Unsung Heroes

By Jerry Sample, CPA

This month’s message recognizes the often unacknowledged contributions of many chapter members. Consider this a song for unsung heroes. We encounter them every day. We see them in committee meetings, CPE classes and, if we are fortunate, at work. They ask thoughtful questions and are good at developing consensus. They are current in their fields and are usually the go-to person in their firms. They are the ones who step in to the breach when you need help the most. They are influential with their colleagues. They are the living embodiment of CalCPA’s mission statement.

They are heroes both for the above reasons and also because they serve the best interest of the public and the profession. They serve on chapter steering committeesand as chapter chairs. They serve as at-large members of state committees. They serve on radio and television public service programs providing free tax advice at the height of tax season. Every benefit that accrues to our members is a result of their efforts.

It is often said that: “There is nothing as powerful as an idea whose time has come.” Tax Aid and financial literacy are two great ideas that are successful, not because of timing, but because of the hard work and commitment of many unsung heroes. Tax Aid was founded to help low-income families receive their earned income credit and has grown to the extent that last year San Francisco Tax Aid prepared more than 3,000 individual returns securing $2.9 million in refunds for low-income taxpayers. And guess who prepared those returns? Our unsung heroes!

We all have stories about hapless clients. When you reflect, you realize that our clients are from the most financially literate segment of the population. Most of the population can’t grasp the concept of balancing their checkbook, much less basic economics. The majority of voters making long-term financial decisions for us are all financially illiterate. CalCPA’s financial literacy program was created to address the problem of financial illiteracy and is focused on providing resources and education to classrooms and the community at large.

So let us give thanks to our unsung heroes, the faithful shepherds of our profession. I’ll leave you with two questions: When you look at yourself in the mirror, do you see an unsung hero? If not, would you like to?

—Jerry Sample, CPA

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 18th, 2008 at 12:01 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.