Arizona CPAs

Learn more about the ASCPA Not-for-Profit Conference at www.ascpa.com/npc20.

Join the ASCPA's Connect Community

This podcast will cover the following topics:

• Form 990
• Strategic Planning
• COVID-19 Updates
• Outsourcing
• Rating Organizations
• Conference Preview
• Benefit of Attending the ASCPA Not-for-Profit Conference
• Other Resources for Nonprofits
• Connect With Your Colleagues

Please note: After the recording, the conference was moved to a three-day all virtual conference and some of the sessions mentioned may have changed.

Learn More About Our Guest:

Lisa B. Lumbard, CPA, CGFM, has been serving not-for-profit organizations for over 35 years with 25 of those years as the head of Lumbard & Associates, PLLC auditing firm and currently as a not-for-profit consultant and leadership trainer.  She received the Executive Leadership Certification from the ASU Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation and serves on multiple boards and committees including the Arizona State Board of Accountancy, Arizona Society of CPAs, Valleywise Health and the Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits.  Lisa is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and passionate about the importance and success of not-for-profit organizations.

The Leadership & Growth Alliance is a growing community of Arizona professionals, within the first 10 years of their CPA careers, who are looking to develop leadership skills and get involved in the profession and the local community. Learn more and register at www.ascpa.com/alliance.

By participating in this program, attendees will:

• Learn from successful CPAs and local business leaders at exclusive events
• Develop leadership skills and knowledge in areas such as communication, self-awareness, professional development and wellness strategies
• Develop networking skills and build valuable relationships
• Earn up to 10 hours of CPE (based on individual attendance)

The program kicks off August 18 with Matt Altman, co-founder of local business Sportiqe Apparel Co. This session focuses on being the CEO of your own life and learning to balance your professional and personal life in a meaningful way. 

Future topics will include developing your professional image and values, finding and maintaining mentors, assessing personalities, values and emotional intelligence, vulnerability and communication, and developing multigenerational working environments. Attendees will walk away with resources, tools and action plans for personal and professional development.

Cost for the series is $295, which is an excellent investment for 10 hours of CPE, and space is limited. Most of the sessions will be virtual events hosted via Zoom, making them an easy fit for any schedule. Identify your emerging leaders and encourage their participation in the 2020-21 Leadership & Growth Alliance Series. 

More details on the program are available at www.ascpa.com/alliance or call us at (602) 252-4144.
 

Event Details: Session | Date | Location | Time | CPE | Agenda

• Zoom Kick-Off| 8/11/2020 | Zoom | 5 - 6 p.m. | Happy Hour and Virtual Games *Not Required
• Session 1 | 8/18/2020 | Zoom | 8 - 10 a.m. | 2hrs CPE | Work/Life Balance
• Zoom Networking 1 | 10/1/2020 | Zoom | 12 - 1 p.m. | Networking (Non-CPE Event) *Not Required
• Session 2 | 10/27/2020 | Zoom  | 8 - 10 a.m. | 2hrs CPE | Vulnerability and Communication
• Session 3 | 12/8/2020 | Off-site | 3:30 - 6:30 p.m. | 2hrs CPE | Generations in the Workforce
• Session 4 | 1/7/2021 | Zoom | 8 - 9 a.m. | 1hr CPE | Professional Image & Values Development
• Session 5 | 2/9/2021 | Zoom | 8 - 9 a.m. | 1hr CPE | Finding and Maintaining Mentorship
• Zoom Networking 2 | 3/18/2021 | Zoom | 12 - 1 p.m. | Networking (Non-CPE Event) *Not Required
• Session 6 | 4/29/2021 | Off-site | 3:30 - 6:30 p.m. | 2hrs CPE | Personalities, Values and EI

Guest Bio:

Jessica Iennarella is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Fraud Examiner and is Certified in Financial Forensics. She began her career in forensic accounting in May 2012, calculating economic damages pertaining to both insurance claims and litigation. In December 2019, she left forensic accounting to serve as the controller for the State Bar of Arizona. This new role allows her to combine her financial analysis skills with her accounting background, while serving a professional association.

As a graduate of the AICPA’s 2016 Leadership Academy, she is passionate about giving back to the profession. She is a member of the ASCPA’s Board of Directors, a Member At-Large of the AICPA’s Council, as well as a member of multiple conference planning and young member leadership committees at the state and national level. She has also been a panelist and instructor for the ASCPA and the AICPA.

Outside of the profession, Jessica is passionate about animal welfare and participates in the event planning committee for the Arizona Humane Society’s Compassion with Fashion event.

