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CPAmerica ADVANTAGE News From Your Accounting Association

June 2022 IN THIS ISSUE: ► Gaining valuable insights into your firm with CPAmerica surveys ► Preferred Provider Spotlight - LeaseCrunch ► Member Services - NextGen recap ► Member News ► CPAmerica Insights - Jenn Walker

Gaining valuable insights into your firm with CPAmerica surveys Conducting surveys can be an easy way to gain valuable knowledge and information on a variety of topics. Did you know that CPAmerica can create custom surveys for your firm? These quantitative and qualitative tools can help provide insights and a snapshot of your firm’s strength internally, an employee’s upward potential or even your external efforts with clients. We offer multiple specialized surveys that can be customized for your firm’s needs. These surveys include employee engagement, client satisfaction, upward evaluation and more. Employee engagement surveys can be used to help firms identify key indicators and drivers of employee engagement to better develop action plans for organizational success. Melissa Stevener, partner, BS&P CPAs and Consultants, recently utilized CPAmerica’s employee engagement survey and spoke about her experience. “The Employee Engagement Survey process was seamless, CPAmerica handled it from start to finish,” said Stevener. “The provided sample survey was a great template to start with, and we were able to tailor it based on our firm. The survey gave us more insight on the employees’ values and views on the firm.”

achieve their highest potential, allowing staff or peers to evaluate key aspects of a supervisor’s role and performance. The CPAmerica team takes the guesswork out of the survey process so that conducting surveys and gathering data is easy, seamless and effective. “Collecting honest feedback, whether from clients or employees, is crucial to growing your firm in a direction that aligns with your mission,” said CPAmerica member services manager, Haley Wilson. “Our surveys can help collect that information and compile it in an easy to read, easy to use way, while assuring the anonymity of those responding. I am always thrilled to be able to execute a survey for a firm because I know they will get data they can put to good use.” Setting up a custom survey for your firm can be done in a few simple steps. 1. Reach out to the CPAmerica team to get started 2. The CPAmerica team confirms who will be evaluated and where the evaluations must be sent 3. Your firm approves the provided survey questions and format 4. The CPAmerica team distributes the survey 5. Close survey, collect and compile data 6. CPAmerica creates and sends your firm a detailed report of the survey data

“The report summary is also a useful tool, and we will use this to help make decisions in the future,” continued Stevener.

In addition to these valuable tools, the CPAmerica team also conducts surveys throughout the year in the areas of human resources, marketing and IT. Firms are encouraged to participate in these surveys to share industry benchmarks and see how they measure up with fellow member firms. Only firms participating in the survey will receive the results, so you can feel confident in sharing your practices.

Client satisfaction surveys include customizable select questions to match services and specialties unique to your firm. Upward evaluation surveys are designed to help partners and managers

To get started with your custom CPAmerica survey or for additional information, please contact Haley Wilson at hwilson@cpamerica. org.

NextGen attendees enjoyed the sights and sounds of Nashville with their ninth annual conference

Attendees enjoying their time together at the networking welcome reception.

This year’s Next Generation (NextGen) Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, brought together 143 members from 65 CPAmerica member firms from Maine to Hawaii for learning, sharing and networking. This was the largest attendance ever for the NextGen Conference – now in its ninth year – which was designed for successful seniors through managers to dive into personal development, map their career trajectory and understand more about how they can fit into the bigger picture at their firm. The energy and enthusiasm of participants was evident throughout the week, with strangers leaving as friends. Shared one attendee, “The NextGen Conference was a great way to meet peers in your level.”

SAVE THE DATE

The Future is Now Complimentary members only webinar featuring industry-leading speaker, Kimberly Ellison-Taylor

We can’t wait to continue the dialogue with our NextGen cohort throughout the year. Save the date for the 2023 NextGen Conference, July 11-13 in San Diego, California. You won’t want to miss it!

