselves as leaders who will help clients and employers through the crisis. First, finding strength in our connection with one another. Second, seize the opportunity to make much-needed changes. And third, evolve in order to thrive.

Tracey takes a deeper dive into what she means by that, as well as her insight into what’s coming around the corner for us all. These are tough and challenging times, but at least CPAs have a leader who is up to the task.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Learn more: aicpa.org
Learn more: aicpa-cima.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/traceygolden1

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105. Subscriptions: 'The Forever Transaction' | with Robbie Kellman Baxter

Mon, 27 Jul 2020 06:00:00 -0400

Robbie Kellman Baxter has written the book—quite literally—on the Membership Economy and subscription-based business models. This is the way the world is going. In fact, it’s already gone. And it’s only a matter of time before it makes its way into the CPA profession and starts impacting accounting and finance. In some ways, it already is.

Robbie recently released a book called “The Forever Transaction: How to Build a Subscription Model So Compelling, Your Customers Will Never Want to Leave.” And doesn’t that sound appealing? She talks about what a successful subscription model might look like for our profession, how generational differences might come into play here, and how leaders can decide whether they’re ready to make this type of move — and if they are, what the logical first steps might be.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

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104. The power of associations in a crisis | with Tom Hood

Mon, 20 Jul 2020 06:00:00 -0400

The work of associations is right in the name: It’s about connections, it’s about relationships, and it’s about networks. These are the things that associations are designed to provide, and this is the time — a time of true crisis — in which those things are more important than ever. To explore all that an association can do, we sit down with Tom Hood, President and CEO of the Maryland Association of CPAs and the Business Learning Institute. He discusses how the work of associations shifted significantly in the face of the pandemic, how members have benefited, and how that work will help members map out a post-pandemic strategy that ensures their relevance going forward.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Learn more at macpa.org
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tomhood

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

103. Staying afloat during a global crisis | with Mark Koziel

Mon, 13 Jul 2020 06:00:00 -0400

Mark Koziel has been one of the most prominent voices at the American Institute of CPAs for nearly 15 years. He is executive vice president of firm services for the AICPA and a fixture on Accounting Today’s annual list of the most influential people in the profession. He’s been at the forefront of the profession’s response to the COVID-19 crisis—advocating on behalf of CPAs everywhere when it comes to Paycheck Protection Program loans, the designation as essential workers, and what our clients need from us going forward. We ask him for his perspective on the state of the profession and what the firm of tomorrow may look like.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

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102. Building a more inclusive accounting and finance profession | with Avonette Blanding and Kimberly Ellison-Taylor

Mon, 22 Jun 2020 06:00:00 -0400

Inclusion remains a huge problem in our profession. As of 2016, just one percent of CPAs employed by public accounting firms were Black. And 0.3 percent of partners at those firms were black. Meanwhile, roughly 13 percent of our country’s population is Black. And the numbers for other people of color weren’t much better. We want our profession to look like the public it serves, but it isn’t close — and it isn’t making much progress, either.

Our guests this week, Avonette Blanding and Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, offer some poignant insights that might help us take the first step. Avonette is chief financial officer at Maritime Applied Physics in Baltimore, which designs and builds advanced technology systems and vessels for the Defense Department. She is also the incoming chair of the Maryland Association of CPAs. And Kimberly is executive director of finance thought leadership at Oracle. She is a past chair of both the MACPA and the American Institute of CPAs, and just the second chairperson of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants. She’s also a fixture on Accounting Today’s list of the most influential people in accounting. They are both Black women and true leaders in our profession, and they have insights, life experiences, and mindsets that the vast majority of people in our profession do not — but that we desperately need.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Avonette’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/avonetteblandingcpa
Avonette’s Twitter: twitter.com/avonetteb_cpa
Oracle: oracle.com/corporate/executives/kimberly-ellison-taylor
Kimberly’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kimberly-n-ellison-taylor-b1a13a2
“Together, We Can Make A Difference: A 12-Step Plan To Address Racism And Unconscious Bias.”

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101. Financial Planning Concerns During a Pandemic | with Lyle Benson

Mon, 08 Jun 2020 06:00:00 -0400

What should we be doing with our money, with our investments, when things are as unpredictable as they’ve been lately? There’s a lot of advice out there — some of it good, some of it bad — and we wanted to speak to someone who knows what he’s talking about to sort it out.

Lyle Benson is president of L.K. Benson & Company in Baltimore and a MACPA member who has been at the forefront of advancing planning services for individuals within the profession. He’s served with the AICPA’s Personal Financial Planning Division Executive Committee, the National Accreditation Committee, the Baltimore Association for Financial Planning, and he is also chair of the Media Task Force of the AICPA's PFP Section.

He joins us to talk about everything we need to be considering right now: Cash on hand, investments, estate planning, and financial planning — especially as it relates to uncertain and chaotic times like this.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

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100. Anticipatory Thinking in Uncertain Times | with Daniel Burrus

Mon, 01 Jun 2020 06:00:00 -0400

Daniel Burrus is all about one word: Anticipation. How can we anticipate future trends, how can we spot them early, and learn to take advantage of the opportunities those trends provide us? He has written about this skill in his bestselling book “The Anticipatory Organization.” He has built a learning system that’s designed to help us learn how to become more anticipatory.

In spite of all of the anticipatory planning and guidance, we are currently struggling through a period of time that few of us could have anticipated — a global pandemic. So what do we do about it? Dan says there are anticipatory lessons we all can learn from this crisis. He says too many people are merely reacting to what’s going on, and not enough people are anticipating what’s to come and how they can take advantage of that on the other side.

What should we be doing now to make sure we come out of this crisis stronger and more capable than we were at the start? Dan has several suggestions, and now is the time to be listening to them.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Learn more: www.burrus.com
Read “The Anticipatory Organization”
Read “Flash Foresight”
Future Learning Framework: www.macpa.org/future-learning-framework
Listen: "54. The excellence dividend | with Tom Peters"
Listen: "57. Scaling our lives by seeing things differently | with Brian Solis"
Listen: "58. The key to thriving in an exponential world? Think exponentially."
Listen: "36. Your future depends on what you do today"

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99. COVID-19 is the Great Disruption Accelerator | with David Bray

Mon, 25 May 2020 06:00:00 -0400

Before the coronavirus, we talked about disruption as something we had time to prepare for — advances in technology, future laws and regulations, and what will happen when all of the Boomers are gone and the Millennials take over for good. These are things we knew were going to happen, but it seemed we had time to prepare for them.

David Bray was one of those people talking about disruption. In January, the AICPA brought David in front of its Executive Roundtable in New York City to talk about disruption and digital transformation and technological advances. He joins us to talk about how we work and do business, and how all of that is changing because of this crisis — and the roles accounting and finance professionals will play in all of that. He also discusses how this crisis has significantly accelerated the disruptions we’ll feel as a result of new technologies like AI, the Internet of Things, and 5G.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

98. Taking Care of Your Employees During Trying Times | with Richard Silberstein

Tue, 05 May 2020 06:00:00 -0400

We are all facing trying times right now — whether you’re working from home, out of a job, or still working in public in the midst of a pandemic. This is a time when humans need to connect more than ever. We’re going to talk about all of that — how to make sure your teams are holding up, that they’re well, that they’re productive, and that they have all the resources they need in this very difficult environment. Facilitating that conversation is Richard Silberstein, the managing partner of SIG (Silberstein Insurance Group). They are experts in human resources and HR technology solutions, corporate wellness, compliance, employee communications — everything you need to keep the wheels greased at your business.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Silberstein Insurance Group: https://www.silbs.com/
https://blionline.org/blog
“How the coronavirus crisis has elevated the role of HR chiefs in the C-suite."

