Focus...

I hope everyone had a fun and restful Labor Day Holiday; I was in the mountains of North Georgia where it was quieter than other Labor Day weekends I’ve spent there. I would guess the economy has something to do with that. However, a new Walmart just opened in the little town I go to and there was plenty of traffic in and out of there. The economy comes and goes but Walmart never sleeps I guess!

Speaking of the economy, I watched the President’s address last night on health care reform. Such a tough issue for this country and congress is struggling to find the right road. Like most of us, I don’t really know what is right and what is wrong here. I do know that in watching the address, I was fresh off a meeting of our own GSCPA Insurance Trust and looking at renewal rates and the factors that go into that. It is a tough year for our Trust but our renewal rates for most firms should still be lower than the national average. That meeting and the President’s address really made me focus on whether we need to only reform the process of coverage and access or do we need to put added emphasis on reforming the cost, administration and liability in the health care industry as well. I guess it is all connected, but I hear most of the rhetoric focused on coverage alone.

Staying with the theme of the economy, we are looking at dues renewals here at the GSCPA and we’re not seeing the renewals that we have been hoping for. We know everyone’s budgets are tight, but we hope you’ll keep us in your budget and stay connected professionally through the GSCPA. We have raised non-member CPE and conference fees, so if you take two CPE courses from us you’ll more than pay your dues with savings. Please continue your membership and encourage others to do the same.

Well…this economy is dominating my thoughts today as I write. We have a big conference coming up Friday, September 18 that seems to have captured the interest of many of our members. The topic? Fraud. I guess with the economy and recent cases such as Madoff there is accelerated interest and we’re pleased to be stepping up with an excellent conference. I won’t see you there as I will be with our board of directors at our board meeting. If you’re going I hope you have an excellent day.
We’re still at this social networking thing and it seems to be going well! Look for changes in the way we manage our blogs and other types of social networking in the near future. Also, Current Accounts is in the mail presently and focuses on this topic. Hope you enjoy it!

I signed off my last blog by mentioning that football season is here and that I am in hopes of Georgia and Georgia Tech. winning the SEC and the ACC. I have not given up hope.

Believe!