The Surge - SoundSage

View Details

Host: Rich Daisley Guest: Ane K. Ohm Ane Ohm, founder and CEO of LeaseCrunch, a leading lease accounting software company, joins Surgent’s Rich Daisley to discuss the current status of private companies’ ASC 842 implementation efforts. They discuss common challenges, best practices, and paths forward for these companies as they seek to complete their efforts ahead of the 2022 effective date of the new standard.

Please feel free to connect with Rich and Ane on LinkedIn. Be sure to listen until the end of the episode for a discount off your next webinar purchase! Intro and Outro Music by Lakey Inspired

The post ASC 842, Leases, Implementation Status Discussion with Ane Ohm, CEO and founder of LeaseCrunch appeared first on Surgent.

View Details

Host: Rich Daisley Guest: Steve Johnson While many CPAs start their careers in public accounting, most migrate over to some role in industry. Transitioning from a public accounting firm to a private industry position can be a bit jarring. Having to juggle such challenges like switching accounting positions during busy season, adjusting to a different work environment, managing work-life balance while assimilating into a new organization — all of these can make this career progression a little difficult.

In this episode of The Surge, host Rich Daisley discusses this career move with KnowFully Learning Group’s CFO Steve Johnson. They discuss key considerations when contemplating the transition from public accounting to the private sector, tips for success and how to surmount the learning curve when working in a new environment, and ways to maximize your job satisfaction in your accounting career, irrespective of your specific role as an accounting professional.

Please feel free to connect with Rich and Steve on LinkedIn. Be sure to listen until the end of the episode for a discount off your next webinar purchase! Intro and Outro Music by Lakey Inspired

The post Perspectives on Transitioning from Public Accounting to Industry appeared first on Surgent.

View Details

Host: Joshua Jenson, CPA Guest: Amy Welch, APR, CAE, Vice President of Communications, Oklahoma Society of CPAs Take a look at the accounting profession from one of the biggest advocates of CPAs – the state societies of CPAs across the United States. This podcast is a great discussion about how the CPA profession is much more than number-crunching in an accounting firm, sorting through financial statements, providing advisory services, or tax preparation. This episode shines a light on how public accounting professionals can do more as a member of their state spa society – like give back to their community.

Amy Welch has initiated, launched, and maintained many programs at the Oklahoma Society of CPAs that are both innovative and a few steps ahead of what other societies are doing. She has also implemented programs that have been adopted outside of Oklahoma into other state societies. Amy’s unique background is comprised of experience, education, and certifications that allow her to serve as an example to the certified public accountants of Oklahoma as well as enable her to teach others about the importance of promoting not only the profession as a whole but the overall value of the CPA license. After listening to this episode of The Surge, you will walk away with some wonderful ideas on how you can promote the CPA designation and how you can foster a sense of community beyond your state CPA society. Certified public accountants can provide much more than accounting services to the public.

Please feel free to connect with JJ the CPA and Amy on LinkedIn. Be sure to listen until the end of the episode for a discount off your next webinar purchase! Intro and Outro Music by Lakey Inspired

The post An Inside Look at CPA Marketing & Public Relations appeared first on Surgent.

View Details

Host: Anthony Ragucci Guest: Carolyn Rivera There’s no getting around the fact that COVID-19 has disrupted our entire lives. Whether you were a full-time student or employee, had a commute that took 2 hours combined, or you were always a remote worker but now your team has transitioned to a work-at-home routine — we’re all in flux trying to convert a corner of our space into a makeshift home office, constantly making sure our internet connection is always strong enough for our Zoom calls, and always trying to make sure our bosses know we’re still being productive while trying to figure out a new work-life balance.

Work from home jobs are nothing new, but they’re certainly new to many of us who have relied on our typical workdays to remain consistent parts of our daily routine. Somewhere in between the weekly check-ins with your department, the innumerable conference calls, the messages on Slack and checking your social media — it’s incredibly important to make your new remote working life both productive and comfortable.

