Future-Proof

In this episode, we welcome another longtime friend of MACPA, leadership expert and author of the new book, "This is NOT a Leadership Book: 20 Rules for Success", Emmanuel Gobillot. Emmanuel has been my go to source for all things leadership for many years. I speak to him about leadership as it relates to recruitment and retention, which is top of mind for everyone these days. Where do we find new CPAs? How can we get students interested in accounting again?

It's important for leaders to express why our profession is important and why our work matters - that "why" is what is going to get young people excited about a future career in accounting. The focus of many employees entering the workforce is their role in society, their purpose, and finding institutions that match their outlook. Those in leadership need to personify that "why" and start changing the narrative about this profession. Begin by understanding your organization's higher purpose; it should be aspirational and authentic.

Emmanuel spends a lot of time in his latest book speaking to authenticity, why it actually might be overrated UNLESS it's inline with your intent, your purpose, and the needs of your team. Listen in as we dive deep into his 20 rules to success and more.

Resources:

• Emmanuel Gobillot website | LinkedIn | X
• This is NOT a Leadership Book, by Emmanuel Gobillot
• Forbes article, How To Attract And Retain Top Executive Talent Through Purpose, by Karen Greenbaum

We're once again joined by Pascal Finnette, co-founder and chief heretic of be radical. Be radical is a guiding force for organizations seeking to restructure in anticipation of future challenges, and it inspires individuals to evolve into leaders prepared for the demands of tomorrow's world. I've engaged in numerous discussions with Pascal about shifting mindsets and embracing disruption. In this episode, we delve deeper into the realm of artificial intelligence, seamlessly continuing our exploration from the previous episode featuring Don Tomoff on how CPAs can initiate their journey with A.I.

Pascal recently delivered a thought-provoking address at the digital CPA conference, asserting, "Companies and individuals leveraging A.I. won't just outperform those who refrain from its use; they will exponentially surpass them." Similar sentiments have echoed lately, urging us to harness the power of A.I. to our professional advantage. The expectations surrounding the transformative impact of this technology on our work, lives, and the world are immense.

While most c-suite executives anticipate cost savings this year through A.I.'s contributions to increased productivity, streamlined operations, improved customer service, and enhanced I.T., it's essential to recognize that A.I. cannot entirely replace human expertise in addressing the intricacies of tax and financial assessment problems. Many of the cutting-edge technologies developed by vendors are still works in progress.

Despite ongoing refinement needs, the utilization and potential of A.I. are experiencing rapid growth, making it an undeniable game changer. In my conversation with Pascal, we explore how A.I. has already reshaped our work and lifestyles. We discuss the challenge of regulating A.I., the first steps CPAs should consider when integrating A.I. into their business, and focus on what isn't going to change.

Resources:

• Pascal Finette website
• be radical. website
• Boston Consulting Group article, "From Potential to Profit with GenAI" by Jessica Apotheker, Sylvain Duranton, Vladimir Lukic, Nicolas de Bellefonds, Sesh Iyer, Olivier Bouffault, and Romain de Laubier
• ZDNet article, "Using ChatGPT for Accounting? You May Want to Think Again" by Rajiv Rao

It's great time to talk about A.I. - the 1 year anniversary of ChatGPT just passed which set this whole artificial intelligence ride in motion. While A.I. has been around since the 1950s, it's exponential growth is really marked this past year both with the release of ChatGPT and Google's announcement of their own A.I. model, Gemini. Not long after, lawmakers in the European Union approved the A.I. Act which sets a new global benchmark for countries seeking to harness the benefits of A.I. while trying to protect against it's possible risks such as automating jobs, speaking misinformation, and endangering national security.

While I was at the 2023 Digital CPA Conference, I gained some great tips from sources about how A.I. "newbies" can get started in meaningful and productive ways. Here are some simple steps from keynote speaker, Pascal Finette:

• Learn about it - simple enough but important to fill the gap between what we know and what we should know (listening to this episode is a great start)
• Start small and build projects quickly - learn firsthand what is possible with this technology
• Apply your experience to larger projects - use those smaller projects to inform what you can do with larger projects (crawl. walk. run.)

