Future-Proof

We spend most of our time on this podcast talking about the accounting and finance profession – what the future looks like for those of us who work within this rarified profession and how to help others make sense of their finances, their numbers, or their future.

But we’re not the only ones struggling in this area. Well-off and working class, unemployed and entrepreneurial, engaged and disengaged, C-suite and on the dole: everybody is struggling with how to make sense of this changing and complex world.

Things have never been more uncertain than they are today, and although change is already happening at a mind-bending pace, it’s only going to speed up going forward. So if you’re not keeping up today, your odds of keeping up tomorrow are slim to none.

Luckily, few people have a better perspective on all of this than our guest, Alec Ross, author of the New York Times best-selling book The Industries of the Future and one of the nation’s leading experts on innovation. He served for four years as the senior advisor for innovation for Hillary Clinton when she was Secretary of State, and he is currently a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Johns Hopkins University who serves as an advisor to investors, corporations, and government leaders.

Alec has traveled the world in search of what sets innovative thought leaders apart from the rest of us, and he has some concrete ideas about what we need to be doing and thinking about going forward to give us a competitive advantage over everybody else.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

• Learn more at AlecRoss.com
• Read: The Industries of the Future
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alec.ross1
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/alecjross
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossalec/

The Business Learning Institute

Future-Proof is proudly sponsored by the Business Learning Institute, which delivers competency-based curriculum, courses, content, and community to maximize career trajectories and grow intellectual capital for organizational and executive leadership. Hundreds of course by dozens of instructors, and unlimited customization.

Find out how the Business Learning Institute can help YOU by visiting BLIonline.org.

--

Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters

Today, let’s talk about how fascinating you are.

But first, let’s break down what exactly “fascinating” means. It goes back Roman times, when that word meant things like captivation and spellbinding. It was almost perceived as an evil curse back then.

Now, fascination is more about how the world sees you. In other words, it’s about knowing yourself – and more importantly, it’s about knowing what others know about you and how you can stand out in a crowded market place, which couldn’t be more important today. We’ve got to focus on what makes us different. As our guest Sally Hogshead would say, different is better than better.

Sally is a world-class branding expert who has discovered a new way to measure how people perceive you, and in this episode, she’s going to share how you can start leveraging your Fascination Advantage and standing out from the competition.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

• Learn more at https://www.howtofascinate.com/
• Take Sally’s assessment for FREE: use code  “FutureProof” at HowToFascinate.com/You
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hogshead
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hogshead/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/SallyHogshead

Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters

When you think about helping your clients become more future-proof, you’re probably thinking about things like helping them innovate, revamping their business models, taking advantage of new technologies, or finding their next competitive advantage.

However, you’re probably not thinking about helping them get their finances in order. I mean, that’s not future-proofing anybody’s business — that’s just doing what we’ve always done, right?

And yet our guest this week, Lyle Benson, says doing what we’ve always done is, in a way, the essence of being future-ready.

Lyle is president of L.K. Benson & Company in Baltimore, and he’s an MACPA member. He’s also on the forefront of advancing planning services for individuals within the profession; he served with the AICPA’s Personal Financial Planning Division Executive Committee, and the National Accreditation Committee, and the Baltimore Association for Financial Planning, and he is also chair of the Media Task Force of the AICPA's PFP Section.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

• Learn more at lkbenson.com
• Connect with Lyle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lyle-benson-b019b25/
• Future-proof your services: AICPA.org/GrowAdvisoryServices
• Check out MACPA’s CPE catalog: MACPA.org/learning

Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters

How about those midterm elections?

Now, some of you might already be thinking, “Don’t even go there. I came here for taxes, not politics!” Well, not to worry, dear listeners. This is indeed a show about taxes.

But here’s the thing: taxes and politics are joined at the hip right now, and there’s no getting around it.

For the past two years, Republicans have controlled both houses of Congress and the White House. That means it’s been relatively painless getting things like the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law, and so they have.

Now, we have a divided Congress again. Democrats won control of the House on Nov. 6, which means it’s not going to be quite so easy getting further tax reform laws passed.

So the timing couldn’t be better to talk with Cari Weston, the AICPA’s director of taxation. Cari is paying attention to this area in a way that few others do, so today, she shares some terrific insights into what all of this means for tax preparers, and for their clients.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

• Learn more at http://aicpa.org/tax
• Connect with Cari on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cariweston
• Prepare for tax season, tax legislation, and beyond: MACPA.org/tax

Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters

This week, we’re going to spend a little bit of time talking about our host Bill Sheridan’s profession – the association world.

