Making 2+2 Equal 4

By L. Richard Walton

Professionalism, Participation, Philanthropy and Procurement

There is an old story of a CFO who was ordered to meet with engagement partners from what were then the Big Eight, and hire one within two weeks. Two days later, the CFO made his decision.

“How did you decide that fast?” asked the CEO. “Simple,” replied the CFO. “I met with all eight partners. I asked them each the same question—what does two plus two equal?—and seven of the eight responded with ‘four.’ I hired the one who said, ‘What number do you want it to equal?’”

I heard that story long before Enron and WorldCom, the PCAOB and the Great Recession of 2008. We as individuals and as a profession have been through rough times in the last decade, but I believe we are emerging the better for it. As your incoming president, I wish to challenge our chapter and each of you individually to spend this year rededicating yourself to your profession, your chapter and your community.

CalCPA recently celebrated its 100^th anniversary, and we can be proud of what we have accomplished in those years. We have provided education, networking, support, scholarship and a strong financial incentive for students in our communities to join us and discover accounting is a wonderful profession that has little to do with counting beans or wearing a green eye shade (although I have, at times, done both).

What of our future? In upcoming messages I will be elaborating more on the four Ps in this message’s headline. Over the next year, your chapter will be featuring new and continuing exciting initiatives that will enhance our tradition of excellence. A few highlights:

• Philanthropy: Thanks to the efforts of outgoing president Joel Bock, CalCPA will be providing adjunct professors and lecturers at Cal State Bakersfield to help the school through the budget crisis and allow it to continue to offer enough accounting courses to graduate its students in four years. Teaching is a wonderful experience, and we are putting together a program that will allow you to participate at different levels depending upon your credentials, time availability, and interests. More to come.
• Procurement: I am challenging each of you to recruit one new (or lapsed) person to join CalCPA this year. Prizes and recognition will follow for those of you who do.
• Participation: Your chapter has many opportunities to be part of CalCPA, ranging from serving on our board of directors to assisting with events to participating in our signature golf tournament this fall. Each is worth doing, and I encourage you to become involved.
• Professionalism: In an era when being a CPA may be as likely to lead to a question about Enron as it is to a new client, your chapter will be focusing resources on high quality continuing education that will give each of us the skills we need to service our clients in one of the most dynamically changing times our profession has faced.

It is an honor to serve as your president this year, and one that will not be taken lightly. I look forward to seeing—and working with—each of you in the year to come.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 7th, 2010 at 12:12 pm and is filed under President's Message. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.