I hope everyone is having a great spring/summer despite the poor weather we’ve experienced (is it ever going to get hot?). The Society Board recently met and embarked on updating our strategic plan for the next few years. We used the services of another state’s executive director to help facilitate our discussions and it was an excellent process. We will be highlighting the results of our work in the near future to our membership, please feel free to comment to a board member if you feel there should be additional goals and values in the newly revised strategic plan.
I just want to say we are blessed to have the quality of the individuals we have on the Society Board. Many of you do not actually witness the hard work these board members put in or the quality of information they put forth in an effort to help the Society. However, I have been fortunate enough to work with these individuals the last several years and it’s been a privilege.
Here’s a reminder to put the upcoming CPA convention (September 19-21) on your calendar. It’s going to be an excellent convention both from the CPE aspect as well as from the social/entertainment side of things. If you don’t agree you’ve had a great time, Faye Miller will spend a day with you and it will seem like you had a great time! Don’t pass up this chance to network with your peers and to catch up on things with your friends and fellow CPAs.
Representatives of the Society Board attended an AICPA meeting in San Diego during May. Highlights included an update from Washington and the fact that CPAs were currently exempted from the two main financial reform bills in Congress. However, no one knows what the final version will look like.
TOP 5 SHERRE SATTLER SECRETS
5. Once dated Hugh Hefner.
4. President of Bernie Madoff Fan Club (also the only member of the Bernie Madoff Fan Club).
3. Was once quoted as saying “They say housework won’t kill you, but why take the chance?”
2. Top fantasy is to be paired with Brett Favre as contestants in “Dancing With the Stars”.
1. As a “Secret Shopper” for Happy Harry’s in Grand Forks, she’s made off with $2,765 of alcohol since the beginning of the year.
May 2010
I hope this message finds all of you healthy and if you are a tax preparer, ready to party. I was fortunate enough to attend the AICPA regional meeting in Chicago in March. As I have mentioned before, it is impressive how sincerely the AICPA seeks input on various issues from the council members at these regional meetings.
One presentation at these regional meetings is the legislative update from Washington D.C. on issues our membership faces in the near future. Federal legislation is being considered that would create the Consumer Financial Protection Agency which would be a new federal agency with an estimated 6,000 employees. The agency would oversee and regulate all financial services. The House version of this issue contains an outright exemption for CPAs.
Another interesting issue being discussed at the federal level was the possibility of having all tax preparers become certified. This may pose a threat to those in our profession who prepare taxes because the qualifications for this certification appear to be minimal. If someone could claim to be a Certified Tax Professional its logical the public may be confused and assume the qualifications are similar to those of CPAs. The AICPA will continue to monitor this issue.
The position of Comptroller General remains vacant (as it has for an estimated 2 years) and there is a bill in Congress to require this position be a CPA. The AICPA supports this legislation.
The AICPA surveyed a portion of our membership and it appears there is a wide variance of opinions of when the economy will recover. One of the results indicates that smaller practitioners are more concerned about the recovery than larger ones. It appears approximately 1/3 of those surveyed feel the recovery will come in 2011 and another 1/3 feel it will be in 2012 and the other 1/3 feel it will come after 2012.
The CPA convention is in Bismarck on September 19-21 so mark your calendars now. Faye Miller and the other organizers are doing a super job of ensuring this is a top notch event. All CPAs will benefit from the CPE and socializing with our peers, so invite other CPAs as we are hoping for a great turnout.
TOP 5 RUMORS RELATING TO THE CONVENTION
5. Golf event will have cheerleaders on the greens.
4. Mike Schmitz (president elect) will “accidentally” have a wardrobe malfunction during Sunday night’s banquet. (I never said all the rumors would be good news!)
3. Hospitality room will be open 24/7.
2. John Mongeon will have a wine tasting booth featuring wine from his private collection. Register to win prizes….the grand prize will be a night on the town (all expenses paid) with John Mongeon. Second prize will be two nights on the town (all expenses paid) with John Mongeon.
1. President Obama will present Arvy Smith with the prestigious “Luckiest Woman on the Planet” award for being married to me for 20 years.
March 2010
I hope this letter finds you all healthy and that we are done shoveling for awhile!
Once again its tax season and I’m sure that many of you are working long hours to serve your clients. While we don’t prepare tax returns for our clients here at the State Auditor’s Office we do “enjoy” performing other fun-filled duties like auditing federal monies. We recently were notified that the GAO has begun receiving allegations of fraud relating to the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) funds provided to the states. GAO was notifying State Auditor’s that some of these allegations will be forwarded to their offices for further review.
Citizens shouldn’t be surprised at these allegations considering how fast these programs were set up and monies provided to the states before any assurances were provided that the proper control systems were in place. For example, I recently read that the state of Texas received $13 million last year to spend on a weatherization program to help lower heating/cooling costs for low income home owners. This year Texas will receive $300 million for the same program. This type of situation naturally makes auditors nervous.
Some of your NDSCPA board members will be traveling to Chicago in March to attend a regional AICPA meeting. Last year I attended my first AICPA regional meeting and I was impressed with the amount of input sought from the attendees on various issues. As I noted in my last message, there are many issues facing our profession and I’m sure those will be discussed at this meeting. Hopefully my trip this year will not include a tour of Chicago’s mass transit system and alternate airports (Don’t worry Jim, I’ll forget about it in another 20 years or so).