Our “Ask a Partner Panel” speakers (r to l): Brian Hagene, Susan Beavers, Shelby Nelson and Francis McLaughlin, along with panel facilitator, Michael Platt

Wednesday, June 15 3 - 4pm ET Registration information coming soon

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Member News Leading North Carolina accounting firm, DMJ, announces merger

DMJ & Co., PLLC (DMJ) and Johnson Price Sprinkle PA (JPS) announced that their professional accounting and advisory firms will become DMJPS PLLC effective June 1. This merger combines the skills and expertise of two North Carolina powerhouses: DMJ in the east and JPS in the west. The dynamic union extends the firm’s footprint from North Carolina’s mountains to the coast. DMJPS will employ over 135 professionals, including 13 partners, and have 7 statewide office locations. Benjamin Hamrick, JPS chief executive officer, and Michael Gillis, DMJ managing partner, will serve in the role of Co-CEO. As a merged firm, DMJPS is projected to be a U.S. Top 200 accounting firm with a revenue of $24 million. Gillis said, “By becoming DMJPS, we can utilize our collective strengths to become more specialized with greater horsepower. We will retain the personal service and approach we’ve always valued. Growth opens up new opportunities, and I’m excited about our future ready firm.” Hamrick said, “Our dedication to providing exceptional results and solutions to our clients and growth opportunities for our team members is unwavering. This announcement is based on the foundation of two exceptional firms with well-established relationships and shared commitment to our clients, team members, and communities. Nothing is more important than our expertise, integrity, and personal connections.”

Antares Group promotes three new partners Antares Group, Inc. is pleased to announce it has promoted three people to partner in the firm. Effective May 1, 2022, Trish Casdorph, CPA, Rebecca Phillips, CPA, and Kristin Ward were named partner with Antares Group. Casdorph joined Antares Group in 2021 as co-director of the firm’s Business & Tax Advisory Group. She has more than 20 years of income tax experience in both the public accounting Trish Casdorph sector and private industry at a large publicly traded corporation. Casdorph specializes in federal and state income tax compliance, having worked in a multitude of industries.

Phillips has more than 10 years accounting and tax experience, having most recently served as co-director of the firm’s Business & Tax Advisory Group. Rebecca specializes in restaurant and franchise Rebecca Phillips accounting. Ward joined Antares Group in 2010 and her experience ranges from back office services, financial accounting, and tax and advisory with a focus on the hospitality and restaurant industries. Ward’s expertise is in the areas of business consulting, financial analysis, business valuations and payroll. “The promotions of Trish, Rebecca and Kristin to partner marks an exciting milestone in their careers and for our firm,” said Mark Kashgegian, CPA, leading partner of Kristin Ward Antares Group, Inc. “Their depth of experience and enthusiasm for our team members and our clients is valuable to the continued growth of our firm.”

Anglin welcomes eleven new team members Anglin Reichmann Armstrong, P.C. is pleased to annouce eleven new members added to their team. Tabetha Helms is a senior accountant in the Client Accounting & Advisory Services (CAAS) department, and Colleen Singles is a senior accountant in our Solutions Advisory Services Department. Helms earned her Bachelor Tabetha Helms of Science in Human Resource Management from Athens State University, and she is currently enrolled at the University of West Florida where she is earning her Master of Accountancy. Singles graduated cum laude from the University of Alabama in Huntsville Colleen Singles with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Accounting and has worked in the public accounting industry for over 20 years. Haley Austin is a staff accountant in their CAAS department. Nathan Belgard is a staff accountant with the firm. Javier Castro is a supervisor in the CAAS department. Rachel Duplechain is a client service administrator with the firm. Amy Heatherington is the new receptionist in their Pensacola, Florida office. Megan Horner is a staff accountant with the firm. Marissa Hudson is a staff accountant

with the firm. Lauren Rattenbury is a staff accountant in the Solutions Advisory Services department. Christie Stimpson is the business services advisor in the Solutions Advisory Services.

TBC announces three new shareholders Teal, Becker & Chiaramonte, CPAs, P.C. (TBC) has recently named Stephanie L. Mumford, CPA, Geoffrey Mullen, CPA, and Mark Vena, CPA as shareholders. Mumford specializes in audits of nonprofits and commercial entities and has extensive experience performing compliance audits of various federal award programs. Mumford Stephanie Mumford leads the TBC Not-forProfit Group and is a member of the firm’s Professional Standards Group. Mullen has over 25 years of extensive experience in real estate partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, private equity portfolio companies, technology companies, state and local taxation and tax credits, flow-through Geoffrey Mullen companies, consolidated corporate tax filings, international tax planning, real estate transaction planning, and estate planning. Vena is experienced in providing tax services to a wide array of businesses, including a concentration in the real estate industry. He focuses his time on individual and partnership taxation, including tax and estate Mark Vena planning, and tax laws and changes for commercial entities ranging from real estate developers to construction contractors among others.

