07 2018 advantage final

News from Your Accounting Association

CPAmerica Advantage 2018 CPAmerica events and meetings are shifting into high gear With five of our prominent events and meetings already behind us this year, CPAmerica’s events season is anticipating a strong showing for the remainder of our offerings for members in 2018.

Starting with the Next Generation (Next Gen) Conference in Denver, Colorado and the Marketing Roundtable held this May in Portland, Oregon, then featuring our A&A Conference (co-located with the Technology Roundtable in Miami, Florida) and Northeast Regional Meeting in New Paltz, New York, all in June, CPAmerica members were able to come together from around the country to enhance their firms through networking opportunities, member sharing, and continuing professional education in some of the most scenic locations around the U.S. Next Gen led off our 2018 meetings in the foothills of the Rockies at the Westin Denver Downtown hotel.

Brian Kush of Intend2Lead led off with the pre-con event designed to help attendees in leadership coaching. With an Intro The 2018 Next Generation and Advanced Track, Next Conference met at the Westin Gen featured Sam Allred Denver Downtown in May from Upstream Academy, Donna Salter from the AICPA, Jennifer Stanford from Emergent Performance Solutions, Jennifer Wilson of ConvergenceCoaching, Art Kuesel of Kuesel Consulting, Inc., Michael Platt from INSIDE Public

July 2018 Part two of Rainmaker article P. 1

Accounting, and Mark Soukup of Soukup, Bush & Assoc., CPAs, PC.

Member News P. 3 President's Corner - Alan Deichler P. 4

Next stop was Portland for the Marketing Roundtable where things got started with a brewery tour before marketers got down to business taking in some of CPAmerica’s best facilitators who focused in on content Cheers! Marketers started their creation event with an optional Portland brewery tour st rateg ies, marketing and selling to Millennials, a strategic plan development session, and finishing with a transitioning clients for retirement portion.

June meetings started with co-located events – the A&A Conference and the Technology Roundtable. A&A attendees took in the Florida sunshine and Jim Woy’s (of Anderson ZurMuehlen & Co., P.C.) Yellow Book pre-con. With speakers such as Crowe Global’s David Chitty; Stuart Paap of Pitch DNA; Ahava Goldman of the AICPA; Randy Johnston of NMGI; Chandler Russell of member

CPAmerica's newsletter: From April 2007 - Our international affiliate, Crowe Global (formerly Horwath International), has also changed through the years. In this issue, they welcomed Frank Arford as their new CEO.

See Events and Meetings, continued on page 2

An article on rainmakers in your firm: Rain comes in many forms This is part 2 of 2 of the Rainmaker article by ConvergenceCoaching from the June 2018 Advantage issue. To read part 1, go to: https://tinyurl.com/y7nmyosa •

Seller The – this person qualifies opportunities (either sourced by them or by others), builds rapport and trust with prospects and closes new business regularly. They are someone who can win engagements, and Sourcers trust them with leads they generate because of their proven ability to close. Being able to consistently qualify and close opportunities is rarer within firms so the Seller is special. Their results can be measured by the dollar value of closed new business associated with opportunities assigned to them on the pipeline.

• Sourcer The – this person is engaged in a variety of personal

marketing activities that generate prospect opportunities. A powerful Sourcer is usually positioned as a thought leader or community leader and is out there building both personal and firm brand in various ways, such as: association involvement, speaking, board service, networking activities, referral source meetings, blogging, social networking and targeting specific accounts, public relations or other activities. These activities put them in proximity to decision makers and they uncover opportunities as a result. The Sourcer is super special within firms, and having more than one “super-Sourcer” is very rare.

The impact a Sourcer has is measured by the dollar value of business closed from opportunities they brought in and added to the pipeline – whether they are the Seller or not.

See Rainmaker, continued on page 2

CELEBRATING:

Marketers Connect in Bridge City:

Portland, Oregon was the site of this year's Marketing Roundtable This year’s Marketing Roundtable took us as far west as we could go – to Portland, Oregon, following the close of the AAM (Association for Accounting Marketers) 2018 Summit in May at the Hilton Portland Downtown.

The group got to experience Portland at its best during a dinner and brewery tour at Baerlic Brewing Co., and Migration Brewing, facilitated

by Brewvana, whose mission is to celebrate craft beer. And if you know anything about Portland, it’s rightly known as the best beer city. The group also got to experience an iconic Portland dinner at Higgins, situated in one of the world’s most diverse agricultural regions – the Willamette Valley.

