This will be the first in a series of ongoing blog posts about the NJSCPA firm outreach program and other Society happenings. Since a lot of you probably have no idea what the NJSCPA firm outreach program is, here's a quick summary: the program was launched about one year ago to help us (the Society) get in front of you (our members) to talk about issues and news that impact you and your firm. You see even with all the print and electronic communication we send to our members (and we send you a lot) we discovered that members remember what we say when we say it face to face. Makes sense, right?
So in the last 14 months, NJSCPA Executive Director Ralph Thomas and I, along with other staff from our Education Foundation and membership department, have visited about 20 firms and spoken to about 500 members, from new hires to partners and everyone in between. Granted, we're a long way from reaching all 15,500 members, but it's a start. Of those approximately 20 firms, most are part of the NJSCPA
100% Member Champion program.
In the last week, Ralph, On-site Training Specialist Sharon Drucker and I visited three firms: Bruno, DiBello & Co. in Totowa; Smolin, Lupin & Co. in Fairfield; and Fazio, Mannuzza, Roche, Tankel, LaPilusa, LLC in Cranford.
Bruno, DiBello & Co. received a professional regulatory/legislative update from Ralph. Firm staff were particularly interested in Ralph's updates about
Section 7216 regulations and the FTC's "
Red Flags" rule. The AICPA has some great resources about both topics. Of course, Ralph would be happy to conduct the professional regulatory/legislative update at your firm.
At Smolin, Lupin and FMRTL, I conducted our business communications presentation, covering topics such as business presentations, dos and don’ts of electronic communication and networking. More and more, professional services businesses like accounting firms are focusing on improving the “soft skills” of their employees in order to gain a competitive edge. That view was reinforced in a recent
Grant Thornton survey of CFOs in which 31% of respondents said that personality or people skills are more important than technological capabilities when deciding between two job candidates.
If you’re interested in either presentation for your firm, let us know. Staff can receive 1-2 CPE credits depending on how long a presentation you want.
And thank you to Bruno, DiBello; Smolin, Lupin; and Fazio, Mannuzza, Roche, Tankel, LaPilusa for allowing us to spend some time with their staffs.