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2020 General Election Information and Voter Resources

By Amy Pitter posted 6 days ago
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With one deadline past us, there are a couple of others coming up that I wanted to remind you of. First and most important, it’s time to vote! Early voting in Massachusetts starts tomorrow and is available by mail and in person to all registered voters. No excuse is required in our state to take part in early voting.    You can get all the info you need on early voting in your city or town here . Of course, regular election day is Tuesday, November 3; all the general information you need can be found here .    And I want to recommend another resource to you. I personally got somewhat confused by all the heavy advertising on Question 1, Expanding the Right ...
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Volunteer Opportunities Available

By Amy Pitter posted 19 days ago
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We know our members receive a lot of personal satisfaction from giving back to your communities, and the MSCPA works hard to support your efforts. Throughout the year, we have numerous ways you can get involved and share your expertise with your peers, students and the public. One way you can give back this fall is by volunteering at our student member webinars! We are looking for members to share their stories with the next generation of CPAs, providing a great way for you to give back to future accountants as well as to highlight your firm or organization. We are keenly aware that this year has been a tough road for many students, and this is just one ...
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2020 New England Management of an Accounting Practice (MAP) Virtual Conference

By Amy Pitter posted 26 days ago
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I’m excited to announce that registration is now open for the  2020 New England Management of an Accounting Practice (MAP) Virtual Conference !   You’ll still get the same quality learning and networking you have enjoyed at MAP over the past several years in a virtual environment, including roundtables, one-on-one time with solution providers and lots of fun (and tasty) surprises.   This year’s four-day conference was developed by firm leaders and is the perfect opportunity to learn from the experts and network with your peers. Managing partners and other firm leaders will examine effective strategies to lead staff in the “new normal,” identify opportunities ...
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A Few Important Reminders

By Amy Pitter posted 09-25-2020
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It seems we are all facing one deadline after another, but please don’t forget that next Wednesday, September 30 , is the deadline for even-year licensees to fulfill your CPE requirements and renew your license with the Board of Public Accountancy. You can access the online renewal portal here . Thanks go to our government affairs team of Zach Donah and Larry Liuzzo, who successfully advocated on your behalf for this deadline extension because of COVID-19. Kudos to them! Don’t forget that you can use the CPE Tracker — free for all members — on our website to check your CPE credits now and prepare to finalize your requirements. When ready, you can ...
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Webinar Recordings: CPA Corner Series

By Hannah Naranjo posted 09-22-2020
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CPA Corner is a webinar series for students to meet MSCPA members, learn new skills and have their questions answered. We will be exploring different topics each month, all with the goal of increasing your knowledge and understanding of the accounting profession and preparing you for success in your future career as a CPA! Recordings of each series are included below: Overcoming the Top Four CPA Exam Obstacles (9/21):  During this webinar, students heard from UWorld Roger CPA Review on how to overcome the top four CPA Exam obstacles and how to save hours of study time. To listen to the webinar, click here . Young Professional Q&A Session (8/18): ...
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Support College Students during the Pandemic

By Amy Pitter posted 09-18-2020
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If you are a parent, grandparent, student or teacher, you know that this academic year comes complete with confusion, disruption and plenty of other changes. The only thing that hasn’t changed is that college is still expensive and the cost can be a barrier to many students who aspire to a career in accounting. Our Educational Foundation offers students support to make it easier for them to stay in school, compete their degrees and join the profession. We do this entirely through the generosity of our members. Firms of all sizes provide the bulk of scholarship money with sponsorships ranging from $500 from small firms to $10,000 from some of our global ...
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Webinar Recording: Career Fair Prep

By Hannah Naranjo posted 09-18-2020
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On September 8, students attended our Career Fair Prep Webinar to learn how to perfect their first impression, pitch and resume to impress employers in a virtual setting, find out what to expect from the CPA Exam and learn how to get the most out of their MSCPA student membership! To listen to the webinar recording, click here .
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Virtual Events Coming to You This Fall