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97. Extraordinary Leadership in Times of Crisis | with Emmanuel Gobillot

Wed, 29 Apr 2020 06:00:00 -0400

Emmanuel Gobillot is one of the world’s leading experts on leadership. He’s the best-selling author of a number of great books, including “Leadershift,” “The Connected Leader,” “Follow the Leader,” and “Unleash Your Leader.” He has also recently co-authored a book specfically for this moment in time: “Crisis Leadership: Principles and tactics for success when your world turns upside down.” There aren’t many leaders out there who can help their teams grow and thrive and feel more capable in the middle of a crisis — and we have a lot to learn from those who can.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

96. The Building Blocks of Core Confidence | with Kate Boorer and Fiona Pearman

Mon, 20 Apr 2020 06:00:00 -0400

Lack of self-confidence is a key reason why many of us don’t get what we want — that promotion, that raise, that speaking gig. Our guests this week are trying to change all of that. They are Kate Boorer and Fiona Pearman, two leading Australian business experts who have joined forces to write a book aimed at helping people “own their talents, face their fears, and create their futures.” That’s the sub-head of their extraordinary book Core Confidence. We discuss why that happens, and what we can do with these building blocks to re-tap into that core confidence and walk away with a positive mindset.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

95. Understanding the Paycheck Protection Program | with Erik Asgeirsson and Tom Hood

Tue, 14 Apr 2020 06:00:00 -0400

This week we’re talking about the Paycheck Protection Program. A provision of the CARES Act — the massive coronavirus relief bill that was signed into law on March 27 — the PPP is a loan that’s designed to be an incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll.

We know some of our listeners may be applying for it, and if you are, you probably have a few questions.

So we sat down for a conversation with two people who can help put this all into proper context. Erik Asgeirsson is the president and CEO of CPA.com, the technology arm of the American Institute of CPAs, and he is going to give us some perspective on the massive and almost unprecedented legislative undertaking to get this bill passed, as well as recommendations for the types of documents that lenders are looking for under various circumstances during the loan application process. And Tom Hood, the president and CEO of the Maryland Institute of CPAs and the Business Learning Institute, is going to talk a bit about the role that CPAs can play in this process, and give us some guidance of his own for people in the profession as the rest of this crisis plays out.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

94. Making the Transition to Remote Work | with Greg Rittler

Mon, 13 Apr 2020 06:00:00 -0400

The world has been slowly transitioning towards remote work, but we are suddenly in an era where many of us have been forced to adopt remote work practices in a very short time. Some of us weren’t ready for this, and we could all use a little guidance in making the leap. Here to help us through that is Greg Rittler, the founder of Blue Ocean Ideas. We learn what it takes to lead a fully-remote team like this under very difficult circumstances, and he has some great insights into how to lead a remote team in an era of crisis — lessons that many of us need in this profession.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

93. Working Remotely in the Age of the Coronavirus | with Tina Garza

Mon, 23 Mar 2020 06:00:00 -0400

Amidst all the chaos of the coronavirus, we are all trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy in our day-to-day lives. One way people are trying to maintain as much of the status quo as possible is through remote work. Our guest this week, Tina Garza, has some great guidance for businesses and employees alike when it comes to working remotely and returning to business as usual.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

92. Don’t panic: Coronavirus questions for your business, employees, and clients | with Jennifer Elder

Mon, 16 Mar 2020 06:00:00 -0400

The coronavirus has caught everyone’s attention, and not in a good way. Most of what you read out there largely falls somewhere between paranoia and panic and — given the reliability of the “news” we see in our social feeds — that’s not good for anybody. Jennifer Elder of the Business Learning Institute has compiled a list of questions that business leaders can use to help their organizations prepare for the potential impact of the coronavirus. And now is the best time to do it because things are likely to get worse before they get better.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

91. How to Become a Better Anticipator | with Rita McGrath

Mon, 02 Mar 2020 06:00:00 -0400

When you’re talking about life in an exponential age, there are few skills that are as important as anticipation — the ability to spot future trends early, before they become truly disruptive, and take advantage of the opportunities they offer.

One person who truly understands the importance of anticipation is our guest today, Rita McGrath. Rita is a longtime professor at Columbia Business School and a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review. She’s considered one of the world’s top experts on innovation and growth, and her latest book, Seeing Around Corners: How To Spot Inflection Points in Business Before They Happen, offers an interesting perspective on the concept of anticipation. She joins us to talk about how her thoughts fit into what the MACPA is doing with Daniel Burrus and share insight into how we can all become better anticipators.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

90. How Bots Free Us to Focus on What Matters Most | with Jody Padar

Mon, 24 Feb 2020 06:00:00 -0400

Bots are the name of the game this week. They are all the rage, and they’re setting their sights on the accounting and finance world. No one knows that more than our guest this week. Jody Padar built her “Radical CPA” brand as chief executive officer of New Vision CPA Group near Chicago. But then, in January she was named vice president of strategy for Botkeeper. We ask Jody about the potential of bots to transform this profession. As a future-focused accounting and finance professional, this is a conversation you need to pay attention to.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Learn more: www.botkeeper.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jody-padar-18a9711/
Start mastering these Future-Ready skills now by visiting MACPA.org/future-learning-framework

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

89. Cutting Through the Hype of Blockchain | with Keith Nichols

Mon, 17 Feb 2020 06:00:00 -0400

When we had a whole show highlighting blockchain last year, the hype around it was sky-high. It was supposed to transform our profession and, in fact, many professions. It seemed like there was no problem that couldn’t potentially be solved through the use of blockchain technology. Now, things have cooled off a bit, but people in our profession are still very interested in how blockchain might transform what we do.

Keith Nichols, General Manager for small to mid-size firms with Thomson Reuters, is one of them. Keith was previously Thomson Reuters’ managing director for government, which meant he had significant say in the global strategy and business operations of the government practice with the Tax and Accounting business at Thomson Reuters. That meant he was recognizing blockchain’s potential to disrupt things like governmental tax transactions, land registries, and things like that.

He’s been watching this technology for a while now, and he has some pretty interesting insights into the real potential of blockchain and how it might impact this profession and our society once the disillusionment wears out.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/nicholskeith/
Read: Gartner Hype Cycle
Read: "Get ready for a massive “block” party"
Start mastering these Future-Ready skills now by visiting MACPA.org/future-learning-framework

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

88. Thinking Exponentially & Embracing Disruption | With Jeffrey Rogers

Mon, 10 Feb 2020 06:00:00 -0400

We spend a lot of time talking about exponential technologies and the disruptive impact they’re having on our world — but today’s guest turns the tables on the mindset and focuses, instead, on the importance of exponential thinking.

Jeffrey Rogers is the Principal Facilitator at Singularity University, which is a global learning and innovation community that uses exponential technologies to tackle the world’s biggest challenges.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-rogers-ab368658/
Read: “How Will You Measure Your Life?”
Watch: "Jeff Rogers: Exponential thinking and creative resolution | SingularityU Brazil Summit 2019"
Start mastering these Future-Ready skills now by visiting MACPA.org/future-learning-framework

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

87. Innovation in CPA Firms: Where it Begins & What it Looks Like | with Jonathan Kraftchick

Tue, 04 Feb 2020 06:00:00 -0400

In this episode, we’re talking about innovation in CPA firms — and, no, this isn’t the punchline to a knock-knock joke. It’s happening, believe it or not, and on a pretty serious scale.

