06 2020 CPAmerica Advantage Newsletter

CPAmerica Advantage The CPAmerica Advantage newsletter will be going electronic during the pandemic.

We will continue to evaluate whether to return print copy or remain electronic only,

News From Your Accounting Association

CPAmerica Firms Are Enhancing Their Client Relationships by Offering Business Advisory Services

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e recently spoke with Chief Operating Officer Hank Wolfson of member firm Gray, Gray & Gray, LLP about the firm’s advisory practice.

We asked him about how the niche was established.

Wolfson said, “It’s very much evolved and frankly is still evolving. I’m going to go a few years back Hank Wolfson, Gray, when our firm began to Gray & Gray, LLP's Chief Operating Officer make some significant investments in information technology in an effort to protect our own firm and

June 2020 Part 2 of Technology Corner article

our clients’ data. We would bring in Member News P. 3 outside consultants to do penetration A&A Remarks - Art Winstead P. 4 testing. We formed a relationship with an organization that would perform phishing tests on our existing staff. We wanted to be sure that our staff was the first line of defense and completely educated when Register for the 2020 it came to protecting our clients’ data and Technology Roundtable protecting the important credibility that Virtual Edition exists between clients and their CPA firm.

As we started to build upon our expertise in this area, we have since extended this service successfully to our clients.”

“One of the things Jim DeLeo (Leading Partner at Gray, Gray & Gray, LLP) was instrumental in rolling out about a year ago was something we called a premium client visit. Back then, we looked at all of our clients to see who our premium client relationships were – those clients that had over a certain revenue and realization threshold. We went to them and said ‘we want to visit with you in order to learn more about what we’re doing well and any areas where we could stand to improve, but most importantly to thank you for the trust you

The Technology Roundtable - Virtual Edition will kick off this July 19-23. Connect with members virtually - the event will be led by CPAmerica's IT Director, Harrison Schofill, Randy Johnston, NGMI, and Brian Tankersley, K2 Enterprises.

For more info or to register, go to https://tinyurl.com/yas25g5u

See Business, continued on page 2

New Member Snapshot: Houldsworth, Russo & Company, P.C., CPAs Houldsworth, Russo & Company, P.C., CPAs 8675A S. Eastern Avenue Las Vegas, Nevada 89123 Tel: (702) 269-9992 | Fax: (702) 269-9993 www.trusthrc.com

Headquarters: Las Vegas, Nevada

Jessica Sayles | Managing Principal | jsayles@trusthrc.com Jacqueline Matthew | Contact Principal for membership matters | jmatthew@trusthrc.com Katie Hampton | Principal | khampton@trusthrc.com Lynn Myers | Principal | lmyers@trusthrc.com Laura Nichols | Firm Administrator | lnichols@trusthrc.com Laura Nichols | HR Director | lnichols@trusthrc.com

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HRC is a public accounting firm providing assurance, tax and consulting services to nonprofit and government organizations, individuals and businesses. Founded in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 1996 by Bonnie Houldsworth and Dianna Russo on the core values of being trusted advisers to their clients and community, HRC continues to serve its Nevada and out-of-state clients with passion, integrity and a commitment to quality.

Business, continued from front page have placed in our firm.’”

Wolfson said that through those conversations, they found that “being a CEO is sort of a lonely position and they were asking for more from us. Clients wanted help with areas beyond traditional accounting – for example, cybersecurity, strategic planning, HR consulting, were the areas we commonly heard.”

We asked why Gray, Gray & Gray decided to develop a consulting practice and what were some of their objectives. Wolfson said, “I recently had the opportunity to go to a CPAmerica event and as a result of that, I had the chance to read a book called Firm Forward: A Journey from the Land of Compliance to the World of Reliance by Edi Osborne. The book was essentially recognition that we were really good at providing what is called level-one work, Bryan Pearce, Gray, which is what most CPA firms are good Gray & Gray, LLP's at. This is accounting work, tax work, Strategic Business audits, and write up work. Our objective Planning Director was to move up the ladder a bit in terms of being able to provide some financial fluency training or being able to help clients understand their numbers and to analyze the numbers for them. This is to ultimately get to a point where clients are checking in with us at certain milestones to be sure they're on track and achieving their goal when it comes to strategic planning. Our clients have said to us that they want us to map out their path and, at the same time, provide course corrections when they are needed. That's why we are very intentionally working on things like M&A consulting. Our M&A consulting niche fills the void for this non-traditional service need. It’s been in place for a number of years, and our clients have really welcomed and appreciated it. We run an event called DealMakers. It’s an event that brings together transaction-driven individuals and advisors. We sponsor the event along with a bank, a law firm, and a private equity firm. The last event had 70-80 people attend and engage in a roundtable discussion on marketplace dynamics and transactional trends that are happening. We also talked about the lending environment and other topics. This event has been a great example of our firm serving as a resource for our clients and our prospects; it's helped foster partnerships within the M&A industry.”

