Focus...

Hope Thanksgiving Holidays was good for you and your family. The way time seems to move Christmas will follow Thanksgiving in about one week. December is flying by with its usual quick pace.

We are heading into our December board meeting and will be discussing the Strategic Plan and other business. The 2010 Legislative session is right around the corner and the House is in an uproar right now due to the uncertain status of the Speaker of the House; this does not set a good start for a legislative session that is of extreme importance to Georgia. At our Leadership Council meeting in November, two of our CPA legislators told us that Georgia needs to cut over two billion dollars from the budget. That’s a lot of cuts to a budget that has been cut in recent legislative sessions.

I have spent two mornings this week at the Don Farmer sessions on tax at the Cobb Galleria. We have had tremendous numbers for these seminars. Don Farmer is truly a Star in both knowledge and presentation style; he is loved by you the members. The question that remains is when the next star of this magnitude in tax and also in other CPE areas will emerge. Don will retire some day (but not soon I hope) and will leave big shoes to fill, as will many in the giant Baby Boomer generation.

Speaking of that, in 1993 46% of AICPA members were over 40 years old. In 2009 75% are over 40. That is an amazing fact. Over the next 10 years, things are going to change at a startling pace in both retirements and demographic characteristics of younger people coming into leadership positions in the profession. “The Times they are a Changing.”

Something new is happening in January at the GSCPA. “The House of Blogs" will make its debut. The first message asking for members that are interested in being a blogger is going out shortly.

More on this in my next blog. Watch for it! It will be fun and it will be interesting.