It may sound strange, but if you’re an accounting professional looking to switch employers, you’ll find sound advice for making the shift in the old Girl Scouts campfire song, “Make New Friends.” “Make new friends, but keep the old,” the lyrics tell us. “One is silver, the other is gold.” For our purposes, take this to mean that even as you make plans to sail off into the sunset with a new firm or company, you shouldn’t overlook the needs of your current employer. 

As an adjunct professor, I consider it my good fortune to be in regular contact with the next generation of CPAs because it has taught me a valuable lesson: Sharing experiences and transferring knowledge can be a two-way street. Though we veteran professionals have accumulated expertise to share with aspiring and younger CPAs, we can also learn a few tricks from them as well. 

Scott M. Adair was elected as the NYSSCPA’s 2014–2015 president on May 15 during the Society’s Annual Election Meeting & Dinner, where he vowed to revise the organization’s strategic plan, help steer the conversation on non-CPA firm ownership and prioritize efforts to develop young CPAs. 

Teddy Easley, a CPA, was contacted by one of his larger tax clients, Bill Hugo, who said that in order to qualify for a mortgage refinance, he would need Easley to write a letter verifying that Hugo was self-employed, his business was financially sound and he was creditworthy. 

Jules B. Kroll, widely considered to be the father of modern corporate investigations, said that today’s businesses need to work smarter, not harder, when it comes to detecting and preventing fraud, and that simply throwing money at a crisis isn’t the most efficient use of time and resources. He made the remarks as the keynote speaker at the Foundation for Accounting Education’s 2014 Anti-Fraud Conference on May 21.