Bill works for the Maryland Association of CPAs, which means he doesn’t technically work in the accounting and finance profession. But when it comes right down to it, it’s like splitting hairs. These two professions are remarkably similar in how they operate, in their state of future-readiness, and in their willingness to embrace change. Accountants and association folks are kindred spirits in a lot ways.

And so we’re excited about this week’s guest, Reggie Henry, the chief information and engagement officer with the American Society of Association Executives, which is like the association for associations – which in itself serves as proof that there really is an association for everything.

There may not be a more future-ready individual alive today than Reggie Henry. Not only in what he does – embracing all things new before almost everyone out there – but also in how he thinks.

He is constantly on the lookout for new trends that will impact our businesses, our clients, and our lives, and that makes him the kind of person we want to talk to on this show. We don’t just want to know what we need to be doing, but what we need to be thinking about – and that’s what Reggie’s all about. He’s going to change the way you think about your world, we guarantee it.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

• Learn more at ASAEcenter.org

Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters

Let’s talk a little bit about client expectations, shall we? They're changing, if you haven’t noticed.

You have noticed, right? The expectations of our clients and customers are different than they were even just five years ago – and the reason, in large part, is technology.

Let's take search, for example. There’s an interesting book called Life After Google: The Fall of Big Data and the Rise of the Blockchain Economy by George Gilder, and early on in the book, Gilder makes the point that folks who search the Internet – almost everybody, in other words – are extremely impatient. We don't like to wait. Gilder says research shows that we're generally satisfied when results are delivered within one-twentieth of a second, but any slower that that and we start to get antsy.

Google was first founded in 1998, so that’s a lot of change in just 20 years – but the pace is only picking up and we have to start getting ahead of that.

That's where our guest comes in. Ryan Estis is a sales and leadership expert who gave the keynote address at that very same CCH User Conference. He says services like Netflix, Uber, and AirBNB represent a huge shift in customer experience, and accounting and finance pros can stand to learn something from these companies.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

• Learn more at RyanEstis.com

Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters

This week we’re rolling up our sleeves and digging into a little research. There’s no shortage of studies and reports and white papers about what the future of the accounting and finance profession looks like, and now the folks at Wolters Kluwer and CCH are offering their two cents.

Wolters Kluwer released a white paper titled “Technology Hype or Reality? What Firms Really Need to Know to Thrive in a World of Change.” The paper is based on an annual survey of tax and accounting firms conducted by Wolters Kluwer, and the idea is that firms can use the findings of that survey to distinguish technology hype from its real promise and to generate ideas that they can use to lead their firms – and their clients – into the future.

So we’re going to spend some time this week taking a deeper dive into those findings and what they mean for the profession. Helping us do that is our guest, Jim McGinnis, executive vice president and general manager of Wolters Kluwer Tax and Accounting’s U.S. Mid and Large Firm Segment.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

• Learn more at taxna.wolterskluwer.com
• Download the white paper: engagetax.wolterskluwer.com/Survey2018
• Connect with Jim on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jamespmcginnis

Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters

Did you know that the folks at the MACPA and the Business Learning Institute spend a significant chunk of their time outside of the state of Maryland? And the reason for it is actually pretty simple: there’s a lot of really important stuff happening in this profession, and very little of it happens exclusively in Maryland!

Since our goal is to help our members become future-ready, we go to wherever the important stuff is happening, learn about it, and bring that knowledge back to Maryland.

And the king of going to where the action is none other than Tom Hood, the CEO of the MACPA and the BLI (and the second most influential person in accounting, according to Accounting Today). He goes everywhere in search of knowledge that will make Maryland CPAs that much more prepared for what’s to come.

That’s why Tom is our guest this week. He has been to some really interesting – and definitely exotic – places this year, and we wanted to find out what he’s learned on these trips that Maryland’s CPAs need to know.

In This Conversation We Cover:

• What Tom has learned in Canada, Bora Bora, and beyond
• The #1 challenge that CPAs face around the globe
• The four T’s: Talent, taxes (standards, laws, and regulations), technology, and transformation
• How we can better engage both newer and older accounting and finance professionals moving forward

5G, Wi-Fi 6, & Our Profession

We’ve seen multiple articles about 5G and Wi-Fi 6 lately, and it looks like something significant is on the horizon.

