Future-Proof

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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