Future-proof | A Podcast For Tomorrow's Accounting & Finance Pros

What’s happening at the state level that might have an impact on the accounting and finance world? There’s a lot that’s going on in state capitals across the country that bears watching. Here to talk about all of this is Tom Hood, the president and CEO of the Maryland Association of CPAs and the Business Learning Institute. The issues we’re talking about today are things that Tom is watching in Maryland, but these could be issues in any state in the nation. Nearly all states are either dealing with issues like these right now or are watching these issues very closely in the event that they might have to deal with them down the road.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:macpa.org/cpadaymacpa.org/advocacyblionline.orgRead: “Threats to licensing remain a concern for CPAs amid pandemic,”42. Get Involved: Legislative Advocacy at the Local Level | with State Senator Brian FeldmanFuture-Proof is a production of Crate Media

Cheryl Duvall is the Consulting Practice Area leader for Gensler’s Southeast Region, the renowned global integrated architecture, design, planning and consulting firm with more than 5,000 professionals in 50 offices worldwide. Cheryl talks about the nature of work, what our workspaces will actually look like going forward, whether or not we will need offices in the future, how leadership is changing as a result, and the skills future-ready leaders will need to develop.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:gensler.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/cheryl-duvall-ab429928Coronavirus: How the world of work may change foreverWhy Working From Home is the Future of AccountingFuture-Proof is a production of Crate Media

What we do isn’t who we are; we are all something more than our job. So, what’s that thing that really defines us?Our guest John Garrett, for example, is a CPA, yes. AND he’s an author, a standup comedian, an Emmy Award nominee, and a thought-provoker — he’s a lot besides just a CPA, and he’s encouraging all of us to find our “and” too. He recently wrote a book on the topic — “What’s Your And? Unlock the Person With the Professional”  — to teach others how sharing your personal passions improves work performance, builds culture, and strengthens relationships with colleagues and clients.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:Learn more at thejohngarrett.comRead: “What’s Your And? Unlock the Person With the Professional” Listen: “What’s Your And?” podcastFuture-Proof is a production of Crate Media

As with pretty much every other trend out there, this pandemic has acted as an accelerator for cyber threats. This was a big problem before COVID-19, but it’s an even bigger problem now. And that makes this week’s conversation particularly relevant, and it’ll likely only become more relevant over the coming months.To help us get ahead of this unsetting trend, we had a conversation with Scott Fleszar, chief operating and strategy officer for SafeSend. SafeSend’s mission is to accelerate the tax and accounting profession with innovative, emerging technologies that help practitioners work more efficiently and better serve their clients. One of their products, SafeSend Returns — which provides accounting firms an automated, centralized and standardized way to assemble and deliver tax returns digitally — recently won an Innovation Award from CPA Practice Advisor. SafeSend Returns To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:safesend.comSafeSend Returns: safesend.com/safes

Joe Biden is the president-elect of the United States of America, but the future of America’s tax policy is going to largely depend on the way a few remaining Senate races turn out. There are a lot of questions about how things will turn out, but Ed Karl is going to try to clarify a few things. Ed is vice president of taxation for the American Institute of CPAs, a member of the Maryland Association of CPAs, and he’s got a good sense of the tax situation in our country.Ed joined us not long after Biden was projected to win to talk about the impact of the election, the pandemic, and a number of other issues, and not just the prospect of new tax policy but on the upcoming tax season as well. And if you had to boil it all down to one word, he said that word might be “patience.”To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:aicpa.orgLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/edward-s-karl-cpa-027a7442Twitter: @edwardkarltax"Prospects for Federal Tax Policy After the 2020 Election""Democrats expr

Twyla Verhelst is one of the top 50 women in accounting. She is head of the Accountant Channel and leader of the New Accounting Professionals Program at Freshbooks. She’s also a CPA and has deep personal experience in advisory accounting, so she knows how to leverage technology and create high-value client experiences.We’ve discussed the need to create the “Future-Ready CPA,” and Twyla has a different term for these CPAs of the future. Twyla believes CPAs and accountants have to stop thinking of themselves as business historians and instead start thinking of themselves as progressive, pushing the industry and leading us forward. Listen to learn how you can become a progressive CPA.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:LinkedIn: ca.linkedin.com/in/twylav"From essential to indispensable: The 5 stages of navigating COVID-19”“Growth Drivers For Accounting Firms In The Post-Pandemic Era”Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

The world of financing touches everything—including sports. Jeff Goering is the CFO of the Baltimore Ravens NFL team.He talks about how life as a CFO for an NFL team differs from your typical job in finance—and the ways in which it doesn’t. He also discusses the impact COVID-19 is having on teams, how corporate finance has changed in recent years, and how the role of the CFO has changed right along with it.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:baltimoreravens.commacpa.org/macpa-member-special-offersmacpa.org/future-learning-frameworkFuture-Proof is a production of Crate Media