Another step-by-step resource to get you started is the "Generative A.I. Toolkit" for CPAs, recently released by CPA.com, which includes 7 steps for building your A.I. strategy:

1. Experiment
2. Focus on the near term
3. Consider client expectations
4. Research what solution providers are building
5. Define acceptable use
6. Put the technology's best feature to work
7. Ensure that humans maintain a key role in the process

These tips are a great foundation for our episode this week as I speak with Don Tomoff, Director at Invenio Advisors, LLC and longtime friend of MACPA. Don shares his wealth of knowledge and experience in the field of A.I. and explains which steps CPAs should take right from the outset.

Resources

• Wired article, "Google’s Gemini Is the Real Start of the Generative AI Boom" by Will Knight
• Generative A.I. Toolkit from CPA.com
• Don Tomoff, LinkedIn Profile

This week, we have a longtime friend on the show, Jack Ciesielski, CFA, CPA, MACPA member and owner of investment research firm R.G. Associates. Jack was recently quoted in a Wall Street Journal article about former inspectors who are calling for updates in the U.S. public-company auditing process. There are claims that while inspections are a useful tool to detect potential deficiencies in public companies, the reports are limited in scope, lacking details, and not released in a timely process. I speak to Jack about the PCAOB's investor advisory group - what it is and what it does, along with some of the biggest issues related to auditing that investors are concerned about. He also shares his thoughts about the issues presented in the WSJ article and what should be done to better help investors. Listen in to this timely conversation!

Resources:

• R.G. Associates, Inc.
• Jack Ciesielski LinkedIn Profile
• Wall Street Journal article, "Former Inspectors of Public-Company Audits Say Process Needs Retooling", by Mark Maurer
• PCAOB SPOTLIGHT, Staff Update and Preview of 2022 Inspection Observations

This week's conversation is all about leadership, or more exactly "reality-based leadership". As we know, there's always drama in the workplace between management and other team members which can lead to a loss of enthusiasm for work and trust. I speak to Alex Dorr, VP of People Evolution about the most comment causes of workplace drama, the role leaders play in alleviating these issues, and what CPA leaders should be doing to get past this drama. Listen as we talk about all the stuff that goes beyond the water cooler.

Resources

• Reality-Based Leadership Website
• Alex Dorr LinkedIn Profile
• Fast Company article, "These are the most common roots of workplace drama" by Patti Perez

This week, we meet a new leader for new times: Okorie Ramsey, the new chair of AICPA. He's a CPA, CGMA, and currently the VP of SOX at Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. and Hospitals.

Okorie plans to continue to build upon the platform of the most recent past chair of AICPA, Anoop Mehta, by helping others grow personally and professionally, driving DE&I initiatives and preserving trust in the profession. In addition, he plans to face our newest challenges, namely the rapid advancement of technology and our continuing challenge of filling our talent pipeline - making sure our profession remains viable.

With these challenges in mind, Okorie has a 3-pronged agenda:

1. Innovation to advance the profession
2. Instilling integrity and trust into sustainability
3. Supporting the next generation and giving them advanced opportunities to succeed

I was fortunate enough to dive into these 3 priorities in depth with Okorie, discussing what the future holds for accounting & finance professionals.

Resources

• Okorie Ramsey, CPA, CGMA, PMP, NACD.DC Linkedin Profile
• AICPA-CIMA news article, "New AICPA Chair Looks to Foster Innovation and the Next Generation"

Episode 200! Thanks to all the listeners here to celebrate this milestone.

In this episode we're talking about the coming tax season (never too early right?). A lot of tax headlines to discuss this episode:

• IRS announces that this coming filing season, taxpayers may be able to file most documents and returns electronically and by 2025 the IRS will digitize all paper file returns when they are received
• IRS might push for an early end to the employee retention tax credit as the number of "legitimate claims" declines
• Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration says that while the IRS has done a good job of addressing cyberthreats, it needs to do a better job with documentation
• New tech being built called IVIX, the first AI powered platform to help governments address financial crimes and tax evasion
• Tax prep companies like H&R Block and TaxSlayer have for years been sharing Americans sensitive financial data with tech giants like Meta and Google in a potential of violation of federal law

I speak with Steven Lyon, Senior Manager, Product Specialists with SafeSend to discuss all these updates and how to meet challenges as practitioners.

