It’s Over Dude

By Thomas A. Letus, CPA

I recently received a faxed invoice from a foreign vendor that was past due. On the invoice, the controller wrote: “Please pay, it’s over dude.” I wanted to reply with “What is over? And please, don’t call me dude,” but I did not want to offend anyone, and it was easier to laugh about it and wire them the amount we owed. Now the expression “it’s over dude” is stuck in my head. Well, tax season is over, dudes, and my year as chapter president is almost over too. I am ready to express thanks to everyone, but first I want to remind you about a couple of upcoming chapter events and the annual CalCPA YEP Conference.

The first event is our Chapter Awards Night, Thursday, May 14. Please join us as we also celebrate CalCPA’s centennial and award scholarships to seven local accounting students. Peter Khoury of Ovson Communications Group is our guest speaker, and CalCPA Chair Greg Burke also will be there. Thank you to everyone who makes this evening possible. Without your tremendous effort and support, we would not have the scholarship money to give out.

Next up is CalCPA’s third annual Young and Emerging Professionals Conference Thursday, June 4, in Los Angeles. I hear great things about this conference and encourage all firms to check out the 2009 program and sign up your YEPs.

The last event is our Annual Chapter Retreat and Installation of Officers and Directors to be held June 5–7 at the Cliffs Resort in Pismo Beach. My wife and I always enjoy spending the weekend with other chapter members, friends and family. The retreat is a great time to meet the new board of directors and catch up with friends we haven’t seen in a while.

At the installation dinner, I will have the honor of presenting Susan Jacobson with the president’s gavel. Susan has been a director, an officer and our chapter’s financial literacy chair for many years, and I am confident that she will be an outstanding president. This year we will welcome two new directors to our board: Yusuf Balogun and Darcia Stebbens. Returning to the board will be Patricia Krout, Gail Anikouchine, Jeff Dottl, Raj Acharya and Jason Janzen. Leaving the board will be Mike Ray and past president Cindy Young. My sincere gratitude goes out to these fine CPAs, as well as our chapter committee chairs, discussion group leaders and all members who have made significant contributions to the chapter this past year. I also sincerely appreciate the hard work and talents of Rita Williams, our program associate, and the entire CalCPA staff for their help and guidance in making this past year a rewarding experience for me.

I also would like to thank my employer, Automotive Performance Systems Inc., for allowing me the time to volunteer. I also thank past presidents Diane Wondolowski, Jim Lutz, Joe Lanza, Mike Eulau, Juan Soto and Cindy Young. They are the chapter presidents whom I have had the privilege to watch and learn from over the years. I also want to thank my beautiful wife, Lisa, for always believing in me.

Finally, I’d like to thank everyone for your support of CalCPA and the Channel Counties Chapter this past year. OK, now it’s over, dudes. See you in Pismo!
— Thomas Letus, CPA

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 23rd, 2009 at 11:16 am 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.