Diversity and inclusion is important. If we want to future-proof our careers, our organizations, our profession, it has to include diversity, equality, and inclusion.Anoop Mehta is president of Science Systems and Applications in Lanham, Maryland. It’s a leading provider of scientific research and development, engineering, and information analytics services in the Earth and space science disciplines. He is also a former chair of the Maryland Association of CPAs’ Board of Directors, and a current member of the Board of Directors for the American Institute of Certified Professional Accountants, and a council member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. He’s also an immigrant, an Indian-American, and he has a unique take on this country and this profession, and what the future holds.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:linkedin.com/in/anoop-mehta-2741ab1bRead: “How Businesses Can Recruit and Develop More Young People of Color”Future-Proof is a product

Byron Patrick is a chameleon of sorts, changing his specialty with the times and staying ahead of the curve. He’s a good friend of our host, Bill Sheridan, who met him in 2006 as the Director of IT for KatzAbosch in Maryland. He had just created a virtual office for the firm in an online virtual world called Second Life. Virtual space is a great place to teach and learn, and other platforms have come along since then and proved it right. Byron was thinking about this concept long before anyone else in the profession.He went on to co-found an organization that focused on remote work technologies and solutions in 2008, also well before remote work became a popular idea. He joined the Board of Directors for the Maryland Association of CPAs and eventually chaired that board during the 2013-14 fiscal year, becoming one of the youngest MACPA chairs ever in the process.In 2019, he joined the team at Botkeeper, which provides automated bookkeeping and accounting solutions for firms, as their director of pre-sales and

Alexander Hagerup is the founder of Vic.AI, a strategic partner of the MACPA and the Business Learning Institute. Alex is a serial tech entrepreneur based in New York with a strong passion for artificial intelligence.Alex joins us to talk about A.I., and how far we’ve come, and where we are now in terms of the automation possibilities that A.I. gives us. And maybe most importantly, why CPAs should be paying attention to this, and what this technology will do for us that will improve our lives, and the lives of our clients and customers.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:vic.ailinkedin.com/in/alexanderhagerupFuture-Proof is a production of Crate Media

Ed Kless is senior director of partner development and strategy at Sage, a senior fellow at the VeraSage Institute, and the co-host of the Soul of Enterprise podcast.Ed believes that so much of the leadership advice available out there, in hundreds of books on every topic imaginable, completely misses the boat on what great leadership is about. And that, to Ed, is “Healing Leadership.” Ed shares with us what that term means, how most people are getting it wrong, and how you can learn it and practice it in your business and life.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:Listen: Soul of EnterpriseLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/edklessTwitter: twitter.com/edklessRead: "Healing Leadership"Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

Financial performance isn’t the only metric of value we should care about, so why is it all that we report on? We’re living in a different time. We’re working for different organizations that are impacted by different issues, and we need financial reports and tell different stories and communicate different values than those of the past. Integrative reports intend to fix this problem by including factors in addition to financial performance: reliance on the environment, social reputation, human capital skills, and more.Charles Tilley is CEO of the International Integrated Reporting Council, and previously chaired the IIRC’s technical task force, which is the group responsible for developing the Integrated Reporting framework. He joins us to get everyone up to speed with Integrated Reporting, what the benefits are for organizations and stakeholders alike, and what the future of this type of reporting might look like.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:integra

There are some important changes coming to the internet in the form of top-level domains. These are the parts of a website that come after the dot in a domain name. There are seven original top-level domains, which were created in the early days of the Internet — .com, .org, .net, .int, .edu, .gov, and .mil. Today, the number of top-level domains available has exploded, and now, .cpa has finally arrived, and it is one you will want to pay attention to. Like everything else with the profession, there are elements of verification and trust embedded in .cpa that don’t exist in other domains.Erik Asgeirsson is president and CEO of CPA.com, and he shares why the world needs another top-level domain, and why you need to seriously consider securing yours now, because there’s never been a better time than now. If you’re a CPA or work for a CPA firm, the changes happening will affect your brand, your SEO, your marketing, and, most importantly, the trust and integrity you’ve built with your clients and customers.To lea

With the upcoming elections fast approaching, we are going to make a level-headed comparison of the two candidates through the lens of their tax policies. How does each candidate differ when it comes to their ideas about individual and corporate taxes?Joining us to discuss the topic is Tony Nitti. Tony is a tax partner with RubinBrown in Aspen, Colorado. He also teaches the graduate tax programs at both the University of Denver and Golden Gate University. He writes about tax issues frequently for The Tax Adviser, Taxes Magazine, the JofA, and Accounting Today. He’s also a featured tax writer for Forbes.Tony Nitti talks about the many ways in which President Trump and Joe Biden differ when it comes to tax policy, from individual and corporate tax rates, capital gains, deductions, tax credits, and more.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:Follow Tony on Twitter | LinkedInRead Tony’s articles on Forbes.60. Navigating the Twists & Turns of Your Career | with Tony

