CalCPA at Your Service

By Jenny Bolsky

Busy season is here. Most of us won’t have much time for extracurricular activities for the next several months. The volume of meetings, events, committees and available CPE declines dramatically at this time of year, and most CPAs don’t have the luxury of focusing on anything but getting our work done. I want to remind you that CalCPA offers an abundance of resources during this most hectic time.

CalCPA’s technical hotline is a great solution to those tricky accounting and auditing questions. This helpful tool can save you from expending the significant time and energy required to research technical issues. For help with your A&A questions, and even referrals for tax matters, call the Accounting and Auditing Answerline at (800) 922-5272 (choose option 8). We also have an Ethics Hotline at the same number.

Another outstanding resource is the CPA Answerline, formerly known as “MAP Doctor,” created and administered by CalCPA’s Management of an Accounting Practice Committee. The CPA Answerline allows CalCPA members to inquire, with complete confidentiality, about a wide variety of topics, such as managing your practice, hardware, personnel, succession planning and more. Because the Answerline database is statewide, you can talk to an expert close to your local area or in an area other than where your practice is located. The Answerline is confidential and free for members.

If you work in industry, CalCPA’s Financial Leadership Forum is for you. The forum offers CPE and resources developed specifically business and industry members. The forum’s key tenets are a commitment to ethical responsibility, excellence, strategic innovation and best practices in financial and business management. With the mounting pressures and changing demands placed on business and finance professionals, especially in today’s financial environment, the forum supports financial leaders and executives through powerful advocacy, thought leadership, executive education and essential resources.

In a competitive marketplace, the forum helps CalCPA members to stay up to date and to quickly and efficiently get information on relevant topics, such as IFRS, XRBL or the economy. Among other things, the forum offers short, informative webcasts covering hot topics, such as executive compensation, captive insurance, private equity/hedge fund convergence and e-mail security. In addition, the forum links business and industry members to one another. A key benefit of any professional association is its members’ knowledge and providing a way to share that knowledge. Even though their industries and day-to-day tasks might differ, business and industry CPAs often have similar concerns and may find it extremely beneficial to have access to their CPA peers when confronted with an issue. Check out the Financial Leadership Forum.

Finally (and I hope you never need it) CalCPA offers a Member Crisis Hotline. If an unexpected or unfortunate turn of events occurs, call (800) 659-6844 for referrals to supportive resources.

I wish you well in your busy season and remind you that CalCPA is here to serve you.