At Higgins from (l to r): VonLehman CPA & Advisory Firm’s Kyle Shumate; CPAmerica's Sarah Coulson; Cooper Norman CPAs & Business Advisors’ Brooke Eppa; Matthews, Cutrer & Lindsay, P.A.’s Charles Lindsay; CPAmerica's Alan Deichler; Honkamp Krueger & Co., P.C.’s Nicole Gantz; Thomas Howell Ferguson, P.A.’s Becca Gilbert; Cummings, Keegan & Co., P.L.L.P.’s Pauline Gonnering; and Gollob Morgan Peddy PC’s Clint Yeatts.

Rainmaker, continued from front page To establish realistic expectations, incent organic growth and focus your precious rainmaking resources: •

Recognize that each individual manager and partner may be capable of one or more of these roles, depending on their gifts and inclination, and then develop individualized personal marketing or rainmaking plans for each • that Realize some people will be proficient in one or more areas and others will be off the charts in one or more areas • partners Expect to be at least proficient as Supporters and Servers • rewards Tie for Servers to net growth within their client base • both Track the person who Sourced an opportunity and the person who acted as the Seller on their sales pipeline.

Understand that this can, and ideally will be, two different people • your Reward Sellers and Sourcers for new business closed and pay them well above what others who do not sell engagements receive, sending a message that those who can close new business are very important to your firm • your Focus Sourcers on their special gift of attraction and encourage them to do more sourcing (given its rarity) and less of the other three roles (and less overall client service) – even though they may be very capable of all four types of rainmaking and much more • your Pay Sourcers for sourcing new business and expect that your most significant Sourcers will be the highest paid partners in the firm – regardless of billable hours, book of business or other traditional measures. This frees the Sourcers up to transition clients to Servers and pass on leads to Sellers so they can keep on generating new opportunities So, what rainmaking role or roles are you most suited to? How does your firm recognize differences in rainmaking ability? Who are your firm’s biggest Sellers and Sourcers? Are they as focused on using these gifts as they could be? If not, what could you do to help them spend more time selling and sourcing?

Recognize the unique abilities of your individual partners (and others) and channel your efforts in the areas where you can most succeed. When you do, your firm will enjoy the benefits of more rain.

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The Marketing R o u n d t a b l e ’s agenda was

packed with timely topics like: content creation strategies facilitated by Aldrich Group’s Peggy Kitzmiller; transitioning clients for retirement and for capacity building facilitated by Cummings, Keegan & Co., P.L.L.P.’s Pauline Gonnering; strategic plan development facilitated by VonLehman CPA & Advisory Firm’s Kyle Shumate; and marketing and selling to leader millennials facilitated by Honkamp Kreuger & Co., P.C.’s Nicole Gantz.

Nicole Gantz was not only a great facilitator during the meeting, she also received the AAM 2018 Marketer of the Year award, sponsored by INSIDE Public Accounting, presented at the AAM 2018 Summit. Congratulations to Nicole!

We are looking forward to the next Marketing Roundtable that will be held at MGM Grand in Las Vegas on June 10, 2019.

Events and Meetings, continued from front page firm Thomas Howell Ferguson, P.A.; Rich Daisley from Surgent CPE; Cathy Rowe of Wolters Kluwer; Danielle Robitaille of MindBridge Ai; David Cieslak of RKL eSolutions; Jenny Rodriguez-Vargas from Workforce Optimization Partners, LLC; and Wayne Kerr from Audit Watch. It was evident that this year’s A&A Conference was rich with speakers and content for members to take back to their firms.

Sunny Miami was the site of this year's A&A Conference, colocated with the Tech Roundtable, and (above) the welcome reception was casual

The Technology Roundtable saw industry insider Randy Johnston of NMGI covering a wide array of topics such as: emerging technologies; software protection; and security. Brian Tankersley from K2 Enterprises gave a GDPR update, Tim Weidman from member firm Frankel Zacharia, LLC, covered cybersecurity, and Cathy Rowe and Danielle Robitaille went over data analytics, and David Cieslak spoke on AI and blockchain.

Our last event of June was our Northeast Regional Meeting which took place at the Mohonk Mountain House in New York. The lush sur roundings provided an ideal locale for regional partners to get together and experience a full day of Tim Bartz of Upstream Academy.