Joining us to about it is none other than Jonathan Kraftchick. Jonathan is the partner of assurance services in the Raleigh office of Cherry Bekaert, where he is known (informally) as the firm’s Innovation Partner and heads up the firm’s Innovation Team.

Jonathan has some great insights into what innovation actually looks like in practice within the stereotypically non-innovative environment of a CPA firm, and understanding what innovation looks like is an important first step towards being innovative.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Twitter: twitter.com/jkraftchick
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jkraftchick
"Jonathan Kraftchick Named Triangle’s Funniest Accountant"
Start mastering these Future-Ready skills now by visiting MACPA.org/future-learning-framework

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

86. Preparing for Tax Season 2020: State Tax Questions Answered by the Maryland Comptroller | with Peter Franchot

Mon, 20 Jan 2020 06:00:00 -0400

We spent last week talking about federal tax issues that you might need to know about as we head into this year’s Busy Season. This week, we’re going to do the same thing — but on the state tax side of the ledger.

So we sit down with Peter Franchot, comptroller for the state of Maryland. We also asked some of our MACPA members what questions they have for the comptroller, and we got a ton of responses. We were able to ask a few in this episode, but we hope to share answers to even more of your questions on the MACPA blog soon.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Prepare for tax season at MACPA.org/tax
Start mastering Future-Ready skills now by visiting http://macpa.org/future-learning

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

85. Preparing for Tax Season 2020: Cyber Security, New W-4s, TCJA, & More | with Cari Weston

Mon, 13 Jan 2020 06:00:00 -0400

Settle in and relax, folks, because this might be your last chance to chill until April.

Yeah, tax season is here. And yeah, you’re probably going to be busy — but today’s episode just might help.

Our guest is Cari Weston, director of tax practice and ethics for the American Institute of CPAs. She down with our host, Bill Sheridan, at the 2019 Digital CPA Conference to talk about the issues that will be impacting tax pros in 2020. This year, for a change, those issues go well beyond the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Prepare for tax season at aicpa.org/tax
Connect with Cari on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/cariweston
Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning
Find CPA tax training at MACPA.org/tax
Accounting Today's 2020 "Year Ahead" survey
Read: "2020 tax season filing preview”

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

84. Supporting & Cultivating New-Gen Accountants | with Monique Malcolm-Hay

Mon, 06 Jan 2020 06:00:00 -0400

Given the latest research within the profession — see our recent conversation with Lexy Kessler for details on all of that — there’s one thing that most accounting and finance professionals are thinking about: talent.

How to find talent, how to keep it, and how to figure out what the best talent wants in the first place. This last bit is really important, too, because what younger generations want is often different from what the older generations wanted.

To learn more about this generational gap and what you can do to attract the best and brightest of the next generation of accountants, we sit down with Monique Malcolm-Hay, a senior consultant at PwC and founder of New-Gen Accountants.

If you have any interest in the future of this profession, this episode is a must-listen.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

www.newgenaccountants.com
LinkedIn: .linkedin.com/company/new-gen-accountants/
Twitter: @NewGenAccount
Instagram: @NewGenAccountants
Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

83. Why Your New Year’s Resolution Should Be Delegation | with Emily Morgan

Mon, 30 Dec 2019 06:00:00 -0400

This episode releases on the cusp of a new year — so, if you’re reading this in 2019, we want to wish you a very happy, healthy, and prosperous 2020. Here’s to you and yours.

Of course, with the new year comes New Year’s resolutions, and there’s one resolution that all accounting and finance professionals (and, really, most people) can benefit from: becoming a better delegator.

So we sit down with Emily Morgan, the mastermind behind a group called Delegate Solutions, which offers premium-level virtual assistant services for entrepreneurs. They tackle your distracting to-dos, create a strategic delegation plan for meeting your goals, and fully manage the virtual team assigned to your projects.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

DelegateSolutions.com
Download your FREE Delegate and Elevate worksheet
Read: Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman
Read: How To Be A Great Boss by Gino Wickman and Rene Boer
Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

82. Client Accounting Services: Lessons from a 15-Year CAS Veteran | with Robin Thieme

Mon, 23 Dec 2019 06:00:00 -0400

Client Accounting Services (CAS) are the services that CPAs provide because clients can’t do them, don’t want to do them, or just aren’t good at doing them. It’s that full-menu offering of taking over many of a client’s routine internal accounting chores.

The popularity of these services is growing, too — to the extent that a lot of people in the accounting and finance profession consider CAS to be a new line of business, something they need to start exploring to keep up with the competition.

But these services really aren’t new at all. Some firms have been doing this stuff for years, and bear the battle scars to prove it. In the process, they have also learned a thing or three that the rest of us can benefit from.

So we sit down with one of these early vanguards of Client Accounting Services, Robin Thieme. Robin is the CEO and CAO — that’s Chief Anticipation Officer — of KBS CFO, a company that serves as a CFO, Chief Information Officer, and Chief Operating Officer for their clients. That might sound like a new concept, but Robin and her team have been doing this for the past 15 years. They were the Lewis and Clark of CAS. They were there before anyone else, trying to map this territory — and if we pay attention to what Robin has to say in this episode, we’ll be able to navigate this territory a little more easily.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

81. How Public Practice Needs to Transform (Soon) | with Lexy Kessler

Mon, 16 Dec 2019 06:00:00 -0400

Today’s episode puts the P in CPA — because we’re talking about public practice! What is going on with CPA firms these days, anyway?

Quite a bit, as it turns out. The world is changing, and with every change that the world experiences these days, the folks who work at CPA firms seem to get a double dose of it. They have to figure out how to embrace these changes and disruptions inside their own firms, but at the same time, they have to help their clients figure out what to do about all of this complexity.

But our guest Lexy Kessler has her fingers on the pulse of CPA firm challenges and opportunities more firmly than most people in the profession. Because, in addition to being a partner with Aronson LLC and a member of the Maryland Association of CPAs’ Board of Directors, Lexy is the current chair of the AICPA Private Companies Practice Section, a group that supports CPA firms in the everyday intricacies of running a practice.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Learn more at AICPA.org/PCPS
Connect with Lexy: aronsonllc.com/person/lexy-kessler/
Seeing Around Corners: How to Spot Inflection Points in Business Before They Happen by Rita Gunther McGrath
MACPA.org/future-learning

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

80. Future-Ready Leadership | with Rachel Druckenmiller

Mon, 09 Dec 2019 06:00:00 -0400

Today we’re asking an important question that every industry is going to have to ask sooner or later: What does future-focused leadership look like?

Our guest, Rachel Druckenmiller, is on a mission to humanize the workplace by igniting intentional leadership. She has made a name for herself nationally in the fields of workplace wellness and culture. In 2019, she was recognized as a 40 Under 40 Game Changer by Workforce Magazine, and in 2018, Employ Humanity named her one of “7 Wellness Leaders Making a Positive Impact.”

But all of this — wellbeing, wellness, culture — it all ties directly to leadership. And Rachel trains leadership teams to be more self-aware, curious, and connected so that they can have greater impact and influence at their organizations.

So, with those types of insights at our disposal, we wanted to find out from Rachel what a future-ready leader looks like.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

www.RachelDruckenmiller.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/rachelbdruckenmiller
Instagram: www.instagram.com/unmutedlife
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/racheldruckenmiller
Twitter twitter.com/rachel_druck
Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

79. Playing the Infinite Game | with Stephen Shedletzky

Mon, 02 Dec 2019 06:00:00 -0400

So you know Simon Sinek? Best-selling author, leadership expert, the people-don’t-buy-what-you-do-they-buy-why-you-do-it guy?

Well, he has a new book titled The Infinite Game and our host, Bill Sheridan, has become a bit obsessed with this notion of playing the Infinite Game, of adopting an infinite mindset.

