April 2014 Newsletter
President's Message
Amy Cooper, CPA
ex·pe·ri·ence
a : direct observation of or participation in events as a basis of knowledge
b : the fact or state of having been affected by or gained knowledge through direct observation or participation
courtesy of Merriam-Webster
We have often heard that life is a series of experiences. But what does that mean? How do you know that you have had an experience? What is the difference between participating in an event and experiencing an event?
Participating is defined by Merriam-Webster as “to be involved with others in doing something; to take part in an activity or event with others.” Based on this description, I can participate if I am working with or am involved in an activity with others. If that is all it takes to participate, I definitely participated in AKCPA events during my time on the board. I attended board meetings and committee meetings. However, if I am giving my time to something other than work or my family, I want to be able to say I did more than participate. I want it to be an experience.
Looking back on my time on the board and particularly this past year as president, I see how much I have gained and how much those with whom I have worked have affected me. Serving others is a more than a time commitment – it is also a commitment of your energy and enthusiasm. But the beauty in serving others and striving for an experience, not just participation points, is that you gain so much more than what you give. You discover that wisdom comes in many forms and help is sometimes found in unexpected places.
I will always be grateful for my time as President of the Society. I can honestly say that this year was participation in a series of events that will forever affect me. I would like to thank my board, who I have listed below, whose support and enthusiasm made my year an incredible experience.
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Bethe Davis, Past President
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Lance Bodeen, President-elect
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Phaedra Connell, Treasurer
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Cathleen Hahn, Secretary
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Jason Bontrager, Director
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Rita DeLaTorre, Director
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Christopher Houde, Director
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Josh McIntyre, Director
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Steve Pence, Director
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Therese Sharp, Director
And of course, I could not have done any of this without our Executive Director, Linda Plimpton.
In closing my last newsletter article, I would like to remind us all to strive for the experience, not just the participation. As Eleanor Roosevelt said, “the purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”
Dear fellow CPAs,
Earlier this year, President Amy Cooper announced the participants of the first AKCPA's Leadership Academy. The attendees of this year's Leadership Academy are working together to create a very exciting new addition to our society with the introduction of the AKCPA Young CPA Network! We are very excited about the networking opportunities, education, and involvement this new group will provide not only to young CPAs in our state, but to accounting students, CPA candidates, and our society as a whole. While more details and enrollment opportunities will be released later this summer, a small introduction presentation will also be presented at this year's annual meeting in Talkeetna. We ask that you stay tuned for more information and please encourage younger CPAs, CPA candidates, and accounting students about the AKCPA's benefits and the fascinating new opportunities in store! We look forward to seeing you in Talkeetna!
Sincerely,
The 2014 AKCPA Learership Academy Participants
Three letters make a difference
You suld never underestimate the value of having three letters behind your name: CPA. In the corpohorate world they can mean the difference between getting a job or not. They can even mean the difference between just getting an interview or not. These letters give automatic credibility to your resume. Is this fair or even a true representation of the talent behind the resume? Possibly not, but that is life. There are a lot of great accountants out there that have not pursued the CPA designation and do the job better than someone with those three letters behind their name. However, when you are looking at two resumes, the one that has the CPA designation will have the edge. These letters also translate directly into dollars. In addition to having an advantage in getting an interview, when the job offer is presented, because you have these three letters you can demand a higher salary.
Corporate Presidents and CEOs love to tout they have a CPA on staff. There are lots of jobs in the accounting world at all levels. Whether in Public Accounting or Industry there is a great demand for those with the CPA designation. By sheer numbers if you counted up the number of accounting staff and CPAs in our company we could be one of the larger CPA firms in Anchorage. About half of the CPAs hold Alaska licensures and the rest hold licenses from other states. The CPAs we have on staff have a range of experience in the Public Accounting arena from a couple of years to 20 years. We are a large enough company that we have five areas in finance. The technical diversity and amount of talent we have is amazing. We are able to pick and choose people based on their specialty, leveraging their knowledge and experience to meet our financial needs. As a corporation, when we look for a position that requires a CPA designation we like to see someone with 5 to 10 years of Public Accounting experience. This person has been through the financial statement process enough to not only know how to draft a statement, but also understand the why. The person who has been in Public Accounting for 5 to 10 years has been through enough cycles and exposed to a wide range of accounting issues that make their experience invaluable. In addition to our accounting staff at the local office, we also have accounting staff, including CPAs, at our subsidiaries throughout the country and their demand for accounting staff is even larger than ours.
For those that are CPAs, we need to maintain the highest standards and integrity. We need to keep the value of having those three letters behind your name something that is sought after and in high demand.
If you are reading this and don’t have those three letters behind you name, let me encourage you to do whatever it takes to make that happen. It might seem painful now to take the time to study and pass the CPA exam and then work in a Public Accounting firm, but in the long run it will give you a lifetime of benefits. Whether you decide to stay in Public Accounting or move out to Industry, there are a lot of accounting jobs out there that need qualified staff like you.
Steve Pence, CPA, CGMA
AKCPA 2014 CPE Catalog
You can print the AKCPA 2014 CPE Catalog by clicking on the link below. It is also available on the society website under the news section in a pdf format for your convenience to print out and plan your CPE for the coming year. http://www.akcpa.org/writable/news/2014_cpe_catalog.pdf
Exclusively available to AKCPA Members are several Value CPE Options.
- Early Registration - Register by June 1st and receive a $50 discount on each 8 hour CPE program and $25 for each 4 hour CPE Program.
- Season Pass (for individuals) - You cannot find a better CPE value than the Season Pass for only $1350. The Season Pass allows you to take up to 48 hours of CPE from June 1st through December 31st.
- Season Tickets (for companies or firms) - The Season Ticket book is only $2500 and can be used to register individual members of your company or firm for ten 8 hour CPE programs from June 1st through December 31st.
The complete CPE Policies and Information can be found on the society website at www.akcpa.org uner the CPE tab.
Webcasts & Webinars
Alaska Society of CPAs has partnered with the following CPE vendors to provide you with a variety of online courses to meet your CPE needs.
Webcasts range from two to eight credit hours and cover technical and nontechnical topics. The online courses comply with NASBA CPE standards.
Please note that the online registration is separate from your AKCPA website login. You must register and sign up through the partner vendors.
Please choose from the following course developers and begin exploring our webcast offerings:
http://www.calcpa.org/Content/26753.aspx
http://cpe.cpacrossings.com/states?partner=akcpa
http://www.cpenow.com/orders/order_form_webc.cfm
