Future-Proof

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

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:

• macpa.org/cpaday
• macpa.org/advocacy
• blionline.org
• Read: “Threats to licensing remain a concern for CPAs amid pandemic,”
• 42. Get Involved: Legislative Advocacy at the Local Level | with State Senator Brian Feldman

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

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:

• gensler.com
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/cheryl-duvall-ab429928
• Coronavirus: How the world of work may change forever
• Why Working From Home is the Future of Accounting

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

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

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

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:

• aicpa.org
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/edward-s-karl-cpa-027a7442
• Twitter: @edwardkarltax
• "Prospects for Federal Tax Policy After the 2020 Election"
• "Democrats express concerns about IRS readiness for next year's filing season"

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

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:

• LinkedIn: ca.linkedin.com/in/twylav
• "From essential to indispensable: The 5 stages of navigating COVID-19”
• “Growth Drivers For Accounting Firms In The Post-Pandemic Era”

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

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:

• baltimoreravens.com
• macpa.org/macpa-member-special-offers
• macpa.org/future-learning-framework

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

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:

• linkedin.com/in/anoop-mehta-2741ab1b
• Read: “How Businesses Can Recruit and Develop More Young People of Color”

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

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:

• botkeeper.com
• linkedin.com/in/byronpatrick

Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media