By Amy Pitter posted 09-11-2020
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This time next week, one of the toughest deadlines in accounting’s history will finally be behind us — just in time for the Society to kick off our fall CPE and event season. We have spent the past few months figuring out how to offer not only the highest quality education, but also opportunities for the personal and professional growth you have come to expect from us in a virtual environment. The team will not let me tell you every surprise that we have in store, but I can guarantee some great ones — and some will be tasty! Our not-to-be-missed virtual events this fall are our CPAs in Business Summit , Real Estate Conference , New England Practice Management ...
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Virtual Mock CPA Exam Series

By Hannah Naranjo posted 09-09-2020
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We invite you to participate in a series of virtual mock CPA Exams hosted by the Massachusetts Society of CPAs and Surgent CPA Review! For many candidates, taking the CPA Exam can be one of the biggest obstacles to overcome when transitioning into the profession. Too often candidates are not sure if they are truly prepared to sit for each section.  In order to help provide more transparency into Exam-readiness, the MSCPA and Surgent have partnered and combined resources to offer a series of FREE simulated CPA Exam sections of your choice.  The goal is to simulate the format of taking the CPA Exam, using actual multiple-choice questions and simulations ...
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REMINDER: CPE Reporting Deadline 9/30

By Amy Pitter posted 09-04-2020
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This summer has been one for the books, and it’s understandable that many of you have not been able to focus on meeting your CPE requirements for renewal. But September 30 will be here before you know it — that’s the deadline for even-year licensees to fulfill your CPE requirements and renew your license with the Board of Public Accountancy.   The MSCPA successfully advocated on your behalf for this deadline extension because of COVID-19. Then, we expanded our library of CPE offerings for you to take full advantage of the extra time. But don’t wait until September 30 to submit your information! Use the CPE Tracker —free for all members—on our website to ...
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Compensation and Benefits Survey for Public Accounting Firms

By Amy Pitter posted 08-28-2020
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I’m excited to announce this week that we have launched a compensation and benefits survey for public accounting firms in the state. We know how beneficial the results will be to you, as we document current average pay levels and benefits offered in Massachusetts. The survey went out this week to managing partners, HR staff and firm administrators, so please check your inbox and email Kara Kieran , MSCPA senior director of member engagement, if your firm did not receive the email. To ensure that we can get you a timely report, please complete your survey by Friday, September 18. Our goal is to receive a large sample from firms of all sizes. Each participant ...
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Webinar Recording: Maximize Your Membership

By Hannah Naranjo posted 08-26-2020
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In this webinar, students learned how to engage with the MSCPA, who we are and what we do and the benefits and resources we have to offer. They also heard an overview of our events, scholarships, networking opportunities and had the chance to ask questions. To listen to the recording of the webinar, click here
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2020 Managing Partner Elite and DE&I Survey

By Amy Pitter posted 08-21-2020
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One of my favorite things to do in Friday@Five is to recognize when one of our members has done something special. Today, I have the pleasure of recognizing two of our members who have done something extraordinary. MSCPA Board officer John Geraci, CPA, managing partner at LGA, LLP , and MSCPA past Chair Carla McCall, CPA, CGMA, managing partner at AAFCPAs , have each been named to the coveted list of the 2020 Managing Partner Elite by Accounting Today . The MP Elite are chosen for their efforts and success in achieving sustainable firm growth, strategic planning, diversity and inclusion, cultivating a strong culture and innovation in technology and processes. ...
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The CPA Evolution

By Amy Pitter posted 08-14-2020
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Technology is changing the way CPAs do business – and the way their clients and employers do business. As a result, there are new marketplace demands that present opportunities for the CPA profession.  As the skills needed to perform core services are changing, hiring practices are changing as well. In fact, since 2014, firm hiring of accounting graduates is down 29%, while overall hiring has remained flat. This is because firms are looking elsewhere for the systems and analytics knowledge they need in practice.   For these reasons, NASBA and the AICPA created CPA Evolution. The goal is to evolve how CPA licensure works to better reflect the skills ...
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Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) Survey

