Friday, April 24, 2009

TSCPA Financial Literacy Social Media Outreach Day Thursday, April 30

A message from the TSCPA:


Texas Society of CPAs

Dear TSCPA Member:

Since the economy has slipped into a deep recession, more Texans are searching for personal finance information as evidenced by the recent surge in traffic (nearly 32,000 visitors during the last three months) to TSCPA’s consumer Web site at ValueYourMoney.org. As TSCPA members, let’s leverage the power of social media to reach out to as many people as we can with the financial literacy message.

Please join me and participate in TSCPA’s Financial Literacy Social Media Outreach Day Thursday, April 30 so we can further spread the word about ValueYourMoney.org’s free information and resources and Texas CPAs’ role in financial literacy.

Whether you’re on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or you just have e-mail addresses, TSCPA would like you to send the following message or a similar one of your own to your friends, connections, followers, or distribution list this Thursday:

Looking to improve your personal finance I.Q. or know someone who is? Visit the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants’ consumer Web site at www.ValueYourMoney.org.  

To measure our reach, please e-mail Jennifer Nimmo at jnimmo@tscpa.net by 10 a.m. Friday, May 1 and let her know the number of people to whom you sent the message.

As CPAs, we know we help our clients and employers on a daily basis. Through ValueYourMoney.org and TSCPA’s other financial literacy resources, we now have an opportunity to showcase the profession’s public service platform to a broader audience.

I hope you’ll take a few minutes this Thursday and participate in the Financial Literacy Social Media Outreach Day. That’s what CPAs do best. We help people.

Sincerely,

Steven R. Goodman, CPA

Chairman 

AICPA Leadership Academy


The AICPA Leadership Academy is an initiative of AICPA Chairman Ernie Almonte. The first Leadership Academy will be held this summer in Chicago, July 7-9. During these three days, 25 selected Young CPAs from across the nation will participate in a program designed to provide personal development and leadership training. The Academy aims to create a pool of engaged young CPAs who will become future leaders within their organizations, the AICPA, the CPA profession, and other voluntary non-profit organizations.

I believe that Chairman Almonte is right on in his vision for this program. He visited the TSCPA Young CPAs Committe at our last meeting in Austin, and his passion for this program and leadership development is evident.

A unique aspect of this leadership development program will be the follow-up. A goal of the program is to establish mentorship relationships between the program participants and AICPA mentors, who would include former AICPA chairs, board members, or other leaders within the profession.

The application deadline is May 1. More information can be found on the AICPA website, here.

28 Days Until the Young CPAs Conference

Now that the tax professionals among us have caught up on their sleep (hopefully), it's time to think about CPE. The Young CPAs and Emerging Professionals Conference is a great place to brush up on those soft skills that help you get ahead in the workplace, add value to your career, and increase your client service abilities.

There is something for everyone, with topics like:

Generational Dynamics
Wealth Building: Personal Financial Planning
Client Relations and Practice Development
Business Skills for the Workplace
Cyber Crime
Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
Professional Issues, Federal Tax, and Technology Updates

In our field, it is not often the lack of technical skills that prevents people from realizing their full potential. It is most frequently underdeveloped non-technical (soft) skills. So, make a small investment ($95 for TSCPA members, up to 6 hours of CPE) in your or your employees future and register for the Young CPAs and Emerging Professional's Conference -- May 22 in Houston, TX.