06 2019 Advantage final

News from Your Accounting Association

CPAmerica Advantage Developing Our Women Leaders Requires Hands-On Involvement

June 2019 Preferred Provider Spotlight: Intuit P. 2

By Jackie Cardello, CPA, managing partner, Gelman, Rosenberg & Freedman CPAs What does it mean to inspire young women leaders? It is much more than lip service to hiring and promoting women and internal policies meant to encourage leadership. W hile progressive policies, leadership development, and mentoring programs are all important, leading by example is the most powerful message. As the managing partner of a recognized Jackie Cardello regional accounting firm, I have witnessed the power of personal involvement in the development of women leaders.

When you think about it, we’re all the beneficiaries by way of several outstanding women leaders. Notable women dating back as early as the 1800s have paved the way for CPAs -- like Christine Ross, the first woman CPA. Though she scored in the top three after taking the CPA exam in 1898, just two years after New York established the licensure legislation, she was stalled more than 10 years before receiving her license - simply because she was a woman. Despite her licensure delays, Ross immediately started working for Manning’s Yacht Agency in New York and had women’s organizations

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and wealthy businesswomen as clients.

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More than 120 years later, the accounting industry still has a hard time retaining women. While the accounting industry in general struggles with high staff turnover, women in particular have difficulties with longevity due to the challenges of balancing client work, ongoing professional education, and business development with home and family.

The issue is even more pronounced among women of childbearing age.

Yes, progress is noticeable as reports like the Move Project Report (2017), NYSSCPA–Rosenberg Survey (2018) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2018) show women and men nearly represent the accounting industry 50/50. And yes, the percentage of women in senior management, director and non-equity partner levels have had significant spikes, but the stagnant growth among women partners in firms nationwide

CPAmerica's Central Mountain/ West Coast Region members, get set to meet in the Southwestern setting of Albuquerque to share best practices and earn CPE credits.

The luxurious Sandia Resort & Casino will be the backdrop for the event on July 18-19.

For more info on the CPAmerica website, visit and sign in at: https://tinyurl.com/yy7d2q9f

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News From DMJ Wealth Advisors, LLC, and DMJ & Co., PLLC: DMJ Wealth Advisors, LLC, one of their region’s largest independent financial planning firms, announced upgrades to their Client Financial Portal first introduced to clients more than a decade ago. The mobile version of the personal planning site currently provides greater ease of use and the ability to stay informed on key data points while providing a high-level view of personal finances, client vault, and firm contacts.

With the new upgraded mobile experience, clients will have seamless access to previously unavailable features on the mobile version like the organizer, goals, and reports bringing together all investments daily into

one viewable page. In addition, all aggregated accounts are updated nightly regardless of the custodian, and clients are able to view bank accounts, 401ks, loan balances, investment accounts, and more in one simple view.

DMJ Wealth Advisor clients are able to access their personal planning site round the clock, offering a consistent and unified mobile experience across all devices from wherever they are.

Above: DMJ's upgraded Client Financial Portal

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Women Leaders, continued from front page

benefit.

remains problematic. According to AICPA’s 2017 CPA Firm Gender Survey, “women [represent] only 22 percent of partners in CPA firms,” up one percent from 2015.

Productivity and collaborations are enhanced. According to a Gallup study, men and women bring different perspectives to the same issue or situation. Their ideas and insights often diverge, enabling improved problem-solving capabilities and leads to elevated performance.

The industry has tried a number of methods to remedy the female talent drain. Examples of popular industry efforts include: • Recruiting campaigns aimed at women • Women’s leadership development initiatives • Firm policies that allow for schedule flexibility An individualized, flexible work arrangement is an area many of our firms have already explored. Gone are the days when men and women spend their entire work day in the office five days a week. Our firms have invested in technology for good reason - it allows us to travel, service our clients, minimize commuting time and spend time with our families. Many CPAmerica firms I’ve spoken to have used these flexible working arrangements very successfully to support their emerging women leaders.

These initiatives and policies are all important, but in the end it is up to those of us who have achieved significant milestones in our careers to show the next generation of female leaders the way to achieve leadership positions in our firms and in the industry.