Top 5 Reasons I Love Being a CPA
5. I’m an adrenaline junkie.
4. While other losers go to work in jeans and sneakers, I get to wear a suit.
3. People assume I reconcile my checkbook on the first try.
2. My specialized CPA training ensures I’ll remain calm in critical situations like figuring the tip at Red Lobster.
1. I love seeing my 12 year old son beam with pride on career day as I describe tax deferred annuities to his classmates.
To help my fellow CPAs get through tax season I included a second Top 5.
Top 5 Ways to Make Tax Preparation More Fun
5. Start your interviews with the taxpayer by saying “Ok, do you have any dedemptions or exuctions or whatever?”
4. Thong Thursdays.
3. Find a deduction—do a shot!
2. Every time someone mentions a joint return, break out that special batch of brownies.
1. Convince the new person in the office to file their return late because “if you make the IRS wait, they’ll be all the more excited when they get it!”
January , 2010
Happy Holidays!! This is always a special time of year and I hope this newsletter finds you healthy and full of the Christmas spirit. I hope you all had as special a Thanksgiving as I did. My daughter, son-in-law and wonderful seven month old twin granddaughters visited us and we had a combined Thanksgiving/Christmas as they will be traveling out of state for Christmas. Of course my wife and I are looking forward to continuing to spoil those blessings from God.
The Board is beginning a review of our strategic plan for the purpose of updating it. We will be surveying the membership and we encourage you to please take a few seconds and respond to us. We value your input and suggestions.
There are many issues our profession is dealing with and the Council meeting in Las Vegas was a great opportunity to get an update on the status of some of these issues. Some issues discussed include:
- Mobility is continuing to progress and 45 states have passed the legislation while the remaining states are expecting to address it in the near future.
- The convergence of accounting standards into one international set of standards is progressing rapidly. At this point in time it appears this is to be completed by June, 2011 although the AICPA feels that this date should be moved back to 2014.
- There are various actions that Congress is considering including a proposed piece of legislation that would create a new federal entity that would oversee all financial services including everything not subject to SEC oversight. The most current version has an amendment that would exclude all usual and customary CPA services.
- The issue of the relevance of GAAP to private companies is a continuing one and FASB and the AICPA are involved in joint effort to address it.
TOP 5 RUMORS CIRCULATING SINCE OUR LAST DCPA
- Past President Kevin Austin is so laid back he has a snooze button on his smoke alarm.
- John Mongeon was named MVP by the Las Vegas Craps Table Association for his generous “donations” during the Council meeting there in October.
- Jim Abbott won the prestigious “Pakistani Fried Yak Eating Contest” beating out the only two other people on the planet who prefer that dining fare.
- Faye Miller will receive counseling to become more assertive.
- Sherre Sattler was recently caught napping at her desk but saved herself by saying “Oh….they told me at the Blood Bank this might happen.”
November, 2010
This is my first newsletter as your president and I consider it a privilege to serve in this role. I am the first NDSCPA president to come from the government sector and I take a great deal of pride in that. I want to encourage all CPAs to make the time to get involved in the Society and to make an effort to improve this profession we’ve all chosen. Getting involved honestly takes less time than you would think and one bonus is the great friends you make along the way. So please consider joining one of the many committees the Society has. If you are already on a committee consider volunteering to chair the committee or running for the board. You won’t regret it.
I’d like to extend my appreciation for the wonderful job that Teri Holt and the other Grand Forks CPAs did organizing this year’s CPA convention. It was a fun convention and the Alerus Center was a great venue. In addition I want to congratulate outgoing president Kevin Austin for serving the society as president and doing the fine job he did. I’m sure I’ll be calling upon Kevin for advice in the upcoming year.
As your president I attended the AICPA fall conference in Las Vegas from October 18-20. Accompanying me were John Mongeon, Mike Schmitz, Kevin Austin, Tom Ribb, Faye Miller and Jim Abbott. If you know these individuals you’ll recognize one of my responsibilities was chaperoning them.
This is my favorite time of year as I’m an avid hunter. Hopefully the weather warms up and the heavy snowfall doesn’t happen until much later than it did last year. If any of you have suggestions on how we can improve the Society, please feel free to contact the Society office or contact me directly. Thanks!
As I mentioned earlier, the CPA convention in Grand Forks was a lot of fun. In order to demonstrate this I’ve included a photograph of one of the activities at the convention. A picture can sometimes be deceiving so in order to determine what was actually going on when this photo was taken, I personally surveyed 100 CPAs and their top five responses appear below.
Top 5 Explanations About What’s Happening in the Picture: |
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5. Pete is using sign language. His staff can’t hear him because his shirt is too loud.
4. This is a Brady Martz team-building activity called Follow the Hoistad.
3. Pete and the other Brady Martz people are demonstrating for Kevin Hay how to reach around and grab your wallet and actually buy a round of drinks.
2. Pete Hoistad is asking if those pants make his butt look big.
1. It’s a demonstration that some Brady Martz employees will do anything for a positive annual evaluation. |
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