Advantage CPAmerica News from Your Accounting Association june 2013 tech corner P. 2 member news P. 3 concierge comments P. 4 “More Than Debits or Credits”: Meet Jackie Oneto, By Joe Kovacs W hen she was growing up, Jackie Oneto, of Bethesda, MD-based firm PC, wanted to be a veterinarian. at is, until she discovered at the University of Maryland that she enjoyed working with numbers. “I discovered an opportunity I hadn’t really considered,” Oneto said. e opportunity led to a degree in accounting and then to her current firm where she has served as a supervisor, manager and audit partner. On July 1, 2013, Oneto will become the firm’s new managing partner. is will be big news for long-time CPAmerica International members. , has seen David Graling as managing partner for the past 15 years. David distinguished himself within CPAmerica through his participation on the board (including as chairman), as a speaker at regional partner meetings and, most recently, as part of the Visitation Improvement Program. In many ways, he has been the face of his firm. It is exciting to introduce a new talent like Oneto to the association. Her leadership as managing partner should continue to deliver success to . She is not new to her firm, though. For 16 years, her professionalism has earned the respect and confidence of colleagues. She has built a strong reputation as an audit partner serving nonprofit organizations and has earned enough support to be enthusiastically selected as Graling’s successor. Asked what she has learned since joining, Oneto replied that a firm is “about more than numbers … about more than debits and credits; it’s about people and relationships.” Her firm is special, she believes, because it supports not only the financial success of clients but also their professional and administrative staff. “In any organization, everyone has a particular personality and thrives under a different management style. We work to create an environment in which all our people want to stay here, want to excel and want our clients to be happy.” What does she feel is her greatest challenge in becoming managing partner? “Continuing to be one of the best accounting firms to work for, a designation we’ve received from Accounting Today for two years running. Under [Graling’s] leadership we have grown substantially and have become one of the leading firms serving the Washington, DC nonprofit community. We continue to grow and thrive but have also always maintained our small-firm culture and are a great place to work.” “What I like most about the public accounting profession is that not only do I get to do what I am good at but … I also enjoy supporting the missions of our nonprofit clients. Our firm works primarily with nonprofits so I feel like I am not only helping them financially but also contributing to their success serving the community. I am passionate about giving back.” Oneto is a community council member of the Tree House Child Assessment Center of Montgomery County, an organization that assists abused and neglected children by providing medical and therapeutic care. Oneto and her firm joined in May 2012 to paint residence walls and clean up the grounds at a home managed by Sasha Bruce Youthwork, one of her clients. e nonprofit improves the lives of vulnerable youth by News from your expert services team See Oneto continued on page 2 Kathy McDonald, director of concierge services: A “Words of Wisdom” teleconference was held April 30 for team consultants of upcoming VIP visits. The call was recorded and is available to leading partners and future team consultants who were unable to participate. Contact: kcornette@ cpamerica.org for the link. Four VIP advisory group members who had served as team consultants for 2012 beta VIP visits were panelists on the call: Tim Arter, Mike Gillis, David Graling, and John Lauer. Panelists shared their words of wisdom on planning and delivering a meaningful VIP experience as a team consultant. The first of 19 VIP visits took place May 2013 at CONTRYMAN ASSOCIATES , P.C., in Nebraska. Linda Harding, director of tax: Linda was contacted by a member who had just obtained a new Canadian client and needed expertise. She referred this member to another member firm who has numerous Canadian clients and the depth of expertise needed. Art Winstead, director of A&A: Winstead referred a member firm’s client, who had valuation issues with several private equity investments, to another member firm. The assistance provided by the firm with the private equity evaluation was excellent and helped the reporting firm attain a higher level of documentation. JACKIE ONETO
Transcript
AdvantageCPAmericaNews from Your Accounting Association
june 2013tech corner P. 2
member news P. 3
concierge comments P. 4
“More Than Debits or Credits”: Meet Jackie Oneto,
By Joe Kovacs
When she was growing up, Jackie Oneto, of Bethesda, MD-based
�rmPC, wanted to be a veterinarian. �at is, until she discovered at the University of Maryland that she enjoyed working with numbers. “I discovered an opportunity I hadn’t really considered,” Oneto said. �e opportunity led to a degree in accounting and then to her current �rm where she has served as a supervisor, manager and audit partner. On July 1, 2013, Oneto will become the �rm’s new managing partner.
