Don’t leave money on the table

By James D. Gottfried, CPA, Chair, The Ohio Society of CPAs

OSCPA membership has many benefits, one being the eight hours of free CPE available through the seasonal Professional Issues Updates.

If you don’t participate in these lively, interactive presentations, it’s like leaving money on the table. The fall and spring series each provide four CPE credits, worth hundreds of dollars. Attend both and your OSCPA membership might already be paid for.

Attendees frequently describe the presentations as the fastest four hours of CPE they’ve experienced. Here is your opportunity to get up-to-speed on the latest issues impacting your profession in a fast-paced, easily digested format. Topics span all areas of the profession, whether you are in corporate accounting, public practice, tax, A&A, small business, not-for-profit – whatever it is, you’ll find something that relates to you in this presentation.

Specific topics include:

• Congress, the Ohio General Assembly and OSCPA’s legislative priorities
• How the recession has affected the CPA profession in Ohio
• IFRS, private company financial reporting changes and the outlook for the future
• Current business trends and the economic outlook
• Social media and social networking developments
• Generational issues in the workplace

The discussions are also highly interactive – this isn’t four hours of a static, talking head. OSCPA President and CEO Clarke Price typically leads the presentation and discussion, tweaking the subject matter to the audience while seeking feedback and discussion throughout.

The live presentation also allows for candid takes on the latest issues. It is a unique opportunity to get an inside opinion and perspective on what’s really going on behind the scenes. Attendees also get practical advice on navigating the changes impacting our profession. Many leave with thoughts and goals for what they need to incorporate into their jobs the next day.

Trust me; if it’s important to your job or career, it’s covered in the Professional Issues Updates.

Corporate CPAs benefit from the connection to the Society and the profession. It’s also an opportunity to catch up with friends and former coworkers – maybe even future coworkers. For many members, it’s a bi-annual opportunity to touch base with other CPAs in their area.

If you’ve never been to a Professional Issues Update, come join us. If you have been before, bring some colleagues or other OSCPA members and introduce them to what they’ve been missing.

Editor’s note: Follow the Professional Issues Updates on Twitter with #SpringPIU.

Networking can be just for fun too

OSCPA members networking at the Dayton Accounting Show

Last week I attended OSCPA’s Ohio Accounting Show in Dayton and as always, I came away with a few a-ha moments.

The first is no surprise really—CPAs, like every other professional, like to mix fun with business. On the first day, I was very popular as I handed out raffle tickets for the Kodak-Pocket Video Camera and iPad drawings. After breakfast, members hurried off to sessions but on the first break, they were back in the exhibit hall, visiting with exhibitors and straining to hear whose name was called for the latest prize drawing.

At the Society, we are always promoting the value of networking and this event delivered on such opportunities in abundance. But just as in any group, some took to networking like fish to water while others hung back, not sure of where and when to join the conversation.

At the networking breakfast, I sat with a group of business and industry CPAs. As we chatted amiably over eggs and sausage, the conversation moved from how small employers can afford to keep offering healthcare coverage to the outlook for college graduates. We didn’t pick these topics off of a networking card in the center of the table. We got there by sharing personal bits about ourselves which moved the discussion in new and sometimes funny directions, like how we get our teenagers out of bed for school.

I lunched with a group of exhibitors from CCH Walters Kluwer, and learned one from Canton knows the football coach at my daughter’s high school. We ended up talking about school funding challenges.

To my left was a retired CPA who is still active on our Dayton show committee. We both worked for the same international holding company years ago—me in Pennsylvania and he in Dayton. Who knew we’d someday be sharing lunch and talking about how much we love the mountains in my home state?

I’m pretty sure we didn’t solve world hunger or Ohio’s budget problems in those two half hours, but the conversation was interesting and provided a few friendly faces in the crowd of more than 500.

It didn’t just feel like a business event anymore. And it occurred to me that the best networking happens when you’re not even trying that hard.

Throughout the day, I ran into every one of my table mates and each time we smiled and said, ‘hello’ or shared our opinions on what we just learned—or on the food which, by the way, is fabulous at Sinclair Community College.

If networking doesn’t come easy to you, try thinking of it differently. It’s not something you must do to advance your career. It can simply be a way to meet new people. The other benefits are icing.

Getting started

For tips on effective networking, see OSCPA’s April blog post on that same topic. It includes a link to networking tips for shy people.

You can also ease into networking by sharing your time and talents doing something you love. The Ohio Society has a ton of volunteer opportunities where you can work side by side with other CPAs.

We are recruiting volunteers right now for our standing committees, and always have room for willing CPAs to plan shows and events, or to teach FETCH!, the elementary financial literacy program. There are even programs geared specifically for networking.

It all comes down to a mindset, really. Networking doesn’t have to be the big, scary elephant in the room. It can just be dinner with new friends. And who can’t use more friends?