In this podcast episode, we discuss the challenges and hardships faced with our new ‘normal,’ work-from-home lifestyles during the coronavirus pandemic. Join Anthony Ragucci and Carolyn Rivera as they share their thoughts and experiences on staying positive during this trying time.

Please feel free to connect with Anthony and Carolyn on LinkedIn. Be sure to listen until the end of the episode for a discount off your next webinar purchase! Intro and Outro Music by Lakey Inspired

The post Working from Home During the Coronavirus Pandemic appeared first on Surgent.

View Details

Host: Rich Daisley Guest: Marci Thomas The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are wide-ranging, with a significant impact on accounting and financial reporting for all entities. While accounting standards remain the same, it’s no question that those in decision-making positions within their organizations have a lot to consider in regard to the fast-moving government mandates that are materializing during this unprecedented time.

Complicating the application of generally accepted accounting principles, accounting policies, general ledgers, and many other facets of accounting and reporting is the inherent uncertainty in which everyone is making decisions, including those with financial reporting implications. This period of time is uniquely impacting the accounting profession, in both large and small business environments, all over the world.

In this podcast, Surgent A&A content authors Rich Daisley and Marci Thomas will discuss the various financial accounting, disclosure, and reporting implications that all preparers of financial statements will be facing throughout the future of this unforeseeable time. Whether you’re a CPA, a CFO, work in bookkeeping, or maintain an eye on the accounting reports in your organization – give this podcast a listen for some really great takeaways.

Please feel free to connect with Rich and Marci on LinkedIn. Be sure to listen until the end of the episode for a discount off your next webinar purchase! Intro and Outro Music by Lakey Inspired

The post Accounting and Reporting Considerations for COVID-19 appeared first on Surgent.

View Details

Host: Joshua Jenson, CPA Guest: Amanda Brewer For CPAs, accounting firms, small businesses, and business owners — social media marketing may be the last thing you’re thinking about incorporating into your marketing strategy. There are a few things to consider when you’re thinking about whether a social media presence will be valuable to you, your brand, or your business. Questions may include:

Do I have time for this?
Will a social media presence benefit my bottom line?
Do I need to be on all of the social media platforms?
Is it hard to create a social media strategy?
Will potential clients be able to find me more easily on Google if I’m on social media?
How do I use hashtags?

In this episode of The Surge, JJ the CPA and Amanda lay out a blueprint for CPAs and accounting professionals on their best practices using social networks and how they create engaging social media posts. They define “consistency” in social media terms, address when to post, and discuss the strategies and types of posts that would benefit CPAs and accountants. JJ and Amanda also take a deep dive into defining and clarifying what “engagement” means in the social media world and its importance when building a brand, base of clients, or business. This podcast is a step by step guide on how to go about your social media posts, should you decide having a social media presence is the right move for your business.

For additional information on the relationships between financial advisors and CPAs, check out JJ the CPA’s previous episode. Please feel free to connect with JJ the CPA and Amanda on LinkedIn. You can also check out Amanda’s website or reach out to her at amanda@amandacandoit.com. Be sure to listen until the end of the episode for a discount off your next webinar purchase! Intro and Outro Music by Lakey Inspired

The post Blueprint for CPAs & Accounting Practices on Social Media appeared first on Surgent.

View Details

Host: Rich Daisley Guest: Mike Rice, CPA Becoming a certified public accountant is a long journey that requires a significant amount of commitment, studying, and lifelong continuing education. Once you begin your accounting career, you may find that transitioning to the rigors of public accounting can be very challenging. Not to mention, many individuals must pass the CPA exam at the very start of their first accounting job.

Whether you plan on working in a public accounting firm or one of the big four companies, want to provide accounting services to a non-profit organization, or hope to one day become a CFO – the work experience requirements combined with earning your CPA certification can be incredibly overwhelming. Navigating these time commitments takes dedication, effective time management skills, and focus. However, this career path can lead you to becoming a private accountant, owning your own small business, working in a government agency, or any one of the other many positions you can hold after earning your CPA license.

Join Rich Daisley, who speaks from his years of experience, as he discusses these challenges with recent CPA Michael Rice. They share their secrets for successfully managing this critical time in a new accountant’s career.

