2015 June AKCPA Newsletter

June 8, 2015

Josh McIntyre concentrating heavily while trying to take a selfie in front of the Washington Monument during the AICPA Spring Council Meeting in Washington D.C.

President's Message

JUNE 2015

May was an exciting month for the AKCPA. This was my first month as president. Crista Burson’s first full month as executive director without Linda Plimpton in the office helping to transition. Also, it was the month of our annual meeting, and the AICPA’s Spring Council meeting. If you were not able to attend the annual meeting, the speech that I gave has been adapted to written format. [Josh's Speech]. I appreciate the good sports that we had in the audience at our annual meeting, Mark Schneiter, John Rodgers, Errol Russell, and many others. You all helped make things a little more lively and entertaining. Also, thanks to everyone who was there and helped make the meeting a success.

One of my first duties as president was making phone calls asking for volunteers for committee chairs and committee members. This process helped me to understand the importance of the level of dedication that many of our members have to our state society and our profession. When you think of some of the achievements that have happened and the ongoing presence of CPAs in a state with such a small and spread out population, it is a pretty amazing accomplishment.

As everyone knows we have a new executive director for the first time in nearly 30 years. The transition has gone very well. What many of you do not know yet is that we have two new committee chair positions open. Our previous committee chairs filled these roles for a combined total of nearly 25 years. Those positions are the Legislative Committee with Lisa Rogers, and the Tax Committee with John Rodgers. Both Lisa and John are committed to a successful transition and are willing and eager to work with the new chairs. We are very fortunate to have had them serve in these roles and also to have them not just leave the positions, but to care enough to be willing to serve as mentors to the next to fill these important positions.

By the time you read this and inquire about the opportunity to work with one of these fantastic individuals, the chair positions may already be filled. Don't let that discourage you. There are many other opportunities to serve and many other experienced society members who want to pass on their knowledge and wisdom while working with new people. Please let Crista or me know if you are interested. If you have a vision for what our state society could or should do I would love to talk with you about how we could turn vision into reality. I am looking forward to June, and to the rest of this year. Every June, the daylight and beauty of our state remind me how great it is to live in Alaska, and at every AKCPA annual meeting, the fun, the enthusiasm, and interactions with others remind me how great it is to be a CPA!

Josh McIntyre

2015 Annual Meeting Highlights

Thank you to the Meetings Committee, Lisa Turner - Chair / Board Liaison, Jacque Briskey, Amy Cooper, Rita De La Torre and Beth Przywojski, for organizing this year's action packed meeting in Anchorage! Attendees participated in CPE that included AICPA Guest, Suzanne Jolicoeur, State Regulations & Legislation, a panel discussion with members of the Legislative Committee and Karen Tarver, Chair of the Alaska State Board of Accountancy, as well a surprise and fun-filled bus tour and progressive dinner with stops at Anchorage Distillery, Pepe's Turnagain House and dessert at the Holy Spirit Center on the hillside. 2015 Annual Meeting Reports

Anchorage Distillery

Dinner at Pepe's Turnagain House

Dessert

Next Gen AKCPA

Logo

On behalf of the Next Generation of AKCPAs, I would like to thank everyone who attended the Meet & Greet event on May 27th in Anchorage. I would also like to thank the Meetings Committee for helping make the event possible and providing us with the opportunity to host it. The event was successful with a little more than 40 in attendance and many who attended expressed interest in the group and what we have to offer. Please continue to watch out for other opportunities to learn more about us as we continue to grow and refine our mission.

If you would like to be added to our mailing list, please email us at nextgenakcpa@gmail.com.

Thank you,

Sarah Villalon

IRS Anchorage Taxpayer Advocate Office

As you may know, Kristia Douts of the Anchorage Taxpayer Advocate Office retired at the end of May 2015 after 38 years with the IRS. I am sure we all have worked with Kristia in some manner over the years. For me, Kristia and the others in the Taxpayer Advocate Office (TAO), represent the one bright shining star at the IRS. I always know that if I call Kristia, my client will be treated fairly and with respect by her office.

With Kristia leaving, Coral Quimby and others will be sharing Kristia’s duties until a new head of the TAO is appointed. The National Office may likely appoint an outsider to come in and fill Kristia’s role. I think it would be in the best interest of all of us Alaska tax professionals to see that head of the Anchorage Taxpayer Advocate Office remain an “Alaskan” and someone that fully understands our economy, population, commercial fishing, the way we do business, and the general trusting culture that we as professional have developed with the TAO office.

To this end, I encourage you to write to both John Tam (Kristia’s boss) and Nina Olsen and tell them how important it is to appoint someone from the local TAO to succeed Kristia given the local knowledge and how differently we do business here in Alaska. You may also want to include Senators Murkowski and Sullivan.

Here are e-mail addresses you may use. I encourage you to forward this on to other professionals in the community that deal a lot with the IRS.

Nina.e.olson@irs.gov

John.Tam@irs.gov

Murkowski – http://www.murkowski.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/emaillisa

Sullivan - http://www.sullivan.senate.gov/content/contact-dan

If you want to cut and paste – here are some words you can use:

I am a tax professional practicing in Anchorage. With Ms. Douts retiring as the head of the Taxpayer Advocate Office here in Anchorage, I recommend that the new head of the TAO be appointed from within the current office. I believe that it is very important that the person who heads the TAO be knowledgeable of Alaska and the unique issues we face, our economy, population, commercial fishing, the way we do business, and the general trusting culture that we as professional have developed over the years with TAO office. I recommend that you follow Ms. Douts’ recommendation as to who her successor should be. Thank you.

Peter Brautigam

AICPA Spring Council

The AICPA governing Council’s spring 2015 meeting took place May 17th - 19th in Washington, DC. CPA profession leaders from each of the 50 states and U.S. territories attended the meeting. The AKCPA's own Amy Cooper participated in a panel discussion, The Profession Through the Eyes of Students and Young Members. Amy is seated third from the left.

This panel of accounting students and young AICPA members discussed the accounting profession and how workforce and marketplace trends, as well as changing expectations of younger generations, are evolving and what the future may hold.

Panelists