Our industry’s current female leaders must add “mentor” to their long list of responsibilities. As if their list wasn’t already long enough, women in leadership positions must carve out time in the day to mentor others. They should share their own experiences.

For example, Gelman, Rosenberg, and Freedman (GRF) maintains an informal program aimed at helping young mothers plan their return to work. Led by one of our senior female partners who volunteers her time, the objective is to discuss potential challenges (like childcare) before they become obstacles for the career paths of new mothers. As a result of our efforts at GRF, we’ve stabilized turnovers at 9 percent (the national average is 17 percent), and with more than 40 percent of our leadership positions held by women, we’ve strengthened our career advancement pathways firm-wide.

We must facilitate one-to-one discussions with women to understand where they struggle and provide advice that helps them navigate the path to leadership. You should ask women for their ideas on how you can improve the workplace to support them. Hear their concerns and find ways to implement policies that facilitate growth and development. Be sure you’re providing a safe space that welcomes innovation and feedback, then keep an open door policy to ensure the conversation will continue.

What we all want is to be heard, understood and appreciated.

This includes our future leaders.

The value added to your firm is most evident when new opportunities for women emerge and high-performing women stay and advance. It improves your culture, team performance, and bottom line. When women succeed, women and men

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Firms are also positioned for significant market share growth when women are included. According to KPMG’s Women’s Study, 69 percent of women will proactively ask to be involved in unfamiliar projects, leading to an increasingly diverse and expanded client base.

To maintain a competitive edge, you must recruit and maintain a high-performing, highly-engaged staff. And this must include women. I assure you, the investment is well worth the time it takes to develop the next generation of female leaders. It is critical to our firms and to our industry to cultivate women leaders.

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DMJ & Co., PLLC, announced that R. Milton Howell III, CPA, CSEP, partner, has been elected President of the Greensboro Estate Planning Council, an interdisciplinary organization for professionals involved in estate planning.

Milton focuses on taxation issues, including tax research for both open and closed transactions, structuring complex tax transactions, estate and income tax planning, and representing clients before federal, state, and local tax authorities. His focus is on the tax needs of closely-held businesses and their owners and extending to their estate planning, personal trusts, and investment entities. Much of his technical expertise is in partnership and S-corporation transactions, particularly involving ownership changes, and mergers and acquisitions.

Milton regularly writes and reviews articles for local, regional and national publications on tax matters and spends significant time monitoring current tax issues and legislation. He completed his B.S. in Accounting at East Carolina University in 1988. He has been a CPA since 1990 and is also a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning.

Preferred Provider Spotlight: Intuit

Welcome to Intuit, proud makers of TurboTax, QuickBooks, and Mint.

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The combination of their professional staff, technology, and automated tools protects your data around the clock with Intuit.

For a better look at Intuit, you can visit their website: https://www. intuit.com/ or contact David Bergstein for more information: david_ bergstein@intuit.com

Member News FASB staff member Cheng joins Frazier & Deeter , a nationally ranked public accounting and advisory firm, announced that Mike Cheng joined the firm as the national professional practice partner in the Accounting & Audit Practice.

“Recent changes to accounting standards such as revenue recognition and lease accounting have driven a surge in demand for technical accounting advice,” noted Seth McDaniel, managing partner of Frazier & Deeter. “Frazier & Deeter is delighted to bring in a leader with Mike’s depth of expertise to meet the growing need for accounting advisory services.”

“I’m excited to join Frazier & Deeter’s Accounting Advisory Practice,” stated Cheng. “Frazier & Deeter is a wellrespected firm with a strong team, and I am ready to help the firm’s clients understand and address evolving accounting standards.”

Cheng comes to Frazier & Deeter from the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) where he served as the Private Company Council (PCC) coordinator. He was also the staff lead on FASB projects to: simplify the accounting for non-employee share-based payments, help shape the future of the FASB technical agenda, and improve consolidations guidance (VIE guidance). Most recently, Cheng worked on the FASB’s implementation team on revenue recognition (ASC Topic 606) and lease accounting (ASC Topic 842).

Prior to joining the FASB, Cheng held various management positions with PricewaterhouseCoopers. He earned his bachelor's in accounting with a concentration in finance from Binghamton University.