Brittney Williams, CPA, CGFM is a partner for the public accounting firm Heinfeld, Meech & Co. She currently manages audit services for municipalities, school districts, transportation authorities and nonprofits out of their Phoenix office. Brittney is currently serving on the AICPA Government Audit Quality Center Executive Committee and the AGA Financial Management Standards Board. Brittney has always had an interest in management and leadership and has been presenting on Emotional Intelligence and leadership skills for several years on a regional and national scale, including the National AICPA Edge Conference for young professionals. Brittney will be also be presenting this topic at the upcoming ASCPA Governmental Accounting Conference on Feb. 5. You can learn more about the conference at www.ascpa.com/gac20.

1:28 What is Emotional Intelligence (EI)?

3:04 How EI Affects You Outside of Work

4:32 Why EI is Especially Important in the Accounting Profession

6:56 Elements of EI

11:12 Assessing Your EI

13:19 EI in Action

15:17 How You Can Take Small Steps to Improve EI

17:21 Resources to Learn More

Harvard Business Review’s 10 Must Reads on Emotional Intelligence

Books by Daniel Goleman

Daniel Goleman on LinkedIn

You can reach our guest, Tim Trull at [email protected]. You can learn more about the agency at www.LAVIDGE.com.

Tim Trull oversees strategy and branding at LAVIDGE, providing guidance regarding day-to-day and long-term strategic direction. Along with directing the team, he works with all internal and external constituents to guide overall strategies and direction for clients. Trull has been with LAVIDGE for 15 years and served as managing director for the past 8 years.

His expertise includes creative strategy, branding and agency management. During his career, Trull has owned and operated a strategic consultancy practice, managed small agencies, led creative teams and headed up branding and strategic planning. Notable client engagements include Arizona State University, United Rentals, Dole, Intel, Axon/TASER, Arizona Public Service, The National Basketball Association, Waymo and others.

Trull holds a BA and MBA from Arizona State University, with an emphasis in International Communication from American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird).

In This Episode:

1:30 - Importance of branding

3:07 - How to evaluate your brand and conduct research

6:50 - Logo development process

10:50 - Aligning your actions with your brand messaging and logo

13:12 - Why branding is worth the investment

14:33 - Brands that have been successful and those who are struggling

18:12 - Trends in branding

Check out the ASCPA's brand launch video, where we talk more about our brand promise.

Arizona Department of Revenue Deputy Director Grant Nülle, Ph.D., talks with our lobbyist, Ryan DeMenna, DeMenna Public Affairs, about the Wayfair decision and how remote sellers will be taxed in Arizona.

Please see the resources available on the AZDOR website at https://azdor.gov/transaction-privilege-tax/retail-sales-subject-tpt/out-state-sellers

You can also reach the dedicated AZDOR E-Commerce Compliance and Outreach Team, who are subject matter experts:

Remote Sales Into Arizona

Because of Arizona’s new laws, retailers selling items of tangible personal property into Arizona should carefully review the information provided on the AZDOR website to determine whether they must pay Arizona TPT.

Outline of Podcast:

12:25 Dr. Nülle talks about the implementation methods

You can also see more details, including a table with tax brackets and deductions at www.ascpa.com/conformity.

On the morning of May 31, 2019, Governor Doug Ducey signed Arizona's 2020 state budget into law. The state's budget is crafted every session and is comprised of a package of roughly nine or ten bills. This year's budget package included the highly anticipated income tax conformity legislation, HB 2757 (tax provisions; omnibus).

As Society members are well aware, Arizona requires taxpayers to use their Federally Adjusted Gross Income as the starting point for state income tax assessment. The state has conformed to the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) each year since 1978 to include federal provisions that became effective in the previous year.

But the political challenges associated with conforming to the changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 stalled legislative efforts to address conformity in a timely manner, leaving taxpayers and tax practitioners with more questions than answers as tax returns are prepared.

This year the Society worked tirelessly to educate legislators, many of whom were newly elected, of the importance of full conformity. Legislative budget analysts produced highly speculative estimates ranging from $50 million to $250 million, and the issue quickly became highly politicized.

Some Republican legislators viewed conforming to the IRC as a tax increase, and an unintended consequence of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was intended to put money back into the pockets of taxpayers, not state government. Meanwhile most Democrats, and a fair number of Republicans, wanted to use the potential revenue from full conformity as a way to fund budget priorities.

