Inland Empire Chapter
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Archive for the ‘President’s Message’ Category
January 23rd, 2012
By Kathy Johnson, CPA
I have been working on a presentation about Finance shared services for the upcoming AICPA Controllers Conference in May, and thought it would be a good subject to share with you.
Outsourcing has long been a part of corporate operations, and during the recent downturn, accounting and finance shared service centers have become popular. Companies such as Agilent Technologies, InterContinental Hotels Group, Federal Express and the New York Times implemented shared services years ago. Additionally, over the past three years, my company has implemented shared service centers for accounts payable, cash, payroll and general ledger accounting.
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October 26th, 2011
By Kathy Johnson, CPA
I recently attended a “Meet the Firms” evening at Cal State San Bernardino. I have always enjoyed attending these events, but our new membership policy of allowing educators and students to join for free added some new excitement to our pitch to the students. Most students asked some of the same questions that most of us get regularly, but I did get some new ones dealing with our new free student membership offer.
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September 23rd, 2011
By Kathy Johnson, CPA
I am sure that one of the common challenges many public and private companies face during an economic downturn is enhanced cost control measures. Items such as travel and entertainment, along with training, dues and subscriptions, become secondary to necessary operating expenses. Since we, as CPAs, are required to have CPE to maintain our license and stay current on rules, regulations and accounting procedures, the cost of these efforts is a concern that may be shared universally. Training can be both expensive and time consuming, but necessary for professional and personal development.
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July 27th, 2011
By Kathy Johnson, CPA
The AICPA and Financial Accounting Foundation established a blue-ribbon panel in December 2009 to look at U.S. accounting standards and how they meet the needs of those who use private company financial reports. Most panel members concluded that there are significant differences in what constituents need from private company vs. public company reporting. The panel concluded that more discussion was needed to understand what type of information users of private company financial statements need vs. what type of information users of public company financial statements need. Requiring the same reporting standards from each group comes with negative consequences, such as unnecessary cost for financial statement preparation in accordance with GAAP, audit procedures that may not be necessary or unnecessary compilation service fees.
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June 24th, 2011
By Kathy Johnson, CPA
I recall the feeling of renewed self-accomplishment, professional pride and optimism for the future during our recent board member and president’s installation dinner. Being a CPA has brought many positive things to my life, and by the looks and reactions of the other members in attendance, I was not the only one absorbing the joy and excitement of the evening.
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June 1st, 2011
By Kathy Johnson, CPA
We recently held our annual Past Presidents Breakfast, one of my favorite events that I have attended for the past four years. I would like to thank the past presidents who were in attendance: Helene Blumner, Donald Driftmier, Barbara Feliciano, Bruce Gray, David Marion, Mark Erickson, Pamela Thompson and Johanna Sweaney Salt. I would also like to extend a special thank you to CalCPA Chair Conrad Davis, and John Angelo, CalCPA director of strategic relations, for attending.
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May 2nd, 2011
By Kathy Johnson, CPA
Hello everyone. Before introducing myself, I want to thank Johanna Sweaney Salt, our immediate past president, for her strong leadership and excellent representation of our chapter.
I am honored to serve as chapter president for the 2011–12 fiscal year. Just a little of my background: I have served on our chapter board for the past five years in various fulfilling roles: Business & Industry Committee chair, Sponsorship Committee chair, director, second vice president and first vice president. At my day job, I am vice president of finance for the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, with my primary office housed at the San Bernardino Sun. I am also an adjunct professor of accounting theory at the University of Redlands. My hobbies include a love of movies, reading and watching football. Besides being extremely active in Rotary, I often volunteer for other community organizations, including being a financial reviewer as part of the United Way Community Review Teams.
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March 24th, 2011
By Johanna Sweaney Salt, CPA
Wasn’t it just yesterday that we were enjoying a glass of wine at my installation as chapter president? Well, hard to believe that it was last May. My how this year has flown by.
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March 3rd, 2011
By Johanna Sweaney Salt
Nearly 200 CalCPA members invaded Sacramento’s Capitol Jan. 19 and spent the day interacting with legislators regarding issues affecting the profession and consumers. The chapter was well-represented with 12 participants. Two of the topics discussed were potential clean-up legislation for the 150-hour requirement and a tax on professional services.
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January 26th, 2011
By Johanna Sweaney Salt, CPA
Many of us are heading into, or are in the midst of, another busy season, so I will keep my words brief.
We had 12 of our chapter members attend CPA Day at the Capitol in Sacramento Jan. 19. Look for a full report in a future article.
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January 4th, 2011
By Johanna Sweaney Salt, CPA
I recently attended a meeting where another CPA shared that some of her colleagues had no idea what the CalCPA Institute was. In fact, they hadn’t even heard of it. So just what is CalCPA Institute?
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November 19th, 2010
By Johanna Sweaney Salt, CPA
Three or so years ago, our Litigation Section Chair Ted Collins and I began discussing the possibility of hosting a chapter Attorney, Banker and CPA (ABC) event. We had heard exciting things from other CalCPA chapters about this type of event, and thought we might give it a go. Well, we were able to get this event on the calendar Nov. 9, and we were overwhelmed with the response. Initially, we thought if we had 50 attendees, we would deem the event a success. We ended up with 84! Even more exciting, a number of the attendees volunteered to be on the planning committee for next year’s ABC Night.
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November 1st, 2010
By Johanna Sweaney Salt, CPA
Many of you know that my youngest son is an accounting major at Chapman University in Southern California. Many of you also know that CalCPA places a high value on outreach to students and young professionals. The chapter, for example, was the first to appoint a student representative to our board. They are, after all, our future.
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September 30th, 2010
By Johanna Sweaney Salt, CPA
Whew! We had an incredible September! We started with our first-ever Fall Kick-Off Luncheon, which was well-attended. It was great to see new faces and catch up with those we haven’t seen in a while. Clearly, this format works for our membership, and you can count on your leadership team taking this into consideration when planning future events. We also held our monthly MAP Discussion Group meeting, a social at Dave & Buster’s, and the first meeting of the newly resurrected La Verne Discussion Group. Finally, we closed the month Sept. 29 with our annual A&A meeting, coordinated by Jessie Powell, our wonderful AP&AS Committee chair.
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August 26th, 2010
By Johanna Sweaney Salt, CPA
September seems an especially appropriate month to review CalCPA’s strategic priorities that support our vision and mission:
- Advocate for members on issues that affect the profession.
- Enhance and promote the visibility of the profession and CalCPA.
- Attract, educate and support CPAs in their professional and personal development.
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