Archive for the ‘President's Message’ Category

Providing Leadership in Turbulent Times

By Karen R. Goodfriend, CPA/PFS

Greetings from St. Louis. This month, I write this message while waiting in the airport for my flight back to the Bay Area. I’m heading home from a meeting of the AICPA Personal Financial Planning Committee, where I spent two days with other CPAs who specialize in this practice area.

Among other topics, we discussed how our profession can serve our clients and the public in this time of financial uncertainty. As I sit in the terminal, I hear CNN report alternately on the election and the financial crisis, and I reflect on how much our profession has to offer our clients and the public at this time. Whether dealing with individuals or businesses, or serving as an employee in industry, a CPA’s objectivity and problem-solving abilities provide leadership in uncertain times. We also can provide a public service by helping to educate consumers and clients in matters of personal and business finance.

In my practice, I have seen clients who want to know how the financial turbulence is affecting them personally. They value objective assessments and guidance from a trusted adviser who understands their specific financial goals and who serves as a voice of reason. Helping clients to carefully plan their cash flow and navigate during the market downturn, refrain from selling investments based on emotion or fear and identify the silver linings where they exist, such as favorable tax legislation, represent a few cases in point.

We can also help each other. In this unprecedented situation for our profession, we benefit by sharing ideas and resources and connecting with colleagues in our areas of specialty.

If you are wondering how to get involved, here are a few examples of CalCPA activities that you can tap into: CalCPA staff and members work with the media to provide expert sources who can shed light on complex financial issues. Can you provide an expert perspective? The Financial Literacy program provides pro bono education to consumers, and volunteers are always needed to visit schools and civic groups. Training is provided. CalCPA and chapter committees serve as resources to help CalCPA members gain perspective and share ideas with colleagues in specific practice and technical areas.

I just received an e-mail from our CalCPA PFP Committee chair, who is in the process of gathering personal financial planning practice resources from committee members throughout the state. Other committees are addressing tax, financial and accounting issues as events unfold in the coming weeks, months and years. Please offer your comments or contact me, CalCPA chapter leaders or CalCPA leaders if you would like to know more.

— Karen Goodfriend, CPA/PFS

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Politics and More

By Karen R. Goodfriend, CPA/PFS

With the presidential election fast approaching, I find it hard to remember another time when my thoughts were focused on so many political issues. And I don’t mean just the election of our next president. At this writing, we are waiting to hear what actions will be taken by our government to address significant challenges to our financial systems and economy. By the time you read this, we are likely to know much more about the direction our government is headed on this issue. These appear to be historic times, financially and politically.

Besides the national scene, there are legislative matters affecting California CPAs. In fact, your chapter leaders are in the process of meeting with legislators to discuss issues facing CPAs. We are discussing the mobility issue with them in particular. More information on mobility can be found online.

Perhaps you want to get involved, too. It’s good timing for CPAs to build awareness with the legislators who live and vote in their districts. As voters, we have their attention now, while they are running for election and re-election. If you want to know more about how to get involved in politics to help your profession, call CalCPA’s government relations department at (916) 441-5351.

Also, we have a great event coming up in October. The chapter is proud to host a new Student Night, celebrating the winners of our annual chapter scholarship awards and introducing students to our local CPA members and firms. All members are welcome and it should be a good chance to socialize with fellow CPAs in our chapter.

Do you have thoughts or questions about the mobility issue or chapter events? Feel free to comment.

— Karen Goodfriend, CPA/PFS

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It’s Different This Time

By Karen Goodfriend, CPA/PFS

I am now in the fourth month of my term as chapter president and have written several of these messages, but as the chapter Bulletin has a new format, my message is different this time. The Bulletin is set up as a blog, with the goal of facilitating more and better communication among our members. I would like to hear what you think, and so would our chapter leadership.

Please share your thoughts. Here are some topics to consider for feedback:

• What types of technical programs interest you, and are you getting them from our chapter?
• What do you think of the networking events that are offered?
• Do you think requirements to become a CPA in California should be substantially equivalent to other states?
• Do you read this Bulletin? What would you like to see included?

This really is all I have to say this month as I want to leave room to hear from you so we can start a dialog.

It’s pretty simple, just click on the “Leave a Comment� link at the end of this message, write your comments and then just click �Send.� Try it!

— Karen Goodfriend, CPA

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Talking About Leadership

By Karen Goodfriend, CPA/PFS

You may already know that as your chapter president, I write a monthly article. This month’s topic is leadership and what it can mean to you. I want to encourage members who may want to get more involved to consider taking a leadership path within CalCPA. Both our state organization and our local chapter already have a team of strong leaders, many of whom I feel fortunate to know. However, we also have room for more leaders with new perspectives and diverse backgrounds. In fact, CalCPA encourages this by sponsoring a Leadership Institute.