Northeast Regional partners met at the elegant Mohonk Mountain House in New York

As seen in this article, CPAmerica conferences offer members an excellent chance to meet with their peers and pick up practical knowledge that they can put to work immediately at their firms. The amazing thing about our events and meetings is that there are still more than ten which we are offering in 2018. If you would like to see what we have in store, visit www.cpamerica.org and look under the Events tab.

CELEBRATING:

Member News Sol Schwartz & Associates announce Machado as president of San Antonio CPA Society and Brudnicki as new CPA

Arturo Machado, CPA, of San Antonio, Texas-based member firm , was installed as president of the San Antonio CPA Society at the May 2018 chapter meeting.

Machado is a shareholder at Sol Schwartz & Associates, P.C., where he provides tax consulting and compliance services to our clients. He has more than 16 years of accounting experience with a concentration in international tax.

Jason L. Brudnicki of San Antonio, Texas has received his certification as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

Brudnicki joined the firm in January 2017 and earned a bachelor's in accounting from the University of Utah and a master's of accountancy from Texas State University.

Thomas Howell Ferguson P.A. CPAs congratulates Alexander Frey and Timothy Icardi on receiving their CPA licenses (THF), a professional accounting, assurance, and tax services firm, headquartered in Tallahassee, Fla., congratulates Alexander Frey on receiving his CPA license.

ALEXANDER FREY Frey received his bachelor’s and master’s in accounting from Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y., and began working at THF in May 2017. He has experience in internal control assessment and testing, fraud risk evaluation, financial statement preparation, and various accounting matters associated with government and U.S. accounting standards.

Frey is a member of the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants (FICPA), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), and TIMOTHY ICARDI the Emerging Leaders of Tampa Bay. The firm also congratulates Timothy Icardi for receiving his CPA license.

Icardi received his bachelor’s and master’s in accounting from Florida State University. He has experience with various accounting positions, including bookkeeping and administrative services.

Timothy is a member of the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants (FICPA) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

Award-winning D.C. metro area accounting firm launches newly redesigned website

Fairfax, Va.-based member firm announced its new website: www.tgccpa.com. The newly designed website captures Thompson Greenspon’s ongoing efforts and commitment to serve the growing needs of its clients by enhancing the quality and availability of information for business professionals in the Washington, D.C.metro area and throughout the Northeast.

The website offers new features including an in-depth look at the breadth of services that Thompson Greenspon provides, several quarterly and bi-monthly newsletters for clients to choose from, dynamic online forms, and more.

The website’s homepage welcomes visitors with seamless navigation, and easy-to-access industry content and resources.

VonLehman named a 2018 Top Workplace and announce additions and promotions Member firm

, with headquarters in Fort Wright, Ky., was selected for The Enquirer and Cincinnati.com’s 2018 Top Workplaces award. The award, conducted by national research and consulting firm, Energage, surveyed 184 Cincinnati-area organizations. Top Workplaces exemplify a highly engaged workplace culture and maintain highlevel employee engagement, alignment, and effectiveness, among other qualities.

The firm also announced Ely Friedman as vice president of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) Advisory Services Group. Friedman joins VonLehman with nearly a decade of experience dealing with the sale and acquisition of private businesses. As vice president of the firm’s M&A Advisory Group, he will be directly responsible for consultation and advisory services relating to founder-owned private businesses.

Kyle Taylor, CPA, was named as the newest member of the firm’s Strategic Business Services (SBS) Group. He joins VonLehman with 30 years of financial experience, including 15 years in the healthcare industry.

Deirdre Bird was promoted to director of human resources consulting. As director, she will lead a team of five consultants specialized in providing HR management and consulting solutions for clients, including talent acquisition and retention strategies, HR strategic planning and succession services, compensation design, and transformation and organizational design consulting.

Plain Dealer once again names 415 Group a Top Workplace

Canton, Ohio-based ,a leading certified public accounting, business consulting and IT services firm, was selected as one of The Plain Dealer’s Top Workplaces for 2018.

This award, according to The Plain Dealer, “seeks to recognize area employers who create an environment and culture where workers feel respected and rewarded and where those same workers feel as if they can enrich their skills while contributing to a mission they believe in.”

