| December
2006
| Letter
from the Chair |
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 Dear
friends,
This is my first letter as Chair of the North American
region.
It
was great to see everyone in Montreal this past September.
We were hosted by the Canadian firms to a very successful
meeting. Thank you!!
Continuing
our relationships through these World Congresses is one
of the important elements of AGN. Our collaboration is
enhanced by knowing each other and feeling comfortable
in referring clients to each of our respective firms.
After
we left Montreal, AGN-NA University moved in and sponsored
our annual Future Leaders Training Program, presented
by Charlie McGimsey and Bryan
Polster. There were 27 participants
from 13 different firms represented. The future of
all our firms rests in developing new leaders and I am
proud that AGN-NA provides training to these future leaders
of our firms.
The
deadline for preparing this article for the December
issue was the final filing date for individual and partnership
tax returns in the United States. 2006 was my 41st tax
season!!
As
I look back over those years, I have memories of filing
returns manually using carbon paper, followed by preparing
manual tax returns using the initial Xerox machines, having
to write the color of the return on top of the paper (yellow
for partnership, blue for corporate, etc.), to computerized
preparation returns that we sent off to some processing
house, to returns that were prepared on our in-house computers,
and to now: filing tax returns electronically.
Although
a lot has changed over the years, really nothing has
changed.
We all need technical expertise, but the skills
we need
in dealing with people will never change.
That
is why I am so excited about the Advanced Partner
Training Program that has blossomed since it started two years
ago.
AGN-NA
Board members had the foresight to start this program
and finance a significant part of the cost through our
operating budget. As of today, over 140 partners
from virtually all North American firms are
participating in the program designed
to help us all in dealing with people. Whether
you are in tax, audit or consulting disciplines, the ability
to deal with people is critical for your success.
Thru
this program, AGN-NA is enhancing the performance of
each individual and their respective firms. This program
promotes the core values of AGN-NA that were developed
in our strategic plan, of Collaboration, Excellence, Integrity,
Relationships and Performance.
I
look forward to my term during this next year working
with my Executive Committee and Board for a successful
2007, and of course, welcome your input.
Sandy Beckman
Weinstein Spira & Company, P.C.
Houston, Texas, USA
sgb@weinsteinspira.com
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AGN-NA's
2006 strategic plan goals |
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1. Knowledge and Resource Sharing – AGN-NA
firms will have access to and actively use a broad
range of shared talent, resources and best practices. |
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2. Training – AGN-NA
firms will have access to high quality, comprehensive
training programs and evidence their satisfaction
with high participation levels. |
3. Human Resources – AGN-NA
firms will attract, develop and retain the highest
quality staff. |
4. Member Performance – A
majority of AGN-NA firms will be in the top quartile
of performance measures within their peer group. |
5. Reputation and Recognition – AGN-NA
will be recognized as an association of quality firms
offering the industry’s best resources and
solutions. |
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North American Board elects 2006-2007
officers |
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Sanders (Sandy) Beckman, CPA, has
been elected Chair of AGN International-North
America, Inc. Beckman is a Shareholder
of Weinstein Spira & Company, PC, based
in Houston, TX.
Also
elected to AGN-NA’s 2007 Executive Committee
are the following:
 Jennings
Hastings, Vice Chair, (Managing
Partner, Faw, Casson & Co., LLP, Dover, DE);
Charlie McGimsey, Treasurer, (Managing
Partner, Windham Brannon, P.C., CPAs, Atlanta, GA)
Gary Fitzgibbon, Secretary, (Managing
Partner, Adams, Masin & Tilley, LLP Toronto, Ontario,
Canada)
Larry Kuechler, Immediate Past Chair
(Principal, Berger/Lewis Accountancy Corporation, San
Jose, CA).
Beckman
and the AGN-NA Executive Committee’s
primary focus will be implementing tactics to achieve
five strategic goals identified by the Board of Directors
in late 2005 (see above).
AGN-NA
currently has 52 CPA, CA and accounting firms as members
of the North American region.
Beckman
has served on AGN-NA’s Board since 1998 and its
Executive Committee since 2003. He joined Weinstein
Spira & Company in 1965 and became
principal in 1975. Beckman works in audit, tax and
business consulting areas, with a specialty in the restaurant
industry. He has built a clientele
of some of Houston’s top restaurants.
He
is a member of the American Institute of Certified
Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Texas Society of
Certified Public Accountants. He holds a Bachelors
in Business Administration from the University of Texas.
|
| It's
the Holiday Spirit - 365!!! |
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Many
of you know Lisa Hastings, one
of our brightest and best members from our long-time
member firm, Faw, Casson & Co. (Dover,
DE). Lisa is not only a top-notch CPA and great contributor
to AGN-NA, but she is also actively “giving back” to
her community. She sends along this brainstorm:
I
had an idea the other day that I think is pretty fantastic,
and thought I’d share it with all of
you to see if anyone else out there did, too.