Please feel free to connect with Rich and Mike on LinkedIn, or to reach out to Mike at michael.rice@wipfli.com. Be sure to listen until the end of the episode for a discount off your next webinar purchase! Intro and Outro Music by Lakey Inspired

The post Perspectives on Beginning A Career in Public Accounting appeared first on Surgent.

View Details

Host: Joshua Jenson, CPA Guests: * Hector Hernandez, Independent Financial Advisor * Juan Garcia

Financial advisors are responsible for a number of accounting practices within their organizations. Financial planning, estate planning, personal financial planning, tax planning, wealth management, advisory services — you name it! While all financial advisors are accounting professionals, that doesn’t mean they are also certified public accountants. In fact, these two professionals in accountancy must create a symbiotic relationship to coexist beneficially in their industry.

In this episode of The Surge, Joshua and Hector discuss how financial advisors view the accounting profession and how they interact with certified public accountants. They address how a financial advisor successfully creates, builds, and maintains a relationship with a CPA. Then the two reverse engineer this process for CPAs to better understand how they are viewed by the financial industry, and how CPAs can have better working relationships with financial advisors. At the tail end, Juan Garcia, discusses how CPAs can better share their value to attract positive referrals from financial advisors.

Whether you’re a financial advisor or a certified public accountant, this podcast will equip you with the tools to understanding both professions, and how financial planners, managers, and advisors can better work with CPAs, CPA firms, business owners, and more. No matter if its tax season, year-end accounting, or generally fostering a better relationship — CPAs and CFPs can work together to achieve organizational financial goals, help manage personal finance for clients, and generally benefit the accounting industry as a whole.

Please feel free to connect with JJ and Juan on LinkedIn. Be sure to listen until the end of the episode for a discount off your next webinar purchase! Intro and Outro Music by Lakey Inspired

The post Financial Advisors & CPA Relationships appeared first on Surgent.

View Details

Host: Joshua Jenson, CPA Guest: Jose Zavala Artificial intelligence has impacted so many different facets of the accounting professional’s day-to-day routine. Accounting automation can include process automation, incorporate machine learning in data entry on a real-time basis, or simplify accounting tasks such as bookkeeping and other repetitive processes. Nowadays there’s a need for multi-talented CPAs to have skills such as knowledge of data analytics and have an adeptness to learning new technologies and accounting software.

JJ and Jose discuss the concept of automation, what it means to automate accounting processes in the business world, and specifically what this means for accounting firms. Several examples are discussed to give ideas to those in accountancy on how to save time and actually improve clients’ experience with your services. Listen to this podcast and familiarize yourself with the concept of automation; you may find yourself ahead of the curve either ahead of the curve, or learn about new tools that will reduce the amount of manual work and tedious tasks required for your business to operate.

Please feel free to connect with JJ and Jose on LinkedIn. Be sure to listen until the end of the episode for a discount off your next webinar purchase! Intro and Outro Music by Lakey Inspired

The post What is Automation in the Accounting Industry and Why Should We Care? appeared first on Surgent.

View Details

Host: Rich Daisley Guest: Jim Hallinan Internal auditors are integral members of the accounting field. A Certified Internal Auditor operates with a specific code of ethics that ensures they work up to a certain level of professional standards. Internal auditing is a career that can incorporate risk management, risk assessment, financial reporting, creating audit plans, performing operational audits, and ensuring processes are up to national and international standards.

The internal audit function is an extremely valuable activity that entities can utilize to attain assurance about a company’s achievement of its objectives. In this podcast, Jim Hallinan – who has over 30 years of experience in various capacities in the internal auditing field – provides his definition of internal auditing, in relation to the various ways in which an effective internal audit group can provide value to an organization’s operations and effect control processes. Additionally, Jim shares various ways of structuring internal audit activity, and how internal audit departments can be proactive in supporting other departments and business processes, and the company’s operations. While no entity is too small to obtain the benefits from a well-tailored approach to internal audit provided assurance, Jim’s insights on how to achieve these benefits in organizations of all sizes will be very beneficial to all financial professionals.

