Future-Proof

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:

• jenniferelder.com
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jenniferhelder
• “10 Principles of Strategic Leadership”

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

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:

• linkedin.com/in/gregconderacci
• Read: "Getting UP!"
• Professor Ahmad’s Six-Month Wall: Rehumanizing The Virtual Workplace

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

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:

• expertspeaks.com
• linkedin.com/in/karlahlrichs
• All Change is Personal
• The Personal Impact of Workplace Change: Letting Go & Crossing Over
• Understanding The Impacts Of Change

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

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:

• moneyhoneyrachel.com
• Read: “Money Honey”
• Read: “Passive Income, Aggressive Retirement.”
• Course: “Get Your Financial $hit Together”
• Read: “The Future Is Faster Than You Think”
• “Ultimate Guide to Retirement”

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

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:

• bytechek.com
• linkedin.com/in/ajyawn
• linkedin.com/in/jeffcookcpa
• Rolling out finance automation with the right priorities

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

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:

• linkedin.com/in/tomhood
• Maryland takes global stage as Tom Hood, BLI join AICPA team

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

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:

• bertsmithco.com
• Companies with more women in management have outperformed their more male-led peers, according to Goldman Sachs
• 4 ways diversity & inclusion is good for business

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

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:

• CPA.com
• linkedin.com/in/erikasgeirsson
• linkedin.com/in/lisasimpsoncpa
• "$5 Billion in P.P.P. Loans Were Approved Last Week"
• "Paycheck Protection program reopens Tuesday for second round of small-business loans"
• "CPA firms: It’s time to reset your approach to PPP"

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

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:

• prophix.com
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/wayne-slater-532348
• 10 Trends for Finance to Navigate Now

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

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:

• deleonandstang.com
• linkedin.com/in/allendeleon
• “The Year Ahead: 2021 in Numbers.”

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media