So we sat down with Stephen Shedletzky, chief of staff with Simon Sinek’s team at Start With Why. He supports leaders in creating environments where their people feel inspired to go to work, feel safe and valued while they are there, and return home at the end of each day fulfilled by the work they do.

Stephen and I talk about ALL of this — the difference between Finite and Infinite Games, the benefits of thinking more infinitely, and how traditionally Finite-based professions — LIKE accounting and finance — can get started down a path toward thinking more Infinitely.

Really good stuff this week. And if you can’t listen to Simon Sinek, then Stephen will definitely do. Here is Stephen Shedletzky.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Read: The Infinite Game
Twitter: twitter.com/steveshed
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stephenshedletzky/?originalSubdomain=ca
Watch Bill interview Simon Sinek: youtube.com/watch?v=g0ROzBuwoCo&feature=youtu.be
Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

78. Are You Designed for Digital? | with Jeanne Ross

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 06:00:00 -0400

Back in episode 66, we spoke with Matt Loeb about digital transformation, and he brought up a great point — just because you’re enacting some digital solutions doesn’t make you a digital organization. There’s a difference between doing digital and being digital, which is about culture and mindset more than anything else.

Jeanne Ross is a principal research scientist at the MIT Sloan Research Center for Information Systems Research and co-author of a new book titled Designed for Digital: How to Architect Your Business for Sustained Success. And she says there’s a key reason why your organization isn’t crossing that digital divide, and one that really isn’t being talked about enough.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Read: Designed for Digital: How to Architect Your Business for Sustained Success
Center for Information Systems Research: http://cisr.mit.edu/
Connect with Jeanne https://mitsloan.mit.edu/faculty/directory/jeanne-w-ross
Twitter: twitter.com/MIT_CISR

77. How to create a joyful place to work (and why you should) | with Richard Sheridan

Mon, 18 Nov 2019 06:00:00 -0400

Today’s episode focuses on something a little different. Not the technology that’s going to prepare us for the future, not the hard trends that will affect change in the future, and not why we should stop panicking about AI putting all auditors out of work. Today, we’re talking about joy.

Because our guest is Richard Sheridan, co-founder and CEO of Menlo Innovations (and of no relation to our host Bill Sheridan), has written two books on the topic: Joy, Inc.: How We Built a Workplace People Love and Chief Joy Officer: How Great Leaders Elevate Human Energy and Eliminate Fear.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Check out MenloInnovations.com
Read: Joy, Inc.: How We Built a Workplace People Love
Read: Chief Joy Officer: How Great Leaders Elevate Human Energy and Eliminate Fear
Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

76. Opportunities and challenges of the next Industrial Revolution | with Marchelle Klippenstein and Jameson Hughes

Mon, 11 Nov 2019 06:00:00 -0400

Riddle me this, Batman: What do you get when you cross exponential advances in technology with an unrelenting regulatory environment?

The answer is no joke: what you get, oftentimes, is one big headache. These “hard trends” or “future facts” that futurist Daniel Burrus talks about — the things that we know will happen, with absolute certainty — they’re hard enough to come to grips with individually. But when they cross borders and join forces... well, that’s when our lives really start to get complex.

There’s another way of looking at it, though, and our guests today are here to provide a little perspective.

Marchelle Klippenstein is the Director of the SAP Concur value consulting organization and Jameson Hughes is a Value Consultant at SAP Concur, and they are both working to help organizations improve their financial outcomes through data analytics and deep-dive management consulting.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Learn more at www.concur.com
SEC’s Financial Technology Hub: www.sec.gov/finhub
MACPA.org/future-learning

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

75. The (Uncertain) Future of Audit | with Mark Miklosovic

Mon, 04 Nov 2019 06:00:00 -0400

Halloween is over. Autumn is kicking into full gear. And you know what that means — it’s time to talk about audits!

Because the future of audit is... uncertain, to say the least.

Luckily, we had an opportunity to talk to Mark Miklosovic, the Customer Proposition Strategy Lead for tax professionals at Thomson Reuters, who spends much of his time thinking very critically about the future of this profession.

We talk about where audit has been, where it is now, where it is going — and most importantly, what the future of this profession looks like. Given the pace of change today, it’s a crucial conversation to be having, and to be able to dig deep into the brain of someone who has a passion for this stuff like Mark does is a real treat.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Learn more at tax.thomsonreuters.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/markmiklosovic
Accounting Today: “Where is the audit profession going?”
Accounting Today: “Audit dead in a decade?”
Accounting Today: “The future of audit: Looking ahead in a time of rapid change”
Start mastering Future-Ready skills now at MACPA.org/future-learning

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

74. The Why of It All: Addressing Recruitment & Retention Woes | with Alan Jagolinzer

Mon, 28 Oct 2019 06:00:00 -0400

Pretty much every survey under the sun identifies recruitment and retention as one of the top five issues facing accounting and finance organizations today. Everyone is struggling with this and nobody seems to know how to solve it.

There are a lot of suggestions being put forward throughout the profession — communicate, be a role model, make your expectations clear, offer a safe working environment, provide a clear career path, build leaders — and that’s all great advice. Yet, no matter how many times we hear this, talent continues to be one of our most pressing problems.

So, what’s the real issue here? Why can’t we hire the people we want? And why can we keep the people we have?

Our guest Alan Jagonlinzer has some ideas. Alan is a Professor of Financial Accounting, the Head of the Accounting Faculty Subject Group, and the Director of the Centre for Financial Reporting & Accountability at the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge, where he has helped develop leadership, innovation, and change-management degree programs for accountants.

You may not want to hear everything Alan says about what’s causing our recruitment and retention woes — but they’re things you have to hear.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Learn more at jbs.cam.ac.uk
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jagolinzer
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jagolinzer
World Finance: “Mental health issues are becoming more prevalent in the financial services sector”
Economia: “Third of accountants suffer from poor mental health.”
Bloomberg Tax: “U.K. accountants in mental health crisis from work stress.”
Check out MACPA.org/future-learning

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

73. Writing: The Future-Ready Skill You Didn't Know You Need | with Bob Dean

Mon, 14 Oct 2019 06:00:00 -0400

Today we’re going to talk about something that most accounting and finance professionals probably never give a second thought — writing.

Writing is one of those skills that we all take for granted. We all do it in some way, shape, or form every day, so we all assume we’re awesome at it. Maybe even better at it than some of our peers?

This is a misconception that happens all the time, in different areas of our life. We can’t all be better than mostly everyone else at most things, but we’ll learn more about that phenomenon in a moment.

First, we want to introduce our guest Bob Dean, a learning and development expert who has designed, developed, and facilitated hundreds of interactive virtual learning programs, using a variety of technology platforms. More to the point, he has authored a series of programs for the Business Learning Institute about writing for results, writing as a leader, writing in a way that will get you noticed — and, equally important, writing in a way that makes sure people won’t notice you as someone who simply cannot communicate.

Bob’s lessons are so simple and so easy to learn, yet so powerful and impactful. And if you take them to heart and learn to do them well, you won’t just become a better communicator. You will have mastered one of the key competencies that will turn you into a future-ready accounting and finance pro.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Connect with Dean at DeanPeoples.com
Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

72. We’re Getting Disruption Wrong | with Pascal Finette

Mon, 07 Oct 2019 06:00:00 -0400

Pascal Finette is co-founder of be radical, an organization that teaches leaders how to create new business models for success, positively embrace disruption, and prepare their people to be future-forward and future-ready.