I
am involved in a few charitable activities that I feel
passionately about, and it seems to me that everyone
has a certain level of charitable or civic involvement,
depending on their interests. One of the items
that Jennings and I have often offered as a fundraiser “auction
item” is the use of our vacation home in the Outer
Banks of North Carolina. As I was preparing to
agree to do that again just recently, I was reminded
of the wonderful trip we had recently to Vancouver, and
how nice it was to visit the office of one of our AGN
firms’ city (… and spend time on a member’s
lovely floating “vacation home”), and it
occurred to me that it might be fun to “swap” a
vacation or rental home, either for use as a charitable
donation (my passions are the American Heart Association
and our area Chamber of Commerce) or for personal vacation.
So,
if anyone else is intrigued by the idea, and/or is
interested in visiting the Outer Banks, please drop
me an email and let’s see if we can work something
out!
It
seems that Lisa is suggesting that AGN-NA members
create a “pool” of members’ vacation homes,
which could be used/rented either by members, or as an
exotic auction item for a local charity. You can respond
by sending Lisa an e-mail at lsh@fawcasson.com; please
copy the NA office in at rhood@agn.org. If there
is enough interest, we could set up a page at the
agn-na.org members-only website where members could list
their properties, along with their e-mail contact information,
links to the properties, etc.
Thanks, and have a great Holiday season!
|
Continuous
Learning is a Core Value |
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Sharegroups’ Learning
Teleconferences
A&A
Sharegroup:
12/7/06 – Topic: Year-end planning — What
To Do In Preparing For Next Year Audits
1/23/07 – Topic: TBA
Business
Valuation Sharegroup:
1/18/07 – Topic: TBD
HR/FA
Sharegroup:
1/9/07 – Topic: FLSA/Compensation Issues
IT
Sharegroup:
3/14/07 – Topic: TBD
Marketing
Sharegroup:
1/22/07 – Topic: Marketing Internally During Busy
Season
Not-For-Profit
Sharegroup:
11/28/06 – Topic: Highlights of Pension Plan Protection
Act of 2006 Charitable and Tax Exempt Organization Reforms
SEC
Clients Sharegroup:
1/8/07 – Topics: Current Industry, PCAOB, Sarbanes
Oxley and Practice Issues
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AGN-NA
University
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 We’re
so excited that Jim Collins,
author of “Good to Great” and
co-author of “Built to Last” is
coming to AGN North America’s 2007 Regional Meeting,
May 21 - 23!
Join your colleagues at the beautiful Omni
Interlocken Resort in suburban Denver, Colorado
for this highly anticipated event at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday,
May 23, 2007.
Jim
Collins is a student and teacher of enduring great companies
- how they grow, how they attain
superior performance, and how good companies can become
great companies. Having invested over a
decade of research into the topic, Jim has authored or
co-authored four books which have been translated into
as many as 32 languages. He has served as a teacher to
senior executives and CEOs at over one hundred corporations.
Reading “Good to Great” (if
you haven’t already) is a “must-do” before attending this
session.
The NARM officially
begins with a golf tournament on Sunday, May
20 and
an evening Opening Reception; breakout sessions are held
concurrently all day Monday and Tuesday, May 21
- 22. MAP sessions are offered for all participants,
as well as technical sessions planned by the A&A,
NFP, BV, IT and HR/FA Sharegroups.
Don’t
miss this golden opportunity to hear Jim Collins
in person!
Registration
opens in February - watch
for the announcement!
|
| Member
News |
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Kuechler
finishes NYC Marathon!
Larry
Kuechler, Principal at Berger/Lewis
Accountancy Corporation,
with two offices in California, is one of several
North American members who have completed marathons. |
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Bradley
H. Minor, CPA/ABV, CVA, ASA senior
manager at Blue & Co.
LLC, with seven offices in
Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, contributed to
the September 2006 issue of the Journal
of Accountancy. Brad wrote an
article entitled “Tips for Starting
a BV Practice.” |
Beverly R. Nichols, Director
of Bourgeois Bennett CPAs, with
two offices in Louisiana, is one of the founders
and developers of the Priestley School of Architecture
and Construction. The charter high school’s
focus will be to prepare students to participate
and benefit in the building boom resulting from the
revitalization of New Orleans.