Early in the session Sen. J.D. Mesnard (R – Chandler) introduced SB 1143 (conformity; internal revenue code; rates), which conformed to the IRC as of January 1, 2018, and reduced the state income tax rates by 0.11%, which would have applied retroactively to tax years beginning with 2018. The legislation passed the Senate and House along a party-line vote. Governor Ducey, however, vetoed the measure on February 1, 2019. In his veto message the Governor stated that he vetoed SB 1143 because it was "the wrong policy, and any bill with a fiscal impact should be considered as part of budget discussions agreed to by the Legislature and Executive, just as every budget bill is considered, every session."

The fiscal impact associated with conformity, coupled with the governor's veto message, meant that the conformity negotiations were effectively tied to the state budget negotiations from that point forward. After months of discussions, Governor Ducey and legislative leadership reached a tentative budget deal over the weekend of May 18.

The House began debating the budget package in earnest on Thursday, May 23. After a marathon session of debating, amending, and voting on the proposal, the House adjourned at roughly 4:30 AM on Friday, May 24. The Senate, however, didn't' have the votes necessary to pass the deal, as a handful of Senators were refusing to vote on the budget until their individual priorities were addressed.

The Senate met on Friday and Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, a move that was highly unusual as the legislative workweek is typically Monday through Thursday. Senate President Fann, however, was firm in her resolve to negotiate a budget deal that her members could support and send to the governor.

President Fann was eventually successful in negotiating a budget that her caucus could support, but Sen. Mesnard remained opposed to the conformity-related provisions, and voted against a majority of the budget bills.

HB 2757 (tax provisions; omnibus) ultimately passed the House by a party-line vote of 31-29 and the Senate by a vote of 16-13, with Sen. Mesnard joining the Democrats in opposition.

Governor Ducey signed the legislation on May 31, 2019.

Hear the latest trends on identity theft and what you can do to protect yourself and your company from Dr. Robert Minniti. Dr. Minniti will be teaching Identity Theft: Preventing, Detecting and Investigating on June 3 at the ASCPA Learning Center and via webcast. Learn more at www.ascpa.com/jun3.

1:12 - Identity theft statistics and trends

2:19 - How CPAs can assist their clients or companies with identity theft issues

3:25 - Discussion about the CCH malware attack

4:25 - Types of identity theft that people may not have heard about

5:35 - Top 3 tips for preventing identity theft

8:30 - What you can learn in Dr. Minniti’s upcoming course on June 3

Dr. Minniti will also be teaching Forensic Investigations: Key Tools to Success on June 4 both in Phoenix and via webcast. Learn more at www.ascpa.com/jun4

Dr. Minniti is the President and Owner of Minniti CPA, LLC. Dr. Minniti is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Forensic Accountant, Certified Fraud Examiner, Certified Valuation Analyst, Certified in Financial Forensics, Master Analyst in Financial Forensics, Chartered Global Management Accountant, and is a licensed private investigator in the state of Arizona. Dr. Minniti received his doctoral degree in business administration from Walden University, received his MBA degree and Graduate Certificate in Accounting from DeVry University’s Keller Graduate School of Management, and received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree from the University of Phoenix. Dr. Minniti teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in forensic accounting at Northwestern University, and the University of Phoenix. He designed graduate and undergraduate courses for Grand Canyon University, Northwestern University, and Anthem College. He is a writer and public speaker. He has experience in forensic accounting, fraud examinations, financial audits, internal audits, compliance audits, real estate valuations, business valuations, internal control development, business continuation planning, risk management, financial forecasting, and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance work. Dr. Minniti is an instructor teaching continuing professional education classes for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Compliance Online, CPE Link/CCH . AccountingEd, Global Compliance Panel, Clear Law Institute, CPE Solutions, Canopy CPE, The Institute of Management Accountants, the National Association of Valuators and Analysts, and various state CPA Societies.

For Additional Information

LinkedIn Profile: www.linkedin.com/in/robertminniti

Alex Cudzewicz is president of Oak Brook Asset Management, Corporation, which provides investment advisory services for individual clients. He founded the firm in 1993. Cudzewicz is a Registered Investment Advisor and has been awarded the Personal Financial Specialist designation by the AICPA. He is also a licensed CPA in Illinois.

Cudzewicz has been a member of the ASCPA’s Financial Planning Committee for 18 years and is joining us today to talk more about the session he will present at the ASCPA Financial Planning Conference titled Managing Client Expectations. The conference will be held June 6 at the Desert Willow Conference Center, and you can register for the conference at www.ascpa.com/fpc19.

Hear the latest on conformity and other legislative items from ASCPA lobbyist Ryan DeMenna of DeMenna Public Affairs.

DeMenna discusses what will be new at the legislature this year, ASCPA legislative items of interest including conformity and audit firm rotation, ASCPA outreach to legislators and the Department of Revenue, and the national trends around licensing of professions.