Apply today. Application deadline is Sept. 1.

Some helpful tips before taking the survey include:

• The following reports are needed to complete the survey: accrual basis balance sheet, profit & loss statement ending Dec. 31, 2009 (two-year comparative); payroll reports by employee (gross wages, hours worked); A/R aging report; partner draw/salary information; from billing system (hours & fees)—billing by service code; employee analysis by service code; and employee analysis of billable/non-billable hours and fees.
• Keep copies of all your supporting documents to refer to for future surveys.
• Set up memorized reports now, so they are available for future surveys.

If your firm is not yet a PCPS member, you can join for $35 per CPA (maximum $700). Nonmembers can purchase results reports for $300 (survey participants receive a $100 discount; AICPA members receive an additional $100 discount.)

The survey closes Friday, Aug. 13.

For more information, go online.

The committee would like to thank CalCPA and all the young professionals who helped make our first event a successful one. We look forward to many more in the future.

Gail Anikouchine, chapter first vice president, and I recently attended the CalCPA Annual Members’ Business andCouncil meeting in Anaheim. The following are some highlights.

Conrad Davis was installed as CalCPA chair and shared his vision and goals for the year, which include mentorship and leadership development. During his address, he emphasized that California CPAs are part of something larger—a profession—and that we all have a responsibility to sustain it, protect it and nourish it. He said this means adding new members and developing leaders, while continuing to meet the needs of our existing members.

“As we move ahead with our careers, we also can help lift up a peer or an emerging professional,” he said. Conrad believes that mentoring is necessary for the advancement of the accounting profession.

We also heard from Manual Ramirez, chair of the California Board of Accountancy, who urged us to respond to a call to public involvement. The CBA is considering how “complaints and accusations” against CPAs are to be treated as part of its obligation to protect consumers. The Department of Consumer Affairs has drafted a memo requiring the CBA to post all accusations against CPAs on the internet. Currently, the CBA posts a summary of any formal accusations against a licensee. He also spoke about mobility issues, which passed in all states except California and Hawaii. He wants all members to get involved in the profession and express their opinions on these and other bills being presented.

At the breakfast for chapter presidents and first vice presidents, Greg Burke presented the CalCPA Institute Scholarship Task Force Recommendations. Scholarships are vital chapter activities and the task force was formed in response to requests from members. Many recommendations were presented, some of which we hope to incorporate into our scholarship fund-raising activities and best practices.

We were reminded during the presentation that the accounting profession is facing a severe shortage of doctorates to teach the next generation of CPAs. There has been a growing demand for accounting professors, which has resulted in an inadequate supply of accounting Ph.D.s, and accounting programs are experiencing great difficulty recruiting new faculty members. The inadequate supply of accounting faculty has been exacerbated by the number of existing baby boomer faculty beginning to retire. There are many reasons why the shortage exists and major CPA firms, the AICPA and the Institute of Management Accountants have launched initiatives to encourage professionals to pursue Ph.D.s. CalCPA has funded a Ph.D. scholarship to which all the chapters have contributed, but the job is far from complete. Expect to hear more about this topic in the future.

One other item shared was the exciting news that CalCPA now has more than 36,000 members. I hope that we can continue to increase CalCPA—and chapter—membership. Please join me in inviting other CPAs who are not members into our chapter. Don’t forget our ABC (Attorneys, Bankers and CPAs) night coming up this month Aug. 12. Use it as an opportunity to increase the value of your membership.

You can check out photos online.

The theme of this month’s message is membership. One of CalCPA’s constant goals for each fiscal year is to increase membership. Some may ask you, why join CalCPA? I’d like to share some information about CalCPA, its vision, mission and priorities that you can share.

Vision: CalCPA efforts cause CalCPA members to be viewed as leaders in professional competency and integrity by clients, employers, and public and government officials.

Mission: To increase the value and promote the integrity of the CPA profession, contribute to the success of our members, and strengthen client, employer, public and government trust in CalCPA member advice, work products and opinions.

Core Values: Integrity, Competence, Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning, Independence, Objectivity, Protect the Public, Attuned to Business Issues.

Strategic Priorities supporting CalCPA’s vision and mission:

• Advocate for members on issues that affect the profession.
• Enhance and promote the visibility of the profession and CalCPA.
• Attract, educate and support CPAs in their professional and personal development.

Would you like to expand the value of your local CalCPA membership? If so, we have some exciting events coming up that will help you achieve this goal. I’d like to invite you to participate and invite some new faces to our chapter events in August and September.

Our chapter’s first Attorneys, Bankers and CPAs event is scheduled for Aug. 12 at the Coral Casino Beach and Cabana Club at the Four Seasons Biltmore Resort. This is an opportunity to network with other professionals, as well as to meet new colleagues and friends.