�is will be big news for long-time CPAmerica International members.
, has seen David Graling as managing partner for the past 15 years. David distinguished himself within CPAmerica through his participation on the board (including as chairman), as a speaker at regional partner meetings and, most recently, as part of the Visitation Improvement Program. In many ways, he has been the face of his �rm.
It is exciting to introduce a new talent like Oneto to the association. Her leadership as managing partner should continue to deliver success to
. She is not new to her �rm, though. For 16 years, her professionalism has earned the respect and con�dence of colleagues. She has built a strong reputation as an audit partner serving nonpro�t organizations and has earned enough support to be enthusiastically selected as Graling’s successor.
Asked what she has learned since joining, Oneto replied that a �rm is “about more than numbers … about more than debits and credits; it’s about people and relationships.” Her �rm is special, she believes, because it supports not only the �nancial success of clients but also their professional and administrative sta�. “In
any organization, everyone has a particular personality and thrives under a di�erent management style. We work to create an environment in which all our people want to stay here, want to excel and want our clients to be happy.”
What does she feel is her greatest challenge in becoming managing partner? “Continuing to be one of the best accounting �rms to work for, a designation we’ve received from Accounting Today for two years running. Under [Graling’s] leadership we have grown substantially and have become one of the leading �rms serving the Washington, DC nonpro�t community. We continue to grow and thrive but have also always maintained our small-�rm culture and are a great place to work.”
“What I like most about the public accounting profession is that not only do I get to do what I am good at but … I also enjoy supporting the missions of our nonpro�t clients. Our �rm works primarily with nonpro�ts so I feel like I am not only helping them �nancially but also contributing to their success serving the community. I am passionate about giving back.”
Oneto is a community council member of the Tree House Child Assessment Center of Montgomery County, an organization that assists abused and neglected children by providing medical and therapeutic care. Oneto and her �rm joined in May 2012 to paint residence walls and clean up the grounds at a home managed by Sasha Bruce Youthwork, one of her clients. �e nonpro�t improves the lives of vulnerable youth by
News from your expert services team
See Oneto continued on page 2
Kathy McDonald, director of concierge services: A “Words of Wisdom” teleconference was held April 30 for team consultants of upcoming VIP visits. The call was recorded and is available to leading partners and future team consultants who were unable to participate. Contact: [email protected] for the link. Four VIP advisory group members who had served as team consultants for 2012 beta VIP visits were panelists on the call: Tim Arter, Mike Gillis, David Graling, and John Lauer. Panelists shared their words of wisdom on planning and delivering a meaningful VIP experience as a team consultant. The �rst of 19 VIP visits took place May 2013 at CONTRYMAN ASSOCIATES, P.C., in Nebraska.
Linda Harding, director of tax: Linda was contacted by a member who had just obtained a new Canadian client and needed expertise. She referred this member to another member �rm who has numerous Canadian clients and the depth of expertise needed.
Art Winstead, director of A&A: Winstead referred a member �rm’s client, who had valuation issues with several private equity investments, to another member �rm. The assistance provided by the �rm with the private equity evaluation was excellent and helped the reporting �rm attain a higher level of documentation.
JACKIE ONETO
The simple conclusion of this Tech Corner article is that you should encrypt everything. All hard drives, USB drives and mobile devices need to be encrypted. If only
executing this advice were so easy.
Historically, we have recommended software products like PGP or TruCrypt for encryption of hard drives and email messages. While these and other competitive products still work, the least-cost method of encryption today is with Microsoft Bitlocker. �is product began working acceptably well in Windows 7, and is improved in Windows 8. If you are using Microsoft Open Licensing with Software Assurance, the Bitlocker feature is included with your licensing of the Windows operating system at no extra charge.
We recommend that all laptops, desktops and USB drives have encryption turned on. Controlling servers, tablets and smartphones are another matter.
�ere is no acceptable encryption for servers today. Control procedures that include locking your server rooms, locking physical hard drives in the servers, and locking server racks are the best protection that we can o�er at this time.
Virtualized server disks and storage area networks (SANs) may have low level hardware encryption available, but you will pay a very large price in performance. Further, the disk formats used by servers are well known, making access to the server physical drives a small risk element.