Team leader appointed and new offices for Mathieson, Moyski, Austin & Co., LLP Wheaton, Ill.-based member firm,

, continues to grow with the addition of a new leader as well as an office move and expansion.

Paul Wilkin, CPA, MST, has joined the firm as a manager, bringing many years of public accounting experience, including time spent as Paul Wilkin an entrepreneur. Wilkin works with individuals and business owners from a variety of industries. A graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, He has a bachelor's in accountancy and a master's in taxation from DePaul University. Wilkin is a

member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Illinois CPA Society (ICPAS).

“We’re excited to welcome Paul to our team,” said Mike Moyski, CPA, managing partner of the firm. “Paul brings a wealth of experience that will help our clients and contribute to the growth and development of our staff.”

In other news, the firm renovated the fourth floor in their building at 211 S. Wheaton Avenue in Wheaton, Ill., and recently the company moved up one floor to Suite 400. The move consolidated offices previously located on the third floor, allowing for expanded growth for client service and team collaboration.

Anglin Reichmann Armstrong, P.C., selected as co-sponsor for AICPA PCPS George Willie Ethnically Diverse Scholarship & Internship Program

, has been selected to co-sponsor the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) George Willie Ethnically Diverse Student Scholarship & Internship Program. They are one of only five firms in the U.S. selected to participate in the inaugural year of this program.

The George Willie Ethnically Diverse Student Scholarship & Internship Program encourages promising accounting majors of ethnically diverse backgrounds to apply and five students are selected to receive a scholarship and an internship with one of the co-sponsoring firms. Each firm will co-sponsor one student for an internship during the 2020 tax season and the AICPA will award up to $20,000 per selected student to aid them with tuition costs during their final academic year. This internship provides students with a great opportunity to gain practical work experience and begin to understand what takes place in the day-to-day operations of an accounting firm. It is one of the ways the AICPA is working to broaden the pipeline of talent entering the accounting profession.

Member firm DGN promotes seven staff members northern Michigan’s largest locally owned, full-service public accounting firm, recently announced the promotion of seven staff members.

Trina Edwards, CPA, CGFM, was promoted to audit partner. She joined the firm in 2008 and has 24 years in public accounting, including significant

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experience with governmental entities such as county, city, township and village audits as well as non-profit entities.

Edwards graduated from Northwood University and is a certified government Trina Edwards finance manager. She is a graduate of the Upstream Academy Emerging Leaders program.

Liz Hedden, CPA, was promoted to senior tax manager. She joined the firm in 1997 and graduated from Ferris State University. Hedden brings a high level of expertise in oil and gas accounting with more than 20 years in the industry and across other industries performing tax planning and preparation services. She is a graduate of the Upstream Academy Emerging Leaders program.

Aaron Mansfield, CPA, CFE, was promoted to senior audit manager.

Mansfield joined the firm in 1999 after graduating from Alma College. He is a graduate of Leadership Grand Traverse and the Upstream Academy Emerging Leaders program.

Julie Burks, CPA, CVA, was promoted to audit manager. Burks joined the firm in 2010 and graduated from Ferris State University and has further achieved her Certified Valuation Analyst designation.

Atesha Sedlacek, CPA, was promoted to senior accountant. Sedlacek joined the firm in 2015 and received her CPA license in 2018. She graduated from Ferris State University and is a QuickBooks ProAdvisor and is a principal member of the DGN QuickBooks training team.

Miku Crouch, CPA, was promoted to senior accountant. Crouch joined the firm in 2017 and she holds a bachelor's in economics from University of Nagasaki.

Tayler Rodes, CPA, MST, was promoted to senior accountant. Rodes graduated from Ferris State University with her bachelor's in accounting and from Grand Valley State University with her master's in tax.

Mississippi member firm Nail McKinney P A announces new hire Tupelo, Miss.-based member firm, , announced that Cosby Repult has joined the firm. Repult, a native of Tupelo, received his bachelor's of accountancy Cosby Repult from Mississippi State University and his master's of accountancy from the University of Mississippi. He will be a staff accountant in the firm's Tupelo office.

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A&A Remarks: Planes, Trains, or Island?

Over the last few years, I have written and had a number of discussions as to the “Audit of the Future.”