He is also chair for Entrepreneurship and Open Innovation at Singularity University, which is a global learning and innovation community that uses exponential technologies to tackle the world’s biggest challenges. He previously held leadership positions at Google, Mozilla, and eBay.

Pascal’s focus these days is what the future looks like, as it pertains to the intersection of business and technology. And that future? It terrifies him and thrills him at the same time. He says he’s living this duality between freaking out and being super excited — and that gets us excited, too.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

be radical: beradicalgroup.com
Singularity University: su.org
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/pfinette/
Twitter: twitter.com/pfinette
Disruption Map Exercise: https://youtu.be/CHymEuouJh8
Pascal’s partnership with CPA.com: j.mp/CPARadical
Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

71. Your Business Model is Not Your Why | with Will Hill

Mon, 30 Sep 2019 06:00:00 -0400

Summer’s over, October’s here, and things are changing. But that’s the state of our world today, isn’t it? And not just when it comes to the weather.

Change is the new normal, and that can be an uncomfortable thing, especially for

CPAs. But for those who are ready to embrace it — to adapt a more nimble and flexible mindset — there are a lot of opportunities just waiting to be taken advantage of.

The question is, then, how do we do that? How do we start embracing flexibility and fluidity as competitive advantages? How do we start thinking about transforming our very business models so that we’ll remain relevant in a changing and complex world? Those things aren’t baked into our DNA, are they?

But here to help us figure it all out is Will Hill, the Tax Professionals Advisory product manager for Thomson Reuters. He’s also been included on CPA Practice Advisor’s “40 Under 40” list twice and he’s an iInnovator with TR’s Practice Forward service offering, which is focused on helping firms make the transition to having client relationships that are centered on Advisory Services.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

Learn more at ThomsonReuters.com/tax-accounting
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/wghill
Read Will’s blog post: “Don’t Underestimate the Value of CPA Advisory Services”
Read: “Inside CAS: Promises and Pitfalls”
Check out MACPA.org/future-learning

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

70. The Culture Key: Bet on Talent | with Dee Ann Turner

Mon, 23 Sep 2019 06:00:00 -0400

We’re jumping back on the culture train today. As you can probably tell, we’re big believers in getting your culture right. We’ve had conversations on the topic with Tom Peters, Karl Alrichs, Jamie Notter, Richard Silberstein, and David Barrett — and that’s because it’s a REALLY important conversation to be having!

Really, there might not be a bigger or more important differentiator in business today than your culture. If you get it right, you’re going to have a leg up in recruitment and retention, for one, but you’ll also just be doing business with really great people who will sing your praises and be loyal to you, and evangelize what you do to the world.

To help us take this conversation a step further, we sat down with with Dee Ann Turner, who speaks and consults with businesses around the world on how to leverage talent and culture to create what she calls “legendary customer experiences.” And she ought to know. She spent more than 30 years with Chick-fil-A, including a stint as their vice president of talent and human resources.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

www.deeannturner.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/deeannturner/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/deeannturner/
Twitter: twitter.com/DeeAnnTurner
Facebook:
69. Color Accounting: Teaching the Language of Business to Everyone | with Peter Frampton

Mon, 16 Sep 2019 06:00:00 -0400

Today’s episode is all about Color Accounting — and if you’re not familiar with Color Accounting yet, you need to be!
So, we invited Peter Frampton, co-founder of Color Accounting, onto the show to teach us all about what Color Accounting is and why it’s so important to the future of our profession.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:
- ColorAccounting.com
- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/peterframpton
- How Color Accounting works: https://youtu.be/QeoCoatHGsY
- Color Accounting’s books on accounting and finance: coloraccounting.com/books.html
- Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning
Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media
68. Blunt Talk About 'Cannabiz' Issues | with Emily Burns

Mon, 09 Sep 2019 06:00:00 -0400

Today we’re going to talk about something you probably didn’t expect from this show: Cannabis.
But legalization for both medical and recreational cannabis products is growing at the state level. At this point, it seems like a hard trend. So it’s high time we talked about this stuff (pun intended) if we want to future-proof this profession.
To help us come to a joint understanding, if you will, about how we can best serve our clients in this area, we are joined by Emily Burns, who provides customized legal and consulting solutions specifically for the rapidly evolving cannabis industry.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:
- Check out LegallyBurns.com
- Twitter: twitter.com/legallyburns
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/legallyburns
- Watch Sen. Orrin Hatch’s statement
- Take one of Emily’s courses: blionline.org/instructor/emily-burns
- Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning
Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media
67. Why you need a cloud strategy | with Blake Oliver

Mon, 02 Sep 2019 10:00:00 -0400

We’ve been talking about the cloud for so long now that it’s easy to assume that everyone already has it figured out – but that’s the wrong assumption to make with our profession.

There are exceptions, of course. There are some accounting and finance pros out there who take pride in getting ahead of new technologies early. But a sizeable part of the profession hasn’t made that leap yet.

So Blake Oliver, co-host of the Cloud Accounting Podcast, joins us to assess where we’re at in the profession when it comes to cloud adoption, as well as what’s next from here.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:
- Read: Cloud Accounting Blog
- Listen: Cloud Accounting Podcast
- Twitter: twitter.com/BlakeTOliver
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/blake.t.oliver
- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/blaketoliver/
- Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning
Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media
66. Doing Digital Vs. Being Digital | with Matt Loeb

Mon, 26 Aug 2019 10:00:00 -0400

How do you transform your organization into a truly digital organization?

It’s not as simple as it sounds. You can’t just about employ some digital technologies and think that you’ve made it. Doing digital and being digital are not the same things. Not even close.

So, we’re joined by Matt Loeb, principal of Optimal Performance Seekers and acting CEO of SECURE, who is simply one of the deepest thinkers about what it means to be digital in an increasingly digital world. Quite frankly, too many people get this stuff wrong, and Matt is here to point us in the right direction.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mattloeb/
- Twitter: twitter.com/mattloeb
- digitalNow Conference: digitalnowconference.com
- How to Win in a Winner-Take-All World by Neil Irwin
- Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning
Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media
65. How Maryland saved Washington ... and the country | with Chris Formant

Mon, 19 Aug 2019 10:00:00 -0400

To know where you’re going, you have to have an understanding of – and an appreciation for – where you’ve been.

Publisher and activist Marcus Garvey said, “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” And Michael Crichton, the bestselling author of Jurassic Park and Westworld, said, “If you don’t know history, then you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree.”

Why are our two favorite quotes about history also about trees? Who knows. But these quotes encapsulate what we’re going to be discussing on today’s episode: a glimpse back at a little-known but hugely important event in this nation’s history and the role that little-old Maryland played in that event.

Our guest, Chris Formant, is a businessman by trade – a former top executive of a multi-billion-dollar global business and now the CEO of a technology company – but more to the point for this episode, he’s the author of a riveting new book called Saving Washington: The Forgotten Story of the Maryland 400 and the Battle of Brooklyn.

It’s a piece of historical fiction; all of the events in the book actually happened, but they are told through the eyes of two fictional characters who give life to an event that most people know little or nothing about. And we can really learn a lot about history, and the present, through their eyes.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:
- ChrisFormant.com
- Read: Saving Washington: The Forgotten Story of the Maryland 400 and the Battle of Brooklyn
- Instagram: instagram.com/chrisformant
- Twitter: twitter.com/cmformant
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/christopherformant
- Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning
Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media
64. Regulation: A Hard Trend with a Big Impact | with Russ Golden

Mon, 12 Aug 2019 10:00:00 -0400

We spend a lot of time on this show talking about future trends and technologies — things like artificial intelligence, blockchain, and automation – and, more importantly, what those things mean for the future of our profession.