Speaking from experience, I truly believe that those who take a leadership path can profit tremendously, both professionally and personally. CalCPA offers many different leadership opportunities, depending on your interests. I invite you to share your interest or inquire how you might become involved and how it might benefit you.

Early in my CPA career, I would never have envisioned getting involved in CalCPA leadership. However, that changed when I began to specialize in personal financial planning and a couple of chapter members encouraged me to join and then chair the chapter Personal Financial Planning Committee. Before I knew it, my involvement grew, and soon I was chairing the committee at the state level, serving on the chapter board of directors and CalCPA Council and writing articles for CalCPA publications. Sure, it involved a time commitment. However, my own “rate of return� exceeded my expectations. So I continue to “reinvest� some of those gains back to the profession by staying involved. And the “returns� keep building up.

Here are few examples of how to get involved and what you might gain from this experience—as it happened that way for me:

• Become a chapter committee leader—This is a chance to build your professional network by getting to know other local practitioners and experts in your technical/practice area of interest.
• Serve on a state committee—Share cutting-edge practice management and technical ideas and discuss issues facing our profession with other leaders.
• Author articles for CalCPA publications—Not only is this a chance to share technical knowledge and distinctive experiences, it also provides an opportunity to develop writing skills.
• Be a knowledge resource to the media while promoting a positive image of our profession—CalCPA has resources to provide media training and coaching to its leaders who contribute in this area.
• Learn leadership skills—Not only will you be able to apply them in the professional community, but you also will be able to use them in your own organization.

Let me now focus on this last example. In today’s business environment, effective leadership is usually a critical component of a successful organization. Because leadership is not a skill we automatically learn when developing our competency as CPAs, CalCPA offers a Leadership Institute. I participated in this program two years ago, found it to be a fantastic experience and was able to apply what I learned at my own firm. Our diverse “class� of professionals had a fun time, and we developed a true camaraderie. If you are interested in this program, you can find an application and more information at http://www.calcpa.org/Content/Files/08Leadership_Inst.pdf. The deadline to apply is Friday, Aug. 22.

Finally, I encourage you to contact me or our other chapter leaders with questions or express your ideas of how our chapter can meet your needs. Let us know if you would like to get involved and have an interest in leadership. Our chapter Bulletin has a new feature: You may now post comments or questions online for discussion. We want to hear from you!

—Karen Goodfriend, CPA/PFS

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Financial Literacy

By Karen Goodfriend, CPA

Last month, our chapter held its annual installation meeting and heard a presentation from guest speaker John McWilliams, former chair of CalCPA’s Financial Literacy Committee. John spoke to our chapter leadership group about CalCPA’s financial literacy initiatives and how our chapter and individual members can be involved. His message deserves sharing with our entire chapter membership.

Because I am a practitioner who specializes in financial planning, the financial literacy program has a special place in my own heart. CPAs can provide a valuable public service by sharing their financial knowledge and experience. We can make a real difference by helping students, seniors and others in our community to be more educated in personal finance.

With tax season behind us, and summer fast-approaching, you may want to consider getting involved. As of June 2008, more than 1,300 CalCPA members were signed up as financial literacy and student outreach volunteers. These volunteers are notified of financial literacy presentation opportunities with the Student Outreach Program, the Dollars & Sense Workshops, and various other opportunities.

CalCPA’s Student Outreach Program places CPAs into high school classrooms where they present a lesson in personal finance in an interactive and relevant fashion. Each presentation is designed to cover one of six financial literacy lessons within the time parameters of one class period. The lessons are from a curriculum that covers financial planning, budgeting, savings and investing, managing credit, keeping finances safe, insurance, and career pathways.

CalCPA’s Dollars & Sense program brings a panel of CPA experts to workshops hosted by legislators, community groups, schools and businesses. Each workshop consists of a presentation designed to provide tips on how the audience can better manage their money, improve savings and investment strategies and save on taxes. A Q&A period allows participants to walk away with valuable information that meets their specific financial needs.

You may also want to work with CalCPA to initiate a program where you see an important or unique need in your community. This could be a through a school or nonprofit organization. Or perhaps you have already initiated or know of a program at a local school that could benefit from the existing programs offered by CalCPA.

For more information on these programs, or if you are interested in becoming a financial literacy volunteer, contact Crystil Turner, community outreach manager, at crystil.turner@calcpa.org or (650) 802-2494. You also can contact our Peninsula Chapter Financial Literacy Chair Laarni Von Ruden, CPA, at Laarni@lvr.netbox.com if you want to discuss ideas for initiating additional financial literacy programs locally.

—Karen Goodfriend, CPA

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