To Jen Croneberger, it’s easy for many in society to spend a lot of time planning to do big things but not always carrying out those plans. Taking an “if/then response approach” to life prevents accomplishing big goals, and so Croneberger advises people to take big leaps, even if they’re uncertain about having a safety net. That’s one of several leadership concepts discussed on this JofA podcast episode. Croneberger, an author and consultant, is the keynote speaker June 17 at the AICPA & CIMA Not-for-Profit Industry Conference. In this conversation, she previews that session, explains the ..read more

In the first part of a two-part podcast discussion, Hamza Khan detailed how he was affected by a severe case of burnout about 10 years ago. In this episode, Khan, an author and keynote speaker, shares more about his battle with burnout today. Khan explained some of the reasons burnout can affect women in particular and shared some of the knowledge gleaned from attending two AICPA & CIMA Women’s Global Leadership Summits. He also discussed why having relatively few one-on-one meetings with his boss became a bad thing — and how leaders can make those meetings better. What you’ll learn from t ..read more

Tom Hood, CPA/CITP, CGMA, executive vice president–Business Growth and Engagement at AICPA & CIMA, together as the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, has his finger on the pulse of the profession. He’s traveled all over, talking to everyone from corporate CFOs to newly minted accountants and accounting apprentices, and he’s sharing some of the insights gained from those discussions on this episode of the JofA podcast. Hood, who has been in his current role for three years after a long stint as CEO of the Maryland Association of CPAs, takes time to reflect ..read more

Ken Witt, CPA, CGMA, AICPA & CIMA associate director–Management Accounting Research and Development, explains in this JofA podcast episode why finance decision-makers in the first-quarter Business & Industry Economic Outlook Survey are more optimistic now compared with the end of 2023. Witt summarizes the survey results, including CPA decision-makers’ expectations for revenue and profit increases and the top challenges facing them and their businesses. What you’ll learn from this episode: ·         A breakdown of sentiment about the domestic econ ..read more

The AICPA & CIMA CFO Conference begins April 24 in Charleston, S.C. Sandy Sloyer, CPA, CGMA, and Misty Geer, CPA, CGMA are long-time members of the conference planning committee, and they joined the JofA podcast to discuss how priorities have changes for finance leaders over the past few years — and how the conference agenda has been adapted as a result. Here’s a link to the list of conference sessions. What you’ll learn from this episode: ·         Attendance options for the April conference. ·         How the ..read more

Melanie Lauridsen, vice president–Tax Policy & Advocacy for the AICPA, returns as a guest on the JofA podcast to update listeners on the focus areas of tax advocacy.   Her team is paying close attention to employee retention credit claims, beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements, and IRS contingency plans in the event of a government shutdown.   Resources: January advocacy conversation with Lauridsen on the JofA podcast JofA coverage of the federal court opinion holding the Corporate Transparency Act unconstitutional and the appeal of that court d ..read more

The factors contributing to a decline in the accounting talent pool are many, and so are the strategies to address the issue.  In this podcast episode, Sue Coffey, CPA, CGMA, AICPA & CIMA’s CEO–Public Accounting, explains what early research has shown about why students are showing less interest in accounting. She also details the steps that multiple entities, including the National Pipeline Advisory Group (NPAG), are taking to grow the pipeline. In the interview, Coffey discusses CPA licensure, the 150-hour educational requirement, CPA practice mobility, and other issues important to ..read more

Wassia Kamon, CPA, was a featured speaker at the Future of Finance Summit in Orlando late last year, and she joined the JofA podcast from the event to discuss how leaders can overcome their own biases to be more inclusive.   Kamon, vice president of finance at the Low Income Investment Fund in Atlanta, points out that with social media and other commonly used applications, it’s very easy for us to choose our own news, friends, and interest areas — or have algorithms choose the focus areas for us. That can be detrimental to people expanding their understanding of the world and learning abo ..read more

Bring together three of the top experts in the accounting technology space, and you’re bound to learn something (often, many things) new. That’s been the premise of the JofA Accounting Technology Roundtable since 2011. It held true again in 2024.  After discussing artificial intelligence and automation in Part 1 of the roundtable, published Wednesday, the three panelists — Automata Practice Development’s Wesley Hartman, IntrapriseTechKnowlogies’ Donny Shimamoto, CPA/CITP, CGMA, and Boomer Consulting’s Amanda Wilkie — turned their attention to several other topics, including one that is ne ..read more

Darryl Bonner of Connecticut-based Liberty Bank is part of a pioneering finance apprenticeship program. He’s in the midst of a rotation through several departments at the bank, and he’s taking steps to receive the CGMA designation as well. Bonner is one of the first apprentices in the AICPA’s Professional Apprenticeship for Finance Business Partners program, which in 2022 was approved by the U.S. Department of Labor. On this podcast episode, Bonner discusses why he was drawn to Liberty Bank, how he mixes his day job with the CGMA Finance Leadership Program, and what title he seeks to achieve i ..read more