But there are many other hard trends — a.k.a. future facts, a.k.a. things that we know are going to happen – that will have a huge impact on what we do. The topics aren’t always as sexy, sure, but they’re equally impactful, and if we want to get serious about becoming future-ready, we need to be talking about these things, too.

So, that brings us to the decidedly un-sexy world of regulation this week. It probably doesn’t excite you, but we have to talk about this stuff, as a profession, because it might have more of an impact on what we do going forward than anything that technology can throw our way.

Luckily, our guest, Russ Golden, is one of the best people to talk to about regulation in the accounting and finance world because Russ is the Chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, better known as FASB.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:
- Find out more about the FASB’s most recent initiatives at FASB.org
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/russellgolden
- Read: “FASB Proposes Improvements Related to Distinguishing Liabilities From Equity”
- Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning
Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media
63. How to Win in a Winner-Take-All World | with Neil Irwin

Mon, 05 Aug 2019 10:00:00 -0400

Our guest today is Neil Irwin, who is the senior economic correspondent at the New York Times and the best-selling author of The Alchemists: Three Central Bankers and a World on Fire, about the global financial crisis and its aftermath.

And Irwin recently wrote a new book titled How to Win in a Winner-Take-All World: The Definitive Guide to Adapting and Succeeding in High-Performance Careers. It’s a fascinating and important book, given the changing and complex world we live in.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:
- Neilirwin.com
- How to Win in a Winner-Take-All World: The Definitive Guide to Adapting and Succeeding in High-Performance Careers
- Twitter: twitter.com/neil_irwin
- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/neil-irwin/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/neil.irwin
- Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning
Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media
62. People Problems | with Paul McDonald

Mon, 29 Jul 2019 10:00:00 -0400

Today, we’re talking about the elephant in the room, or what Tom Hood would call the dead moose in the room. That thing that’s stinking up the joint but that nobody wants to do anything about – or, more to the point, nobody knows what to do about it.

That dead moose is talent.

How do you find it? How do you keep it? How do you set your organization apart from all the others out there so people want to work for you?

It’s a HUGE problem, and here’s why in three short words: One point five.

That’s the unemployment rate for accountants and auditors. One point five percent. The national average is 3.7 percent. That means it’s more than twice as hard for employers to find great employees than everyone else.

Welcome to reality, and reality continues to get more and more harsh. Ten thousand Baby Boomers reach retirement age every single day. That means one of two things: they’re retiring and they’re taking all of their wisdom and experience with them or they’re continuing to work, which means younger professionals have fewer opportunities to advance their careers, which means they’re more likely to look elsewhere for those opportunities.

So, from a people perspective, accounting and finance professionals are dealing with a lot these days, and it’s not getting any easier.

So we sat down with Paul McDonald, Senior Executive Director at Robert Half, which specializes in the placement of professionals in the accounting and finance, technology, legal, creative, and administrative fields. Paul has more than 30 years in the recruiting field and he has advised thousands of company leaders and job seekers on how to hire and get hired.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:
- Learn more at RobertHalf.com
- Read: “The Future of Work: Adapting to technological change”
- Read: “How to Make the Accountant Unemployment Rate Work for You”
- Twitter: twitter.com/paulcmcdonald
- Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning
Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters
61. Bringing Innovation into Accounting & Finance | with Jordan Kleinsmith

Mon, 22 Jul 2019 10:00:00 -0400

Today’s show is all about innovation – which, let’s face it, it’s not something the accounting and finance profession is known for. We’re all about accounting for what has happened, and history tells us that what will happen is not our problem.

Except, here’s the thing: We’re living in a world where we’ll be flattened by what’s in front of us if we don’t take the time to look for it, if we don’t take the time to turn around and look for what futurist Andrew Zolli would call those “weak signals of disruptive change” on the horizon. If we don’t start training ourselves to look forward to what’s next as much as we look back to what’s happened, we’re doomed.

And here’s why: A few years ago, the Sleeter Group released the results of a survey that showed the top reason why clients decided to leave their CPA firms is that their CPAs were providing reactive services instead of proactive advice. In other words, their CPAs were holding them back instead of helping them become future-ready. At the same time, CPA.com released a survey that found 92 percent of CPAs said they weren’t prepared to provided that proactive advice.

So, to recap: Our clients are demanding proactive, future-ready advice – and 92 percent of us aren’t prepared to provide that type of advice.

That’s a problem.

And that’s where this week’s guest comes in. Jordan Kleinsmith is the Director of Innovation for the Tax and Accounting business at Thomson Reuters. He’s the guy who’s keeping an eye on what’s happening in the profession and figuring how Thomson Reuters needs to respond, in terms of innovative new ideas, strategies, and products.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:
- Checkpoint Edge: tax.tr.com/checkpoint/edge
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jordankleinsmith
- Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning
Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters
60. Navigating the twists and turns of your career | with Tony Nitti

Mon, 01 Jul 2019 10:00:00 -0400

We’re going to talk about your career path today. If you’re new to the profession, and even if you’re not, we’re not going to lie to you – things are going to get weird.

It’s just the nature of work today. Things are changing at an exponential pace these days and that means your career is also going to change exponentially – so you have to be ready with new skills, a flexible career path, and the ability to shift on a dime when the time comes. More than ever, we all have to be more nimble, more flexible, and more willing to learn new skills. Our careers, our futures, and those of our customers and clients depend on it more now than ever.

We can’t do anything about the twists and turns coming our way, but we can prepare ourselves to take those twists and turns without spinning out or flipping the car over. Luckily, today’s guest puts an inspiring twist on the twists and turns of career and life.

Tony Nitti is a partner in RubinBrown’s Tax Services Group, a well-known contributor of tax content to Forbes, and a frequent speaker and trainer at seminars and webcasts across the country. What’s clear when you hear him talk, though, is that he’s just a guy trying to figure out his way in the world. But his journey has been amazing, and it’s something that all of us can learn from.

Rather than expand on that, we’re going to let Tony tell his story. Tony’s journey is OUR journey. Learn from what he’s done and apply it to your own journey – because this is amazing stuff.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:
- Twitter: twitter.com/nittiaj
- Read Tony’s articles: Forbes.com/sites/AnthonyNitti
- Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning
Future-Proof is produced by Crate Media
59. Forget What You Know. The World is Changing. | with Bill Reeb

Mon, 24 Jun 2019 10:00:00 -0400

The accounting and finance profession as we know it seems to be under assault. New technologies, staggering legislation and regulations, demographic shifts that are reshaping the face of workforces — we’re experiencing change and complexity on a level we’ve never seen before.

Or is that really true?

In a way, when you think about it, none of what we’re experiencing right now is new. All of the thought leaders out there are calling this “the Fourth Industrial Revolution.” Know what that means? There have been three other industrial revolutions before it. We’ve gone through massive change before.

The only difference today is that these changes are happening faster than ever before, which means we have to be more agile than ever, ready to shift with the next big transformation.

And that, in part, is Bill Reeb’s message to the accounting and finance world. Bill Reeb is chief executive of the management consulting firm Succession Institute, LLC. But more importantly, he is the incoming chair of the American Institute of CPAs, and he has a message for members of our rarified profession: Forget what you know. The world’s a different place.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:
- Learn more at AICPA.org
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-reeb-3547ab14
- Start mastering your Future-Ready skills now by visiting MACPA.org/future-learning
Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters
58. Why We Should Adopt a Moonshot Mindset | with Sherif Hallaba and Travis Dirks

Mon, 17 Jun 2019 10:00:00 -0400

Our guests this week have a challenge for all accounting and finance professionals: start thinking in terms of moonshots.

