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

Dr. Freeman Hrabowski is the president of the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and he recently announced his retirement after three decades at the helm of UMBC. He will officially step down in June 2022. He's a leader in every sense of the word, particularly when it comes to educating and graduating an incredibly diverse and inclusive student body.Joining him is Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, accounting and finance's Wonder Woman. She's former chair of the AICPA, and the Maryland Association of CPAs, and chair of way too many organizations to mention. She's a graduate of UMBC, and she and Dr. Hrabowski have quite a history.Together, they have some interesting thoughts about the accounting profession that are going to make this a valuable conversation.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:Success is Never Final: A Message from UMBC President Freeman HrabowskiLinkedIn: Kimberly N. Ellison-TaylorLive. Learn. Lead. The Kimberly Ellison-Taylor Story | An MACPA short f

We are 20 years out from 9/11, the tragic event that changed everything in the US. We all have our 9/11 stories – the things we remember most when we think back to that fateful day.To mark the occasion, we’re going to hear from some of the leaders in the accounting and finance profession, their stories, where they were when it happened, and how the event has impacted the profession. Those leaders are:AICPA President and CEO, Barry MelanconTom Hood, Executive Vice President of Business Growth and Engagement with the Association of International Certified Professional AccountantsJessica McClain, Controller for Brand USA and a member of The MACPA Foundation.Ed Rommel, a retired CPA, a former partner with TRS CPA Group, and a former chair of the Maryland Association of CPAs’ Board of Directors.Tim Samuel, CFO of Bridgeway Community Church, and a member of the MACPA’s Board of Directors. Lexy Kessler, a partner with Aronson, and current MACPA Board Chair.MACPA President and CEO, Jackie BrownLet’s spend some t

We’ve dissected this pandemic in every way possible so far – its impact on our world, our health, our businesses, our employees, and the future of work – as well as its impact on leadership, innovation, technology, and the pace of change in general. It’s all speeding up, right?But let’s take a closer look at how COVID-19 has impacted the world of financial planning – not only for clients and the state of their finances, but for businesses, practices, and how the profession is changing as a result of this crisis.Lyle Benson is president and founder of L.K. Benson & Company in Baltimore, and he joined us back in the summer of 2020 to talk about some specific worries around personal finance and savings during the early days of the pandemic. Today, we’re doing a deeper dive into financial planning.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:lkbenson.comRead: A third of Americans say they got better with money during the pandemicRead: COVID has rewritten the rules on fina

Lee Frederiksen is a business strategist, a behavioral psychologist, and the managing partner of a marketing firm called Hinge which caters to the professional services industry.Lee makes the case that more professional service firms have been positively impacted by the pandemic than negatively impacted.This crisis has been difficult for people in many ways: jobs, businesses, and even lives lost. We can talk about money all day, but, in the end, this crisis is about human beings who were here a while ago and aren’t here now. This has been a human tragedy of immense proportions.Lee has some fantastic insights, and ones you’ll want to keep in mind, because this likely won’t be the last crisis we go through in our lives given how fast things are changing.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:hingemarketing.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/leefrederiksenFuture-Proof is a production of Crate Media

Bill Pirolli is the new chair of the American Institute of CPAs and a partner with DiSanto Priest & Co., in Warwick, Rhode Island. He gives us his take on the future of the profession, some of the things he has his eye on, and his priorities for the coming year – all of which will impact everyone in the profession.Bill has been thinking about pipeline issues, engaging the next generation of CPAs, keeping interest in the profession strong, and making sure we’re providing tomorrow’s CPAs with the skills they need to thrive. That’s just one of the issues on his agenda for the coming year. He’s also thinking hard about things like diversity and inclusion, navigating the profession through a post-pandemic world, and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. We talk about all of that and more as we look towards the future.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:William (Bill) Pirolli, CPA/CFF/PFS, CGMA“The Future of Accounting Jobs in a World With Artificia

Anirban Basu is chairman and CEO of Sage Policy Group, an economic and policy consulting firm headquartered in the great city of Baltimore, Maryland. He is one of the most popular speakers on the MACPA educational circuit, chair of the Maryland Economic Development Commission, and of the Baltimore County Economic Advisory Committee. He was named one of Maryland’s 50 most influential people. When it comes to the economy, he knows what he’s talking about, so we’re going to take a quick look with him – at Maryland, United States, the COVID factor, housing, all of it – and see what he has to say.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:sagepolicy.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/anirban-basu-2110335“Global growth to stay strong but virus the top risk”Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

