Future-Proof

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

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

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

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

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

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

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:

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

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

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