Young CPA Conference
Fifth Annual Event Draws Crowd from Around the State

By Ashira King, Recruitment Specialist

The New York State Society of CPAs’ Northeast Chapter last month hosted the Society’s Fifth Annual Young CPA forum, in Albany.

The two-day conference, on Aug. 15 and 16, focused on strategies to succeed in the profession. The conference offered presentations on the future of the profession, public speaking and dealing with performance evaluations.

“The goal of this year’s forum is to educate young CPAs on the nontechnical aspects of succeeding in their profession,” said Kevin O’Leary, the chair of the conference and of the Northeast Young CPAs Committee, which sponsored the event. “We do feel we have accomplished this goal.”

About 100 CPAs attended the conference, with most, if not all, coming from outside the Albany area, O’Leary said. Chapters around the state take turns hosting the conference, which in the past has been described as an ideal way for young CPAs to fine-tune valuable professional skills.

This year’s conference included a presentation by Kevin McCoy, managing partner at Marvin & Company, who spoke about how to increase your personal value by bringing in and retaining business for a firm.

McCoy spoke on the importance for young professionals of taking every opportunity afforded them to network. McCoy gave realistic examples of how to accomplish this, such as by participating in professional organizations, associations and extracurricular activities. Joining a network of people with like-minded goals, whether in business or not, is important because through these affiliations new business relationships are often born.

Speakers also discussed the genesis of crime when internal procedures and audits break down; how to build relationships with clients and develop a practice; and developing effective leadership skills.

O’Leary said it was refreshing to see that the conference had attracted many participants from outside his area. But he added that he would like to see an effort in future conferences to diversify the audience.

“The conference this year is similar to those in the past, and we are pleased with the attendance,” he said.

“However,” he said, “for next year a real focus will be toward diversifying the target audience” to represent different locales, cultures and ethnicities that can be found within the Society.

The conference was held at the Desmond Hotel and Conference Center in Albany.