If you are using a hosting provider, ask if your data is encrypted in the data center. In the computer industry, this is known as “encryption at rest.” If your data is not encrypted at rest in the data center, your �rm has a very high risk factor.
As discussed in the prior Tech Corner article, mobile devices need to have at minimum a PIN code that is enforced by Microsoft Active Directory. Furthermore, each mobile device
should be encrypted. Some smartphone and tablet vendors claim to have encrypted storage, but this is frequently only true when PIN codes are turned on.
Another risk element to the �rm is the use of any portable USB hard drives or thumb drives that are not encrypted. Consider purchasing drives that are encrypted full-time like those made by IronKey, or simply enforce a policy for using Microsoft Bitlocker on all removable USB drives. For client and auditor convenience, you may want to leave a small section of the USB drive that is not encrypted for temporary transfer of �les. Alternatively, use your portal for transferring �les, and continue to eliminate the use of USB drives everywhere.
During the our three-part series on security, we have tried to cover the big items on security: �rewalls, spam, anti-virus, risk of using wireless, remote access, PIN codes, remote device control, management software and encryption. �ese are the big items, and there are many other �ne points in a comprehensive security plan. For example, note that we did not talk about secure email, security locks, two-factor authentication, password managers, VPNs, Direct Access, intrusion detection tests or the need to keep all of this protection technolog y updated on a regular, almost daily, basis.
Our NMGI team can provide one-on-one guidance for your security needs and address your individual questions directly. We’d be pleased to help protect your �rm or one of your clients.
Randy Johnston and his NMGI team provide IT consulting services and recommendations to CPAmerica members as a bene�t and part of your membership. If you have questions on any hardware, software, procedures or IT strategies for your �rm, contact: [email protected] with your questions or to schedule a time to speak.
Security for your CPA Firm - Encryption Everywhere
2
CPAmerica Tech Corner
meeting the urgent needs of at-risk youth and their families in Washington, DC.
“I also think public accounting is a great profession for women. It allows me the �exibility to balance my career with being a mother. �ere are many di�erent career options within accounting—in auditing, tax and outsourced accounting, which I think also makes this a particularly attractive profession.”
Becoming managing partner means being responsible for all the industries her �rm serves such as attorneys, small businesses that contract with the federal government, and individual tax clients. Her �rm provides valuations and litigation support and last year acquired expertise to provide fraud detection and forensic accounting services.
�at’s a lot of professionals with multiple areas of expertise. “Again,” she says, “this is about the people, not just debits and credits. While I’m managing partner, if clients and sta� are happy, I’ll be happy too.”
More Than Debits or Credits continued from front
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Member NewsNew Member Snapshot: Cendrowski Corporate Advisors, LLC
4111 Andover Rd, West 3rd Floor Bloom eld Hills, MI 48302Tel: (866) 717-1607 | Fax: (866) 717-1607 | www.cca-advisors.com/
Headquarters:
Harry Cendrowski | Managing Director, Founding Member, Leading Partner | [email protected]
providing highly personal services to clients in the legal, private equity, banking,
These services include accounting malpractice assessments, business valuations, expert witness testimony, back
investigations and deterrence engagements, and forensic accounting.
Midwest Partners MeetingElgin, Illinois - Aug. 23
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Connect and network at our upcoming event
Davis of Florida �rm CS&L CPAs obtains CPA license
CS&L CPAs, announced that tax sta� accountant, Alexandria Davis, passed the CPA exam to obtain her CPA license. Davis was hired as a tax sta� accountant at CS&L CPAs in January
2012. She graduated from the University of South Florida in 2010, with a bachelor’s in accounting and a bachelor’s in �nance. Davis volunteers as a teen mentor for Children First. She is also the treasurer for a new organization, S.I.S.T.A.H.; a women’s empowerment group.
ALEXANDRIA DAVIS
Simon appointed to YCSPCA board Debra K. Simon, CPA and chief operating o�cer (COO) of Pennsylvania member �rm, SF&Company, CPAs and Business Advisors , has been appointed to the board of directors of the York County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (YCSPCA) and will serve on its Human Resource and Finance Committees. �is organization provides services to residents of York County through programs that �nd permanent, loving homes for displaced and stray animals, help control animal population growth, investigate and prosecute cruelty o�enders, and educate the public about animal wellness and safety.
DEBRA K. SIMON
CPAmerica International Promotes Arthur and Fiore
CPAmerica is pleased to announce the promotions of Joyce Arthur and Elizabeth Fiore (née Zadezensky) in May 2013. Arthur will assume the role of senior member services manager. She has been with CPAmerica since October 2011 and was formerly the association’s member service manager. Fiore will serve as CPAmerica’s marketing manager. Her previous role was that of marketing communications specialist. Fiore started working for the association in May 2011. She is also a recent newlywed. We congratulate and wish both of them continued success at our association.
Pennsylvania �rm takes to the lanes for charity Eight employees of SF&Company, CPAs and Business Advisors , recently gathered pledges and bowled on behalf of Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) of York and Adams Counties at their annual fundraiser, Bowl for Kids’ Sake. Donations received will assist the organization as it matches at-risk children ages 5 through 13 with mentors in professionally supported, one-to-one relationships. �e Big Brothers and Big Sisters help their “Littles” reach their potential by simply being role models and friends.
The Bowling Stones. Pictured, l-r: Debbie Simon, Jim Adelsperger, Tim Vinson, Krista Hickman, Zack Martinez, Cathy Grove, Daryl Ryan, and Tom Allen
partners have commented recently that organic growth is most often derived through nonrecurring
consulting engagements with new clients,
which then leads to other engagements with the client when the initial work is underway. In fact, at a recent Leading Partners Retreat, one leading partner indicated that his goal is for �rm partners to generate at least 30 percent nonrecurring client work each year, in the interest of stimulating organic growth.
Veteran CPAmerica members may recall the client “mini-retreat” approach to business development. Among many advantages derived from these retreats, noncompliance consulting opportunities were the frequently occurring outcome.
When �rst introduced to CPAmerica members many years ago, the original objectives of the brief client retreat were to maximize the slower summer season, create a value-added service for existing clients, and to introduce promising emerging leader(s) to exploration of exceptional client service.
However, the mini-retreat program, during the course of implementation, yielded more than imagined and was solidi�ed into a year-round business development and client service program.
Existing business clients are selected to participate in an individual two-hour meeting over lunch or breakfast held at the �rm. �e client is invited to bring their choice of the principals of operations and/or key management. �e partner-in-charge of the account, plus a ‘facilitator’ partner, a member of the tax and/or audit department, and other key department managers
(such as computer consulting, wealth management, etc.), and appropriate emerging leaders from the CPA �rm are also present.
When the partner-in-charge makes the invitation call to the client, the retreat is presented as a chance for the client to get together informally with the CPA �rm business advisory team. �ere is no fee to the client for this time spent. �e client is advised that there is no o�cial agenda per se, and they are encouraged to come in and talk about whatever is important to them. It is important to convey that the CPA �rm intention is not to provide a freebie accounting Q&A session, but rather a chance to listen to what issues the client brings to the table and to brainstorm together in the spirit of continuous improvement on the client’s behalf.
Although the meeting is not structured in the usual sense, the lead partner and the facilitator partner are prepared with guiding questions that will help set the direction of the discussion. Examples of the types of questions are:
• What are the biggest problems you’re having in the business?
• Do you have a current business plan?• Have you addressed succession
planning?• What are your short-term plans?• Where do you want to be in �ve
years?• How can we service you better?
�e bottom line is that if you listen to the answers to these questions, you will hear exactly what the client needs and wants from you. Reading between the lines of these discussions, clients will tell you which services they want to receive in the future.
From a �rm pro�tability standpoint, the mini-retreat o�ers positive outcomes for both client and �rm, such as:
• New and expanded services which the �rm can provide are identi�ed
• Outcomes can be far more e�ective than just taking a client or prospect to lunch
• �e relationship with existing clients is solidi�ed
• When the mini-retreat is mentioned
in proposals, it helps di�erentiate the �rm from other �rms
• Involves your �rm’s emerging leaders in the client service/entrepreneurship process
• Maximizes slower seasonal time into business development time
Minutes are taken during the live retreat. �e follow up for the mini-retreat not only includes thank you notes to each attendee, but also a report with action steps and a list of potential services which ultimately can be tracked to, and through, the engagement stage. In addition, the potential for ongoing relationship building between the client and �rm representatives attending the retreat is heightened.
Past experience demonstrates the mini-retreat can also be an e�ective way to engage targeted prospects.
Concierge Comments: Organic Growth with Mini-Retreats