Now, you might be asking yourself, what in the world is a moonshot? It’s a huge, seemingly insurmountable quest that is ultimately inspirational and game-changing in nature. It’s something that, when achieved, changes the boundary between possible and impossible – just like the USA’s attempt to land Apollo 11 on the moon almost exactly 50 years ago.

Sherif Hallaba and Travis Dirks are the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer, respectively, for an organization named XLabs. They describe themselves as a company that builds moonshot companies for the future, powered by artificial intelligence, unconventional computing, and neurotechnology.

And if that sounds a little “out there” for our little podcast... well, it is, but they make a pretty strong argument that adopting a moonshot mindset will have some very tangible benefits for accounting and finance pros.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:
- Check out XLabs.ai
- Sherif on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shallaba
- Sherif on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sthallaba
- Travis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/travisdirks
- Travis on Twitter: https://twitter.com/travisdirks
- Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning
Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters
57. Scaling Our Lives by Seeing Things Differently | with Brian Solis

Mon, 10 Jun 2019 10:00:00 -0400

Our guest this week is Brian Solis, who you’re probably already familiar with if you’re conference nerds like us. He describes himself as a digital analyst, an anthropologist, and a futurist; he has studied the effects of emerging technology on business, marketing, and culture; and he’s written best-selling books like Engage, The End of Business as Usual, and What’s the Future of Business?

His latest book is called LifeScale – and it could really be a gamechanger for the accounting and finance industry, and really any industry that takes it to heart.

We discuss how time seems increasingly important these days – and why, if you’re looking to take your business to the next level, if you’re looking for your next competitive advantage, if you’re trying to figure out where your business is going and how it’s going to get there, then the first question you should be asking yourself is, “How am I spending my time?”

We’re not trying to shame anybody or make anyone feel guilty. This is all about becoming more aware of what’s sucking the time out of our lives so that we can better choose and prioritize what we actually want to and should be doing. Because, right now, a lot of our time isn’t spent working – it’s spent being distracted.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:
- Check out https://www.briansolis.com/
- Read: LifeScale
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/briansolis
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briansolis/detail/recent-activity/posts/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebriansolis
- Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning
Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters
56. CFO 2.0: Transitioning From Navigator to Co-Pilot | with Ash Noah

Mon, 03 Jun 2019 10:00:00 -0400

This week we’re talking about the role of the CFO – a role that is changing, and pretty radically. Thanks to advances in technology and other disruptions, organizations are expecting their CFOs to play an increasingly strategic role; to actually help drive strategy in the organization, rather than just leading their department and crunching numbers.

It’s a fairly recent phenomenon, but it’s happening quite quickly, and getting up to speed on that is just the latest challenge that finance chiefs are facing.

Joining the show to offer some insight on the fluctuating world of corporate finance is Ash Noah, managing director of CGMA Learning, Education and Development, which is the global association that the American Institute of CPAs formed in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:
- CGMA Competency Framework: https://www.cgma.org/resources/tools/cgma-competency-framework.html
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ash-noah-6b11895/
- Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning
Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters
55. Report: “The Rise of Artificial Intelligence: A Critical Inflection Point for the Accounting Profession” | with Kacee Johnson

Mon, 27 May 2019 10:00:00 -0400

Today’s topic is A.I. Artificial intelligence. You might have heard about it? It’s that thing everyone’s been talking about for the last five years or so. Yeah, the hype is out of this world.

But here’s the thing, and there’s really no getting around it: this isn’t something entirely new or groundbreaking. The technology itself is new, but we’ve been through this before. Excel was supposed to kill our profession, remember? Then came the Internet, and Turbotax, and the cloud. And you know what? We’re still here, adding greater value for our clients than ever.

But technology today is also evolving faster than ever, meaning it’s harder to keep up than ever. Automated solutions are eating away at more of our foundational tasks than ever. However, for the time being anyway, they’re still just tools — tools that augment what we do and allow us to do it with greater efficiency, speed, effectiveness, all while adding more value for our clients than ever.

It’s in that light that CPA.com, the technology arm of the American Institute of CPAs, released a new whitepaper titled “The Rise of Artificial Intelligence: A Critical Inflection Point for the Accounting Profession.” And it’s in that light that we sit down with our guest, Kacee Johnson, a strategic advisor with CPA.com.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:
- Read: “The Rise of Artificial Intelligence: A Critical Inflection Point for the Accounting Profession”
- Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kacee-johnson/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/kaceebop
Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters
54. The Excellence Dividend | with Tom Peters

Mon, 20 May 2019 10:00:00 -0400

A lot of folks talk about this notion of becoming future-ready as if it’s some sort of magic trick. They paint a picture of a future where we need to learn all kinds of new stuff — new skills, new technologies, new strategies, and new business models — in order to out-maneuver the machines and remain relevant. And to some extent, that’s true. We’ve got some serious work to do from here on in.

But on the other hand, there is a school of thought — a pretty well-supported and powerful school of thought — that says in order to become future-ready, we really need to be doing nothing more than what we all should have been doing right from the start: providing excellence. Excellence, certainly to our clients and customers, but just as importantly, to our employees.

But that raises a couple questions, like where does excellence come from? And how does it start?

To help us answer these questions, we sit down with Tom Peters, who is as deep a thinker in this space as exists in the world today. He co-wrote In Search of Excellence and The Little Big Things, which Warren Bennis called the single-best management book he’s ever read, and his latest book is called The Excellence Dividend.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:
- Check out TomPeters.com
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/tom_peters
- Read Tom’s Essay: “The Speed Trap: When Taking Your Time (Really) Matters”
- Book: The Excellence Dividend
- Book: The Professional Service Firm50 (Reinventing Work)
- Book: In Search of Excellence
- Book: The Little Big Things
- Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning
Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters
53. Are Accounting & Finance Regulators Future-Ready? | with Terri Polley

Mon, 13 May 2019 10:00:00 -0400

Over the past year, we’ve spent a lot of time talking about how the accounting and finance profession is changing – but we haven’t spent nearly as much time talking about how those who regulate our profession are changing.

So, on today’s episode, we sit down with Terri Polley, (outgoing) president and CEO of the Financial Accounting Foundation. The FAF is an independent, not-for-profit, private-sector organization that is responsible for the oversight of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, and the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, or GASB.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:
- Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terripolley/
- Read: “Teresa S. Polley to Step Down as President and CEO of Financial Accounting Foundation”
Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters
52. A Report from the 2019 Maryland General Assembly | with Tom Hood

Mon, 06 May 2019 10:00:00 -0400

We’re headed back to Annapolis for this week’s episode, where Maryland’s General Assembly recently put a bow on its 2019 legislative session. It was another busy one, including some CPA-related legislation that will impact accounting and finance professionals, not just here in Maryland but throughout the country.

Legislative advocacy, according to our members, is the most important thing that the MACPA does for them, and our president and CEO Tom Hood takes that role very seriously. So, today, we talk to Tom about what went down in Annapolis and how it is likely to impact our profession.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:
- Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning
- Read: “Legislative Report from the Maryland General Assembly, Sine Die”
Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters
51. Building Tomorrow's Leaders Today | with Emmanuel Gobillot & Katherine Thomas

Mon, 15 Apr 2019 10:00:00 -0400

Where are we going to find tomorrow’s leaders?

We’ve been doing these podcasts for almost a year now, and as much talking as we’ve done about the future, the missing ingredient in all of those conversations has been leadership. We just haven’t spent much time talking about future leadership, and with 10,000 baby boomers retiring every day, that’s a critical part of becoming future-ready.