Nominations for this award are made entirely by employees. Frank Monaco, managing partner at 415 Group said, “The fact that the Top Workplace award is 100% employee-driven makes the results that much more meaningful.” Partnering with Energage, formerly Workplace Dynamics, the Plain Dealer uses the employee survey results to rank participating employers across three categories—large, mid-size and small.

Lansdale, Pa. member firm Baum, Smith & Clemens, LLP, award scholarship

Member firm LLP, the Lansdale, Pa.-based accounting and business advisory firm, announced this year’s winner of the firm's Travis Bechtel Scholarship. The scholarship is named in honor of a former employee of Baum, Smith, & Clemens who died at a very young age while working for the firm.

It is chosen by the school and awarded to a graduating senior of Dock Mennonite Academy who has excelled in academics, sports and business.

Eric Becker, a 2018 graduate of Dock Mennonite Academy, is this year’s recipient of the scholarship.

Becker was a member of the soccer, basketball and baseball teams. He will be continuing his education at the University of Pittsburgh, double majoring in finance and marketing.

GYL Decauwer LLP promote Arredondo to senior manager

, a member firm headquartered in Ontario, Calif., recently promoted Laurie A. Arredondo, CPA, EA, to senior manager. Arredondo, a graduate of California Polytechnic University of Pomona, joined the firm in 2006.

She specializes in accounting and taxation for the construction and manufacturing industries and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the California Society of Certified Public Accountants, and the Construction Financial Management Association.

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President's Corner: The CPAmerica/Crowe Global Connection You may have noticed that Crowe Hor wath Inter nat iona l has announced a global rebrand. The top 10 network has rebranded its 221 member firms into one name – Crowe Global. This will not Alan Deichler President only impact all of Crowe Global's network, but will also impact CPAmerica membership as well.

From a branding perspective, Crowe Global is in our logo and we are making changes to reflect the new branding. We are also planning another small change to our logo that we are hopeful will take place in the fall. We are asking our firms to remain patient through this period before any major changes are made and we will get brand standards to our firms at that time.

A bigger perspective of the rebrand is the power of a single name throughout the world. Crowe Global is one of eight branded accounting firm networks and we, through the association’s membership in the network, have access to the power of the brand and its member firms for our referrals throughout the world.

You, through your membership in CPA mer ica a nd t he associat ion’s membership in Crowe Global, may present to your prospects and clients the power and benefits of our relationships through an approved statement located on our website.

You may reach out to Sarah Coulson for further assistance.

Our relationship with Crowe has grown significantly in the last few years. Crowe Global members participate in our International Group Meeting conducted annually in Atlanta, usually held within the first week of December. These 10-15 international firms in attendance make for a real global networking event with CPAmerica firms building and supporting their international practices.

Crowe LLP (the U.S.-based Crowe Global firm) has supported a number of our events by both their participation and offering expert speakers for our webinars and events.

Access to the Crowe LLP National Tax Office is a major advantage for participating CPAmerica firms. For very reasonable fees and on an as-you-need basis, firms can obtain support from this group of tax experts similar to the support the Crowe offices and partners receive. Please contact me if you are interested in exploring the benefits of this program.

CPAmerica partners are welcome to attend this particular conference.

Above: Crowe Global's new logo Another event you may want to put on your calendar for 2019 is the Crowe Americas Regional meeting in Toronto on May 15-17.

This meeting is often held in South America and has been moved to make access easier for North American member firms in Canada and the U.S. Again, all CPAmerica partners are welcome.

Our relationship with both Crowe Global and Crowe LLP is strong and growing. As a major benefit to your membership in CPAmerica, we look forward to many more years of this relationship continuing to build.

CPAmerica members are welcome at Crowe Global events. This year the Crowe Global Conference is in Berlin, Germany, starting on Sunday, October 14 through midday on Wednesday, October 17. Many members in the past have attended these meetings.

There, they learned from their great agendas and met with member firms - often wrapping memorable vacations around the sessions.

Gainesville, FL 32601 (352) 727-4070 www.cpamerica.org

2018 Crowe Global Conference Berlin, Germany October 14-17, 2018

We is the theme of the 2018 conference, signifying our evolution as an integrated global network, as we come together under a unified brand to connect, learn and share challenges and ideas during our four days together in October.

Questions? Please contact: events@crowe.org

Send feedback and advantage@cpamerica.org OHM

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