Follow-up with us by letting us know what other professions, information systems, industry trends, or advice you’d like to hear on The Surge!

Please feel free to connect with Rich on LinkedIn. If you enjoyed this episode of The Surge or would like to learn more, consider Surgent’s Internal Audit Skills Training. Intro and Outro Music by Lakey Inspired

The post Excellence in Internal Auditing appeared first on Surgent.

View Details

Host: Joshua “JJ the CPA” Jenson Guest: Juan Garcia LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter – the “Big Four” of the social media platforms (so to speak) – have the potential to be useful tools for accounting firms to attract potential clients, promote your small business, and for business owners to incorporate in their overall marketing strategy. However, there’s a certain amount of necessary know-how that goes into creating a social media strategy. You might have an idea of what you want to accomplish (attract 3 new clients directed from social media ads, attain 100 followers per platform, etc.), but perhaps you don’t know where to start (how to use hashtags to your benefit, how to reach your target audience, how many tweets should be tweeted per day, etc.) or if promoting your business on the major social networks is even the right move for you.

In this episode of The Surge, JJ the CPA and Juan Garcia, CPA address concretely why they believe CPAs and accountants need to be on social media and ideas on how to go about being active, including creating content for social media posts. They will discuss the concerns certified public accountants have with posting on their social media accounts as they deal with technical, ever-changing information.

Juan is a CPA marketer with plenty of thought leadership pertaining to social media best practices. He talks through how social media management is a completely different ball game compared to traditional marketing. Social media can be a great fit for CPAs because it’s free, and this episode will explain and encourage you on how to take full advantage of that!

Please feel free to connect with Juan on LinkedIn! Thanks for listening! Intro and Outro Music by Lakey Inspired

The post Why and How Should CPAs be on Social Media appeared first on Surgent.

View Details

Most private companies will shortly be preparing their first set of financials under the provisions of ASC Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. Whether you are well-prepared for 606 or still have a while to go, you can always gain valuable insights from somebody who has already gone through it. Join Surgent’s Rich Daisley as he discusses all things related to 606 with Adrian Rickard, who has successfully adopted ASC 606 for a publicly-traded software company. Adrian discusses the challenges, lessons learned, and best practices related to 606 adoption, as well as those steps that companies should be taking to sustain their revenue recognition efforts under 606 in year 2 of implementation and beyond. Thanks for listening! Intro and Outro Music by Lakey Inspired

The post Getting Ready for 606: Best Practices for Successful Implementation appeared first on Surgent.

View Details

JJ the CPA & Justin McAuliffe, CPA breakdown the importance of the absolute basics of accounting – which means ensuring small businesses have solid financial statements that can truly be relied upon to make financial and managerial decisions. As experts in the accounting industry, both JJ and Justin feel compliance has increased and the influx of the next generation of accountants has decreased; CPA firms have less time and staff to truly focus on the art of cleaning up the general ledger as they are feeling time constraints. A possible solution to this is outsourcing. Why? Listen in as these two discuss the momentum in the accounting industry that will have an impact on potentially creating a necessity for outsourcing, especially abroad. Please feel free to connect with our presenters: Justin’s LinkedIn Justin’s Twitter Justin’s Instagram Thanks for listening! Intro and Outro Music by Lakey Inspired

The post Should CPAs Outsource Their Work? appeared first on Surgent.

View Details

2019 has seen many changes to the auditing requirements related to employee benefit plans. These changes are due to identified and perceived deficiencies in the audits of these plans in prior years. In this podcast ERISA expert Melissa Critcher discusses these previous quality issues and the changes that will occur in the audits of employee benefit plans when SAS 136 is implemented. Melissa brings her expertise that will allow you to understand these changes as well as deepen your understanding of this critically important area. Thanks for listening! Intro and Outro Music by Lakey Inspired

The post Changes Coming to Employee Benefit Plan Audits: Getting Ready for SAS 136 and Beyond appeared first on Surgent.

The Surge: Recent Episodes

Surgent CPE