We’ve discussed the .cpa domain before – a new domain that’s available exclusively to CPAs. There are many benefits involved with this domain (for both you and your clients). The domain has been out there since earlier this year, so we thought now would be a good time to take stock of where things are for people. How’s this domain working for everyone? How many people have used it? What about it has worked? What lessons have been learned? What would people do differently if they could change things? There’s been much excitement surrounding .cpa domains, but do they live up to the hype?Chris Cromer is going to help us make sense of everything. He’s a technology expert focused on the applications, networking, infrastructure, compliance, and security for the CPA.com web properties, including CPA.com, AICPAStore.com, RIVIO.com, the CPA.com email service extension, and the .cpa domain.We’ve had the .cpa domain for around six months, now. Chris gives us insights such as the uptake, what the popularity means for the

Lexy Kessler is the partner in charge of Aronson’s Government Contract Services Group and chair of the AICPA’s PCPS Executive Committee. As of July 1st, she is the new chair of the Maryland Association of CPAs Board of Directors. We’re going to look at her priorities this year and the trends impacting CPAs in Maryland and beyond. Of course, diversity and inclusion in the pipeline are always a focus – however, Lexy is also excited to step into what she calls “MACPA 3.0,” stepping into the opportunities for the association that look ahead, past the current leadership and structural changes.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lexykessler“The CPA Pipeline Report: Decoding the Decline”“Time commitment, relevance push people away from CPA Exam”Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

You would be hard-pressed to think of an area that has a greater impact on the working world than where we work. The pandemic has taken the cat out of the bag – so to speak – and there’s no putting it back. Working from home is here to stay. Now it’s up to us to keep it productive.Kassi Rushing is a communication and people strategist who works with organizations to bring their cultural visions to life. She's got experience and expertise in workplace culture, high-performing teams, diversity, equity and inclusion strategy, leadership and pipeline development, employee engagement, and communication strategy – all of which makes her the perfect person to talk about the future of work. Kassi gave a GREAT presentation at one of the MACPA’s recent town hall meetings.She talks about some of the landmines that employers need to watch out for, the opportunities that are there for those of us who figure out how to do this right, what employees can do to help make this transition easier, and a look at the future of wor

It seems as if everyone wants to offer client accounting services, but not many know where to start.Hitendra Patil is the Head of Customer Success at AccountantsWorld. He is a fixture in Accounting Today’s list of The 100 Most Influential People in Accounting. And he’s one of the biggest fans – and, certainly, one of the most knowledgeable people on the subject – of client accounting services. He has a new book called “The Definitive Success Guide to Client Accounting Services.”He talks about the opportunities that CAS provides, the barriers getting in the way of their adoption, the new skills we’ll have to learn to be successful, and what’s in the future for CAS. Like everything else these days, it’s evolving fast. If you’ve been thinking about diving into the CAS pool, this is a great place to start.To learn more and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:Read: “The Definitive Success Guide to Client Accounting Services”CAS Begins With a MindsetTop Five CAS Killers and How to Overco

David Nour is CEO of The Nour Group, where they're all about building strategic relationships to help leaders reimagine the future. He's an advisor to Fortune 500 execs, a professor at Emory University, and the author of 11 books. His latest is “Curve Benders: How Strategic Relationships Can Power Your Non-Linear Growth in the Future of Work.”What are curve benders? How do you define "strategic relationships?" What is non-linear growth? What is the future of work? And how does all this fit together?David joins us to talk about his notion of curve-benders and how they are more than just strategic relationships. They are a series of forces that change how we live, work, and even play.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:nourgroup.comRead: “Curve Benders”What Relationships are the Core of Your Personal Market Value?Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

Donny Shimamoto is the founder and managing director of IntrapriseTechKnowlogies, an advisory-focused CPA firm in Honolulu. He’s also an incredibly active volunteer and thought leader for the American Institute of CPAs, doing work in information management, IT, and assurance services.His latest project is leading the launch of the new Center for Accounting Transformation. Its mission statement reads: “The Center enables transformation by guiding members through the adoption and change required in order to step into the future of the accounting profession. We are not here to convince people to change, but rather to empower those who seek an alternative to the status quo.” We talk about how they are doing that, and why.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:intraprise.usimprovetheworld.netevolutionofcpa.orgFuture-Proof is a production of Crate Media

Kelly Phillips Erb runs a very popular Twitter account under the handle, TaxGirl. She has written a regular Forbes column for years under the moniker, and now she’s doing the same for Bloomberg. She’s been interviewed by every big-name media company in the business about all things tax: CNN, Reuters, Time, NPR, ABC, CBS, MarketWatch, and more. She is also a managing attorney with ErbLaw, based in Glenmoore, Pennsylvania.We talk about the state of tax professionals more than a year into the pandemic, how the industry has changed due to it, and of course the ways it will continue to evolve moving forward.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:taxgirl.comTwitter: @taxgirlInstagram: @therealtaxgirlFuture-Proof is a production of Crate Media

Andrew Codd is the host of Strength in the Numbers Show, a top-rated podcast aiming to help solve significant problems in the finance industry. He’s also an author, speaker, coach, trainer, and a senior member of After-Sales Finance Operations for Dell. Based in Ireland, Andrew brings an international perspective to the profession's issues and offers a fresh opinion on potential solutions.Andrew Codd listens to people in various roles throughout the industry, giving him valuable insight into making it future-proof. We talk about some of the ties that bind accounting and finance pros, the importance of that human element to the future of our work, and some of his favorite lessons he’s learned after more than 300 episodes.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:sitnshow.comTwitter: @andrewSITN"The ABCs of Leadership in Crisis""Stay calm … and stay extraordinary"138. The path to excellence is 'extreme humanism' | with Tom PetersRead: “Excellence Now: Extreme Humanism”Fu

Jacquelyn Tracy is chair of the AICPA's Women's Initiatives Executive Committee. Jessica McClain is a member of the board of directors of the MACPA Foundation, which works to build a diverse talent pipeline to ensure the strength of the CPA profession for years to come.We talk about the excellent work being done by both of these organizations, the role of women in the profession, and why it's crucial that we expand it for future generations.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:linkedin.com/in/jessica-e-mcclainlinkedin.com/in/jacquelyntracyAICPA Women's Initiatives Executive CommitteeThe MACPA Foundation"Adding Women to the C-Suite Changes How Companies Think"Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

Dr. Amy Zalman is the former CEO and president of the World Future Society. While she was there, she repositioned the World Future Society for renewed future global impact — helping a transformational organization transform itself. She’s also the founder of Oryx Communications and chair of information integration at the National War College, where she’s introduced new ways of understanding information to future senior leaders so they can better inform their perspectives on the ways the world is changing —  not just technologically, but also culturally and geopolitically. She’s currently the founder of Prescient, a foresight consultancy that helps leaders and companies anticipate new opportunities, markets and threats before the competition does. In Prescient’s words, “Our clients manage the future by creating it.”Amy Zalman talks about anticipation: Is it a skill, a mindset, or a bit of both? How does it differ from critical and strategic thinking? How can we tell if we’re moving fast enough? And how sho

Tom Peters is the co-author of “In Search Of Excellence” and author of seventeen other best-selling books. He’s a legend in the business and consulting world, devoted to studying what makes leaders great and how to achieve business excellence.Tom’s latest book, “Excellence Now: Extreme Humanism,” may also be his last. In the afterword to the book, he says, “This book, in effect, IS my memoir. It is solely devoted to the things that I care deeply — VERY deeply! — about. The ideas are not complex; they require no mastery of calculus or chemistry or physics. But the practice thereof is honored in the breach more often than not. Collecting and sharing these ideas are my life’s work and, indeed, my life.”In this conversation, Tom talks about joy, compassion, caring, kindness, patience, and positivity — the kinds of skills that everyone else calls “soft skills.” Tom is adamant that they are truly hard skills, that they’re the ones we need to master because they pay off in the most significant way in the long run.To

As we near the end of Women’s History Month, and with Black History Month still firmly in our memory, it’s essential to take a look at diversity and inclusion in the CPA profession — both how far we’ve come and how much further we have to go.Kimberly Ellison-Taylor is a former Maryland Association of CPAs chair, a former AICPA Chair, and the executive director of finance thought leadership for Oracle. She is also the incoming chair of the AICPA’s National Commission on Diversity and Inclusion, and the incoming president of Beta Alpha Psi, the international honor society for accounting and finance students and professionals. She has her pulse on the profession’s D&I initiatives. She talks about what the AICPA’s National Commission is focusing on these days, how generational issues factor into the diversity-and-inclusion conversation, and how we can start moving this conversation away from groups of individuals and toward more inclusiveness across the board.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, vi

As the world evolves, the concept of leadership is evolving as well. And the leaders of today are finding they need new skills to succeed.Jennifer Elder is a thought leader, trainer, and business coach dedicated to the concept of business transformation. She offers programs through the Business Learning Institute about strategic leadership, and she’s going to share about it from a corporate finance perspective. She tells us how finance is taking on a more strategic role in most organizations, what characteristics set strategic leaders apart from the rest of the pack, how finance’s role will continue to evolve, and how the pandemic impacts all of it.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:jenniferelder.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jenniferhelder“10 Principles of Strategic Leadership”Future-Proof is a production of Crate Media

If you’re feeling a serious lack of energy in your life right now, know that you’re not alone. People around the world are starting to face this as we move past year one of the pandemic. But there are strategies for moving past this energy drain, and Greg Conderacci is here to share some of them with us. Greg is a senior fellow with the Business Learning Institute, a consultant, and a faculty member at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He has researched and written extensively about personal energy’s impact on careers and organizations.Greg talks about the different types of energies that are at play in an environment like this, the signs that we might be about to hit that wall, and the strategies for bringing a little balance back into our lives.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog.Resources:linkedin.com/in/gregconderacciRead: "Getting UP!"Professor Ahmad’s Six-Month Wall: Rehumanizing The Virtual WorkplaceFuture-Proof is a production of Crate Media