Our chapter’s annual golf tournament, a fund-raiser for student scholarships, will be held Sept. 29 at the championship Sandpiper Golf Club. This is your opportunity to have some fun in the sun. We hope that many people who attend our ABC Night will join us at the golf tournament to strengthen our new and continuing relationships.

I’m pleased to announce that Garry Jones, of Garry Jones & Associates, will be our Grassroots Legislative Committee chair and work with the CalCPA Government Relations Committee to increase CalCPA member participation in the political process. The committee will develop local, regional and state relationships with elected officials and candidates to increase the visibility of the CPA profession in the political arena. You may hear from Garry as he arranges meetings with legislative leaders in our area to promote CalCPA and CPA-PAC. This is another way to get more value from your CalCPA membership while promoting the profession as a whole.

Our chapter event July 23 is a three-hour CPE class with John Valenzuela, who will speak on the newly updated Form 990. This event was very popular last year, and John will advise us on the valuable lessons learned from the preparation of the forms, schedules and required disclosures from the prior year, as well as update us on the numerous corrections and clarifications that have been made to the instructions. In addition, he will present new issues and reporting dilemmas and how to deal with them. Please consider inviting your nonprofit clients to this valuable presentation. You can register online.

Lastly, don’t miss our local discussion group meetings. There is one near you in Conejo Valley, Ventura or Santa Barbara covering a wide range of topics. Please scan the newsletter for more information on the details of these events.

The best way to increase the value of your membership is to be active in the local chapter and participate. Let me know how I can help you achieve your goals.

“I have used the MAP survey for six years and have found it to be an invaluable tool I refer to over and over again to manage my practice,” says CalCPA member Eileen Pastenieks, CPA of Warmerdam CPA Group LLP. “I use the information to determine, among other things, if my wages are in line with other firms in my geographic area.”

If your firm is not yet a PCPS member, you can join for $35 per CPA (maximum $700). Nonmembers can purchase results reports for $300 (survey participants receive a $100 discount; AICPA members receive an additional $100 discount.

The survey closes Friday, Aug. 13.

For more information, go online.

I was happy to see some new faces and many familiar ones at our annual installation dinner at the Alisal Ranch May 1. We had a fun murder mystery presentation by Sharpo! Murder Mystery Company that kept us laughing for most of the evening. This was the first year we have held a dinner instead of a retreat. I am interested to hear comments from those of you who attended regarding the new format—and those of you who did not attend. Most of the board members were there, as well as many of our chapter committee chairs and representatives. I would like to say a big thank you to Rita Williams, our tireless program associate, for pulling this event together.

Since my last President’s Message, the board met to plan our chapter events for the year. We have many exciting events coming up, so please review the calendar and plan to join us. I will try to highlight some of the events from the meeting.

CalCPA’s statewide and local leaders have set a net membership growth goal for this next year of a minimum of 3 percent. Won’t you join us in this effort? I encourage you to invite non-CalCPA members to an upcoming event—let’s all work together to achieve this goal. It’s always good to have new ideas to re-energize our group.

At the chapter level, upcoming CPE topics include nonprofits, estate tax and multi-state tax. Please check the calendar frequently as the details for these continuing education classes are formalized. Other events include our ABC (Attorneys, Bankers & CPAs) Night in August, our golf tournament in September, which is a fund-raiser for our scholarships, and an awards night in November. The awards event honors our past presidents and 40-year members, and will include presentation of student scholarships.

Our local discussion groups are actively putting together continuing education meetings for the various areas in our chapter. Al Parrington will speak at a two-hour CPE event for the SB AP&AS Discussion Group June 17,^, and Jean-Luc Bourdon will present a one-hour CPE event for the SB Discussion Group June 22. There will a discussion group meeting in Conejo Valley June 3 on new 2010 employment laws with guest speaker Steven Lee and Roy Schneider. And the Ventura Discussion Group has a financial banking topic planned for June 24. There is something for everyone. If you have a topic you would like covered, please e-mail me and I will forward your message onto the committee chairs to be considered for a future event.

June is stacking up to be a busy month. In addition to the great CPE topics and events detailed above, Gail Anikouchine and I will attend the annual member’s business meeting and council meeting June 24–25. I plan to share with you the ideas we pick up at those meetings in a future message.

As always, there is a great need and room for your involvement in the local chapter. Please let me know if you would like more information on how to get involved.

Directors:
Yusuf A. Balogun, Walpole & Co.
Darcia Stebbens, Enrico & Associates
Jessica Johnson, Holthouse, Carlin & Van Trigt, LLP