San Francisco Chapter
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Archive for the ‘President’s Message’ Category
January 23rd, 2012
By Laura L. Ross, CPA
It’s true what people say about things improving with age. CalCPA elections are coming up, and that has me reminiscing as I ponder how far I would like to go in our association’s leadership.
I think back to my high school student body elections held every semester. Being something of a shy math whiz, I ran for treasurer seven times. I lost seven times. If I remember correctly, six of those losses were to cheerleaders. The student body apparently perceived them as being much better with checkbooks. I didn’t have to run and face rejection again in the eighth semester because, when I was a senior, the student body president appointed me to a position. I was finally able to participate as I had wanted.
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December 20th, 2011
By Laura L. Ross, CPA
This needs to be a short column, as the holidays always seem to make the deadline windows smaller. My column due date coincided with the holiday luncheon for the chapter board, and my fellow board members suggested I relate the following story:
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September 27th, 2011
By Laura L. Ross, CPA
It’s the Monday after the Sept. 15 deadline as I write this. And I think this one hit me harder than the April 15 deadline. I just showed up to work with an eight-inch pile of personal mail I haven’t opened in the last few weeks (this is after discarding all the credit card offers and “switch your internet provider” envelopes). Today I hope to catch up everything that wasn’t due on the 15th —this column being one of those things.
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August 30th, 2011
By Laura L. Ross, CPA
I am the first to admit I am a workaholic. But there is a reason—I really love my job. I’ve been in public accounting for 14 years and every morning I look forward to coming in. It hasn’t gotten old yet.
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July 27th, 2011
By Laura L. Ross, CPA
I attended the CalCPA Council and Annual Members Business meetings near the end of June and it was a few days full of interesting speakers and great networking with other CPAs, in addition to the handling of CalCPA business.
There will usually be an evening get-together planned for the council members during a meeting like this, and since we were in Las Vegas, it was only appropriate to have us take in a show as a group. The choice was “Viva Elvis,” which was playing at the Aria Resort. Elvis was probably a good choice for CPAs—more conservative than some shows, but still brings in some of the Las Vegas glamour.
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June 27th, 2011
By Laura L. Ross, CPA
Last month I discussed my customer experience at a coffee shop that left me less than thrilled with the establishment. I thought I’d turn the tables this month and take a view from the other side—when the service provider has reason to be less than happy with the customer.
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June 1st, 2011
By Laura L. Ross, CPA
Well, now that I am chapter president, I need to thank Karen Pfau-Martinez, our past president, for her efforts during the past year. Karen and I have an interesting history in that we went to school together at San Francisco State University. She was one semester ahead of me, so it’s seems appropriate that I follow her year as president. I probably should watch to see what she does next, so I can prepare for my turn.
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May 2nd, 2011
By Laura L. Ross, CPA
Due to submission deadlines, I’m writing this as I sit in my office April 3. The date should give away why I’m here on a Sunday. Since this Bulletin is going out the first week of May, I expect many of you will encounter it in the midst of a packed mailbox that you are working your way through as you return from whatever time off you scheduled for right after the April 18 deadline. I hesitate to call that period of time a vacation. For many of us it’s really a recovery period—a time when we ease ourselves back into something resembling a “normal” work schedule.
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March 30th, 2011
By Karen Pfau-Martinez, CPA
I can’t believe that my year as your chapter president is over. Where did the time go? One year is just not enough time to make a true impact, but I do believe that I, along with my wonderful board members, have put into place some incredible things.
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January 31st, 2011
By Karen Pfau-Martinez, CPA
I participated in CPA Day at the Capital Jan. 19, and I believe that this is one of the most important contributions I can make to CalCPA. I met with Barry Steinhart, aide to Mark Leno, and Anita Lee, aide to Tom Ammiano. I also met with Assemblymember Mary Hayashi, chief consultant Ross Warren and aide Rebecca May.
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