We asked Wolfson how many of the firm’s clients have had a formal strategic plan in the past and was that something that Gray, Gray & Gray is creating with them now. He said, “That’s a great question and I think a lot of that speaks to why we brought on Bryan Pearce (Gray, Gray & Gray’s Strategic Business Planning Director). Bryan co-authored the book called Daring to Compete which identifies eight traits of successful entrepreneurs; a key element of this is strategic planning. By Bryan leading this particular group, what he's doing is working with clients and analyzing their business. The priority areas of Bryan’s strategic planning fall into six different categories: the customer, the team, leadership of the organization, finance and wealth management, M&A activity, and product and service delivery."

With the pandemic, Pearce’s role has shifted to that of providing

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the firm's clients and prospects with a very high level of strategic planning thought-leadership through some very engaging and topical webinars. Pearce has presented several sessions in GG&G's “Managing Your Business Through the COVID-19 Crisis” series covering topics such as: ▪ Steps to Take Right Now to Sustain Your Business (webinar #1) ▪ Get Ready for the “New Normal” (webinar #5) ▪ Panel on Adapting to the “New Normal” (webinar #8) "These webinars have been very well attended (with an average participation of more than 250 attendees) and afforded us the opportunity to showcase Bryan as well as other Gray, Gray & Gray leaders while providing a level of consulting services during these unprecedented times.

Our hope is that our clients recognize the value this adds," Wolfson explained.

Wolfson said that Pearce also continues to publish articles in GG&G's “Strategy Session” series, taking into consideration the impact of COVID-19 on businesses and strategic planning for the present and future.

When we asked Wolfson what he would like to say to the other CPAmerica member firms about Gray, Gray & Gray’s efforts, he said, “I'd like them to know that we are working in a very intentional way to change our business model and also for them to build off of the successes that we've had in compliance.

Additionally, that we are in the very early stages of taking steps on developing a set of skills that many CPAs may not find intuitive. Some of these skills are in the areas of public speaking, consulting, and in providing upward feedback. Those are the skills that are going to ultimately prove us to be successful, and we are working in a very thoughtful manner to accomplish that by hiring someone like Bryan Pearce to help build the practice and bring in that higher level of expertise.”

Coronavirus Technology Overview: Insights on Work at Home

By Randy Johnston, executive vice president, K2 Enterprises This is Part 2 of 2 of the Insights on Work at Home article. Part 1 can be read in the May Advantage at https://issuu.com/cpamerica/ docs/05_2020_cpamerica_advantage_newsletter

Cybersecurity

CPA firms are a big target for cybercriminals. Many cyberattacks focus on CPA firms. It’s difficult to overestimate the importance of having adequate security measures in place.

And the truth is, software security is involved.

Not only can trying to maintain a proper level of security for your firm and clients prove time-consuming, but it can cost you significantly if not done correctly. An online security expert will be able to keep you informed on your firm’s security status and make any necessary updates remotely.

You can learn more in our K2 courses like K2’s Securing Your Data - Practical Tools for Protecting Your Data or at our K2 technology conferences by attending the security sessions. Outsourcing tasks like cybersecurity help you keep up in the ever-changing world of IT security.

Communications

Two other areas that didn’t go well during the conversion to work at home were phone and voice support as well as virtual private networks (VPNs). Both areas suffered from bugs and errors, as well as getting the logistics correct.

Some firms were using Voice Over IP (VOIP), and their transitions were generally easier. With VOIP phones, you can have a physical phone in the office and at home and have your cell phone serve as your phone as well. For organizations using VOIP before work at home became mandating, the transition to using VOIP primarily from home was relatively seamless. Hosted VOIP services like Vantage and Ring Central seemed to hold up well under the load.

These services may be worth considering if your voice systems didn’t work well, and you had to use your cell phone all the time you worked at home.

• Intermedia Unite – $29-39/user/month • Microsoft 365 E5 - $57/user/month • Ring Central – $19-59/user/month • – $19-59/user/month IT professionals reported that VPNs also caused some problems. The major providers of SonicWALL and Barracuda both had trouble syncing CCH Engagement binders under this type of load and provided emergency fixes during the first quarter of 2020. If your firm needs secure communications to your private cloud or a public cloud, IT professionals will have to address how your VPN works. On the other hand, firms that used centralized computing with tools like Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops were able to transition to work at home with minimal issues leveraging the built-in VPN capabilities of this product.

Outsourcing IT Infrastructure

As with cybersecurity, IT infrastructure is very complex, and it can eat up a lot of your time. From choosing servers to securing and managing hardware, keeping this task in-house can prove ineffective and costly. Going with an outside cloud service that facilitates all your backend operations can help your firm flourish and make life much more comfortable in the process. For CPA firms, make sure that you look for cloud providers that are authorized to host your primary applications, such as QuickBooks, from high-quality providers such as AbacusNext, Ace Cloud Hosting, CETROM or Right Networks. If a private cloud approach is better for your business, outsourcing tasks like IT infrastructure management to managed service providers like Network Management Group, Inc., augment your computer efforts.