George
Panzeca, Director,
has been elected President of the Board of Directors
of Broadway, Inc., a non-profit organization that
operates a private residential treatment facility
for children who are in the custody of the State
due to the horrific environments of abuse and/or
neglect in their own homes.
|
Congratulations to Brock and Company CPAs
PC, with five offices in Colorado and
headquartered in Boulder, on celebrating its 50th
Anniversary this year! Starting with one
small office and one employee in 1956, the firm
now has five offices, 3500 clients and 55 employees. Brock
has been celebrating its Golden Anniversary by
holding Open Houses in each of its five offices
for all its clients, referral sources and staff.
|
Clark,
Schaefer, Hackett & Co., with
five offices in Ohio, announces that Sean
McGrory has joined the firm’s
Cincinnati office as a shareholder. Sean is
the former managing partner at Grant Thornton’s
Cincinnati office and will focus on manufacturing
firms and handling international accounting issues.
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The shareholders of Concannon,
Miller & Co.,
P.C., with two offices in Pennsylvania
and Florida, are proud to announce the promotion
of Timothy M. Littler, CPA to
Shareholder effective October 1, 2006. Tim
is based in the St. Petersburg, Florida office
and has been with the firm since 1991. He
works closely with many of the firm’s McDonald’s
clients in Houston and Dallas as well as other
regional markets.
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Amy E. Vetter, Principal
of Daszkal Bolton LLP, with
two offices in Florida, has been recognized in The
CPA Technology Advisor’s September 2006
issue as a “Mover, Shaker and Thought Leader
of Tomorrow,” earning a spot on their 40
Under 40 list.
Patrick D. Heyn,
Partner, has joined the Board of Directors at GlobeTel
Communications Corp. GlobeTel develops and
provides an integrated suite of telecommunications
products and services, leveraging its advances
in stored value, VoIP, and wireless access technologies.
The firm has expanded its northern Palm Beach County
operations, opening a 30-person office in Jupiter
managed by co-founding partner Jeffrey
A. Bolton, CPA. The
new 15,000 square foot office replaces the Palm Beach
Gardens location. The new address is 4455
Military Trail, Suite 201, Jupiter, FL 33458-3046;
phone: 561-622-8920; fax: 561-624-1151.
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Jennings P. Hastings, Managing Partner of Faw,
Casson & Co.,
LLP, Dover, DE has been appointed to the
AICPA Center for Public Company Audit Firms Peer
Review Committee.
The purpose of the committee is to enhance the quality of practice of firms that
audit public companies by administering the peer review program to determine
that member firms are maintaining and applying quality controls in accordance
with standards established by the AICPA.
To be considered for the committee, a) CPA must
be an owner/partner of a Center for Public Company
Audit Firms member firm. b) Experienced in conducting
peer reviews. c) Knowledge and/or understanding
of PCAOB rules, regulations and requirements.
Jennings
has served as team captain or team member for hundreds
of AGN-NA member firm peer reviews over the 28
years of the firm’s membership in AGN
and a stalwart on the AGN A&A sharegroup. He
is currently also the Vice-Chair-Chair Elect of the
AGN-NA Executive Committee.
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Koch
Reiss & Company, P.A. (KR
Financial Services, Inc.) in Hollywood, FL, is proud
to announce that Assets Under Management (AUM) for
the firm now exceed $100 million. Jeffrey
B. Koch, CPA/PFS heads up the wealth
management division, which started just eight years
ago.
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Logan Katz, LLP,
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, is pleased to announce
the University of Ottawa recipients of the 2005-2006
Logan Katz LLP Scholarships: Jing Ziao,
Benoit Ouimet, and Shannon Funchion.
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Meaden & Moore,
Ltd., with
twelve offices in Ohio, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania,
North Carolina, Arizona, Georgia, and Florida, is
pleased to announce the election of James
P. Carulas, CPA to Chief Executive
Officer effective October 1, 2006. Stepping
down from the role of CEO is Lawrence
J. Holland, who
served in that capacity since 1995. Larry will
continue to be active in the firm’s management,
business development and servicing client needs.
Expanding
the firm’s Investigative Accounting
Group into Atlanta are Robbie
A. Brannon and Max D.
Flynn,
joining the firm as Vice Presidents/Principals.
Both are graduates of the University of Georgia
and collectively have 20 years of national and
international experience in the investigative accounting
field.
Meaden & Moore
and Rogers CPA Group are pleased to announce
the combination of their Wooster, Ohio offices
effective November 1, 2006. Current Meaden & Moore
Wooster associates will be relocating to the space
that Rogers CPA Group is now occupying at 2363
Eagle Pass, Suite A, Wooster, OH 44691.