So this week, we are talking to Emmanuel Gobillot and Katherine Harris, co-authors of Unleash Your Leader: How to Win in Business. It's a blueprint of sorts for how you can turn yourself into a great leader, teaching us what we should be doing today to improve our odds of becoming the leaders of tomorrow.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:
- Unleash Your Leader: How to Win in Business by Emmanuel Gobillot and Katherine Thomas
- CollaborationPartners.co.uk
- EmmanuelGobillot.com
- Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning
- The Connected Leader by Emmanuel Gobillot
- Leadershift by Emmanuel Gobillot
- Follow the Leader by Emmanuel Gobillot
Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters
50. Diving Deep into Management Accounting | with Jeff Thomson

Mon, 08 Apr 2019 10:00:00 -0400

If you ask most people — not all, but MOST people — outside of the profession what an accountant does, they’ll probably say “taxes,” or “auditing,” or some variation on the tasks of people who work in public accounting.

But they’re missing about half of the profession, of course. You’ve got educators, you’ve got accountants who work for nonprofits and governments, and you have those who work in business and industry, which is arguably the largest segment of the profession – and that’s why, today, we’re diving deep into the world of management accounting.

Joining us this week is Jeff Thomson, president and CEO of the Institute of Management Accountants, and they’re doing gangbusters over there at IMA. At a time when many associations are struggling to attract new members, the IMA has become one of the fastest-growing accounting associations in the world. Last year, it crossed the 100,000-member mark for the first time in its history.

The issues that impact management accountants and others on the business and industry side are different, in many ways, from those that impact public accounting, but there are many similarities as well. We discuss the similarities and differences, and more importantly, the challenges that management accountants are facing these days – as well as the pretty significant opportunities that those challenges provide at the same time.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:
- imanet.org
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ima_jeffthomson
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffthomsonima/
- Learn more at MACPA.org/future-learning
Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters
49. Anticipation as a skill: What does it look like? | with Tom Hood

Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:00:00 -0400

We’ve talked quite a bit in past shows about this notion of “anticipation,” and we’ve talked about this concept as if it’s a skill or competency that you can learn – and it is, but we haven’t spent a lot of time talking about how how you do that.

So, how can you become more anticipatory? How can you train yourself to look for future trends and spot the opportunities those trends provide, and then take advantage of those opportunities before your competition does?

Joining the show again to help us do all of that is Tom Hood, president and CEO of the Maryland Association of CPAs. Tom has mastered the art of anticipation by working side-by-side with the person who wrote the book on the subject, quite literally: Daniel Burrus, a world renowned futurist, author of The Anticipatory Organization and Flash Foresight, and creator of a learning system called The Anticipatory Organization that teaches people how to master this crucial skill.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:
- The Anticipatory Organization: Accounting and Finance Edition
- BLIonline.org/AO
- MACPA.org/future-learning
- Read: The Algorithmic Leader: How to Be Smart When Machines Are Smarter Than You by Mike Walsh
- Read: The Anticipatory Organization: Turn Disruption and Change into Opportunity and Advantage by Daniel Burrus
Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters
48. The Entrepreneurial Mindset | with David Mammano

Mon, 25 Mar 2019 10:00:00 -0400

Today we’re discussing why accounting and finance professionals have a lot to gain from adopting an entrepreneurial mindset.

Entrepreneurship isn’t something that many accounting and finance pros have a lot of experience with, but we’re in an era when at least thinking like an entrepreneur can go a long way toward becoming more future-ready.

Entrepreneurs just look at the world differently, and adapting an entrepreneur’s mindset might help us evolve a little faster and become just a little more future-ready.

Our guest David Mammano is the founder of the Avanti Entrepreneur Group, headquartered just outside of Rochester, NY, but open to entrepreneurs everywhere. He’s basically trying to build a huge community of entrepreneurs who can learn from one another, share resources and best practices and war stories, and support each other on their entrepreneurial journeys.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:
- Learn more at AvantiEntrepreneurGroup.com
- Avanti Entrepreneur Podcast: http://avantientrepreneurgroup.com/podcasts-home
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DavidMammanoFan/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DavidMammano
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidcmammano/
- Entrepreneurial Operating System: StrategyX.BLIonline.org
- Start mastering future-ready skills now at MACPA.org/future-learning
Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters
47. Creating Future-Ready Education | with Kelly Richmond Pope

Mon, 18 Mar 2019 10:00:00 -0400

We hope you have your thinking caps on, because today we’re going to be talking about education in this episode – and this is probably the right thing to be talking about for the accounting and finance profession!

We talk about skills quite frequently on this show – the skills we’re going to need to remain relevant in a changing and complex world – so it seems appropriate that we spend some time talking about where we’re going to be getting these skills, and who’s gonna be teaching them to us.

So... should accounting education change to reflect our changing reality? And if so, how should it change? And how quickly should it change?

These are the questions that we explore with Kelly Richmond Pope, a Ph.D., a CPA, and an associate professor at the School of Accountancy and Management Information Systems at DePaul University, where her research focuses on organizational misconduct, ethics, fraud, and how organizations can design cultures and compliance systems to confront these challenges. She has some really interesting ideas about how accounting education needs evolve to better prepare students for the evolving profession they’re about to enter.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:
- Learn more at https://www.kellyrichmondpope.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-richmond-pope-cpa-83689a5/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/kellyrpope
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellyrpope/
- Start mastering Future-Ready skills now at MACPA.org/future-learning
Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters
46. Stop, Collaborate, & Listen | with Rebekah Brown

Mon, 11 Mar 2019 10:00:00 -0400

Everyone talks about the importance of collaboration, but what does it really mean? Working together? Teamwork? Sharing ideas? It’s one of those things that’s hard to define, but we know it when we see it. And because of that, it’s something that everyone defines differently.

But here’s the thing – every list of the most crucial future-ready skills for our profession includes collaboration. Every single one. So we have to figure out a definition that everyone can embrace.

And here to help us figure that out is Rebekah Brown, the director of development with the Maryland Association of CPAs and a thought leader with the Business Learning Institute. She is as passionate and optimistic about the future of accounting and finance as anyone I know, and she has seen first-hand how powerful collaboration can be within our ever-evolving profession, particularly among our younger professionals.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:
- Start mastering Future-Ready skills now at MACPA.org/future-learning
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebekahbrown
- Read: “Human skills need to sharpen to coexist with machines”
Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters
45. The Outsourced Accountant | with Nick Sinclair

Mon, 04 Mar 2019 11:00:00 -0400

Just how busy are you?

We’re all busy. Some would argue that we, collectively, are busier than ever before – but the reason that’s true isn’t necessarily because we have more work to do than ever.

We all make time for the stuff that’s really important and valuable to us. So if we find ourselves really busy with things that aren’t important or valuable, that just means, to paraphrase Ferris Bueller, that our priorities are way out of whack, and we’ve got to do something to get them back in line.

You need to be spending as much time as possible on the things that you love to do and that you’re great at. That’s your sweet spot, and that’s where your organization needs you to be spending most of your time because they’ll get the most bang for their buck with you there. The other stuff? You need to eventually be able to delegate that away so you can spend your valuable time doing things that truly add value.

Our guest this week is someone who has built a growing global business that’s designed to help accounting and finance pros do exactly that – free up their time so they can provide higher-value services for their clients and customers.

Nick Sinclair is the Chairman of The Outsourced Accountant, which has more than 1,100 team members spread out across the United States, Australia, and the Philippines. They serve clients in 8 countries currently, and what they do is entirely based on the premise of getting the right people doing the right work.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:
- Learn more at TheOutsourcedAccountant.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicksinclair/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/nickqsinclair
Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters