COCPA NewsAccount - November/December 2021

NEWSACCOUNT COLORADO SOCIETY OF CPAs • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

Turning Around the Trends

How to Build an Awesome Office Culture in a Remote Work World PAGE 17

Global Supply Chain Disruptions - Local Impact PAGE 20

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NewsAccount | November/December 2021

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Contents Features 4

Enriching the Pipeline Into the Profession: Turning Around the Trends Amidst declining enrollment in U.S. colleges and universities as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, what can be done to encourage talented students to pursue an accounting degree and to enter the profession? AAA CEO Yvonne Hinson offers her perspective.

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Accountant-Client Privilege: The Colorado CPA’s Duty of Confidentiality Regardless of their role in civil litigation, CPAs should be aware of the accountant-client privilege and their ethical duty of confidentiality.

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How to Build An Awesome Office Culture in a Remote Work World How do you onboard new employees and maintain your organizational culture when some employees have never even met? It’s time to make a plan, and set your organization up for success.

Departments

Global Supply Chain Disruptions - Local Impact Businesses of all sizes are scrambling to find creative workarounds to keep customers happy and contracts fulfilled. What’s going on with the world’s supply chain?

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Advice From the Other Side: Planning to Enjoy Retirement Several now retired CPAs share what they wish they’d known, what surprised them, and their advice for making the most of the transition to retirement.

The September/October issue quoted Michelle Mills on page 12 and incorrectly referenced her as Michelle Miller. We apologize for the error.

Chair Column Classifieds, In Memoriam, Movers & Shakers

Racing for Future Families: One Ultra Story Sometimes it takes a big challenge in your own life to see how significant your actions can be in the lives of others. Danny Manimbo shares how he and his family overcame their challenges to help others.

CORRECTION

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HOLIDAY HOURS The COCPA off ice will close at Noon, November 24, December 23, and December 30, as well as on the following days: Thanksgiving November 25-26 Christmas December 24 New Year’s December 31

November/December 2021 | www.cocpa.org

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CHAIR COLUMN

NEWSACCOUNT

A bimonthly publication of the Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants Vol. 67, No. 4 November/December 2021

Officers

Randy L. Watkins, Chair Angela Roberts, Vice Chair Peter J. Derschang, Treasurer Sharon S. Lassar, Immediate Past Chair Mary E. Medley, Secretary

Directors

Diego J. Baca, James N. Brendel, Jim Gilbert, Mary-Margaret Henke, Amy King, Kelly A. Kozeliski

Editorial Board

Jack Allgood, Steve Corder, Georgia Z. Phillips, Lori Anne Reinwald, Laura J. Theiss, Barbara J. Tedesko, Steve Van Meter, Michael D. West, Charlie Wright

Mary E. Medley, President/CEO, Editor Natalie G. Rooney, Contributing Writer Ariana Cassard, Blue Ocean Ideas, Design NewsAccount (ISSN #10899952) is published bimonthly by the Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants, 7887 E. Belleview Ave., Suite 200, Englewood, CO 80111. NewsAccount is published in January, March, May, July, September, and November and reports information, news, and trends in the accounting profession. The Colorado Society of CPAs assumes no liability for readers’ business decisions in reference to advertisements or other information included in this publication.

Membership dues include a $14.00 one-year subscription to NewsAccount.

Periodical postage paid in Englewood, CO, and additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NewsAccount, Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants 7887 E. Belleview Ave., Suite 200 Englewood, CO 80111 Net press run = 5,609 copies; sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors, and counter sales = 0; paid or requested mail subscription = 5,555; free distribution by mail = 0; free distribution outside the mail = 20; total free distribution = 20; total distribution = 5,575; office use, leftovers, spoiled = 38; returns from news agents = 0; total sum = 5,609; percent paid and/or requested circulation = 99%.

303-773-2877 • 800-523-9082 Fax: 303-773-6344

NewsAccount is available online at www.cocpa.org.

ESG is Here to Stay

BY RANDY L. WATKINS, CPA, CGMA, CCIFP

I

n the last 12 to 18 months, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues have been discussed more and more frequently. However, this isn’t a new topic corporate sustainability reporting has been around for a while now, with the idea gaining traction in the 1970s in the U.S. when the first Earth Day was recognized.

Solidified ESG reporting never really took hold, however, until recently. As we have seen increased interest in this area from all stakeholders over the years, the business case for ESG and the need for integrated reporting has evolved. It is swiftly becoming an expectation rather than an option. Over the past 20 years, there have been many different frameworks and names. Triple bottom line, sustainability, corporate social responsibility, and integrated reporting may ring a few bells.

In June, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) merged to form the Value Reporting Foundation (VRF) and unite their environmental, social, and governance reporting frameworks.

They plan to support business and investor decision-making with three main resources: integrated thinking principles, the integrated reporting framework, and SASB standards.

In August, the Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) released the findings of a study that

examined the most recent publicly available ESG data for S&P 500 companies. It found that 95 percent of the companies made detailed ESG information publicly available.

BDO’s recent survey of public company board members revealed similar efforts more than half of directors (51%) already are promoting sustainability and ESG reporting efforts on their corporate websites, and 30% are via social media, among other avenues. The information the CAQ examined was primarily outside of an SEC submission in a standalone ESG, sustainability, corporate responsibility, or similar report. Of the remaining five percent, most companies published some high-level policy information on their websites. Roughly six percent of S&P 500 companies received assurance from a public company auditing firm over some of their ESG information.

It feels like we’ve reached a point of critical mass; ESG isn’t going away this time.

In his 2021 letter to investors, BlackRock CEO Larry Finke said: “Last year, we wrote that investors were increasingly recognizing that climate risk is investment risk, which would drive a significant reallocation of capital. We also believe that climate transition creates a historic investment opportunity. With the world moving to net zero, BlackRock can best serve our clients by helping them be at the forefront of that transition.”

The U.S. is a bit behind the global ESG investing trend. According to Morningstar, global sustainable mutual fund assets hit a fresh record high in the second quarter. This was led by flows into equities, although the pace of net inflows slowed from the prior quarter.

CPAs make a DIFFERENCE November 11 • Westin Denver Downtown

Funds focused on ESG-related issues saw their combined assets climb to $2.3 trillion for the fifth consecutive quarter of growth, up 12% from the end of March 2021.

Join your colleagues in honoring the 2021 Everyday Heroes and Heroines; welcome newly licensed CPAs into the profession; and celebrate the profession with the Colorado Keys dueling pianos. You request the songs; they play them!

European sustainable funds continue to make up a large majority of net inflows, at $112.4 billion, followed by the United States at $17.6 billion and Asia at $1.2 billion.

THE COCPA AND ESG As there continues to be a more significant push to look beyond profit to value creation and ESG components, your COCPA leadership has been discussing its role in the ESG initiative. One facet of an integrated report is accumulating and analyzing data – an

As there continues to be a more significant push to look beyond profit to value creation and ESG components, your COCPA leadership has been discussing its role in the ESG initiative. area in which our profession excels. As an organization, we want the COCPA to lead by example, especially as companies come to us and ask for guidance.

We’re in the early stages of determining what we can do in this growing area and examining how we respond to climate change, treat our workers, build trust and foster innovation, and manage our supply chain. We’re all excited about where this will take us in the next decade.

2021 EVERYDAY HEROES & HEROINES

Laurie B. Anderson, CPA Kundinger, Corder & Engle, P.C., Retired

Lynne A. Lehr-Buck, CPA Intrascope Accounting Solutions

Caitlyn O’Neil, CPA CBIZ MHM

Ryan Sanger, CPA BDO USA LLP

To attend, go to

cocpa.org/CPAsMakeADiff or call the COCPA office, 303-773-2877/800-523-9082.

We’re looking for volunteers to help us navigate what’s important for the COCPA to measure and report. If you would like to join the newly formed COCPA ESG Working Group, email CEO Mary E. Medley, mary@cocpa.org, and help us shape our future.

Email Randy Watkins at rwatkins@bdo.com.

Jamie J. Kilcoyne, CPA K Financial

SPONSORED BY

STUDENT RECRUITMENT

Enriching the Pipeline Into the Profession: Turning Around the Trends

BY KELLI DAVIS

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midst declining enrollment in U.S. colleges and universities as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, what can be done to encourage talented students to pursue an accounting degree and to enter the profession?

That’s a question to which Yvonne Hinson, CPA, PhD, CMGA, and her colleagues at the American Accounting Association (AAA), Bradenton, Fla., regularly seek answers. Hinson, who is AAA’s chief executive officer, spoke last summer at the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) Virtual 2021 Regional Meeting, where she highlighted recent trends in post-secondary education both generally and as related specifically to accounting.

Touching on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hinson cited a recent National Clearinghouse Research Center study, Current Term Enrollment Estimates, which found that more than 600,000 fewer students enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities in spring 2021 compared to the same (pre-COVID) period in 2020.

Contrary to declining general enrollment trends, Hinson notes that college and university business schools as a whole are seeing relatively stable enrollments, with some even seeing a bit of growth. But the news is not as positive for accounting programs. “We’ve got the same number of people, or even up a bit, coming into colleges of business,” she says. “But what we’re seeing in many cases is double-digit decreases in accounting program enrollments. Business school enrollments are holding fairly strong; accounting enrollments aren’t.”

The decline predates the pandemic. Citing the Wiley Education Services State of the Education Market: Trends and Insights in Key Bachelor’s Disciplines Report, based on the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System 4

NewsAccount | November/December 2021

Source: State of the Education Market: Trends and Insights in Key Bachelor’s Disciplines. Wiley Education Services, wiley.com

(IPEDS), Hinson points out, “You can see that since 2014, accounting programs and the business and management programs are way down here in the decline.”

Hinson cautions that what amounts to a small uptick among historically smaller majors can look artificially large. “Things like logistics, supply chain management, marketing analytics – when we’re talking to department chairs and deans, we’re hearing that these programs are some of the big winners in the business schools.”

Hinson notes that numerous factors may be driving the downward trend among accounting programs. “We are certainly hearing that salaries are an issue – that salaries just have not increased very much in many, many years in public accounting,” she says. “Some of it is work-life balance as well. Even though all of the public accounting firms are talking about work-life balance, [students] are hearing from their friends who graduated two years ago that the work-life balance is not great.”

Also at play, Hinson suggests, may be the strong inclination of today’s graduates toward entrepreneurship. Many were born between 1996 and the mid-2000s and belong to the so-called Gen Z demographic.

While hesitant to generalize, Hinson says, “Gen Z’s tend to be a little more entrepreneurial in nature. They want to know what their path is going to be. They’ll listen to what you tell them, and if their path doesn’t end up being that, they will go do something else. They’re more intent on finding their passions.”

“And, in my opinion, our profession has not done enough to take hold of our reputation as it is seen by younger [generations]. Accountants get a bad rap if you look at Hollywood. We haven’t done a large marketing campaign to talk about what accounting really is. Instead, we rely too much on others. Accounting really is a very exciting field.

Consider forensic accounting for example – flying drones for inventory. People don’t think of that when they think about accounting. We haven’t really told our story well, have we?” she asks.

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TURNING THE TIDE CPA Evolution, a joint initiative between the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) seeks to ensure CPA relevancy into the future. It is transforming the CPA licensure model to recognize the rapidly changing skills and competencies today’s accounting profession requires and will require in the future. It centers around changes to the Uniform CPA Examination, on schedule to launch in January 2024, and changes to accounting curricula.

“I really applaud CPA Evolution,” says Hinson. “This was a great effort between the AICPA and NASBA to take a look at the CPA exam, take a look at the public accounting profession, and address the fact that we have tremendous changes occurring in our profession. When I talk to students, I always say that we used to think of our profession as, ‘We use technology to support us in our profession.’ Now our profession is a technology profession.”

TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM Colleges and universities also have heard the rallying cry for increased technology and have responded accordingly within their curricula.

“They’ve even gone one step further and said, ‘You as a program have to show how you’re supporting your faculty in staying up to date.’”

“Many universities were already headed down this path, because they’re hearing from their accounting advisory boards and recruiters, ‘You need more critical thinking. You need more technology,’” Hinson notes.

She adds that the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB), which provides accreditation, quality assurance, and other services to its member organizations and business schools worldwide, released new accounting standards four years ago which indicate that accounting graduates must have a digital mindset and technological agility.

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STUDENT RECRUITMENT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 “They are requiring accounting programs that are supplementally accredited to show that, and they’ve even gone one step further and said, ‘You as a program have to show how you’re supporting your faculty in staying up to date.’”

LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD WITH RESOURCES Not all accounting programs are progressing equally, Hinson points out. “The level of technological education that is baked into a program changes from program to program. You’ve got some that are heavy, early adopters of integrating technology into almost every single course, while you’ve got others that may be less funded, may not have as deep a fit in their accounting faculty, and they’re going to struggle more” to adopt emerging standards.

“I think one of the most significant, positive aspects of this is the realization that not all programs are in the same place,” she says. “That’s why I think the resources the AAA, AICPA, and NASBA have developed are very important, as well as the resources many firms provide.”

Hinson adds that many firms offer faculty portals that are rich with resources for faculty use.

ARMING STUDENTS WITH SKILLS Beyond technical skills, accounting graduates who emerge as the best and brightest amongst their peers are those who demonstrate technological agility, adaptability, and a passion for lifelong learning, Hinson says.

Young professionals “are going to have to evolve, because our profession is evolving so quickly, whether they stay in public accounting or not. [They] can be assured that their position will completely change, along with the skills needed over time, not only because they’re elevating their career but also because our profession is changing so rapidly.”

Hinson adds critical thinking, strong business acumen, and risk analysis to the list and notes that the emergence of these and other competencies doesn’t diminish the value of “softer skills,” such as communication. “Yes, it’s technical accounting. Yes, it’s critical thinking. Yes, it’s a digital mindset and technological agility. But it’s also some of what I would say are the softer skills. The need for them doesn’t go away just because we add more technology,” she says.

GIVING EMPLOYERS WHAT THEY NEED In turn, colleges and universities must keep a close eye on the profession’s evolution to ensure that their graduates enter the profession armed with relevant knowledge and skills beyond the traditional technical competencies. Institutions “need to understand as a program where their students are going, who is hiring them, and what they’re looking for,” Hinson says.

When institutions assess the strength of their program, “It’s really about assessing the environment in which your students are going to be operating and looking at your curriculum. As educators and program and department chairs, we use our curriculum to differentiate us from the school down the road. We must figure out where we want that differentiation to be.”

“From an employer standpoint, in this digital world, the biggest thing I would be looking for [in new accounting graduates] is that digital mindset and that technological agility. Because chances are, if they learn Tableau, for instance, it’s not the fact that they used it in particular. They may not use Tableau when they join the firm. It’s the fact that they used something and understand the concepts.”

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THE COMPETITION At the time of the most recent AICPA Trends Report, 2019 Trends in the Supply of Accounting Graduates and the Demand for Public Accounting Recruits, non-accounting graduates comprised 31 percent of all new-graduate hires in public accounting. That’s an increase of 11 percentage points from 2016 to 2018. The survey also found that overall, CPA firms hired about 11 percent fewer accounting graduates in 2018 than in 2016, and nearly 30 percent fewer than in 2014.

Hinson doesn’t see that trend stopping. “I think that will continue, because [CPA firms’] business has broadened. They need a lot of different skill sets, not just accounting. We [at university accounting programs] can help ourselves by having more technology in our accounting curriculum, but firms have a lot of different needs and so they’re hiring for that,” she says.

“At the same time,” she continues, “deans and department chairs tell me they’re not getting the best of the best now. It used to be that the top students in the college of business went into accounting. Now they’re not. They’re going into business analytics, logistics and supply chain management, and marketing analytics.”

KEEP ON KEEPING TABS As post-secondary business schools continue working to attract the best and brightest into their accounting programs and to provide graduates who are well equipped for success in an ever-changing profession, Hinson suggests continually seeking the insights of those who’ve already come through their programs. “It’s always useful to understand longitudinally what your graduates are doing,” she says.

“It’s hard to keep track of them once they graduate, but understanding what they are going to do, longer term, can help you better plan your curriculum for the long term. At the end of the day, we’re all dedicated to ensuring the profession is attractive to students and relevant into the future.”

Yvonne Hinson holds a PhD in accounting from the University of Tennessee – Knoxville’s Haslam College of Business. She has held faculty and leadership positions at Wake Forest University and served as Vice President – Academic in Residence for the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA) before assuming her current role with the AAA in September 2020.

Kelli Davis is the COCPA Executive Assistant to Mary E. Medley, CEO, and Rebecca Campbell, COO/CLO. She interviewed Dr. Hinson to write this article.

Reaching Future CPAs Sooner Exposing students at an earlier age to the many opportunities afforded by a career in accounting is among the keys to fueling the accounting pipeline – the supply of young, talented students who wish to pursue an accounting degree and join the profession.

Yvonne Hinson, CPA, PhD, CMGA, chief executive officer of the American Accounting Association (AAA), Bradenton, Fla., told attendees of the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) Virtual 2021 Regional Meeting that positive exposure to the profession as a viable career choice can make a difference even as early as middle school.

She noted the observations of high school teachers, who report that the career assessments middle school students complete discourage their interest in later pursuing high school accounting classes. “Think about what comes to mind when someone says, ‘1940s accountant,’” Hinson says. “Those were the factors that they were loading on.

She noted the observations of high school teachers, who report that the career assessments middle school students complete discourage their interest in later pursuing high school accounting classes.

“We found that many of the career assessments looked to the U.S. Department of Labor and Statistics and its definitions of professions. We were able to get the definition of accounting changed – not as much as we would have liked, but fairly significantly.”

Another possibility for fueling the pipeline lies in the possible inclusion of accounting within the purview of science, technology, engineering, and math – disciplines collectively known as “STEM.” In June, U.S. House Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) and Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) introduced the bipartisan Accounting STEM Pursuit Act, which would amend the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grant program for students through grade 12 who belong to underrepresented groups in the accounting profession. The legislation essentially would classify accounting as a STEM profession. The bill aims to promote career awareness of accounting as part of a well-rounded STEM educational experience and would encourage diversity in the future accounting workforce.

The bill references a “clear and logical integration between accounting and technology. As the profession continues to advance its use of technology to serve the public interest, accounting professionals, including CPAs, are technological leaders who manage and analyze big data, ensure data security, manage cybersecurity risk, and work alongside information technology professionals.”

The AICPA supports the legislation, noting that it “is an important step in recognizing the clear and logical connection between accounting and technology.” In late October, CPAs across the country carried the message to the U.S. Congress through virtual visits with state delegation members, including COCPA outreach to Colorado delegation members.

So how would the inclusion of accounting as a STEM discipline impact the student pipeline?

“Actually it does quite a bit,” Hinson told NASBA regional meeting attendees. “There is a lot of grant funding at K-12 levels that you can access only if you’re a part of STEM. “If we have funding at the K-12 levels, we can really ramp up those accounting courses,” Hinson noted. “We can do more marketing around those accounting courses. We can catch students earlier, because if we don’t catch them before they get to college, our chances of getting them (as accounting majors) drop dramatically.”

“It also helps us increase our access to diverse students,” she continued. “There is a lot going on with STEM in general and trying to reach diverse populations. We would benefit from that as well, as I think we would all agree that we need more diversity in our profession.”

November/December 2021 | www.cocpa.org

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STUDENT RECRUITMENT

One Student’s Journey

BY KELLI DAVIS

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f there is a typical path into the accounting profession, Andrew Higgins, a recent graduate of the University of Colorado (CU) Leeds School of Business, didn’t take it. But he’s pretty happy with where he’s landed.

Higgins, who holds both his BSBA and Master’s of Science in Accounting from CU, went on to pass the CPA exam this past July. He is working as an audit associate at Deloitte LLP in Denver. “I continue to learn more every day,” he says, noting that it’s impossible to say where his advanced degree and CPA license will take him.

Higgins didn’t begin his college journey with an eye on an accounting degree. As a first year student, he studied political science and philosophy within CU’s College of Arts and Sciences. He spent the summer that followed working as an intern at his father Scott’s manufacturing company, and his perspective began to shift. “[My dad] was a CPA who worked for many years in public accounting,” he says. “He attributed a lot of his success to his knowledge of accounting.”

The younger Higgins became interested in business and decided to transfer to Leeds in time for his sophomore year. “I started my degree in finance and was set on doing that until my father passed away the summer of my sophomore year,” he says. “Following that, I was on a mission to change my degree to accounting, pass the CPA exam, and start at a Big Four accounting firm.”

Among Higgins’s strategies to accomplish that mission – in tandem with earning a double major in accounting and his original Leeds choice, finance – was enrollment in the Leeds School’s Bachelor’s Accelerated Master’s (BAM) Program. “I was lucky enough to start taking graduate-level classes during the senior year of my undergraduate degree,” he says, which provided a head start on studying for the CPA exam.

By July 2021, just over two months past graduation from his master’s program, Higgins had passed all four sections. “There were multiple reasons why I was able to stay motivated to seek the CPA license,” he says. “I was really driven to knock out the exams before I headed into a full-time position with Deloitte. I had met people who told me it really helps if you pass the exam before you start [working] so you can focus your time on growing as an associate.”

Alongside the hard work and dedication that are obvious in such a pursuit, Higgins credits CU’s accounting curriculum and its teaching staff with helping to prepare him for the exam. He says many of his professors were “incredible influences on me to pursue this career,” and he’s grateful for their support. “The classes I took at CU covered many of the topics I saw on all four exams.”

Beyond technical knowledge, “My education really helped me develop strong critical thinking skills. Learning about accounting and taking the CPA exam require you to understand a wide array of topics, and it takes time,” Higgins says.

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NewsAccount | November/December 2021

“My education really helped me develop strong critical thinking skills.”

Equally valuable are a positive attitude and an open mind. “Throughout school and in beginning my career, I am constantly learning from teachers and coworkers. It’s truly important to be positive and respectful when working with others. It’s helped me when communicating with teammates and clients.”

Not only is Higgins following in his dad’s career path, but also he clearly listened when the elder Higgins shared some good advice for living. “My dad always taught me to judge my wealth based on the knowledge I accumulate and the quality of the relationships in my life.

In going into accounting, I have gained knowledge and improved my relationships – which has made me wealthy,” he says.

Higgins is only looking forward and notes that accounting, with its many avenues and opportunities, offers an incredible career path for anyone who seeks a deep understanding of business. “I believe that the CPA credential will be a great asset throughout my career. Having the license itself demonstrates that you have in-depth knowledge about many important areas of accounting.”

Just a few months into his tenure with Deloitte, “I learn new things every day, and it has been truly rewarding,” he says. We know this young CPA candidate has countless rewards ahead of him.

ON THE HILL

Congressional Visits Focus on Four Issues Every other year, in collaboration with the AICPA, CPAs from across the U.S. travel to Washington, D.C. to participate in “Hill Visits” with Congressional members and staff. This year, the visits are virtual, and the conversations are focused on the following key issues. For more information, email Mary E. Medley, CEO, mary@cocpa.org.

URGENT NEED FOR COVID-19 TAX PENALTY RELIEF During the height of the pandemic, many taxpayers and their advisers were struggling with health issues, new childcare arrangements, secure remote work arrangements, and many other financial problems. Practitioners from all over the country have shared stories of multiple CPAs in an office being sick with COVID-19 and of clients being too ill to provide necessary tax documents. Concurrently, the IRS was, and still is, struggling with its own challenges exacerbated by the pandemic, which has resulted in a historically high volume of unanswered telephone calls to its phone assisters and a historically low level of service. Regardless, the IRS continues to send penalty assessments, oftentimes erroneous assessments, that not only create a sense of despair as taxpayers are unable to communicate with the IRS but also do not encourage voluntary compliance.

H.R. 5155, the Taxpayer Protection and Penalty Act of 2021, would require the IRS to provide taxpayers with targeted relief from both the underpayment of estimated tax penalty and the late payment penalty for the 2020 tax year if: • Taxpayers paid at least 70 percent of the tax due for the current year, or • Taxpayers paid 70 percent (90 percent if adjusted gross income exceeds $150,000) of the amount of tax shown on their U.S. income tax return for the prior year.

THE ASK: In the House: To cosponsor H.R.5155. In the Senate: Encourage Senators to introduce similar legislation or to cosponsor and support similar legislation when introduced.

TIMELY ISSUANCE OF IRS DISASTER RELIEF The IRS’s authority to grant deadline extensions, outlined in section 7508A, is limited to taxpayers affected by federally declared disasters. State governors will issue official disaster declarations promptly, but often

presidential disaster declarations by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in those same regions are not declared for days, or sometimes weeks, after the state declaration. This process delays the IRS’s ability to provide federal tax relief to impacted businesses and disaster victims.

Since the majority of state-declared disasters become federally declared disasters, this time lag is particularly distressing. Taxpayers can request waivers of penalties on a caseby-case basis; however, this process causes the taxpayer, tax preparer, and the IRS to expend valuable time and resources during times of a disaster.

of the information contained in the federal financial statements and better understands how current and/or future policy may affect the nation’s long-term fiscal health.

H.R. 3574/ S. 2748, The Filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act, would provide the IRS the authority to postpone federal tax deadlines by reason of state-declared disasters or emergencies. Similar to the IRS’s authority to postpone certain deadlines in the event of a presidentially declared disaster, Congress would extend that limited authority to state-declared disasters and states of emergency. The Governor would declare a disaster or state of emergency and simultaneously submit a written notification to the IRS, specifically including the designated counties. The IRS, upon receipt of notification, would have the authority to grant filing relief to individuals and businesses located in the specified counties.

RECOGNIZING ACCOUNTING AS A STEM PROFESSION H.R. 3855, the Accounting STEM Pursuit Act of 2021 essentially recognizes that accounting is a STEM field. The bill adds “activities to promote the development, implementation, and strengthening of programs to teach accounting” to the list of allowable uses of grant funding under the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grant program (Title IV, part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act) with a focus on increasing access to high-quality accounting courses for students through grade 12 who are members of groups underrepresented in accounting careers.

THE ASK: In the House: To cosponsor H.R. 3574. In the Senate: To cosponsor S. 2748.

FISCAL STATE OF THE NATION CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS The consolidated federal financial statements and the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) audit report provide valuable information regarding the financial condition of the federal government that should be considered by policymakers while making key decisions. Congress, however, often focuses on the short-term view provided by the annual federal budget. Enacting this resolution will ensure Congress is made aware

H.Con.Res. 44 and S.Con.Res. 11, The Fiscal State of the Nation, would require the Comptroller General to present the Financial Report of the United States Government to an annual joint hearing of the House and Senate Budget Committees.

THE ASK: In the House and Senate: Cosponsor the respective concurrent resolution. Vote for the concurrent resolution when it comes to the floor.

Updating accounting to be designated as a STEM curriculum under the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) will directly benefit international students considering post- graduate work in the United States.

Officially recognizing accounting as a STEM curriculum also will signal to the public markets that the accounting profession is ready and qualified to assess the technological world business are in today.

THE ASK: In the House: To cosponsor H.R. 3855. In the Senate: Consider introducing this legislation or cosponsoring it when it is introduced.

November/December 2021 | www.cocpa.org

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ADVOCACY

COCPA Launches Small Donor Committee Fund

BY NATALIE ROONEY

The COCPA has launched CPA 1904, a Small Donor Committee (SDC) fund. It offers a new opportunity for COCPA members to donate to state legislative candidates in smaller, more affordable amounts and get involved in Colorado’s political process.

T

he use of 1904 is a nod to the year the COCPA was founded.

THE BASICS OF CAMPAIGN DONATIONS Many professional associations like the COCPA use Political Action Committees (PACs) to support political candidates. Both individuals and corporations can donate to PACs. The existing CPA/PAC, the CPA Political Action Committee, is a voluntary, nonprofit, unincorporated committee that enables CPAs to be involved in the political process.

Voluntary financial contributions to the CPA/PAC support its efforts to elect state legislative candidates (of both parties) who generally agree with and support the public interest objectives of the CPA profession. It is not affiliated with any political party or any other national or state political action committee.

The CPA/PAC Board determines the candidates and incumbents to be supported financially, with input from others involved in Colorado politics and legislative counsel. Contribute to CPA/PAC and support members of and candidates for the Colorado General Assembly who support good business.

“The COCPA focuses on Colorado’s House and Senate races,” says Pam Feely, CPA. “We’re supporting individuals and issues that impact our world which might include licensing or other topics important to our clients and employers. We donate to and back candidates who support where we stand and what we do.”

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Feely has played an active role in Colorado’s legislative process for nearly three decades.

In 2016, she wrote A Candidate’s Guide to Campaign Finance in Colorado (available on Amazon). She helps state legislators understand how different pieces of proposed legislation might impact Colorado’s business community.

THE NEW SMALL DONOR COMMITTEE FUND The COCPA’s new SDC will bring new opportunities for smaller donations to support legislative candidates making it more affordable for younger professionals to become involved.

According to the Colorado Secretary of State, individuals who are U.S. citizens can contribute no more than $50 per calendar year to an SDC. That $50 may not sound like it would carry much weight, but Feely says the money adds up as it is pooled with other small donations.

Per Colorado law, PACs can currently donate up to $200 to a state House or Senate candidate for a primary election and $200 for a general election – a total of $400 per election cycle. The totals haven’t changed since 2006.

Small Donor Committees in Colorado have more latitude and can donate to state House and Senate candidates in an amount up to $2,675 for a primary election and $2,675 for a general election – a total of $5,350 per election cycle.

THE CPA VOICE Feely says it’s important for CPAs to get to know legislators and be involved in the political process, but often CPAs don’t know how to get started. Part of that can be contributing to a PAC or SDC.

NewsAccount | November/December 2021

“When it comes time to support a candidate, there are more dollars,” Feely says. “It lets candidates know we’re really supporting them.”

Feely says CPAs bring an important perspective that legislators need to hear. “The profession needs to follow what’s happening, and we want to have our voice heard. If your legislators know who you are, they will listen to your input and respect your opinion.”

One example is Colorado’s sunset review for CPA licensure. Periodically, COCPA representatives go before the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies to make a recommendation as to whether CPAs should continue to be licensed. The COCPA’s position is yes, if you’re wondering. Feely says it’s important to protect the CPA license.

“We advocate for maintaining licensure,” she explains. “We believe our license protects the public in a time when there is a national push to eliminate professional licenses.”

Over the years, Feely has testified and provided input on issues such as the Family Leave Act. In 2020, many COCPA members stepped up to educate legislators on the problems House Bill 1420 would present if tax breaks for the business community were rolled back.

It’s these varied, complicated issues that need the CPA voice to help legislators understand the impact of their decisions.

“We don’t often think about what’s going on at the Statehouse,” Feely says. “What happens at the legislature impacts all of us, and we have the voice that can make it better for all. We need to be involved. We want good, quality people representing us across the state. We want good policy, and this is how we can accomplish that.”

If you would like to learn more and donate to the Small Donor Fund, visit: cocpa.org/1904.

LEADERSHIP

Grit, Resilience, and People Power On Sept. 2, COCPA volunteer leaders and staff came together, in person, for the 2021 Leadership Summit, “The Power of People: Finding Resilience and Grit Out of Challenge.” The day was filled with nuggets for consideration, reflection, and implementation, thanks to COCPA Board member Amy King and the speakers she helped to arrange. Here are a few highlights.

• Colorado ranks 25th in the U.S. for diversity of population with Arapahoe County the most diverse. Every Colorado county but Adams County - predominantly Hispanic - is majority white.

• By 2025, 75% of the U.S. workforce will be Millenial and Gen Z. These generations place high value on flexible work.

• Consider “work/life harmony” rather than work/life balance or work/life integration.

• Key Things a Leader Needs to Be Able to Say to Build Trust: I don’t know. I may be wrong. I need some help.

• We are at the beginning of the end of “how we’ve always done it.”

• Do “stay interviews” rather than “exit interviews.”

• Great leaders during change are architects of meaning - sharing belief and why it matters.

• Often, we are at our best when uncertain. Hope lives in uncertainty. Joy, excitement, novelty, opportunity, loss, love, and learning present themselves most clearly. How shall we greet them?

• Practice KEEP: Knowledge. Energy.

Enthusiasm. Passion.

Kathy Brents

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ESG CASE STUDY

Integrated Reporting: How One State Society Led Its Members by Example

BY NATALIE ROONEY

As environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues continue to evolve as a top priority for investors, organizations need to determine what to disclose not only so that risks are outlined but also so that business opportunities are highlighted. How can organizations accomplish this and have a greater impact on stakeholder engagement? The answer lies in integrated reporting.

LEADING BY EXAMPLE Integrated reporting demonstrates the link between an organization’s strategy, governance, and financial performance and the social, environmental, and economic context within which it operates. By reinforcing these connections, integrated reporting can help organizations make more sustainable decisions and enable investors and other stakeholders to understand how the organization is performing.

Transforming Business

2021 Integrated Re

port

Jenny Norris, CPA, CGMA, CAE, vice president – finance at the Indiana CPA Society (INCPAS), has spearheaded an effort to help members learn more about ESG and integrated reporting as both grow in importance to the accounting profession. Her case study subject? The state society itself.

“I already was on board with the importance of ESG and integrated reporting before I was on staff at INCPAS,” Norris says. “Our former CEO, Gary Bolinger, had been speaking about emerging issues and integrated reporting to our leadership and at our events.

We decided that as an organization, we wanted to learn and talk more about it, and then walk the talk.

If we were going to promote it, we needed to understand it ourselves.”

When integrated reporting was in its earliest days nearly a decade ago, the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) released sample frameworks and asked for feedback. A committee of INCPAS members responded to the discussion papers and immediately saw the value in them.

The next step was to start on the integrated report for INCPAS itself. “A lot of people are intimidated by the concept of discussing non-financial things and putting a value to them,” Norris says. “We wanted to show it’s important and not as scary as you think - and we could use an organization with which our staff and members already were familiar.”

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NewsAccount | November/December 2021

To provide a clear and coherent vision of INCPAS’ ability to create value in the short, mediu m and long term

The call for volunteers to develop an integrated report for INCPAS was overwhelmingly positive. “We were amazed at the number of people who were jumping at the chance to work on it and take their experience back to their firms,” Norris said. “People thought it was a great way to get a grasp on the process. The IIRC framework laid out everything we needed to do.

Because we all were familiar with the inner workings of the Society, everyone could connect the dots.”

A committee served as Norris’s sounding board as the team worked through the content elements of an integrated report. A broad outline was eventually winnowed down to include the critical content that would generate the final report.

An integrated report includes seven guiding principles and eight content elements. The seven guiding principles underlie the preparation and presentation

of an integrated report, informing its content and how information is presented.

• Strategic focus and future orientation • Connectivity of information • Stakeholder relationships • Materiality • Conciseness • Reliability and completeness • Consistency and comparability THE CONTENT ELEMENTS INCLUDE: • Organizational overview and external environment • Governance • Business model • Risks and opportunities • Strategy and resource allocation • Performance • Outlook • Basis of preparation and presentation

“The idea behind integrated reporting is thinking and connecting the dots among mission, strategy, what you’re actually doing, governance structure, and the capital resources to accomplish everything.”

“The framework is broad, so you start big and narrow down as you work through the process,” Norris says. “The idea behind integrated reporting is thinking and connecting the dots among mission, strategy, what you’re actually doing, governance structure, and the capital resources to accomplish everything.”

INFORMATION FOR THE FUTURE Once the Society’s first report was finished, Norris says it became a tool in ways the organization hadn’t originally considered. Each year, the report is given to incoming board members. “Everyone understands some of what the organization does, but this tool helps volunteer leaders see how everything we do fits together.”

The report even was used to help guide a redesign of the INCPAS website. “Anytime we’re working on a project, we refer to the integrated report,” Norris says. “It was a long document to prepare, but its value has endured. We update it every year.”

The creation of an evergreen report was exactly what the team had hoped for, and the report continues to evolve. As newer technology becomes available, Norris says she wants to incorporate statistical

projects and data analysis so the report becomes real time, reflecting the most up to date information rather than information from the previous year.

Inspired by the Society’s integrated report, a member who is a professor turned integrated reporting into a class project. INCPAS members and staff met with students to help structure the project, offer guidance on how to get started, and answer questions. At the end of the semester, INCPAS staff and members attended when students presented what they had learned about the university. The students also presented to the university’s board of trustees and at the INCPAS Educator Conference. “They did a great job,” Norris said. “It was cool to hear them talk about what they’d learned about the university and tie in value creation.”

STARTING SMALL Norris says taking on integrated reporting doesn’t have to be overwhelming. The important thing is just getting started. “Don’t do it all at once,” she advises. “You might not have all the documents you need because there are a lot of pieces and parts. Use your integrated report as a strategic planning tool. Work with your board, organization, company, or client to make sure you have a good strategic plan and governance model. Understand how you work. Look at risks and opportunities.”

Norris admits it was a little controversial when the Society first decided to respond to the framework. “People were worried about naming risks,” she says. “Our biggest risks are tied to membership and educational revenue. What if we took a position that angered members, and they quit, or CPE was disrupted? But you have to address these issues.”

Norris encountered this risk aversion first-hand while she was helping prepare an integrated report for another nonprofit organization. “The CFO was shocked that the report was so blunt about the risks facing the organization, but risks are what they are. You have to talk about the big stuff. What if your entire staff quits? Imagine the knowledge drain. Your organization is still there, but the institutional knowledge is gone.”

In the end, Norris says it actually can be reassuring to acknowledge the risks and address how to mitigate them. “It’s an opportunity to do things differently, and do what is needed to minimize risk.”

ESG and its components such as integrated reporting aren’t going away, Norris says. “Stakeholders and investors want to know more about organizations, not just the dollars and cents. They want to know what you’re doing that’s good for society, and integrated reporting offers the perfect tool to do that.”

Norris suggests keeping ESG and integrated reporting on your radar to stay ahead of the issues involved, especially as countries around the world continue to mandate it.

“Start taking steps to get ready,” she says. “You can’t just pop up tomorrow and have it done. It took months to do our first report.

I had to reach out to a lot of people because there wasn’t a lot of guidance for a professional organization like ours. Find your way by finding examples that work. It’s a good exercise to validate what you’re doing as an organization.”

To view the INCPAS 2021 integrated report, visit incpas.org/docs/default-source/utility/integrated-report.pdf.

November/December 2021 | www.cocpa.org

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PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

Accountant-Client Privilege: The Colorado CPA’s Duty of Confidentiality

BY JAY C. JACOBSON, ESQ. The following article is not intended to provide legal advice or to substitute for the legal analysis of a legal problem or issue. Instead, it is for general educational and discussion purposes only. The reader is encouraged to seek legal representation and advice from an attorney concerning specific legal problems or issues.

M

ost certified public accountants will find themselves involved in the civil litigation process in some capacity from time to time during their careers. They often are fact witnesses, consulting experts, trial experts, recipients of subpoenas (for depositions, trial testimony, or documents), parties, and taxpayer representatives. Regardless of their role in civil litigation, CPAs should be aware of the accountant-client privilege and their ethical duty of confidentiality. This article discusses the protections and obligations of Colorado’s accountant client-privilege and a CPA’s ethical duty regarding confidentiality.

ACTIONS IN COLORADO STATE COURT The accountant-client privilege is an evidentiary privilege belonging to a CPA’s client that generally prohibits a CPA from disclosing information and documents that the CPA acquired during a professional engagement.

The accountant-client privilege does not exist in common law. United States v. Arthur Young & Co., 465 U.S. 805, 817 (1984). Instead, the privilege exists under the Colorado Rules of Evidence and state statutes.

The Colorado Rules of Evidence provide the following concerning privileges: Except as otherwise required by the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Colorado, statutes of the State of Colorado, rules prescribed by the Supreme Court of the State of Colorado pursuant to constitutional authority, or by the principles of the common law as they may be interpreted by the courts of the State of Colorado in light of reason and experience, no person has a privilege to: (1) Refuse to be a witness; or (2) Refuse to disclose any matter; or (3) Refuse to produce any object or writing; or (4) Prevent another from being a witness or disclosing any matter or producing any object or writing. Colo. R. Evid. 501 (emphasis added).

Thus, the Rules of Evidence recognize evidentiary privileges created by statute.

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Colorado’s accountant-client privilege has been created by statute and has existed since the legislature first codified it in 1929.

Colorado St. Bd. of Accountancy v. Zaveral Boosalis Raisch, 960 P.2d 102, 105 (Colo. 1998).

In pertinent part, the privilege is set forth in the following statute: (1) There are particular relations in which it is the policy of the law to encourage confidence and to preserve it inviolate; therefore, a person shall not be examined as a witness in the following cases: ... (f)(I) A certified public accountant shall not be examined without the consent of his or her client as to any communication made by the client to him or her in person or through the media of books of account and financial records or his or her advice, reports, or working papers given or made thereon in the course of professional employment; nor shall a secretary, stenographer, clerk, or assistant of a certified public accountant be examined without the consent of the client concerned concerning any fact, the knowledge of which he or she has acquired in such capacity.

C.R.S. § 13-90-107(1)( f)(I).

The policy of the privilege is to encourage “full and frank communication between certified public accountants and their clients so that professional advice may be given on the basis of complete information, free from the consequences or the apprehension of disclosure.” Neusteter v. District Court, 675 P.2d

NewsAccount | November/December 2021

1, 5 (Colo. 1984). The privilege is an exception to the general duty to testify, so it is strictly and narrowly construed. Colorado St. Bd. of Accountancy, 960 P.2d at 106.

A CPA may raise the accountant-client privilege on the client’s behalf pending the client’s decision whether to waive the privilege. Id. at 104 n.2. However, the privilege belongs to the client only, not the CPA. Id.; see Weck v.

District Court, 408 P.2d 987, 992 (Colo. 1965).

This is a broad privilege. It applies to all communication made by the client to the CPA in person or through records, advice, reports, or work papers in the course of the professional engagement. Thus, if a CPA is called upon to produce records or testify in civil litigation pending in Colorado state courts, whether by interview, affidavit, deposition, or trial, the CPA should object and not disclose any privileged information, without client consent.

ACTIONS IN FEDERAL COURT There is no federal accountant-client privilege, and privileges based on state law are not recognized in federal question cases.

See Couch v. United States, 409 U.S. 322, 335 (1973). However, the Federal Rules of Evidence provide the following: The common law - as interpreted by United States courts in the light of reason and experience - governs a claim of privilege unless any of the following provides otherwise: • the United States Constitution; • a federal statute; or • rules prescribed by the Supreme Court.

But in a civil case, state law governs privilege regarding a claim or defense for which state law supplies the rule of decision. Fed. R. Evid. 501 (emphasis added).

Thus, if a case is pending in federal court based on diversity of jurisdiction and the complaint alleges state law causes of action, state law will govern the privileges regarding the state law claims/defenses. Id. WAIVER OF THE PRIVILEGE Like the attorney-client privilege, the accountant-client privilege can be inadvertently waived in certain circumstances.

Under Colorado law, the claimant of a privilege bears the burden of establishing the applicability of the privilege. People v.

District Court, 743 P.2d 432, 435 (Colo. 1987).

However, the burden of establishing the waiver of a privilege rests with the party seeking to overcome the privilege. People v.

Madera, 112 P.3d 688, 690 (Colo. 2005).

privileged and what circumstances may result in a possible unintentional waiver of the privilege.

DEATH OF THE CLIENT The accountant-client privilege should survive the death of the client. First, both the privilege statute and the accounting regulations require “consent” of the client and do not provide an exception for disclosure if the client is deceased. C.R.S. § 13-90- 107(1) ( f)(I); 3 C.C.R § 705-1:1.9(H). Moreover, the analogous attorney-client privilege survives the death of the client. Swindler & Berlin v.

United States, 524 U.S. 399, 405 (1998). Thus, if a CPA is requested to produce records or to testify in civil litigation with respect to a deceased client, the CPA has a valid objection

If the client does not take steps to maintain the privileged and confidential nature of the information communicated to the CPA, a court could determine that the client has inadvertently waived the privilege.

If the client does not take steps to maintain the privileged and confidential nature of the information communicated to the CPA, a court could determine that the client has inadvertently waived the privilege. For example (without limitation), the presence of someone outside the accountant-client relationship (i.e., non-client) during a meeting at which otherwise privileged communications are discussed could give rise to an argument that the privilege has been waived as to the communications during that meeting.

Thus, under best practices, a CPA should take steps to help the client understand what communications and information are

and should not disclose any privileged information without the requisite consent.

ETHICAL DUTY OF CONFIDENTIALITY The Colorado State Board of Accountancy has promulgated regulations addressing confidential client information. Rules of a state administrative agency or board like the State Board of Accountancy generally have the force and effect of law if they are legally promulgated. See Cornerstone Partners v.

Industrial Claim Appeals Office of the State of Colo., 830 P.2d 1148 (Colo. Ct. App. 1992).

In pertinent part, the State Board of Accountancy’s regulations provide the following under the Rules of Professional Conduct:

A licensee shall not without the specific consent of their client or employer disclose or use for his own benefit any personal or business related information pertaining to a client or the employer of the licensee, which information is obtained from any source or developed by the licensee in the course of employment or performing professional services. Such information is deemed confidential. 3 C.C.R. § 705-1:1.9(H)(1). ...

These regulations provide a list of allowable disclosures. The following is a list of instances where disclosure can be made: a. If information is disclosed with the specific consent of the client or the employer of the licensee. b. If information is disclosed pursuant to a subpoena or summons issued with respect to the licensee or an entity with which the licensee is associated, where the subpoena or summons has been determined to be legally enforceable; or if information is disclosed to permit a licensee’s compliance with applicable laws and government rules and regulations. c. If information is disclosed as part of the public record in a civil lawsuit (legal action) between the licensee and the client or employer. d. If information is disclosed in the course of a peer review of a licensee’s professional services. Professional practice reviewers shall not disclose any confidential client information which comes to their attention from licensees in carrying out their responsibilities, except that they may furnish such information CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

November/December 2021 | www.cocpa.org

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PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 in response to a formal request from an investigative or disciplinary body of the kind referred to in paragraph (e) of this Rule 1.9(H)(2). e. If information is disclosed as part of the process of initiating a complaint with, or responding to an inquiry made by, the Board and the disclosure to the Board is in accordance with statutes regarding accountant-client privilege or the client waives the privilege; or if information is disclosed as part of the process of initiating a complaint with or responding to an investigative or disciplinary body established by law or formally recognized by the Board.

Members of the Board shall not disclose or use for their own benefit any confidential client information that comes to their attention from licensees in disciplinary proceedings or otherwise in carrying out their responsibilities.

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f. If information is disclosed pursuant to a signed nondisclosure agreement as part of an acquisition or merger or proposed acquisition or merger of an accounting practice.

3 C.C.R. § 705-1:1.9(H)(2).

Like the accountant-client privilege discussed above, the definition of confidential client information cited above is broad. It encompasses any personal or business-related information pertaining to a client obtained from “any source” or developed by the CPA in the course of employment or performing professional services. Thus, if a CPA is called upon to produce records or to testify in civil litigation, the CPA has an obligation under the Rules of Professional Conduct to object and not disclose any confidential client information, without client consent.

IN CONCLUSION The accountant-client privilege differs from a CPA’s duty of confidentiality. The accountant-client privilege is an evidentiary

NewsAccount | November/December 2021

privilege belonging to a CPA’s client that generally prohibits a CPA from providing testimony and information about the client in connection with a legal proceeding, whereas the duty of confidentiality is an ethical obligation of the CPA under the State Board of Accountancy’s Rules of Professional Conduct. The client may consent to the disclosure of privileged and confidential information. However, if the client is inclined to consent, best practices would dictate that the consent be memorialized in writing and signed by the client, with the scope of the consent clearly spelled out. CPAs also should take steps to help the client understand what communications and information are privileged and what circumstances may result in a possible waiver of the privilege, so the client does not cause an inadvertent waiver of the privilege.

Jay C. Jacobson, Esq., is Special Counsel with Dewhirst & Dolven, LLC, Denver, Colo. Contact him at JJacobson@dewhirstdolven.com.

WORKPLACE STRATEGIES

How to Build an Awesome Office Culture in a Remote Work World

BY NATALIE ROONEY

As some employees are returning to work in the office, others remain fully remote or are using a hybrid model. How do you onboard new employees and maintain your organizational culture when some employees have never even met? It’s time to make a plan, and set your organization up for success.

S

tatistics are revealing the shape of the new work world. Sixty-six percent of organizations surveyed by Gartner in late August continue to delay reopening their offices because of COVID-19 variants. The number of employee office visits in September reached just 31 percent of their pre-pandemic level, down from 33% in late August, according to Kastle Systems.

Before the pandemic even hit, a 2019 Gartner study revealed that, by 2030, the demand for remote work will increase by 30 percent due to Gen Z workers’ stronger preference for remote work. Forty-nine percent of human resources leaders plan to hire more fully remote workers.

The bottom line: Hybrid offices are the new normal. Now it’s up to leaders to determine what that new normal means for their organizations.

“There is a lot of confusion,” says Brenda Hampel, managing partner of Connect the Dots consulting (connectthedotsconsulting.com) in Denver. “Companies are trying to find the right thing. Leaders really do want to meet people where they are and address their issues, but leaders represent the organization, so those two things coming together can be quite challenging.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 18 November/December 2021 | www.cocpa.org

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WORKPLACE STRATEGIES CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17 OFFICE ARRANGEMENTS AROUND COLORADO Chris West, CPA, CEO of Dalby Wendland, has been busy coordinating the movements of more than 100 employees divided among the firm’s three offices in Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs, and Montrose. His team has been mostly back in the office since June 2020 with some exceptions: six individuals who work 100 percent remotely. Nearly every employee has the ability to work from home as needed. For new hires straight out of college, West says the policy is to bring them into the office so they can learn, grow, and connect with their colleagues.

“Face-to-face interactions and being in the presence of clients and the team are part of our culture,” West says. “The upheaval of the past 20 months has been hard. It has been tough to keep our culture

“It’s hard for them to grow and learn while working from home, not being connected physically to train and mentor them, so that’s why we created a policy for new hires to spend initial weeks working in the office.” and morale at a high level, but we’ve been able to adapt to a changing and evolving workforce, which is about more flexibility and offering remote work schedules.”

Denver Auditor Tim O’Brien, CPA, oversees a staff of 75 working in a hybrid format. Even though his staff is 100 percent vaccinated, everyone is easing back into office life. In September, staff were rotating, spending one day a week in the office, with an option for more days as long as they check in and stay under the capacity numbers set by the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment (CDPHE). He foresees a hybrid work environment going forward.

O’Brien says retaining culture in a hybrid work environment has been tricky, but despite the ongoing challenges of remote work, the auditor’s office is carrying out the mission the voters have asked the auditor to do – providing transparency in government for the people and stakeholders. “I get a lot of positive feedback from the public about that,” he says.

SUCCESSFULLY ONBOARDING IN A REMOTE WORLD How do you bring new people into your culture when the population of the office is geographically dispersed?

West says the firm learned during its three months of work from home that it was very difficult for the younger, newly hired staff members. “It’s hard for them to grow and learn while working from home, not being connected physically to train and mentor them, so that’s why we created a policy for new hires to spend initial weeks working in the office.”

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One employee, hired in February 2021, is based out of state and has yet to set foot in Colorado. “Consistent video calls, touching base regarding work, and getting her involved in team calls has been key,” West says.

O’Brien says while the auditor’s office originally froze hiring, he has been in the process of onboarding six new individuals. “Those are the people I’m concerned about. They just graduated from college in an unusual time; they probably didn’t get to have a graduation ceremony; and now they’re in an office where on any given day only half a dozen people might be there. Meeting over the screen is a difficult way to create and build a culture.”

Hampel says a recent client poll revealed remote work is changing how organizations approach onboarding.

Prior to the pandemic, 80 percent of organizations said they had a formal onboarding process. Of that number, 60 percent said the onboarding period lasts for the new employee’s first 90 days. Forty percent indicated their onboarding period time frame has changed during and post-pandemic.

“The pandemic taught us that we need to formalize our onboarding process and experience,” one participant commented. Another participant shared, “We are finding our virtual onboarding created the same engagement if not higher. This surprised us.”

Ninety percent of respondents say they are using onboarding technology such as Workday or Sage People. Another 90 percent say their organization has new hires spend at least one day and up to one week in the office for orientation. Fifty percent offer self-paced learning using technology, 30 percent hand out a binder of hard copy materials, and 30 percent offer a buddy/mentor program.

Connect the Dots has a six-step process for onboarding that was recently updated to accommodate work-from-home dynamics.

1. Clearly define your objectives and desired outcomes for the new hire, hiring managers, and the organization.

2. Define your audiences.

3. Purposefully integrate your culture. Identify and communicate what is unique about it and create opportunities to connect.

4. Define roles for the new hire/leader, hiring manager, human resources mentor/buddy.

5. Build your experience with purpose and define key touch points.

6. Measure impact and success against objectives, and create vehicles for two-way dialogue and feedback.

Hampel emphasizes that while the key components of successfully onboarding new hires haven’t changed, the way they’re delivered has.

“Building connections with colleagues and your organization’s culture needs to be done even more purposefully in a remote environment,” she says. “New hires who have never been to the office or attended a team event take longer to understand your cultural norms, business operations, and how you really evaluate performance.”

To facilitate getting new hires up to speed virtually, Hampel suggests: • Create a specific onboarding plan for each new hire.

• Share the plan with key stakeholders so that there is buy-in and support.

• Include interactions with the hiring manager, peers, direct reports, and other cross-functional partners.

• Provide an agenda template to set the stage for productive discussions.

• Be explicit about the culture by describing the organization’s “culture map” using questions like: - Do meetings start on time or a little late?

- How much do people work remotely?

- How polished must presentations be?

- Does the culture value tons of data or more gut-level analyses?

- To what extent is it acceptable to speak up or question authority?

virtual platform, preferably with video, identify a couple of hours, once or twice a week when you are available for anyone to “drop-in” and talk about a specific topic or just chat.

4. One-on-Ones Have your one-on-one meetings gotten pushed because of the urgency of dealing with the pandemic? Team members are ready to reconnect with their leaders on broader topics, including their own challenges and progress. Establish a 30-minute weekly one-on-one cadence with direct reports to: • Align on priorities

- What kinds of behaviors are rewarded?

• Provide constructive and actionable feedback

- What are the pitfalls to avoid?

• Use open-ended questions to understand how each team member is doing

“Remember, it takes 12 to 18 months for a new hire to integrate fully into a new role and organization,” Hampel says. “Your structured onboarding program may only be 90 days, so make sure you set new hires up for success by integrating these critical elements.”

Dalby Wendland created a policy handbook for remote work which West says has helped clarify expectations and create an “in the office” feel even though an employee might be working from home. The policy covers how to minimize distractions and also addresses childcare. “Those are sometimes tough conversations,” West admits. “But we want them to wake up and get dressed as if they are coming to the office so they can feel productive and efficient. We keep in touch via Zoom and phone calls while monitoring output and the results of work being performed.”

KEEPING EVERYONE CONNECTED As organizations move from merely trying to make it through remote work to realizing this is a permanent feature of office life, it’s important to keep everyone connected – new hires and veteran employees alike.

Hampel offers four ideas to keep you and your team engaged in an ongoing hybrid work format: 1. Daily Check-ins and Check-outs Check-in at the beginning of the day for 5-10 minutes with your direct team to share: • Focus of the day • How are you doing? Use a code, such as: green/yellow/red or high/medium/low Check-out at the end of the day for 5-10 minutes to share: • Updates relevant to the full team • One Word Exercise: Using one word or short phrase, describe your day. Each person responds; leaders go last.

2. Working Hang-out Leverage your video platform to set up two to three hours daily when team members are working “together” virtually. The platform is simply open while team members work. The idea is to recreate the office environment: • Allows for more casual and dynamic interaction • Conversations and sharing of ideas in real-time • Opportunity to problem-solve and make progress more quickly

• Share your support and encouragement Source: Connect the Dots Consulting O’Brien suggests getting creative and reimagining how teams interact.

Instead of the department’s traditional in-office sandwich-making contest, now his staff is playing Fantasy Football. “People are actually participating at a higher level than they would have two years ago, but instead of meeting at a bar for the draft, someone volunteers his or her garage. It’s important to really engage your staff, not just from the top down, but from the bottom up as well. Getting everyone’s thoughts is so important.”

A MESSAGE FOR LEADERS If an organization’s leaders aren’t engaging and listening to their teams, be prepared for continued fallout, and not just because people are leaving. “That’s actually your least expensive fallout,” Hampel cautions. “The bigger issue will be from your population seeing you as not getting it, not being in touch, and at some point, being irrelevant.”

If an organization’s leaders aren’t engaging and listening to their teams, be prepared for continued fallout, and not just because people are leaving.

Leaders, if you’re feeling overwhelmed, it’s OK. Just as you meet your employees where they are, meet yourself wherever you are. Take a breath, and consider your plan to move in whatever direction you need. “If your gap is that you’re not spending enough time on people issues, what’s your schedule to make a purposeful plan?” Hampel asks.

“Check in with yourself, be accountable to yourself, and build a structure in your world to move from point A to point B. Don’t beat yourself up because you’re not doing X or Y. If you want to be doing more Y, ask how you can do that. If you can’t, let it go.”

3. Office Hours We all remember going to our professors during office hours to get our answers to questions and a little extra tutoring. Again, using your November/December 2021 | www.cocpa.org

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BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE

Global Supply Chain Disruptions: Local Impact

BY NATALIE ROONEY

While grocery store shortages and longer online shipping times are inconvenient on a personal level, businesses of all sizes are scrambling to find creative workarounds to keep customers happy and contracts fulfilled. What’s going on with the world’s supply chain?

WORLDWIDE SUPPLY CHAIN WOES When you take a close look at the world’s supply chain, you realize how amazing it is, delivering almost anything you could imagine from anywhere in the world in just a few days. If you live in an urban area, you can even have something on your doorstep within the hour.

But for almost two years now, basic products are sometimes unavailable, creating a cycle of high demand on short supply items and an ongoing logistical nightmare.

In late September, there were a record-breaking 65 ships waiting to unload at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, further delaying items from reaching shelves (Source: FreightWaves) thanks to increased container shipments and limited warehouse space.

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Dr. Zac Rogers, Assistant Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management at Colorado State University, says there isn’t one single thing creating the supply chain issues.

Rather, it’s a perfect storm of the pandemic, the labor shortage, and natural disasters contributing to the problem.

A HISTORIC SHIFT Historically, supply chains have operated through just-in-time (JIT) management.

“Everything happens right at the last second, and the system is built on these models of efficiency,” Rogers says. “But it only works with certain assumptions. Can we get things from China to the U.S. in this amount of time? Can a boat come right into the port and cost a certain amount? Is there availability for trucking? Everything is designed to be in perfect synchronicity.”

NewsAccount | November/December 2021

Unfortunately, COVID lockdowns impacted that synchronicity. Companies built up gigantic inventories putting stress on warehouses, ports, and trucks. On the other side, nothing was arriving from China. “Everything slowed down, and then we were on hold in terms of inventory coming across the ocean,” Rogers says. “And then suddenly, the spigot was turned back on, and we had to catch up quickly.”

Meanwhile, 2020 was the biggest commerce year in history. Every year has topped the year prior for 15 years, and 2020 was originally forecast to grow 15 percent. “In the year we couldn’t go out anywhere, commerce grew 40 percent,” Rogers says. “In six months, we skipped forward by three years in terms of e-commerce growth.”

That type of demand means a lot of trucks are needed to deliver things to our homes, and warehouse space is located in more urban settings than the historical rural settings just so we can get next day and same day delivery. “We didn’t have nearly enough of any of that,” Rogers explains.

Traffic at the port of Los Angeles was up 40 percent in 2020 and is up 70 percent for 2021. When boats arrive, they sit for nine days or longer before they even start to get unloaded. “Supply chains are built with the assumption that I can place an order and in 30 – 35 days, it shows up at my facility from China,” he says. “Now, that timeframe is closer to 60 days if you can even get the items on a boat.”

The long shipping and waiting times are accompanied by price increases. The price for a 40-foot container across the water is normally $1,500 - $2,000. This fall, China to the West Coast is $20,000. Costs to the East Coast are $22,000.

Once ships make it to port and sit, they’re hard to unload because warehouse space is nearly 100 percent occupied. In July, Union Pacific Railroad halted all shipments of international containers from West Coast ports to its Global IV terminal in Chicago for up to a week to help the railroad clear a container backlog.

Large companies like Home Depot, Walmart, clothing retailer American Eagle, and Costco have all announced plans to purchase or rent their own container ships to do an end run around the shipping issue.

On the trucking side, there is currently a 25 percent tender rejection rate. That means for every four potential loads on a truck, the truck has space for three loads. “That forces carriers to make decisions,” Rogers says. “I can carry something low in value, like clothes or toys, or other commodities where the volume to value ratio is higher, like iPhones, shoes, or computers, I’m going to do that every single time. I’m going to do what makes me the most money.”

Packaging is another challenge. Transportation for food is hard to come by because some agricultural commodities have such a low margin that you wouldn’t put them on a truck.

Basically, supply chains aren’t designed to have to catch up. They’re designed to have a swift, even flow. “So, when you start and stop, that can be really difficult,” Rogers said.

FEELING THE CRUNCH IN COLORADO On March 9, 2020, Stephanie Dries, CPA,

Basically, supply chains aren’t designed to have to catch up.

They’re designed to have a swift, even flow. and her husband, Mike, who is an executive chef, closed on their purchase of Colorado Catering which specializes in catering for weddings and corporate events.

Bad timing would be an understatement.

Immediately, their phone rang off the hook with calls from customers cancelling orders.

“Within a week, the $2.5 million in sales that were booked when we bought the company were gone,” Stephanie says. “The bank told me to close the doors and walk away before my mortgage started.”

The Drieses decided to persevere. The survival process hasn’t been pretty, Stephanie says. Two of the biggest issues facing the company have been labor and food supply, and the two are closely intertwined.

Thanks to Colorado Catering’s volume, food deliveries used to arrive every day. Now, deliveries arrive just once a week; their purchasing volume is lower, and there’s no one to load and unload trucks at warehouses.

Less frequent deliveries mean requiring customers to provide numbers for an event at least five or six days prior, which is too far out, according to Stephanie. “Customers don’t know their final numbers that far in advance.” The delivery issue also means running to the store more often which in turn leads to paying higher prices, and often needed items aren’t in stock.

Scheduled deliveries may or may not show up, and prices are volatile. As a result, prices in new contracts are good for only 30 days, which may still present challenges. “We’ve had to start using the phrase ‘upon availability,’” Stephanie says. “Things that were simple and normal to get aren’t now. It’s hard to run a business like this.”

Stephanie explains that even though the company received federal relief funds to keep the doors open, they have to be spent on payroll. “But I have people who don’t want

to work. And my vendors don’t have ways to provide me with the products I need. The challenges we had in 2020 have changed. We are turning down orders because we don’t have staff. It’s frustrating. I want to take on the business, but circumstances don’t let us.”

Rising food costs are another factor. “When we purchased the company, sales were 80 percent corporate and 20 percent social,” Stephanie says. “During the pandemic, corporate events went down the drain, and we moved to more social events. We have three times more wedding contracts than the company has ever had.” While that may sound great, weddings require contracts 6 to 12 months in advance. A bride who signed her contract in 2020 is now receiving everything at 2020 prices. But, “... labor and food in 2021 aren’t what they were in 2020,” Stephanie explains. Fortunately, the Dreises are at the tail end of their 2020 contracts with old pricing.

FINDING CREATIVE SOLUTIONS Despite the frustrations, Stephanie and Mike have found creative ways to meet their customers’ needs and to continue to deliver exceptional events.

Mike, the former executive chef at the Oceanaire Seafood Room, is using his skills and culinary knowledge to make sure clients receive a great experience regardless of supply issues. It just takes more time and effort to make it happen.

Out-of-stock items change weekly. In August and September, hurricanes meant a dearth of bottled water. Mike even tried Costco and the local grocery stores which meant paying double the price. “We have to make sure the customers have it though.” He works to find solutions that are cost effective for the customer while not losing money for the business.

Chicken has represented one of Mike’s most challenging menu items this past year.

Chicken wings? Forget about it. Not even grocery stores are able to keep them in stock. Chickens are still being produced, but there’s no labor to break them down. If he can find chicken breasts, they’re likely not in the size he needs. “Producers are going to sell in sizes that their biggest retailers want, which is six ounces,” Mike says. “If I’ve priced a meal with a four-ounce chicken breast, that’s two ounces I have to eat. That’s when I look for ways to work around the issue.”

Seafood is also problematic. According to a September Wall Street Journal article, there CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

November/December 2021 | www.cocpa.org

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BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21 were 26 million pounds of seafood sitting bayside – the equivalent of 550 truckloads.

Clams, lobsters, mussels – all harvested and ready to go, but everything just sat because there was no labor or transportation to get it where it needed to go.

Beef is available, but it’s double the price right now. “A year ago, a teres major cut was $5 a pound. Now it’s $8,” Mike says. “It all just costs more.”

Mike and Stephanie continue to find solutions. “We have a good crew. We’ve trimmed down our menu from 38 dinner options to eight. Everyone in the industry is facing the same problems. You look at what ingredients you can get at prices that won’t skyrocket.

We’re finding the best things we can and working with what we’ve got. We’ve done our homework and are being smarter about what we’re purchasing.”

Overall, Mike and Stephanie say the company is doing well. “From last year to this year, it’s hard to feel disappointed,” Mike says. “I’d rather have these problems compared to last year when we had our business

stripped away. Now, it’s up to us to figure out how to make it work.”

THE GREAT OPPORTUNITY The assumptions that so many businesses were built on are now gone, Rogers says.

“COVID accelerated changes that were already happening: more online purchases, more things going digital, and more diversified portfolios for sourcing. We were moving toward all of that. COVID just threw fuel on the fire.”

Rogers says one good thing to come out of all of this is that investments are being made to build capacity and diversify supply chains.

“I love a good outsource and involving all countries, but now there’s a push toward a more portfolio approach,” he says. “We won’t get out of China, but we’ll go somewhere else, as well - China plus one.”

“What companies are looking for now is flexibility,” Rogers says. “Disruptions are going to continue to happen. COVID was just a particularly big one. Companies need to be quick on their feet more than ever. We’re just starting to understand that we need the

capacity to do it. Just in time has been the gospel for 30 years. Now there’s a movement away from it. We see Toyota outselling GM because Toyota ignored just in time. Grocery stores, which are normally just in time zero inventory, are holding pandemic pallets of paper towels, hand sanitizer, and bottled water. It’s no longer just in time inventory.

It’s just in case.”

For CPAs and businesses, this all means being able to roll with the punches that are going to keep coming. “We’re going to be in an unsettled time for a couple of years until we find our new groove. What that is and the new status quo are still a couple of years away.”

If that sounds scary, Rogers reminds that times of upheaval are also times of great opportunity. “There are opportunities for companies to open up new markets, try new things, and learn lessons. Those lessons have been hard, frustrating, and expensive, but many companies are coming out stronger on the other side.”

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HUMAN RESOURCES

Advice from an Autistic: Part One

BY CAITLYN O’NEIL, CPA

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am your everyday millennial who happens to be Autistic. According to the Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network, Autism is “a pervasive developmental disability that impacts communication, movement, and sensory processing.”

I have come to realize many people have misconceptions about what Autism is and how to support Autistic individuals. In this first of several articles, I share my thoughts.

ADVICE #1 FOR PARENTS If you suspect something is different with your child, please have him or her assessed.

Yes, Autism assessment, like other disability assessments, can be expensive and involve long wait times. However, the benefit of a diagnosis greatly outweighs the cost. By receiving my diagnosis, I could receive accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It requires employers, schools, business, etc. to “provide reasonable accommodations for those with a record of having a substantial impairment that significantly limits or restricts a major life activity.” Without a doubt, accommodations allowed me to be successful in both school and work. Without an official diagnosis, entities are not obligated to provide accommodations. Your child will still be autistic, without access to the accommodations to make it easier for them to succeed.

ADVICE #2 FOR PARENTS If your child receives a diagnosis, please tell her or him.

I understand the fear that your child will be “labeled.” However, regardless of whether you inform your child about the diagnosis, labelling will happen. Before receiving my diagnosis, I thought something was fundamentally wrong with me. I was bullied, excluded, and overall ostracized. My diagnosis enabled me to realize that nothing was wrong with me. I just have a different processing system. Basically, I am a Mac in a world of PC’s. Also it gave me self-awareness so I can navigate the world.

ADVICE #3 Always assume competence.

I am incredibly fortunate to have had parents, teachers, mentors, etc. who believed that despite my disability, I could achieve anything.

Does this mean that I can do anything? The answer is no. Due to lack of coordination, I am unable to ride a bike. However, I passed all four parts of the CPA exam on my first attempt. One of my college professors encouraged me to study abroad. Despite my misgivings, I applied.

Not only did I survive, but also I blossomed. Studying abroad gave me more confidence, cultural awareness, and greater understanding of what I can accomplish. Let the Autistic person tell you what her or his strengths and weaknesses are. Also, even if your child is nonverbal, it does not mean he or she does not understand you. I have heard numerous stories of nonverbal Autistic individuals overhearing their parents discussing them as “low-functioning.” This obviously hurt them. Low expectations produce a self-fulfilling prophecy.

So You Want to Talk About Race REVIEW BY CAITLYN O’NEIL, CPA

I

t seems that every day more companies and organizations finally are tackling the initiative to become culturally competent. A perfect starting point is Ijeoma Olou’s book, So You Want to Talk About Race (Real Press, © 2018).

Ijeoma is a black woman whose mother is white. She describes first-hand accounts of acts of racism. The book is broken into chapters that explain exactly how subsets of racism work. Even as a CPA working in public accounting, I easily found the two hours it took me to read it.

Each chapter describes a particular aspect of racism such as micro-aggressions, cultural appropriation, and more.

Ijeoma explains how racism is structural and not the common view that racism is just individual acts. This can be hard to hear, especially for those who grew up with the idea that everything was equal. However, she uses statistics and personal experiences to disprove this.

The author expands on this by explaining how individuals can help stop it. By empowering us to help stop racism, we can become better allies to all. I believe that this is the most important part.

Identifying racism is not enough. One must use her or his individual power to help make the world a more inclusive place. Overall, I recommend this book for people who want to become allies in the battle against racism.

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HUMAN RESOURCES CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23 ADVICE #4 FOR BUSINESSES Follow the ADA. This should be obvious, considering the ADA was passed over thirty years ago. But not all employers readily adopt the requirements. Here are some accommodation examples: • Ability to work from home • Working a reduced/flexible schedule • Working in a quiet space in the office • Giving individuals copies of the PowerPoint before training presentations Before receiving my accommodations, I struggled with working fulltime. A previous human resources professional was ignorant about how to give reasonable accommodations. When I asked about the possibility of receiving a simple accommodation, she told me I would need to jump through a lot of hoops. At the time, I decided accommodations were not worth it. However, when that HR professional left the firm, her successor was knowledgeable about the ADA and made requesting for accommodations easy. Since then, I have flourished in my work life.

ADVICE #5 FOR BUSINESSES Do not tokenize Autistic people or disabled people.

My firm views me as a valuable member of the team rather than a quota filler.It has embraced my skills and weaknesses and continues to enhance my professional and personal abilities. I am not treated

differently from anyone else. Especially in the world of social media, nondisabled people are celebrated for mundane things such as taking a disabled person to prom, letting a disabled person join their organization, or overall treating disabled people with the inherent dignity we all deserve. Normalize and treat everyone respectfully. It’s that simple.

ADVICE #6 FOR AUTISTIC AND DISABLED PEOPLE Be open about your diagnosis with others.

Being open with others has allowed me to become a more confident and successful person. I understand the stigma of Autism and disability that one may not want to disclose during the interviewing process.

However, once hired, I encourage you to be open with your peers, mentors, etc. I spent so much energy hiding a key aspect of myself, I hardly had energy to do my actual job. After I became open about my disability, I was able to be myself and focus on my work.

Finally, just listen to Autistic people. We know what we need, and we can give you first hand insight on how to support us.

Caitlyn O’Neil, CPA, MT, is a senior tax associate with CBIZ & Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C., Denver. She shared her story, “Not a Puzzle Piece: Being Autistic in the Work World,” as part of the COCPA See Me: Stories of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion webcast series, July 28, 2021. She has been named a COCPA 2021 Everyday Heroine Award for her community service work. Contact her at coneil@cbiz.com.

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SERVING THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY

Joining Forces to Help Small Businesses Succeed

BY NATALIE ROONEY

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uring the heart of the pandemic last year, Mile High United Way realized many small businesses needed extra help with everything from applying for financial assistance and negotiating with their landlords to adapting their business practices. The organization repurposed its United for Business program to specifically strengthen under-resourced communities and connect small businesses with much-needed professional advice.

United Way reached out to the COCPA Financial Literacy Committee, hoping to pair CPAs with these small businesses which typically have five or fewer employees and $500,000 or less in revenue a year.

A PASSION PROJECT Felicia Clement, CPA, CGMA, MBA, founder of Strategic Revenew Solutions, PLLC, and a member of the COCPA committee, had been looking for just such an opportunity.

“One of my passions has been ensuring small businesses are set up for success from the ground level,” she says. “I want to use big company ideas to guide small businesses after what we saw during the pandemic when lots of people had a small business, but they weren’t really running as a business.”

United for Business matched Clement with Natasha Baldivia, founder and owner of OTM Skin (OTMSkin.com) in Thornton, Colo.

Baldivia launched the company in June 2020, which she describes as not ideal. “But it had already been in the works for several years, and it just had to be done.”

OTM Skin provides skincare and tattoo removal services. In addition to providing tattoo removal to the general public, Baldivia also takes part in a community tattoo removal program through the Colorado Department of Corrections serving ex-gang members and former human trafficking survivors.

“I was behind in my quarterly taxes,” Baldivia says. “I take care of my own QuickBooks and

was having a hard time allocating the different grant money I received in 2020.” She knew she needed a CPA’s assistance to determine how to correctly input the information.

While Clement says Baldivia had a good foundation for starting her business, her most pressing needs related to understanding QuickBooks and state and local taxes (SALT). “She wasn’t sure what to do from the city and state perspective,” Clement says.

“She had sought help earlier but wasn’t getting the level of service she expected.”

Clement spent time familiarizing herself with OTM Skin’s financials before making and documenting needed changes and filing the appropriate SALT returns.

One important factor Clement emphasizes with all small businesses is explaining what

Even though the project is technically finished, Baldivia says she plans to work with a CPA several times a year going forward.

“It’s a lot for me to keep my books and run my business,” she says. “I’m human; I make mistakes. I like the assurance of someone looking things over.”

“And she still has me as a resource,” Clement adds.

“It was a great experience,” Baldivia says.

“Felicia has been patient and helpful. She even called the IRS for me. That was going above and beyond. I’m so thankful to her.”

MORE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED Clement says working with Baldivia and the United for Business program has been a great way to help a small business that might not normally have access to or be able to afford a CPA’s services. “The program allows people to experience working with real accountants versus thinking of us as rulesbased robots. We’re your partners who help you achieve success and longevity.”

“As a small business owner myself, I’m learning that there needs to be space for the tactical issues and the strategic issues.” she’s doing and why. “I tell them it’s not that you need to know how to do it, but you need to hear me say it enough times so eventually it clicks, and you understand why it’s important. As a small business owner myself, I’m learning that there needs to be space for the tactical issues and the strategic issues.

I help educate them and make it easier for them to access and understand information when they need it.”

The end result for Baldivia has been that she is caught up on her state and local taxes. Clement provided a spreadsheet so that Baldivia can now enter in her information easily.

The COCPA Financial Literacy Committee is continuing to partner with United Way for Business, Denver, to work with microsmall businesses needing assistance with creating financial statements and preparing for loan applications. If you’re willing to help, alongside the committee and United Way for Business volunteers for about 10 to 15 hours per client project, contact Committee Chair Kate Ferreira at kate.b.ferreira@gmail.com or COCPA committee liaison Stacy Svendsen, stacy@cocpa.org.

November/December 2021 | www.cocpa.org

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MEMBER PROFILE

Racing for Future Families: One Ultra Story

BY NATALIE ROONEY

Sometimes it takes a big challenge in your own life to see how significant your actions can be in the lives of others.

their family. They began discussing how they could help other families in such difficult circumstances.

anny Manimbo, and his wife, Brittany, struggled through four years of infertility treatments, only to be met with disappointment again and again. “It was a dark, hard time,” Manimbo says. For years, they avoided baby showers, family gather-

IVF is not only emotionally and physically challenging, but also every round is prohibitively expensive.

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ings, and other such events. “It was just so painful, and we felt so alone.”

After five rounds of in vitro fertilization (IVF), the Manimbos were blessed with twins, Everly and Porter. But they never forgot how emotional and challenging it was to build

NewsAccount | November/December 2021

In 2020, the Colorado General Assembly passed the Colorado Family Building Act, which was supposed to require all insurance

companies to cover the cost of IVF beginning in 2022.

However, a federal ruling left thousands of Colorado families without the coverage the law promised. Ultimately, smaller businesses in the Affordable Care Act’s small group market and those who are self-employed through the individual market will not have coverage for IVF in 2022. The Colorado Insurance Commissioner remains hopeful the Biden Administration will reverse the federal decision and require insurance companies to cover IVF for all. Nonetheless, 2023 is the earliest Colorado could see coverage for small businesses and the self-employed. Eighteen other states were able to mandate infertility coverage before the federal regulatory requirement became effective.

The Manimbos decided they wanted to raise awareness and eliminate the social stigmas associated with infertility along with raising funds to support RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association.

RUNNING FOR A CAUSE Manimbo, who had done very little running prior to

the pandemic, decided stay-at-home orders offered a great time to take on new challenges – distance running among them. His progress was rapid, and when races opened up again, he began participating in marathons and 50-mile races. He started to wonder how his running could help raise awareness for others who were struggling with infertility. “I wanted to raise money by doing something really crazy,” Manimbo says. “A lot of people do fundraisers, but I didn’t want it to be something someone could just scroll by in the newsfeed.”

To put himself out there, Manimbo signed up for the Maah Daah Hey Trail Run – a 100-mile ultra-marathon through the rugged Badlands in North Dakota.

Manimbo and Brittany decided their fundraising efforts would go to RESOLVE, the national infertility association dedicated to helping people challenged in their family building journey.

Manimbo says money raised for RESOLVE goes toward supporting its mission of helping families afford the CONTINUED ON PAGE 28 November/December 2021 | www.cocpa.org

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MEMBER PROFILE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27 expensive fertility treatments that aren’t covered by insurance. “We considered raising money and donating directly to a couple, but the grander mission is making sure people have access to IVF - and that it’s affordable and covered by insurance.”

Manimbo reached out to RESOLVE to let it know he was training for the Maah Daah Hey run, and he wanted to raise money for the organization. RESOLVE readily agreed, helping the Manimbos set up a fundraising website.

Manimbo says RESOLVE helped him gamify his plan. “At first, I signed up for the marathon and thought if I raised $5,000, I’d do the 50-mile race, and so on. I wanted to incentivize people to donate more and make it fun and interactive.” Through the website, the Manimbos shared their story with friends and family who hadn’t fully understood the challenges and emotions they’d faced over the years.

RACING ACROSS THE DESERT In the early morning hours of July 31, Manimbo began his 107.3-mile point-topoint race across the Badlands in Teddy Roosevelt National Park. While the elevation wasn’t all that high, he did more than 12,000 feet of climbing over the duration of the race. “I had done a lot of training at elevation in Fairplay, Colo.,” Manimbo says. “I was ready for that.” But the biggest hurdle, which caused most people to drop out of the race, was the heat. “It was brutal,” Manimbo says.

Despite the 6am start time, temperatures soared quickly to more than 90 degrees Fahrenheit and stayed there until sundown.

Aid stations were spread across the course but carried minimal supplies such as Gatorade and bananas. Racers were required to have a support group with them for additional provisions such as extra clothes, food, and hydration. Brittany and the twins were Manimbo’s support during the day; another racer’s support team helped him out at night while the twins slept.

There were two consecutive stretches – 14.5 miles each – without any aid, and they happened to occur during the worst heat of the day. Manimbo consumed everything from peanut butter and jelly, Oreo cookies, watermelon, and bone broth to easy-to-digest calories and hydration while staving off cramping.

The race was tough – both physically and mentally – and was filled with highs and lows.

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“Dropping out was never really an option. I had the backing of my supporters and the charity and my family there cheering me on.

Manimbo had run in several ultramarathons prior to the Maah Daah Hey and felt he had the mental aspect down. “You develop some mental resolve,” he says. “Dropping out was never really an option. I had the backing of my supporters and the charity and my family there cheering me on. I thought about what it would look like if I quit. I knew any physical pain I might face during the race was nothing compared to the emotional and psychological pain couples face who struggle through infertility. I was on a mission to finish this thing.” His focus became getting through the day and surviving the relentless sun. “I knew if I could make it to sundown, I’d be OK.” As night fell, Manimbo got his second wind, but he still experienced challenges. “The hardest part for me was the point right before the sun came up,” he recalls. “It’s pitch black, you’re all alone, and you’ve been moving continuously since six o’clock the morning before when the race began. You’re traveling along in this little space of your head lamp. You start to hallucinate a bit.” He says he even felt himself falling asleep while he was still moving. “My body wanted to be asleep. I was shutting down. Metallica and coffee got me through.”

At the next aid station he encountered, Manimbo learned he was in third place. That extra motivation spurred him on. “I was 80 miles in and all of the sudden, off I went to catch the two guys ahead of me.”

At mile 98, Manimbo found himself running faster than at any other point in the race. He caught up with the second-place runner. “It’s amazing what your body is capable of doing if your mind doesn’t let it quit,” he marvels.

Competitors had a 36-hour time limit to finish; Manimbo came in just under 28 hours in second place. As he approached the finish line, he could see Brittany, Everly, and Porter waiting for him. “It’s special to cross any finish line, but this was different,” he says.

“I didn’t even start running until Covid-19.

While I ran, I reflected on the training, the journey, supporting RESOLVE, and how we almost never had kids. To see Brittany and

NewsAccount | November/December 2021

the twins at the finish line, I realized we’d come full circle. We were victims who are now able to promote awareness and reduce the stigmas surrounding infertility.”

Manimbo says he’s not an emotional person, but he found himself moved to tears at the finish.

TOUCHING LIVES When the totals were in and the race complete, the Manimbo family had raised more than $14,000 for RESOLVE. It was the organization’s single biggest fundraiser in its history.

“A lot of people suffer with infertility in silence,” Manimbo says. “You don’t realize how many people it touches. Infertility hasn’t been an area that has really opened up yet.”

A co-worker also going through infertility reached out and thanked him for being a voice. “It made us feel like we were doing the right thing,” Manimbo says. “A lot of my family didn’t even know what we were going through until we blogged about it. They didn’t understand why holidays, baby showers, and new babies would cause pain. This is why it’s so important to start talking openly about infertility.”

The Manimbos encourage others to take advantage of organizations like RESOLVE and online support groups like the one Brittany started which includes thousands of members around the world. “There is support out there,” Manimbo says. “Keeping your struggles to yourself is never the best strategy. Part of the reason I started on this fitness and self-improvement journey was the result of feeling like a victim for years, like the world was against me. Now I need to be a positive example of someone who’s resolved their journey with infertility and can promote awareness and help reduce social stigmas surrounding the topic.”

CAMICO – Sponsored Provider of COCPA since 1998 “The COCPA chose CAMICO more than twenty years ago because it offered top-level expertise and support – by CPAs for CPAs. The same is true today. CAMICO consistently delivers outstanding customer service, regardless of market or economic conditions.”

Mary E. Medley, CEO COCPA

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• Unlimited access to a Members-Only Site with unique tools and resources such as sample engagement letters, articles, newsletters, advisories, eAlerts, FAQs and more.

These are just some of the reasons why COCPA selected CAMICO as the Society’s sponsored provider of Professional Liability Insurance. CONTINUED ON PAGE 30 Alpa (Keily) Evans Account Executive T: 800.652.1772 Ext. 6720 E: aevans@camico.com W: www.camico.com

Accountants Professional Liability Insurance may be underwritten by CAMICO Mutual Insurance Company or through CAMICO Insurance Services by one or more insurance company subsidiaries of W. R. Berkley Corporation. Not all products and services are available in every jurisdiction, and the precise coverage afforded by any insurer is subject to the actual terms and conditions of the policies as issued. © CAMICO Services, Inc., dba CAMICO Insurance Services. All Rights Reserved.

EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION OF COCPA

2021 Ed Foundation Scholarship Recipients Named

2021-2022 EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION OF COCPA BOARD OF TRUSTEES Laura Theiss, CPA, President Avanti Residential, Denver Lisa Kutcher, CPA, Vice President Colorado State University, Fort Collins Ingrid Stiver, CPA, Treasurer PwC LLP, Denver

The Educational Foundation of COCPA Board of Trustees awarded $2,500 scholarships to 43 juniors, seniors, and graduate students for the 2021-2022 academic year - $107,500 spread across 10 Colorado colleges and universities. Congratulations to the following future members of the profession.

BDO LLP (formerly ACM LLP Scholarships) Megan O’Connor, University of Denver Crowe Scholarship Xiaoyong Olsen, University of Colorado Denver David Dirks Memorial Scholarship Laura Haymond, Metropolitan State University of Denver

Past Presidents Scholarship Elizabeth Poskey, University of Denver

Patrick Lytle, CPA, Past President SM Energy Company, Denver

Deloitte LLP Scholarships Katie Lupkes, University of Colorado – Boulder Mandy Salazar, Adams State University

Kathleen (KED) Davisson, CPA University of Denver, Denver

Eide Bailly LLP Scholarship Matt Brunson, University of Denver

SingerLewak LLP Scholarship Haley Kultgen, University of Denver

Lora Finley, CPA Self-Employed, Littleton

EY LLP Scholarship Misty Osmundsen, Colorado Mesa University

Ron Goodrich, CPA McPherson, Goodrich, Paolucci & Mihelich, Pueblo

Gordon Scheer Scholarship Cole Munoz, Colorado State University – Pueblo

Tiffany Knight, CPA Kundinger, Corder & Engle, PC, Denver

Hugh C. Braly Scholarship Aria Klooster, Fort Lewis College

Judy Thomas, CPA Regis University, Denver

KPMG LLP Scholarships Grace Donner, University of Colorado – Boulder Latalia Joe, Fort Lewis College

General Scholarships Spencer Ailes, Colorado State University - Fort Collins Robert Avery, University of Colorado – Boulder Jackson Brattain, University of Denver Nicole Good, University of Denver Tram Ha, University of Colorado – Colorado Springs Ashlyn Johnson, University of Denver Quinn Kennedy, University of Denver Sonja Kuranz, University of Denver Christopher Lampsa, University of Denver Jacklynn Snyder Larson, University of Colorado – Colorado Springs Darryl Lim, University of Colorado – Boulder Margaret McHugh, University of Denver Shana Park, University of Denver Emma Parker, University of Denver Sarah Phan, University of Denver Diane Petelo, Colorado Mesa University Ang Sherpa, University of Colorado – Denver Kathy Van, University of Denver Esté Wilkinson, University of Colorado – Boulder Monick Wronski, University of Denver

Alexandra (Alexie) Tune, CPA Deloitte LLP, Denver Mary Medley, CEO Colorado Society of CPAs, Englewood Alicia Gelinas, CPA Executive Director Educational Foundation of COCPA, Englewood

Mark and Victoria Smith Family Foundation Scholarships Bridget Kalicki, University of Colorado – Colorado Springs Benjamin Lopez, University of Colorado – Boulder Anna Schnelbach, University of Denver Moss Adams LLP Scholarship Hannah Johannesman, University of Denver Otto and Betty Butterly Scholarship Natalie Vaughan, University of Denver

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Plante Moran Scholarships Dana Dwyer, Fort Lewis College Savanna Harris, University of Colorado – Boulder Angela Reed, Colorado State University - Fort Collins Michael Revitte, University of Colorado – Boulder

NewsAccount | November/December 2021

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Scholarship Jorgi Muscariello, University of Denver

The COCPA Educational Foundation Board of Trustees extends a special thank you to the following faculty and academic staff who have supported these scholarship recipients in their studies and served as a scholarship referral: Adams State University - Sheryl Abeyta

CU-Boulder - Jeremiah Contreras, Geri Lameman, Susan Morely, Josh Neil, and Denise Probert

Colorado Mesa University - Christine Noel and G. Suzanne OwensOtt

CU-Colorado Springs - Magan Calhoun and Brian McAllister

CSU-Fort Collins - Derek Johnston

CU-Denver - Mary Malina and Mark Merric

CSU-Pueblo - Laurie Corradino

University of Denver - Adam Booker, Cindy Cuccia, Kathleen Davisson, Tom Hall, Anthony Holder, Sharon Lassar, and Blaise Sonnier

Fort Lewis College - Chris Lyon and Keith Sellers Metropolitan State University of Denver - Sheri Betzer

HELP STUDENTS BECOME

#CPASTRONG Tuesday, December 7 is Colorado Gives Day. Support aspiring CPAs with scholarship opportunities by donating to the Educational Foundation.

+

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- The Davisson Family Every dollar you give will - Mark and Victoria Smith Family Foundation be MATCHED thanks to - Kundinger, Corder & Engle, P.C. our matching donors: - Greg Anton, CPA, CGMA To learn more and donate, go to

give.cocpa.org November/December 2021 | www.cocpa.org

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MEMBER PERSPECTIVE

Advice From the Other Side: Planning to Enjoy Retirement

BY NATALIE ROONEY

Retirement. Perhaps It has been out there on your personal horizon for a really long time. But now suddenly, it’s closer than you realized. How do you prepare professionally and personally? While everyone’s next step looks different – backcountry trips, European travel, board positions, consulting, community involvement, and even family emergencies – there are similarities. We’re all wondering what lies ahead, especially after months of “pandemic times.” In this article, COCPA members share what it was like to put their work week behind them and step into the next phase of their lives. Here’s what they wish they’d known, what surprised them, and their advice for making the most of the transition to retirement.

Jack Allgood, CPA Title: Retired as Tax Partner at ACM LLP, Denver Retirement date: Dec. 31, 2017 – for the third time. Allgood also retired from LHM in 2001 and from a COO/CFO and Board industry position in 2006.

Year licensed: 1974

THE RETIREMENT TRANSITION By the time Allgood was ready to retire from ACM, he’d been through the retirement process twice before, so he knew it wasn’t as simple as introducing his clients to a new team and walking out the door.

He began stepping through a well-planned, well thought out process three years prior to his selected retirement date. “I spent a lot of time sharing my practice management principles, how my client relationships worked, and explaining billing and production processes so those who were following in my footsteps were prepared,” he says.

By 2015, Allgood’s successors were regularly attending client meetings, managing relationships, and reviewing and signing income tax returns. “The client transition was probably the easiest process,” he says.

He also spent a lot of time helping others at ACM understand how he coached his teams and built relationships. “I’m proud of the preparation and how smoothly the ACM transition went.”

THE EARLY DAYS OF RETIREMENT How Allgood’s life would be different in retirement didn’t really sink for a few months. For the first several weeks, he was away on his annual hunting and fly-fishing trips. When February, March, and April rolled around, however, and he wasn’t attending the firm’s annual tax department meeting or putting in significant

client and firm hours (including celebrating the end of corporate and individual tax filing deadlines with team members over a glass of scotch or bourbon), a sense of disruption to more than 40 years of routine set in. “Suddenly I wondered what I was going to do,” he says. He was doing a few months of consulting but had a lot of uncommitted time.

For years Allgood had listened to people talk about how they looked forward to having nothing to do in retirement. “I’d spent more than 40 years working 60-hour weeks,” he says. “I realized I was going to have a lot of time on my hands.” What Allgood didn’t realize: How much he’d miss interaction with both the office teams and his clients.

To stay engaged and give back to the profession, Allgood has continued his work with the COCPA Editorial Board and also interviewed to join the boards of other organizations. While he ultimately didn’t choose to take on any of those board positions or projects, he has spent considerable time consulting and counseling people who are looking to form boards and new business entities.

WHAT I WISH I’D KNOWN Allgood estimates he spent upwards of 100 hours wading through all the paperwork involved in retiring: Medicare Parts A, B and D, life insurance plans, health insurance provisions, planning for supplemental health care, applying for Social Security and spousal income benefits, and more. “I think people generally underestimate the process of planning for life after employment,” Allgood says. “In addition, after spending years putting money aside in retirement plans, now you’re sometimes pulling out more money than is going in. That creates pressure you haven’t felt before.”

Allgood says even though all the post-retirement paperwork was time consuming, he was well positioned to do it after advising clients on some of the same subject matter. Now he thinks about individuals retiring in their late 60s or 70s and navigating these processes on their own. “They either need help or will spend countless hours doing it - and most of it electronically” he says.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 34 November/December 2021 | www.cocpa.org

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MEMBER PERSPECTIVE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33 SO, DOES YOUR SPOUSE ALSO LIKE YOUR RETIREMENT? Allgood and his wife, Linda, didn’t necessarily sit down and plan out exactly what they’d be doing when he retired. “She was used to me being gone by 6:30 in the morning and not returning until 6:30 in the evening. Now she has me here about 24/7,” he chuckles.

While they have their own spaces and they still pursue their own interests, the Allgoods are enjoying their newfound time together. “I love being around Linda, and I love having the time to do more things with family,” Allgood says. “It’s a lot different than a 60-hour work week, and there are events that you have after your work life that are big and important.” One of those big events was planning for and attending their son’s wedding in 2018.

Now, as pandemic travel restrictions ease, the Allgoods are planning trips they never had the time to take over the years. They just returned from Maui, with Italy and France high on their near-term travel wish list.

Philip E. “Phil” Doty, CPA Title: Retired as Audit Partner at Arthur Andersen, Denver, in 2000; resumed his career as a partner at EKS&H, Denver, in 2002; and finally retired as an Ambassador at Plante & Moran, Denver, in 2020 Year licensed: 1967

WHAT WAS DAY ONE OF RETIREMENT LIKE? YOU WOKE UP AND… Doty was at a fly-fishing camp in Canada on the first day of his first retirement. “My fishing buddies and I celebrated with a bottle of cheap champagne and had a good time,” he says. “Retirement feels like a load has been lifted off your shoulders because all of a sudden – if you truly retire and if you’ve planned it properly – you don’t have to think about phone calls from clients, the latest accounting pronouncements, or the PCAOB. It’s kind of a relief. But then, the reality sets in, and you start to miss some the things.”

With that said, Doty adds, “I like retirement! It’s worth waiting for!”

MAKING PREPARATIONS Doty’s AA retirement date was scheduled, and preparation began two years prior. “The first thing I did, which I repeated at EKS&H, was to start transitioning my clients to other capable people within the firm so that it was a smooth transition and clients were served,” he says.

Doty says the AA process was well-designed to prepare individuals for their retirement and implement a succession plan. Both AA and EKS&H stressed the importance of training a replacement. “Some people aren’t comfortable with that and want to hold on to their clients. But helping turn them over to new professionals benefits not only the clients but also the professionals at the firm by giving them new opportunities.”

From a personal financial planning perspective, Doty felt prepared for retirement. “What I didn’t know was how much I’d miss the interac-

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NewsAccount | November/December 2021

JACK’S BEST ADVICE Don’t wait until six months before you leave to start planning your departure.

“Plan and then plan some more,” Allgood advises. “You can never plan too much.” He also recommends discussing your retirement planning process with everyone – family, partners, staff, and clients – to ensure everyone is vested in your arrangements. He was committed to keeping everyone, including other partners, up to date with discussions and detailed, written plans. “I wanted everyone to feel comfortable that responsibilities would be fulfilled,” he says.

Allgood also says it’s important to keep in contact with people. “Just because you’re retiring, don’t lose your relationships,” he says. “Foster those you want to continue and pursue relationships you didn’t get a chance to fully foster over the years.”

tion with the people – the office professionals and the clients, and the challenge and enjoyment that came from being a CPA,” he reflects, describing himself as a non-golfer who enjoyed spending Saturdays in the office. “Not everyone is like that. It’s old school, but I really enjoyed it.”

The first time Doty retired, he was 56 years old, which he says is a pretty common age for many Big Four partners to retire these days.

“AA encouraged early retirement to create opportunities for younger partners,” he explains. “But 56 is too early to retire completely unless you have health issues or want to do something different.”

Regardless of whether you want to get into woodworking, golf every day, write a book, or go fishing, Doty says the worst thing you can do is endlessly watch the news and the markets and get depressed by it all. He suggests planning for a second career or getting involved with volunteer activities you’re passionate about. Doty joined the Colorado State Board of Accountancy and was on about eight different boards, serving as treasurer for half of them. “That kept me busy,” he laughs.

“At some point, I thought, ‘If I’m this busy, maybe I should go back to work and get paid for it.’”

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED Doty’s retirement surprise is a bit different from others. He retired from AA in 2000 and continued as a consultant with the firm for a few years.

Then AA went out of business. “Neither I, nor anyone else, anticipated that would ever happen to a Big Five or Big Six firm,” he says. “So, my advice is to expect the unexpected.”

Personally, he never expected to go back to work, but job offers started rolling in after 18 months. “I thought it might be fun to start again, build a practice, and keep working.”

The pandemic offered up another curveball and launched Doty into his most recent retirement on Sept. 30, 2020. We’ll see if the third time is the charm.

The red tape of Medicare and Social Security has been an interesting experience for Doty to navigate. While Plante Moran (retirement #3) offered guidance, “they can only take you so far. Then you need to figure it out,” Doty says.

PHIL’S TOP RETIREMENT TIPS • Stay involved in the profession. “I’m disappointed when I see people just drop out of the COCPA. It’s unfortunate because they have a lot of experience, and I’d like to think they’d share their wisdom with our younger professionals.”

• Work as long as you can. “People are living a lot longer than they used to,” Doty says. “Early retirement sounds good, but expect to continue working, even if it’s part time. It makes it easier to eventually go full-time to retirement. There are financial and psychological benefits to working as long as you can, if you want to, and then ease yourself into retirement.”

• Maintain a positive attitude. “After AA closed its doors, a lot of my associates were really disappointed, upset, mad – you name it,” Doty reflects. “No one anticipated it, of course, but it’s important to maintain a positive attitude. You’ve still got friends, family, and hopefully your health.”

• Give back. Retirement offers newfound opportunities to give back to the community. “If you’re involved with an organization prior to retirement, seriously consider continuing your involvement at whatever level you can,” Doty suggests.

• Travel while you can. Doty realizes that may sound odd after 18 months of pandemic restrictions, but he says it’s a mistake to put

Barbara Tedesko, CPA Title: Accounting Specialist, Department of Finance in Accounting and Financial Reporting Controller’s Office, City & County of Denver Retirement date: Aug. 31, 2019 Year licensed: 1993

THAT FIRST DAY Barb Tedesko slept in on her first day of retirement but says it took her two full weeks to stop thinking about work. “With the city, there are always unfinished projects. I kept thinking they would call me. I thought I should have told them more or left more notes.”

She made the mistake of asking her husband, Bill, who had retired four years earlier what was on his agenda for the day. “He told me he didn’t have a stinking agenda,” she laughs.

Now Tedesko is ready to relax and enjoy herself. “Retirement is the start of a new life,” she says. “You can do anything you want. I love watching the snow fall from inside now.”

THE PREP WORK Even though Bill had retired several years before, Tedesko herself wasn’t ready. She loved her job and still felt young. “It’s a tough decision,” she says. “You don’t know how you’ll feel – missing co-workers, the work, and the routine. You miss how your life was. I was there for 26 years so co-workers were also friends. There was always a lot going on.”

Timing was an issue. The department was doing the CAFR, and Tedesko didn’t want to leave the team shorthanded during the most

off travel. “When you retire, take advantage of the fact that you have more flexibility with your schedule.”

• Enjoy your new life. “You’d be surprised at how busy you are and how much fun you’ll have,” Doty says. “People at work got tired of hearing me say that I have fun every day going to work at the office, but I did really look forward to it, and I tried to impart that sense of a positive attitude to others. Now, I have fun without going to work.”

MY SPOUSE THINKS MY RETIREMENT IS… “It’s déjà vu all over again,” Doty laughs. “People ask my wife, Corry, if I’m going back to work again. She says she hopes so. Actually, she has adjusted, but she made it clear when I retired for the first time that I shouldn’t expect lunch.”

The Dotys have their own individual activities and boundaries. He is continuing as a board member and volunteer for several nonprofits and at his warehouse with his restored cars. Hers is pretty much everywhere else. Corry is a CPA also and worked in public accounting as a hospital CFO and then a healthcare finance specialist before helping raise two daughters, one of whom is a CPA, and serving as a community volunteer. “She has stayed very busy, as well,” Doty says.

hectic time of year. She began informally discussing the process with her boss six months prior and then gave six weeks’ notice for her official day.

She has missed the information and networking she experienced every day, especially the mentoring relationship she built with a single mother in the department but quickly adds she has had no problem filling up her time.

Now, two years into retirement, Tedesko says she rarely thinks about work. All sorts of home projects required her attention in the early days, but her passion has been returning to her favorite activity – snow skiing – for the first time in 20 years. In 2020, she was able to enjoy four days on the mountain before COVID-19 ended the season early, but she’s already counting down the days to next season. A season pass in 2021 was a wise decision. “We have fun,” she says of the group of friends and family with whom she skis. “It has been my absolute joy, especially after having breast cancer in 2014. I wanted to enjoy the view from the top of the mountain. It was one of my goals.”

On those coveted ski days, Tedesko heads out and leaves her phone behind to really get away. “Whatever happens that day can wait while we ski,” she says.

DON’T WAIT FOR PERFECT “Don’t wait too long to retire,” Tedesko advises. “You really deserve it.

Everyone wants to have everything perfect. We all want to retire, but we don’t want to be old. It’s about finding a happy medium.”

Tedesko said she knew when it was time. She talked to her boss about working another six months; her boss expected another year. “But you know mentally when you’re ready,” she says.” Once you get that mental acceptance that you’re going to do it, it’s such a wonderful feeling. It’s CONTINUED ON PAGE 36 November/December 2021 | www.cocpa.org

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MEMBER PERSPECTIVE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 35 freedom. You can sleep in, do what you want, be as busy or lazy as you want.”

If you’re not mentally ready, however, you’ll regret it, Tedesko cautions. “It doesn’t matter what someone tells you if you’re not mentally prepared.”

RETIREMENT CHALLENGES Several challenges surfaced in Tedesko’s earliest retirement days.

Family members’ health issues arose suddenly, including for her mother who passed away in May 2020. COVID meant they couldn’t spend the time together they would have liked. Tedesko says many special dinners and quality time together in prior years left her with happy memories nonetheless.

Her skillset as a CPA was pressed back into service when her oldest brother experienced health issues in late 2020. From finances to insurance to coordinating and even providing care, Tedesko stepped in. She says she’s glad she retired when she did so that she has the time and flexibility to be there for health issues her disabled husband Bill has had, as well.

Despite the challenges, Tedesko says she focuses on being optimistic.

“I don’t let whatever it is control my thinking,” she says. “I think about the issues, come up with solutions, and then do something for myself – even if it’s going for a quick walk.”

BARB’S ADVICE Don’t stay too long trying to maximize the monetary issues. “Time goes too fast,” she says. Good saving habits made her financial transition to retirement relatively easy. In fact, Tedesko says when she looks back, she could have retired earlier.

Don’t plan too much when you think about retiring. “Things will evolve,” Tedesko says. “Let it happen, and give yourself a transition period. We all think we’re going to finish all of these projects. I was

Steve Van Meter, CPA Title: Partner, CLA, Greenwood Village Retirement date: Dec. 31, 2020 Year licensed: 1989

RETIREMENT: DAY ONE Steve Van Meter’s retirement didn’t start out the way he had anticipated. His last official day was Dec. 31, 2020, the same day his father passed away. Van Meter was immediately consumed with making arrangements for his father’s funeral and helping his mother through the emotional and financial transition. “Even though I’d been planning my retirement for years, I didn’t have time to think about it at that point. I don’t know how I would have worked during that time if I hadn’t retired though.”

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NewsAccount | November/December 2021

“If you don’t do something for yourself, you can’t continue giving to other people.” busy for six months, and then I just didn’t want to work that hard.

Projects will get done. It’s about having the wonderful flexibility of changing up your day.”

Now that travel restrictions are loosening, Tedesko is looking ahead to more travel and hiking with girlfriends. “I want to plan trips,” she says.

“You just have to schedule no matter what is going on. If you don’t do something for yourself, you can’t continue giving to other people.”

National parks in Utah and Montana, biking, hiking, train trips across the U.S., and even Greece, Iceland, and other parts of Europe are all on Tedesko’s list.

HEALTHY BANTER Tedesko says it has been an adjustment for both her and Bill to be at home, but their healthy banter helps. “I want to take on a project, and he’ll have guidelines, so it has actually worked out OK,” she says.

“He’s fine with me getting away with girlfriends, seeing exhibits, and traveling. As long as I leave food, he’ll survive.”

Tedesko still does tax returns for about 40 clients, as well. What began as something she did just for family and friends more than 40 years ago has continued to grow. She even added new clients last year. “I can’t let them down now,” she laughs. “When I told my tax clients I was retiring, they said, ‘but not from our taxes!’ Accountants never really retire, and I enjoy helping people. Maybe I’m not really retired.”

Eventually, life settled into a new routine of home projects, church activities, learning how to fly fish, and then, Van Meter and his wife, Donna, set out on an epic Alaskan adventure which spanned 46 days and was months in the making.

For the first part of their trip, the Van Meters were on the Alaskan mainland, traveling in a camper van. Their daughter joined them for some of the typical Alaskan tourist activities. The next part of their journey took them from Juneau to Skagway, and then they set out to backpack and camp along the Chilkoot Trail. It is the most famous of the routes used by the miners during the days of the Klondike Gold Rush. While they weren’t able to take the trail all the way into Canada because the border was closed, they hiked and camped and soaked up the scenery of this historic area.

PREPARING FOR RETIREMENT Van Meter says one of the wonderful things about larger CPA firms is the process to prepare for a partner’s retirement. Partnership agreements define retirement and the related commitments, and the process typically begins about three years prior with a formal announcement.

Well-documented plans map out the transition for clients and partner responsibilities. “The last thing you want to do is wait until the last minute,” Van Meter says. “The first thing I did was develop a plan with firm leadership on what the transition would look like. Then I started executing that plan.”

Van Meter says his original plan wasn’t exactly the same one in effect on the day he retired. “Things change. Staff and partners’ roles change.

We were constantly updating as we went.” The pandemic year played a role in all of the changes as well. “We moved to monthly Zoom meetings. It was a little more challenging to stay on track,” he says.

CLA offers excellent resources for retirement planning including webinars about partnership agreements, financial planning, and all of the intricacies surrounding Social Security and Medicare. Van Meter says he’s keenly aware that individuals retiring from smaller organizations might not have such support, so he encourages people to look for resources online and by networking with other firm owners.

One of Van Meter’s favorite things about being a CPA has been helping his clients be successful, and he says he definitely misses that interaction. “The biggest challenge was not having that contact on a daily basis,” he says. “It has been the hardest part. It just takes a while to get used to the new normal.”

There are plenty of things to get involved in though, Van Meter says.

He has already been approached by companies asking him to serve as their CFO. “I’m honored, but I just retired, and I have a lot I want to do right now.” He might consider part-time CFO work or consulting down the road.

For now, he still makes himself available to CLA staff who need to consult on an engagement. He attends periodic conference calls to answer questions and has even been on a few client calls.

What he hasn’t missed: Reviewing audit work papers. “Not at all,” he laughs.

STEVE’S TOP TIPS “The key is to start early,” Van Meter says. “If you wait too long, it puts everyone in a bind. A lot of thought and planning went into the process.” Transitioning partners is a huge challenge, Van Meter emphasizes, and it’s a particularly challenging obstacle to the continued survival of smaller firms. “You’ve got to have a plan and follow through.”

CLA partner agreements are designed to hold everyone accountable and include clawback provisions that will penalize the retiree if the process isn’t followed.

Preparing for retirement isn’t just about being professionally prepared – it’s also about preparing emotionally, mentally, and financially, Van Meter emphasizes. He recommends sitting down with a financial advisor to map out what retirement looks like resources-wise. “That part is critical,” he says. “You may find out you don’t have enough money coming in to maintain a certain lifestyle. You might need to adjust your expectations and work longer.” Van Meter himself would have loved to keep working another two years or so, but mandatory retirement ages at most firms put a finite date on the calendar.

THE UNEXPECTED His father’s passing and the pandemic were big curveballs for Van Meter. “Normally, you have final meetings with clients, celebrate, and spend some quality time together,” he says. “I found it difficult not to be able to do any of that this past year.” As the world begins to open back up, he looks forward to the opportunity of meeting with clients and saying goodbye in person. “Our staff has been gracious about extending invitations to attend meetings, so I hope to do that. I’ll just do it as a retiree.”

As your retirement approaches, Van Meter says it’s important to graciously step back from day-to-day client management and let managers take on more responsibility. “It provides them with great learning opportunities,” he says. “I was still reviewing workpapers and signing off, but it forced me to delegate - something with which I always

As your retirement approaches, Van Meter says it’s important to graciously step back from day-to-day client management and let managers take on more responsibility. struggled. You’ll be amazed at how well your staff does. They’re eager to be more involved and happy to help. They’ll become better project managers and CPAs as a result.”

“Having a retiring partner is a challenge,” Van Meter says. “It’s stressful for everybody – the partner who is leaving, new partners who are advancing, staff, and clients. A lot of work goes into this. I’m glad I had three years to work on it, but I could have done it in two,” he laughs.

SIDENOTE: DONNA IS A GREAT SPORT Donna recently retired from the Cherry Creek School District, and she and Van Meter left almost immediately for Alaska. “We had a lot of time together for 46 days on this trip,” Van Meter says. “So far, she’s doing well, although she did say she’s never doing a trip this long again!”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 38 November/December 2021 | www.cocpa.org

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MEMBER PERSPECTIVE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 37

Sidny K. Zink, CPA Title: Owner/Shareholder at FredrickZink & Associates, Durango Retirement date: Mid 2020 Year licensed: 1978

NO MORE CPE Sidny Zink didn’t have an official “I’m done here” date. “Instead, I just phased out. That was a good thing for me,” she says. “Three years ago, the firm held a party and said, ‘Sid is kicking back!’ We wanted to let people know I was no longer going to be in the office full time.”

So, for two years, everyone kept asking Zink if she were retired yet.

Finally, as of mid-2020, she could say yes. “Now, when flyers come for CPE courses, I look at them and think, ‘thank goodness I don’t have to keep up with this anymore!’” she laughs.

The firm had an ownership agreement in place to prepare for Zink’s retirement. One original owner is still practicing, and two more have joined the firm. Initial discussions about her retirement plans began

Zink suggests making a To Do list of things you really want to do.

“Another thing I realized was that when I was working so many hours, I had a reason to not do the things I didn’t want to do – like vacuuming the rug. My house still isn’t super clean. And I thought I would read more. I didn’t realize I was this lazy,” she laughs. “I always had this or that commitment, and someone else was setting my schedule.”

The intertwining of her work life and social life was another surprise. “The people I worked with are also great friends, and I met so many people along the way,” she says. “Chamber events, after hours business functions – all of those business-related things - constituted a huge part of my social life. Now that things are turning around, I’m looking forward to reaching out to those people. It has also been helpful to talk to other women who are dealing with this same issue.”

BE JOYOUS As you consider retirement, Zink says, “Make it joyous! Make it a positive thing so people pat you on the back rather than say they’re sorry.

I’m glad I made sure I was good friends with the people I worked with.

That’s been important.” She still likes to drop in at the office once a week and check her mail. “That has been important to me, as well,” she says. “It’s nice to walk in the door and have people say hi.”

Above all, Zink says she’s happy she entered retirement with a good reputation and didn’t just slink away in the night. “I can still walk

Zink also decided to keep a desk at the office although she did move its location. “We joke that I keep moving closer to the back door,” she says. about five years prior, and she started handing off more responsibility over time. One tax partner, who had retired several years before Zink, kept to a schedule, maintaining an office and a desk. He kept a few clients and continued to work for a few more years. Zink also decided to keep a desk at the office although she did move its location. “We joke that I keep moving closer to the back door,” she says.

As she continued to wind down her daily office routine, Zink met Henry Meyer, her significant other, with whom she has enjoyed life since late 2017. “It was great timing for both of us,” she says. “He was already retired, we were both self-sufficient, and it was just easy.”

Their plan was to start a National Parks tour and visit Nashville after Zink herself retired. “We were ready to do all the things you think about for years,” she says. But Henry underwent surgery, and then COVID stopped travel. Now they’re ready to move ahead with their road trip.

RETIREMENT SURPRISES Zink says she does miss the work and the routine a bit. “What I realized was how ingrained my routine was.” She is building a new framework around the various boards on which she serves.

“I was also surprised to discover I have all this time but don’t always know what day it is.” Zink admits that if it weren’t for Rotary meetings every Tuesday, she still wouldn’t know what day it is. “I have to keep going back to my calendar to see what the rundown is,” she says.

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NewsAccount | November/December 2021

downtown, and a few people recognize me, and they’re not just my former clients. I was an active member of this community, and I’m so glad for that.”

She recently completed two four-year terms on the Colorado Transportation Commission, representing Colorado’s 13 southwestern counties. “It was a big commitment to spend three days a month in Denver,” she says. “I took that on before I had even cut back on work. I was able to continue that service into my early retirement.”

Zink has always been careful about the volunteer efforts she chooses – nonprofit boards, for profit boards, government committees, local politics. She spent four years serving on Durango’s city council and a year as mayor. She has even been Durango’s Citizen of the Year. “Now I’m deciding which ones I’ll keep,” she says. “I want to do it right.”

Zink recently attended her first in-person event – a lunch with community business owners. “It was wonderful to catch up, shake hands, and give the occasional hug,” she says. “And, I don’t need a full time job to keep doing those things!”

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MOVERS & SHAKERS EULA ADAMS, CPA Eula Adams, CPA, Denver, has been named to the Board of Directors of GrowGeneration Corporation, the nation’s largest chain of specialty hydroponic and organic garden centers.

GREG PASCHKE, CPA, CGMA Greg Paschke, CPA, CGMA, has been named Chief Financial Officer of TeleSpecialists, LLC, Fort Myers, Fla.

• Excellent analytical skills • 5+ years experience in public accounting • Degree in Accounting, Finance, or relevant subject; Active CPA and PTIN

IN MEMORIAM We extend our sympathy to the families and friends of the following members and former member: Gary Abbuhl Longmont, Colo., Member since 2000 Charles E. “Chuck” Husted Denver, Colo.

Sidney C. “Sid” Smith Centennial, Colo., Member since 1981 40

NewsAccount | November/December 2021

ALEXANDRIA ROMERO CPA Practice Advisor has named Alexandria Romero, CPA, MPAcc, to its 2021 “40 Under 40” Professionals list. The list recognizes 40 professionals under age 40 who have emerged as future leaders in the profession. Romero is Director of Finance at the Pueblo City-County Library District.

AMINTORE SCHENKEL, CPA, CGMA Amintore Schenkel, CPA, CGMA, has been named Chief Financial Officer of CPI Card Group Inc., Littleton, Colo.

SOUKUP, BUSH & ASSOCIATES, CPAS, P.C. Soukup, Bush & Associates, CPAs, P.C., Fort Collins, has joined CPAmerica, Inc., an association of independent CPA firms that provides best practices, networking opportunities, and access to expert resources for member firms.

TAX STUDY GROUPS Boulder/Longmont Tax Study Group WEDNESDAYS, ONLINE ONLY, NOON-1:00 P.M., MT

Wednesday, Nov. 17, and Wednesday, Dec. 15 Additional 2022 dates: Jan. 12, Feb. 16, Mar. 16, May 18, Jun. 15, Jul. 20, Aug. 17, Sep. 21, Oct. 19, Nov. 16, Dec. 14. For more information, contact Lynn M. Mitton, CPA, MT, MPA, 303-499-7445, or email lmitton@tandemcpas.com.

Denver Tax Study Group TUESDAYS, VIRTUAL ONLY, NOON-2:00 P.M., MT

Tuesday, Dec. 7 Additional 2022 dates: Jan. 25, Feb. 22, Mar. 29, Apr. 26, May 24, Jun. 28, Jul. 26, Aug. 30, Sep. 27, Oct. 25, Dec. 6.

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