Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
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4 October 2015 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com By Gail Perry, CPA, Editor-In-Chief FROM THE EDITOR Handicapping the Accounting Conferences Once a month, the local chapter of the Illinois CPA Society held a dinner event accompanied by a speaker who provided us with one hour of enlight- enment that counted as CPE credit. Te rule in our ofce was, if you are not traveling out of town, you are expected to atend the monthly chapter meeting, socialize with your peers, have a nice meal, and get that hour of CPE. Tese were my frst professional social events and I loved every minute of them. T he s p e a k e r s w e r e l i v e l y a nd engaging and they brought us informa- tion and tools that were helpful on the job. Somet i mes t he spea kers were loca l, ot her t i mes t hey t raveled to Spring f ield just to ta l k to us. I was charmed and entranced and couldn't really believe it was my good fortune to be sharing in this ver y grow n up method of learning. W hen you choose to devote time to attending a conference, I hope you approach it with the enthusiasm I felt and still feel – the opportunity to learn f rom the pros, improve your sk il ls, share in spirited conversations about the accounting profession, sample new products that can make your job easier, and socialize with your colleagues. Tere is still time before the end of the year to pick up some CPE credits and participate in some outstanding conference events. • Start with your state CPA society – visit their website and look for the conference schedule to fnd out what is planned between now and the end of the year. • Consider user conferences relating to the sofware products that you use. Tere is no beter way to stay on top of the latest changes and upgrades and to improve your comfort level with the programs that keep your office humming. There are some major conferences on the horizon – CCH Connections is October 25-28 in Las Vegas, and Tomson Reuters Synergy 2015 is November 4-7 in Orlando. Intuit's second annual QBConnect is November 2-4 in San Jose. Tese conferences are designed to inspire you and help you get the most out of your sofware investment. • The AICPA's Women's Global Leadership Summit is November 12-13 in San Francisco. Te objective of this conference is to focus on leadership, boardroom diversity, and best practices to enhance the skills and potential of women leaders within the fnancial community. • SleeterCon is November 16-19 in Las Vegas. Te Sleeter Group's annual Accounting Solutions Conference brings together accounting profes- sionals, software consultants, and technology vendors from all sectors to learn and share ideas and concepts. • CPA Practice Advisor 's ver y own E n s u r i n g S u c c e s s o c c u r s o n December 3, and you don't have to travel to atend. Learn from nation- ally-known speakers in an interactive discussion environment from the comfort of your home or ofce. • Te AICPA presents its Digital CPA Conference on December 7-9 in Las Vegas. Tis conference focuses on innovation and helping you take the next steps to improving your practice. As you can see, there's no excuse for not polishing of f your annua l CPE requirement in style this year, there are plenty of opportunities to learn – locally, at a fun conference venue, or even f rom your desktop. Go to the con ference websites, e x a m i ne t he oferings, check your schedule, and reignite your passion for what you do and how you do it. — Gail Perry, Editor-in-Chief Follow me on Twiter at @gaperry GPerry@CPA PracticeAdvisor.com I can still remember the frst CPE event that I atended. It was in Springfeld, Illinois, and I was working at Deloite's Springfeld office before transferring to the firm's Chicago tax department. Springfeld is in downstate Illinois (actually anything south of the Chicago area is considered downstate, just as anything outside of New York City is considered upstate New York), and the pace is a bit slower there. 800-547-7377 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com The opinions given by contributing authors are their own and are not the opinions of our staff. All trademarks used are the property of their respective owner. ———————————————————————————————————————————— Practice Advisor, (ISSN #2160-8725 (print), ISSN #2160-8733 (digital); USPS #017-576) is published six times a year (February, April, June/July, August, October and December) by SouthComm Business Media, Inc., incorporating two editions known as CPA Practice Advisor and NSA Practice Advisor, 1233 Janesville Avenue, Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin 53538. Periodicals postage paid at Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 and at additional mailing offces. Printed in the U.S.A. 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Wiley SOUTHCOM PUBLISHING, LLC CEO: Chris Ferrell CFO: Ed Tearman COO: Blair Johnson V P, Technology: Eric Kammerzelt SOUTHCOMM BUSINESS MEDIA Executive Vice President: Gloria Cosby Vice President of Production Operations: Curt Pordes Director of Digital Business Development: Lester Craft VOLUME 25, NUMBER 8 Article reprints — Brett Petillo Wright's Media 877-652-5295, ext. 118 bpetillo@wrightsmedia.com THERE IS STILL TIME BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR TO PICK UP SOME CPE CREDITS AND PARTICIPATE IN SOME OUTSTANDING CONFERENCE EVENTS.