Ron Baker has been a vocal evangelist in favor of the concept of value pricing—the idea of charging based on the value you provide, rather than on the amount of time you spend providing it. He has spent more than 20 years trying to convince people in the accounting profession to throw away the timesheet, but now he’s come to the conclusion that there’s something else that may work instead—something he calls the subscription model, “Value Pricing 2.0.” It’s a completely different business model, and one that we all need to be paying very close attention to.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:Learn more at VeraSage.comConnect with Ron: LinkedInHousing SubscriptionOne Is the Most Affordable Number: Porsche Subscription Service Strips It DownJeep Launching Subscription Service in 2019Life, by subscriptionLocal entrepreneur launches face mask subscription service105. Subscriptions: 'The Forever Transaction' | with Robbie Kellman BaxterFuture-Proof is a production of C

The skills involved in mastering improv are the same critical skills for becoming a great leader. Peter Margaritis is a CPA, a thought leader with the Business Learning Institute, and a comedian doing stand up in his free time. He knows all about improv, and more importantly, how it connects to CPAs and finance professionals. Good leadership requires connecting with and listening to others, being in the moment, being flexible, and following our intuition, and Peter is going to tell us how all of that comes together through the magic of improv.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:petermargaritis.comPodcast: petermargaritis.com/category/cym-podcastsRead: "Improv Is No Joke"Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

With so many people working from home, companies are being forced to re-examine how they measure productivity and input. Is time spent in front of the computer really the greatest factor for measuring employee contribution? Jody Thompson co-created the Results-Only Work Environment system, or ROWE, in 2003. Since then, it’s gained global traction and has influenced the cultures of countless organizations around the world, and we’re seeing a resurgence of it now as more and more companies adopt remote working.Remote teams that have adopted ROWE have been responding very positively for one key reason: Autonomy. It’s one of the three things that all employees want. We get to hear straight from the creator of ROWE what she thinks about what’s going on in the world today and how ROWE has paved the way for the massive changes we’re experiencing.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:goROWE.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jody-thompson-48a5827Twitter: twitter.com/jodyroweRead

11 years ago, when Sebastian Terry was 24 years old, he lost a friend. The sudden death shook Sebastian to his core, to the point where he re-evaluated his own life and asked himself, “Am I happy?” His answer was, “No.”Sebastian started looking for more happiness in his life. He wrote down a list of 100 things that he thought might make him happy — 100 things that he wanted to accomplish and that he thought might bring him a sense of joy — and as he started crossing things off his list, other people were inspired by his example. They started their own lists, which turned into Sebastian writing a book, speaking at events, and starting a movement.We’re all so wrapped up in everything going on in the world that not many of us have stopped to ask ourselves these questions lately: Am I happy? Am I living a purposeful life? What’s on my list? How can I help others? The closer we can get to answering those questions, the brighter the future is going to be for all of us.To learn more, and for the complete show n

With everything that’s going on in the world today, it could do us all some good to spend more time on positivity. Gretchen Pisano is co-founder and CEO of pLink Leadership, a group that combines strategy, leadership development, and coaching with a focus on the “link” between the practice of positive psychology and better business results. She’s a professional certified coach, she has a master’s in applied positive psychology, and she’s a student of the teachings of Barbara Fredrickson and Brené Brown.We’ve all dealt with struggles recently. This conversation offers insights that anyone could benefit from — to help us all not only feel a little better but to actually thrive.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:pLinkleadership.compositivityratio.comlinkedin.com/in/gretchenpisanodaretolead.brenebrown.comBarbara Fredrickson: The Positivity RatioFuture-Proof is a production of Crate Media

Tracey Golden is the new chair of the American Institute of CPAs and the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants. She’s also a CGMA and an audit partner with Deloitte. In her acceptance speech, after her election, she used the COVID-19 crisis as a backdrop for her thoughts on the role CPAs play as trusted advisors who will help lead us on a financial path forward and through this crisis. Here’s what she said:“We are truly living disruption – not incremental change but a radical break from the familiar. Our profession has a crucial role to play in helping navigate this disruption. We are here to help businesses and individuals get through these tough times, learn from them, and grow.”She outlines three ways that accounting and finance professionals can position themselves as leaders who will help clients and employers through the crisis. First, finding strength in our connection with one another. Second, seize the opportunity to make much-needed changes. And third, evolve in order to th