As a CPA firm partner and owner, there’s not enough time in the day for you to do everything—especially things in which you have no expertise. Think about outsourcing tasks for tax and bookkeeping, communications, cybersecurity, and cloud services to take advantage of technology and move your firm forward. You might be surprised by how quickly you notice things going in the right direction!

Johnston is one of the partners at K2 Enterprises (www.k2e. com). In his role at K2 Enterprises, he helps to create and deliver technology-focused training to business professionals throughout North America. You may reach him at randy@ k2e.com

Member News Hughes, Snell & Co., PA announces launch of new website , announced that the firm has launched a fully redesigned website. The website address is www.hughessnell.com. The website was developed by WBN Marketing.

The launch previews the company’s recent brand refresh that includes a new, contemporary logo design that conveys the HSC forward-thinking team culture. The new website delivers an informative, user-friendly platform with many helpful tools, including a tax planning guide, estate planning guide, document retention guide, newsletter and more. HSC clients can log in through a secure client portal for safe, secure information transfers.

Nail McKinney P.A. announces elections and promotions

Member firm has announced the following elections and promotions: Richard D. “Ricky” Bullock, Jr., CPA, has been elected as president of the firm.

Bullock is a graduate of the University of Mississippi with a bachelor's in accountancy and master's in taxation. He joined Nail McKinney in 2000 and became a shareholder in 2011.

Bullock, his wife, and their daughter reside in Booneville.

Matthew W. Oaks, CPA, has been elected as treasurer of Nail McKinney P.A. Oaks is a graduate of Mississippi State University with a bachelor's in accountancy and a master's in taxation. He joined the firm in 2010 and became a shareholder in 2019. Matthew, his wife, Jessi and their children, Murray and Mabry, reside in Tupelo.

Jon K. Pernell, CPA, has been promoted to senior manager.

Pernell is a graduate of Delta State University with a bachelor in accountancy.

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A&A Remarks: We Were There!

Art Winstead Director of A&A

I want to selfishly take this opportunity to talk about my individual thoughts regarding what I have seen us, as a profession, do over the last 90 days. Yes, it is all about COVID-19. Before I go too far, please allow me to say this:

1. While this is easy to say, it is as genuine as I can be with all of my great friends in CPAmerica. I sincerely hope that you, your families, your firms and friends are well and safe. For those that are not, I offer my personal prayers and hopes that good health and a return to normal activities is on the horizon.

2. There is not any technical information here. If you want that, email me or call me.

3. Somewhere along the way, I was taught to keep all presentations in either the second or third person (or at worst, first person plural). I am going to stomp all over that rule. There will be many “I’s” within this short article. This is a result of my pride in what we, in our vocation, have done during this time.

4. I realize that we are by no means on the front line of what the U.S. and the world has had to face over the recent days. Folks on the front line have performed at an incredibly high level and with more risk than I think I would be willing to assume. I do want to talk about what all of us here have done as a part of this great profession.

If we think back only as far back as 90 days, I am pretty sure none of us could have imagined (much less predicted) what we

and the entire world would experience during this time. Then for us, we threw into the mix a busy-season calendar, economic challenges, PPP loan applications, forgiveness calculations, and just flat out advising clients on their day-to-day business operations – Wow! Who would’ve thought?

As a profession, we have always been there through tough economic times. I have never witnessed the challenges of the work we have provided over the past months. While stating the obvious, the work during this time has been challenging. We have been challenged from a physical standpoint, whether it be for our own personal health (including our families and co-workers) or shuttering our offices and working routinely from a remote location.

What has amazed me the most is the effort, the quality of that effort, and the efficiency in which we have met our challenges. Let’s leave our practice management challenges out of it. As great as they were, let’s consider our role in the services we provided to our clients with respect to advising them as to their operating challenges. How did they manage their employees? How did they manage cash flow? How did they respond to delays and communications with their vendors and suppliers? To some degree, that list is endless. Regardless, it’s a lot!

cocktail hour, but for our clients; our places of worship; civic organizations; volunteer boards; and commissions, we advised, calculated, worked, and participated at incredibly high levels of expertise.

We contributed both time and financial resources, at times knowing we stood a very good chance of not being compensated.

I would never attempt to develop a ranking of occupations and list where they stand in relation to the response that has been required from COVID-19, but I will say this – I am very proud wherever we are on that list.

We were THERE!

We have been very supportive of our clients during this time. Without any hesitation – we were THERE for our clients. All of us were there! We were there with passion, empathy, and professionalism while providing accurate and beneficial recommendations.

We kept our work beyond politics. Oh sure, we may have discussed politics at a virtual

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