You may recall my musing about the use of IBM’s Watson as an auditor in the future. Have I changed my mind in that regard?

Art Winstead, Director of A&A Absolutely not! My most significant change is now my concern with respect to Watson or possibly another form of artificial intelligence (AI) being one of several auditors of the future. I also believe that this is going to happen sooner than we think!

All of this is by no means to put doom and gloom on the audit as a service or that it will discontinue in the near future. It is a thought, a warning, or something we should have in our minds as participants in the service of being the primary financial attestation providers in the world.

I do believe that the planes and the trains within our profession, or those providing attestation services, are slowly starting to load with our direct competitors, such as other CPA firms providing attestation services.

An additional concern is that other types of service providers are starting to fill their own planes and trains with professionals that can also provide attestation services. How hard is that to believe? Let’s consider this: our clients’ banks provide a needed service. But they also have a substantial amount of the data required for them to be able to develop their assurance as to the propriety and accuracy of that financial information.

As a consideration and to perhaps put a somewhat objective take on this, I work with a number of firms, groups and associations on the Audit of the Future. It’s my conclusion that as a profession we are not considering, much less addressing, the Audit of the Future and what the needs of financial statement users will be in that same future.

In an anecdotal story, a banker once asked me, “What’s more important in an audit, the fact the financial statements are accurate or the fact the auditor is independent?” At some point in the future, is this same banker going to ask me: “Is it more important that a human with all of the subjective requirements within your current auditing standards audit a small percentage of transactions, or for Watson (or any AI application) to audit 100 percent of transactions with exact accuracy?” That result may not have the subjective abilities required within the standards today. That should, and I

hope will, be a concern expressed by users of those audited financial statements.

The ability for a device, or AI, to be able to ask a question, analyze, or extract data is upon us today. If we do not consider these abilities, our planes and trains will depart and we will be left on the island. For some time, a number of auditors and accountants have questioned if there could ever come a day when a device could perform audit procedures (including decision making) with sufficient and appropriate audit evidence and be, in fact, a successful auditor.

I believe we have to conclude that this could indeed happen. Even before Watson, with the development of programs such as QuickBooks, Intuit, TurboTax, and H&R Block online, watching what seems to be the current or maybe not too distant future of a device performing these procedures is upon us.

My point is this: We need to pay attention to these AI processes. If we do not, our planes and trains will depart and we will find ourselves stuck on an island with no chance of being voted off! We have to become proactive in understanding where this technology is going. I continue to watch and work with auditors throughout our profession that are ignoring or paying some attention to these trends within AI. There are a number of excellent applications on the market that we can use today. We have to take the time to evaluate applications such as Mindbridge, the soon-to-be AICPA application Dynamic Audit Solutions (DAS), Idea, ACL, or at least put Excel to work in our audit processes.

I asked a very good friend that works in an international firm and practices within their private company section: “On a percentage basis of engagements, how often to you use your proprietary audit data analysis and extraction software?” His reply was, “In 10 percent of the engagements. We use Excel on the other 90 percent of our audit engagements.”

I will extend this easy and efficient audit consideration: put Excel to work. Use it to search for trends, duplicate addresses, rounded dollar amounts, frequency, unusual dating, and to analyze two more ratios than in the prior year audit procedures.

This is going to require us to accept a significant change to the current audit model. It does not make any difference which standards (AICPA, PCAOB, GAO, or IAASB) we apply to the audit model; those standards are going to have to change. We

are going to have to do something besides continually staring (auditing) what’s behind the auditee, meaning, the rear view-mirror approach is going to have to change to a more forward-looking (or front windshield) approach in order to more readily meet the requirements of the users of financial statements.

As an aside, it is expected within a very short period of time that the AICPA Auditing Standards Board will issue the final standard for our current auditor’s report. The changes and requirements are significant. We will have a new report format (as well as other matters) for which we will report.

How will we meet the expectations of financial statement users? The Audit of the Future will take us there. It will be marketdriven by the needs and demands of these same financial statement users. Are we going to be challenged to address the financial future of an auditee, the sustainability of the auditee and its environment, or the credit worthiness of the auditee? I believe we will.

But if we do not address or at least consider the Audit of the Future, we could easily miss the plane or train and be left stranded on the island.

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