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Prescott,
Chatellier, Fontaine & Wilkinson,
LLP, with two offices in Rhode Island,
announces that Peter L. Chatellier has
been elected as Vice President of the Rhode Island
Society of CPAs.
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Robert
R. Redwitz & Co., with
three offices in California, is happy to announce
that Doug Clevenger has
become a Principal effective October 1, 2006. This
coincides with the first anniversary of the acquisition
and merger of the Coradino, Hickey and Hanson firm
and brings the total number of principals to six.
Also
as of October 1, Learning Communications,
LLC (formerly
Learncom) becomes affiliated with the firm’s
family of companies: Robert
R. Redwitz & Co., The GDR Group, Redwitz Wealth
Management Group, and The
Diamond Group. Learning Communications,
LLC provides products and services that include
the best learning resources as well as innovative
digital solutions that deliver these resources
to clients anywhere, anytime. www.learn.com is
one of the leading sites in the HR and training industry
and provides thousands of free previews to trainers
throughout the world.
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.GIF)
Rothstein,
Kass & Company, P.C., with
eight offices in New York, New Jersey, California,
Texas, Colorado, and Cayman Islands, announces that
three managing directors from RSM McGladrey have
joined the firm as Principals based in the New York
office. Alan Kufeld, CPA specializes
in providing income and estate tax planning, wealth
preservation, and compliance for federal, state and
local tax matters effecting high-net worth individuals. Paul
Dailey, CPA is now a member of the
firm’s Commercial Services Group and oversees
international tax issues for corporate and individual
clients. Stuart Kralstein, CPA provides
tax services for clients of the firm’s Financial
Services Group. His expertise lies in tax
planning for investment partnerships, investment
advisors, broker/dealers; hedge funds and their investors,
venture capital companies, investment partnership
management companies, and general partner entities.
Several
senior managers have been promoted to principals. Serving
as principals in the firm’s Roseland headquarters
are Daniel Byrne, CPA,
JD, LL.M., Andrea Kalliaras,
CPA, Wayne Kellner, CPA,and Stacey
Regan, CPA. Laurie
Chatoff, CPA, is
based in the Walnut Creek office, while Charles
Plaveczky, CPA is
based in the New York office, and Scott
Woods, CPA is
based in the Dallas office.
In
other news, Rothstein Kass was ranked the number
two accounting firm service provider for the 2006
Alpha Awards,
the second annual ranking of the world’s top
hedge fund service providers by Institutional
Investor’s
Alpha magazine. Also, the firm has been
named among Texas Monthly’s list
of the Best Companies to Work for in Texas. This
is the third recognition of this kind that the firm
has received and the second recognition for the Dallas
office. Earlier this year, the firm was selected
as one of the Best Places to Work in New
Jersey by NJBIZ in
conjunction with the Best Companies Group and one
of the Top 70 Best
Places to Work in the Dallas - Fort Worth Area by
the Dallas Business
Journal.
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Schenck Business Solutions, with
ten offices in Wisconsin, recently announced that Schenck
Health Services Solutions has acquired the
accounting and consulting practice of Integrated
Management Consulting of Elm Grove. Led
by Mike Metz, CHBC, CFP, Integrated
Management Consulting provides practice management,
accounting, and tax services to health care organizations,
both dental and medical.
In
addition, Donald W. Kossow,
CPA has
joined Schenck Business Solutions as a Shareholder
in the Milwaukee office. Previously
a tax partner with an international accounting firm
in Milwaukee, Don has approximately 30 years experience
in the industry.
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Bill Troup, Managing Partner
of Sisterson & Co.,
LLP, Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, was re-elected to a three-year term
on the Board of Directors of Sherwood Oaks, a continuing
care retirement community in Cranberry, PA. Bill
was also re-elected to the Board of Directors of
UPMC/University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and
appointed to its Investment and Audit Committees. He
was also elected Secretary of the Board of UPMC Passavant
Hospital and appointed to the Executive, Finance
and Governance Committees.
John
C. Kaye, Consulting
Services Partner, has been elected vice president
of awards for the Association for Corporate Growth
for the program year of 2006-2007.
Team Sisterson participated
in the Heart Walk for the American Heart Association
on October 7, 2006, and raised approximately $1,700.
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Windham Brannon, P.C., CPAs, Atlanta,
Georgia, has been named to Inside
Public Accounting’s 2006 Best
of the Best, based on fiscal and management
performance. Carolyn Riticher,
CPA, CVA has been elected to a three-year
term on the board of CAMICO Mutual Insurance Company. She
was elected to this position by CAMICO policyholders
at the company’s annual meeting in July, 2006.
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