Student Outreach and More

By Patrick D. Rogan, CPA

High school and college students appreciate CPAs’ efforts to educate them on accounting careers and financial literacy. Most students pay close attention to what CPAs have to say, which is similar to the response we get from our clients. CPAs have earned the reputation of giving good advice and are businesses’ most trusted advisers.

My colleagues at Cosumnes River College invite CPAs into the classrooms of financial and managerial accounting classes each semester. I want to acknowledge the following CalCPA members who have volunteered in this capacity: Alex Brown, Crystal A. Ekanayake, Steve McCormick, Michael Navin, Raksha Sharma, Annette Stalker and Jr. Velazquez.

These CPAs took time out of their busy schedules to visit classes and communicate to students how rewarding and satisfying a CPA career has been and to encourage students to select accounting as their major and profession. During just this past semester, we reached more than 500 students. This is the third time the college has welcomed our CPA visits, and we plan on making visits every semester. CPAs: Consider volunteering next time there is a request to tell your tale of why you became a CPA, or, better yet, contact a college and volunteer to talk to its accounting classes. Educators: Schedule CPA visits as a regular component of your financial and managerial accounting classes each semester. Contact me and find out how this can become a regular routine.

CPA events found in the news. A big success has been achieved in Sacramento. The governor signed four bills that affect the profession and our future.

The first is that in 2014, CPAs will be required to obtain 150 hours of education before being licensed. This makes our state substantially compliant and allows California CPAs to be on par with most of the rest of the nation. CPAs licensed before 2014 will be grandfathered under this law. The second bill requires mandatory peer reviews to begin in 2010 and to be phased in over a three-year period. The third bill requires that CPAs with inactive licenses disclose that if they use the CPA designation. The last bill reinstated the taxpayer privilege that lapsed earlier.

Thank you to government relations staff Bruce Allen and Jeannie Tindel for their tireless, hard work. Thank you also to the many CPAs who volunteered to talk to legislators both at CPA Day at the Capitol and by making many visits to legislators’ local offices. This coordinated and sustained effort made this a true team effort and success. Keep in mind that a portion of our CalCPA dues is used to protect our profession, our livelihood and our rights to do business.

The chapter’s big event this month is the Student Outreach Luncheon Wednesday, Nov. 18. Join us for a great program, which includes Andrea Cope, CalCPA chair. Thanks to Amy Lehmkuhl and Robina Bennion for their hard work in organizing and planning this important event. It is not too late to sign up to attend. You can register online. If you are interested in participating as an event sponsor, contact program associate Serena Trovato.

There are many chapter activities this month that I recommend you put on your schedule. The Government Accounting and Auditing Committee will hold its first meeting in a very long time Thursday, Nov. 12. The Roseville Discussion Group also will meet Nov. 12. The Estate & Financial Planning and Tax committees will host a joint meeting Tuesday, Nov. 17. The Litigation Committee meets Thursday, Nov. 19, and the Accounting and Auditing Committee meets Tuesday, Nov. 24. See our chapter events calendar for more details.

I welcome your comments and suggestions and would like to hear from you. Contact me via e-mail. I read each comment and respond.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 12:19 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.