Resources

• Steven Lyon LinkedIn Profile
• AP News article, "IRS aims to go paperless by 2025 as part of its campaign to conquer mountains of paperwork", by Fatima Hussein
• Accounting Today article, "IRS good at addressing cyberthreats, but not documenting them" by Chris Gaetano
• IVIX website
• CNN article, "Tax prep companies shared private taxpayer data with Google and Meta for years, congressional probe finds", by Brian Fung

Talking about Client Advisory Services, widely known as "CAS", this week; specifically spend management. Spend management goes beyond expense management in that all company funds are brought together in one centralized location so finance leaders have full visibility to set, track, and control spend before it occurs. These spend management capabilities provide a better understanding about spending patterns, leading to more valuable client interactions and growth for firms.

To find our more about spend management trends and how firms can get started with these services, I speak to Jyson Brannon, VP of Sales & Partner Services at CPA.com and Dan Luthi, Partner at Ignite Spark Accounting.

Resources

• Accounting Today article by Kalil Merhib, "Voices Spend management: An approachable CAS opportunity"
• CPA.com Expense & Spend Management Survey Report
• Jyson Brannon, LinkedIn Profile
• Dan Luthi, LinkedIn Profile

Today's show we talk about remote work, hybrid work, talent shortage, and everything in between. Since COVID, many futurists felt remote work was here to stay as "the new normal" and many employees felt a certain power in being able to request working from home. However, there were some large organizations that began to require employees come back to the office full time even though studies showed employees not only preferred remote work but were just as productive working from home.

Now, we're seeing that there can be a balance between the extreme of employers demanding working in the office and employees demanding they work from home full time. Hybrid work arrangements are now offered by the majority of companies which offers a sort of "truce" between employers and employees.

My guests this week are seeing this same harmony in hybrid work; Alex Kirillov and Jim Brady are executives who have noticed better collaboration, stronger culture, and clearer communication when companies strike the balance between coming into the office and working from home. Here's our conversation about how to make room for both.

Resources:

• Business Insider article, "Here's a list of major companies requiring employees to return to the office" by Shana Lebowitz, Marguerite Ward, Emily Canal, Rebecca Knight, and Alexandra York
• Fortune article, "Bosses and workers are finally reaching a ‘truce’ on remote work" by Alicia Adamczyk
• Flex Report by Scoop, Companies by Office Requirement
• Alliant Group

In this episode, I get a chance to talk with Christine Aspell, the newly appointed chair of MACPA's Board of Directors. MACPA has a long history of pulling in leaders with some of the best diversity of thought in their profession. We lean on these leaders not only to help MACPA serve members but also help our profession flourish as a whole.

Christine is Managing Partner and Audit Partner at KPMG's Baltimore office, with 25+ years of experience providing assurance services to clients. She is passionate about the future of this profession, particularly when it comes to diversity & inclusion, advancing women in the profession, and helping the talent pipeline leading to profession.

The pipeline is a huge concern as of late and multiple solutions have been proposed centering around education and regulatory requirements. Christine is taking a different tact; she wants to reconnect CPAs with a purpose behind their work and to share that purpose with students and young professionals who are hungry for work with meaning.

"Our profession continues to change rapidly as technological advancements and regulatory changes and demographic trends reshape what we do and how we do it, but even amid that change, one thing remains constant: our purpose. The what, how, and even who of our great profession will adapt and change, but what won't change is our why." says Christine.

Christine is hoping to collect and share stories about how CPAs help their clients who in turn help their communities; how CPAs help people lead better lives. These are the stories that will inspire others to become a part of this profession. Listen to learn more about this initiative and to hear Christine's own inspirational story.

Resources

Christine Aspell, MACPA Chair of Board of Directors, Announcement

Christine Aspell LinkedIn Profile