Focus..

Just returned to the office today from SEAS (Southeast Accounting Show) on Wednesday and Thursday. We had over a thousand people each day! It is a fun (and tiring) two days. 45 vendors/exhibitors and excellent speakers from all over the country and from right here in Georgia offered 16 hours of CPE for the two days.

We changed venues this year and placed SEAS at the Georgia International Conference Center which is off Camp Creek right at the airport. This move was a bit controversial for us as the event had been held for many years at the Galleria in Atlanta. We moved it simply because we needed more space for the event.

The new facility itself is excellent with quick access off the freeway and ample parking, as well as enough space to comfortably accommodate us. The comments I received were mostly positive regarding the location although I did hear some negative feedback. I guess it comes down to if you are coming from North Atlanta you’d rather have SEAS at the Galleria, but if you’re coming in from the south, or from out of town, you loved the location. It is difficult to please everyone because of the traffic we all have to fight while living and working in a major city. We’ll look closely at the final evaluations before making final decisions on future location of SEAS.

The economy seems to be making a mild comeback doesn’t it? I am personally still nervous about business this year and I’m hoping the modest gains made in the economy so far stay with us and the news continues to be positive for 2010. Here at the society, our budget, while scaled down significantly from previous years, is holding its own. Our CPE participation is on target (thank you!) and conferences, while not excelling, are “hanging in there.” At this point, it looks like we’re going to be on target also with our dues projections (thank you again!). So, we are breathing a little easier and hoping for a busy fall in the CPE area. It is gratifying that our members have kept the GSCPA in their budgets because we are well aware that we’re in a time of prioritizing where we spend our dollars.

Summer is slipping away and fall is nearly upon us. I guess that means football season and lost Saturdays! Would love to see Georgia win the SEC and Georgia Tech win the ACC.

It could happen!
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Focus...

In my previous blog, I mentioned a CPA (from Tennessee) that was leading the Senior U.S. Open golf tournament after the first two rounds (as an amateur, playing against the professionals). It would have been a great story if he had won the prestigious tournament and could have garnered much publicity for the CPA profession. But as these stories often go, he faded in the last round and did not win. I did find it interesting that in referencing him during the TV broadcast, the announcers referred to him as “an accountant” rather than a CPA. Interesting…we, in the profession, feel that he should have been referred to as a Certified Public Accountant; not just an accountant.

A few years ago, a CPA from Chattanooga, Tennessee actually won the extremely lucrative World Series of Poker and was on TV often during that tournament and has been spotlighted many times since in subsequent poker tournaments. Chris Moneymaker is his name and the broadcast team consistently referred to him as a “CPA” rather than an accountant. Interesting.

I’m wondering if the analytical nature of “Texas Holdem poker” lead the researchers and broadcast team to be specific and use CPA rather than accountant, or rather if Mr. Moneymaker himself made certain they used CPA.

These recent PR/recognition type opportunities for the CPA profession bring up an interesting trend that began emerging in the 90’s: CPA firms, especially larger firms, are expanding their brand to encompass a broad range of business advisory services to the client rather than the traditional tax and audit services. To promote the knowledge and expertise of their services, many firms went away from using CPA in their firm name. They have gone to “business advisors” or Trusted Business Advisors” and other such verbiage. Some have CPA in their tag line at some point and some don’t.

Also interesting is that the CPA profession has become very specialized in many areas and the achievement and use of specialty designations has risen greatly in the last decade; however, I notice that in using these designations the CPA designation is still (usually) listed first. The CPA designation, as a brand, still promotes trust and expertise and in niche markets the CPA brand still holds the trump card.
The trend is still emerging and if one watches trends closely one finds that they often go in circles. The CPA designation has never lost its “positive power” and CPAs have successfully expanded their services. I believe that the CPA designation will eventually find its way back to prominence in firms “tag lines. “

And congratulations to poker millionaire Chris Moneymaker for having CPA prominently mentioned by the broadcast team! He’s more than an accountant…he’s a CPA!

GJ
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