LMC CPAs managing partner honored LMC Certified Public Accountants managing partner and founder, Lee M. Cohen, CPA, was honored at the Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC’s (BBBS of NYC) 24th Annual Accountants and Bankers Reception. Each year, BBBS of NYC honors industry leaders who have made an impact in the accounting, banking and retail fields. The reception was a wonderful evening, in which over $350,000 was Lee M. Cohen raised for BBBS of NYC! It was an incredible honor for Cohen to be recognized by BBBS of NYC.

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CPAmerica Insights Say “goodbye” to Excel spreadsheets with the CPAmerica LMS

Jenn Walker, Director of Services

With evolving best practices and technologies, it’s imperative for all levels of professionals to continue learning and developing their skills to stay competitive and grow personally and professionally.

CPAmerica is continually thinking of ways to enhance the association’s offerings to provide members with the necessary resources to support the growth of the firm. Our objective is to deliver relevant, top-quality training that is easily accessible with compliance tracking tools and extensive CPE reporting, so the focus can remain on your professional development. We recognized the quality and variety of the association’s training offerings were strong, but the accessibility and reporting features needed improvement. We identified the need to implement a learning management system (LMS) where members can easily access all CPE courses and training on one platform. Better yet, a platform that is equipped with powerful reporting features and compliance tracking … goodbye Excel spreadsheets! Having learned from the selection and implementation of our association management system (AMS), we decided to bring in a consultant at an earlier stage. We engaged GP Strategies, a leading workforce transformation partner, who steered us through a comprehensive selection process. We spent several months reviewing proposals, attending product demonstrations, and conducting calls with members to learn what we needed to know about the requirements of the system. At the end of process, we selected Prolaera, who offered the best platform to meet the needs of our members. In fact, a few member firms were already working with Prolaera and shared very positive feedback. “Prolaera’s automated CPE tracking, course registration and certificate management have exceeded my expectations. As an administrator, it has automated a lot of the manual work

involved with planning and tracking continuing professional education. I highly recommend to anyone looking to take their CPE tracking and organization to the next level.” Hank Wolfson, Partner and COO, Gray, Gray & Gray “I love working with Prolaera. It’s an intuitive system and easy to use. One of our partners is currently going through a CPE Audit. They were very concerned about having to upload all of the certificates into the auditor’s system until they realized that they could download a Prolaera report with links to all of their certificates listed in the report. The look of relief on their face was priceless.” Kimberly Davis, Human Resources Director, GRF CPAs & Advisors By the time you’re reading this, CPAmerica’s new LMS will have launched, providing members with access to a library of thousands of top-quality CPE & training courses. As part of the launch, we are excited to offer a complimentary webinar with industry leading speaker, Kimberly Ellison-Taylor on June 15. To register, please visit the CPE & Training page on the CPAmerica website. We have also scheduled two LMS training webinars this month where members can learn how to navigate the platform and get questions answered. This has been a long time coming and we’re thrilled to see it come to fruition.

Two opportunities to learn about our new LMS! Scan the QR codes below to register for one of our upcoming LMS trainings.

June 2 | 4-5pm ET

CPAmerica now accepting online payments via QuickFee Payments can now be made online via QuickFee by clicking the "MAKE A PAYMENT" link on the cpamerica.org homepage, entering your firm name and selecting your payment method. Through June 30, CPAmerica will absorb the credit card fee, beginning July 1, 2022, fees will be charge for credit card payments. ACH transactions will remain fee-free. Firms currently enrolled in automatic credit card payments will need to move over to the new platform by July 1, 2022. If a firm chooses to continue to pay by credit card, they will be charged a fee at the time of the transaction. Firms may enroll in auto payment through the ACH method. To make an online payment, visit tinyurl.com/yedjsuj4. To get set up, contact Lauren Bush at LBush@cpamerica.org.

Send feedback and member firm news to: advantage@cpamerica.org

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