By Amy Pitter posted 08-07-2020
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There’s no denying the last few months have been full of change. Throughout this time, we’ve worked with members to help them navigate the road ahead, and to be successful, one thing has remained constant: the need for increased diversity in the accounting profession. Research from McKinsey shows that teams with more diversity outperform less diverse teams, and they’re also more profitable. While leaders understand the business case, achieving diversity continues to be a challenge in our profession. Minorities are underrepresented across the industry, and the gap widens as careers progress from college enrollments to C-suite or partnership roles.   A ...
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How to Stay Motivated to Study for the CPA Exam During Summer

By Hannah Naranjo posted 08-04-2020
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Summer can prove to be a difficult time to stay focused and study for the CPA Exam. Between navigating the world during a pandemic and trying to find some time to have fun this summer, you may find yourself falling behind on your study goals. But remember: you’ll never get this time back to focus on obtaining licensure. So here are our top tips on how to stay motivated to study for the CPA Exam this summer:  https://accounting.uworld.com/blog/cpa-review/how-stay-motivated-study-cpa-exam-during-summer/
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MSCPA's 2020 Women to Watch Awards

By Amy Pitter posted 07-31-2020
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I’m thrilled to announce the winners of the MSCPA’s 2020 Women to Watch Awards ! The awards recognize outstanding women in the accounting profession and are given in two categories: Emerging Leaders (fewer than 15 years in the profession) and Experienced Leaders (15 or more years in the profession). There were many exceptional nominees this year, making it a very difficult decision for our judging panel. The winners were selected based on their contributions to the profession, their firms/companies and within their communities.  Congratulations to these exceptional women!    Emerging Leaders  Cheryl Cadle, CPA, MBA, senior manager, CBIZ & ...
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New Learning and Networking Opportunities

By Amy Pitter posted 07-24-2020
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With technology advancements and the COVID-19 pandemic, the way CPA firms are operating today – and will work in the future – is changing at a rapid pace. For firm leaders, it can be hard to keep up with everything you need to do, and this is especially true at small firms. I’m happy to share some ways that we can help! Our new Small Firms Speaker Series will launch in August and features top thought leaders who will cover important topics firms need to know to succeed in today’s climate, including HR, strategy, cybersecurity, pricing and technology. We understand how busy you are, so we’ve divided the series into five separate sessions – you can attend ...
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MSCPA Leads Calls for Federal Relief

By Amy Pitter posted 07-17-2020
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Congratulations to our public accounting members on finishing a long, unusual and stressful tax season! I hope you can enjoy some well-earned rest and relaxation. While many of you were heads down, the Society has been hard at work advocating on your behalf. I’m excited to update you on a couple of initiatives we have been working on these last few weeks. As you know, Massachusetts faces a $6 billion budget shortfall spanning fiscal years 2020 to 2022 with no promise of federal funding to help close that gap. Leading a coalition of business community partners, the Society compiled a list of business tax principles that encourages legislators to ensure any ...
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New Member Benefit: CPAS: Caregiver Parent Alliance Support Group

By Amy Pitter posted 07-10-2020
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For many of us, the challenge of working from home during the pandemic isn’t technology; it’s dealing with all our new co-workers – many of whom need to be homeschooled, fed, entertained and prevented from destroying the house. This adds new difficulties and stress, but the MSCPA has your back as we navigate this new frontier. We are launching a new series of one-hour, virtual roundtable discussions called CPAS: Caregiver Parent Alliance Support Group , giving a safe place for members to connect with fellow caregivers and parents as we begin to think about what the fall will look like balancing the demands of home and work.    Our first meetings are scheduled ...
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