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I don’t know about you but I have been contacted by most of my friends and colleagues from around the country in regards to the flooding! It was a sad reminder of the power of Mother Nature. We had one staff that lives in Douglas County and was unable to commute one of the days. Another staff had water in her basement and it came right up to the front door, but did not make it in the house. It was an interesting time and I see it is supposed to rain on Saturday (9/26/09). Let’s hope it does not rain too long or too hard.

Good news: Lake Alatoona rose 15 feet and is at full pool! Lake Lanier rose 3 feet.

We had our first board of directors meeting last Friday (9/18/09) and it was an interesting meeting. We discussed our strategic plan and how we want to go forward with the initial projects which are to objectively evaluate each and every program and service we offer to make certain we are current. This will include our conference area. This is an interesting exercise as no matter which program or service we are focusing on, that particular program is a “Sacred Cow” to someone! Objectivity is the key concept here. But that can be subjective…right?

Another topic at the board meeting was how this economy is affecting our membership. We have an unusually large number of members that have not renewed and we have an unusually high number of members that show no affiliation with an employer in our data base. Not good. The board voted to extend a onetime offer of $50 dues to members that are either unemployed or experiencing financial hardship. We are already receiving many requests for this status. It is tough times out there for many, many of our members and the Georgia Society of CPAs wants to extend this hand to keep our members in the family. I hope better times are in store for the coming year for everyone.

CPE is churning along and although we did not have a great start participation by you the members is picking up and we are expecting to have a busy fall and early winter. We continue to build from this point forward, culminating with the Don Farmer days and a CPE cluster of courses towards the end of the season. It is a reporting year and we expect to be busy so register now!

A familiar subject over the last two years is Mobility. Just a reminder that we passed a Mobility bill in the 2008 legislative session and that bill became law on July 1, 2009. The state board completed all Rules for implementation before that time and is proceeding with business with this new portion of the Accountancy statute. There is a Mobility link on our website that takes you to the hallmarks of the bill and even has a question and answer section. At this writing every state has passed Mobility with the exceptions of New York, California, and Massachusetts. California and Massachusetts have bills in progress and expect to have Mobility next year.

In my last two Blogs I have signed off with the hope that Georgia and Georgia Tech might each win their conference in the world of college football. Both are still alive, but the signs do not look good. However, they are not eliminated just yet. So..I’ll stick with my hope!
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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!
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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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