5G, of course, is the next generation of cellular network technology. It promises speeds that are multitudes faster than the current 4G standard, which could finally help drive the Internet of Things connectivity to “ready for primetime” status. 5G is being rolled out in late 2018 and should see much wider adoption in 2019 and beyond.

Wi-Fi 6, meanwhile, should make its debut in 2019. It promises much higher upload and download speeds, it’ll be able to support 8K video streaming, and it will have a much lower power draw, which means much lower drain on your battery life.

Combined, 5G and Wi-Fi 6 will do some incredible things – if you believe the folks who write about this stuff, anyway. In the article “Next Generation Wireless: What You Need To Know About 5G And Wi-Fi 6,” Paul O’Farrell of Forbes writes:

“Seamless high performance access to information opens up a plethora of opportunity for developing new, never seen before applications: imagine walking into a store and using augmented reality to watch a live demonstration of the product you are pointing to in action, envision self-driving cars on a freeway, interacting with each other in real-time to ensure complete safety and coordinated traffic flow, or even imagine a surgeon performing a delicate operation, using virtual reality while he is in a different country, other than the patient.”

O’Farrell continues by saying, “The possibilities are compelling and endless. It is a call to action for businesses and other organizations to leverage both of these technologies and create new services and offerings. In many markets, the ability to successfully do this will be the difference between success and failure.”

So what does this mean for accounting and finance professionals? It’s time to put on our anticipatory hats!

Anticipation is all about spotting future trends early and figuring out what opportunities they offer so we can take advantage of them before our competitors do, and there’s a lot of opportunity here. What could you do with the combined power of 5G and Wi-Fi 6? What challenges would that type of power help you overcome? How would they help you better serve your clients and customers?

Start thinking about this stuff now – this is your opportunity to finally get in front of some of the hard trends that have been disrupting our world, which just so happens to be exactly what Tom Hood has been trying to do.

You can learn more about all of these issues by attending one of Tom’s acclaimed Professional Issues Updates. You’ll find a full schedule and registration information on the MACPA: macpa.org/events/featured-events

Come learn with Tom!

Tom also will on hand at the MACPA’s annual CPA Summit, scheduled for Dec. 6 at the Sheraton Baltimore North hotel in Towson, Md.

CPAs will learn from the most important voices in the profession and find solutions to push their careers forward. Topics will include leadership, technology, cutting-edge trends, and emerging professional issues. Don’t miss it – this is going to be an incredible event!

Get details and register at MACPA.org/Summit.

Resources:

• Connect with Tom Hood: Twitter | LinkedIn
• Register for MACPA’s annual CPA Summit: MACPA.org/Summit
• Read: “Next Generation Wireless: What You Need To Know About 5G And Wi-Fi 6"

Over the past few weeks, we’ve spent a lot of time talking about the technology, trends, and skills we need to know about to be future-ready – but today we want to talk a little more about culture.

This stuff can sound like a fluffy, touchy-feely thing, but truth be told, nothing is more important. If you get your culture right, you get your business right. It’s as simple as that.

Our guest Richard Silberstein is the president of SIG, a company that’s committed to delivering a customized approach that helps them leverage and maximize their benefits to retain, recruit, and engage top talent. And in the interest of complete transparency, SIG is a preferred provider and partner with the MACPA because we believe what they’re doing is important and is making a difference in our profession. This is an organization that all accounting and finance professional should be paying attention to.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

• Learn more at silbs.com
• Connect with Richard on LinkedIn
• Read: You Call It Digital Transformation; I Call It Culture Change”
• Register for MACPA’s annual CPA Summit: MACPA.org/Summit

Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters

Technology is eating away at our profession. A.I. is increasingly able to do the stuff that we’ve spent a lifetime learning how to do. So how do we stay relevant in a world like this?

The answer is simple (although not necessarily easy): learning to do the things machines CAN’T do, which means learning new skills.

So what skills are we talking about? Report after report after report point to communication, collaboration, and more and more frequently, learning how to think differently.

And that’s where our guest this week comes in.

Toby Groves is a social cognitive scientist who researches new thinking approaches to help experts achieve higher-order critical thinking. He is passionate about helping individuals and teams discover new perspectives and understand radically different approaches that allow them to solve complex problems.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.

Resources:

• Learn more at TobyGroves.com
• Connect with Toby: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn

Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters