March 2013 Newsletter
President's Message
Leadership- the quality your business can’t get enough of.
What is leadership? When I started doing the research for this article, it was a little frustrating. Presenting a conceptual definition for the essence of leadership was a little like defining Art with a capital A, you know it when you see it but it’s pretty hard to describe. Developing leadership skills has been a focus of the AKCPA for some time now and presenting it well is important to me. I found it best captured in the form of quotes,
a couple of my favorites being:
“True leadership lies in guiding others to success. In ensuring that everyone is performing at their best, doing the work they are pledged to do and doing it well”. Bill Owens
“Whatever you are, be a good one”. Abraham Lincoln
When I told my husband about the article and discussed the plans of the society he snorted and said “you’ll develop too many chefs and not enough cooks”. I had to explain to him that he was thinking about management…not leadership. Managers need people or projects – external things - to succeed as managers. Leadership development is developing things that are independent of function. It is understanding and developing the personal qualities that allow people to excel in many aspects of their lives including their jobs. It is not really about the chefs, the cooks, or even the kitchen. It is about the qualities developed in the internal person that lead to outward results. Developing these internal qualities can lead to a business culture of initiative, problem solving, accountability, and teamwork.
"Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things". Peter Drucker
“Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out”. Stephen Covey
Leadership development is life skill training that can have a tremendous impact on job performance because of the person you can become both in and out of work. The skills developed may manifest in public, working with or representing the communities we are all a part of, as well as on the job, or in private- striving for those personal goals and benchmarks. From a firm perspective, leadership qualities should be fostered and encouraged at every level and position, but the skills should be proactively developed in those individuals that have the greatest potential
to succeed and to continue to grow and to best ensure your organization’s long term success.
Soft skills training is often undervalued because the results are not as visible as many of the more technical types of CPE but it can have a tremendous impact on the individuals capacity to grow as a professional, including the self-learning mindset needed to fully utilize many kinds of more technical training.
“Leaders think and talk about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems”. Brian Tracy
The AKCPA has had leadership development on their radar for some time. Indeed, our structure is designed to allow individuals to step up and exercise these skills and qualities. We had some extremely good feedback regarding our leadership CPE at the last annual meeting with Jennifer Wilson and have been working toward developing our own program to help our membership develop emerging potential future leaders and foster the desire to strive for personal excellence. We also offer a unique opportunity to exercise fledgling skill sets. As you may have read, we are launching our own program this summer with a very limited, select group of emerging CPA’s. Our program is designed to develop the qualities of leadership and personal growth that are critical to success. I encourage you to take a moment to reflect on your staff or fellow employees and encourage those you feel would be successful candidates to apply. To read more about the program click http://www.akcpa.org/about/news/117-akcpa_leadership_academy. We will be notifying the selected applicants by May 8th.
Your chief volunteer,
Bethe Davis
…..and a few more words of wisdom to close
“The single biggest way to impact an organization is to focus on leadership development. There is almost no limit to the potential of an organization that recruits good people, raises them up as leaders and continually develops them.” John Maxwell
“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others”. Jack Welch
“Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.” Tom Peters
Alaska State Board of Accountancy Report
Melody Schneider, Board Liaison
The February meeting of the Board of Public Accountancy, held in Juneau, marked the final meeting for two long-serving members of the Board. Carla Bassler, CPA and Elaine Williamson, CPA completed their second terms at the close of this meeting. Carla and Elaine have served
the Board and the profession in countless ways throughout their tenure, and the heightened value they brought to the Board set the bar for their successors. Take the time to thank these women for their dedication to our profession. Two new CPA members were appointed to fill
their seats, and will begin their terms at the next meeting.
The discussions on Board of Public Accountancy travel as well as the substantial reduction in its surplus continue with the Division and various levels of the State administration and legislature; however, at the time of this meeting no resolution was obtained.
You may now subscribe to the Board of Public Accountancy Listserv via the following link:
http://commerce.alaska.gov/occ/pcpa.cfm. The subscription will provide news and information, meeting notifications, Board meeting agendas, and notices of proposed changes to regulations.
The following investigative cases resulted in public action:
Linda Swensen, case no. 2012-001110, lacking four hours of required Alaska-specific ethics
John Clonen, Jr, case no. 2012-001535, temporary cease-and-desist order issued for practicing as a CPA without an Alaska license
Sarah Espelin, case no. 2012-001532, practicing with a lapsed license
The agreements are posted as a matter of public record. The investigation summaries may not be current (they are not under the management of the Board), but may be viewed via the following link: http://commerce.state.ak.us/occ/pub/CPA_Investigations_Summary.pdf.
Information regarding any consent agreement considered part of the public record may be obtained through the office of Executive Administrator Cori Hondolero:
Atwood Building
550 West 7th Avenue, Ste. 1500
Anchorage, AK 99501-3567
Note was made once again that the 15th floor office area where Cori’s desk is located is not well suited for meetings or consultations due to the fact that there is no privacy (the allotted cubicle is open to a busy public space). This issue was brought to the attention of the Director of the Division of Corporations, Business, and Professional Licensing.
The next meeting will be held in Anchorage on April 25-26, 2013.
SEASON PASS POLICY
The Season Pass offered for $1,350 gives you up to six (6) eight hour seminars for a total of 48 continuing professional education hours.
No Show Policy
Eight (8) credit hours will be deducted from the total hours purchased for all participants that do not show up for a seminar for which they have registered.
The Season Pass is nontransferable and the early registration does not apply.
Registration
Registering for courses may be done at the time you purchase the season pass. Or you may register for a class when you receive the email notification for an individual course. Email notifications are sent out 4 to 6 weeks prior to a class. The CPE Tracker will track the number of course you are allowed to sign up for online. Sign up on line at http://www.akcpa.org/cpe/season_pass.
Cancellation Policy
Cancellations for season pass registrations; received three weeks prior to the course date will not be assessed a cancellation fee. However, cancellations received after the three week cut-off will be billed the cost of the participant manual. Exceptions to the cancellation policy will be handled on an individual basis by the CPE Committee.
NEW CPE POLICIES FOR 2013
EARLY REGISTRATION POLICY
To encourage early registration, the Alaska Society of CPAs would like to offer an additional benefit to its members. Early registrations completed by the deadline of June 1st are entitled to a $50 discount on each 8 hour seminar and $25 discount on each 4 hour course. You may register on line and pay in full for all classes. Course descriptions in a pdf file can also be downloaded from the website under the news section. Note: Early registration helps avoid course cancellations.
LATE REGISTRATION POLICY
For registrations received less than 21 days from the course date will be charged a late fee of $50 for each 8 hour course and $25 for each 4 hour course.
