Message From the President

By Lauren L. Kincaid, Syracuse Chapter President

I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday season and is ready for the next season: tax season. It will undoubtedly be a little longer than the holidays, but before you know it, it will be April 15. I wish you all a prosperous and quick busy season.

Although November and December are busy times for our members personally, we offered a lot of chapter activities. I hope that you were able to participate in some of these and enjoyed yourselves. The annual tax conference on Nov. 11 had good participation.

Young CPAs Charity Events

Before Thanksgiving, the Young CPAs Committee hosted its annual food drive, which was a huge success. And on Nov. 19, it sponsored the fourth annual networking cocktail party, at an Armory Square restaurant. The event was well attended by CPAs, bankers, attorneys, Syracuse University professors and several financial planners. This annual event is a great opportunity for young professionals in our area to network with each other and hopefully make some important business contacts. And finally, the Young CPAs Committee also sponsored the Elmcrest Children’s Center Holiday Game Drive, from Nov. 29 through Dec. 14, and a holiday party.

The Center houses children with behavioral and emotional problems and children from disintegrating families and unsafe environments. The CPAs collected enough games for all the children to receive one of their own and one for each cottage. Thank you to everyone who participated in this wonderful event. After the event last year, the Elmcrest personnel said the children loved the evening of game playing with our young CPAs and inquired if they would be the lucky recipients again this year. Obviously, our young CPAs have made an important commitment to our community, and we should be very proud of them.

High School Outreach

Due to a mix-up in a mailing by our neighboring Buffalo Chapter, several local high schools contacted the Syracuse Chapter about sending a representative either to their school to talk to some of their business students or to accommodate a field trip for business students at local CPA firms. As a result, Testone, Marshall & Discenza LLP will be coordinating a visit with Pulaski High School in the near future.

On Nov. 29, Firley, Moran, Freer & Eassa CPAs hosted students from Liverpool High School for half a day to give them a sense of what an accounting firm is all about. The firm will host another field trip for students from East Syracuse Minoa High School.

I personally coordinated a request for a Cicero-North Syracuse senior to job shadow a corporate controller for a day. The student is very interested in the field of business and would like to see firsthand what it’s like to be a corporate controller. I will give you an update on this program in the coming months.

So, we would like to thank Buffalo for giving us a boost in this area. We need to get to students at this level to educate them early on about what a career in accounting is all about.

Upcoming Events

As far as upcoming events, there will be an e-filing seminar on Tuesday, Jan. 11, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., at the Sheraton Syracuse University. Members will learn more about all e-file products and services. If you did not receive a registration form in the mail and are interested in attending, please contact David Prusinowski at 315-472-7045 or at dprusinowski@fmfecpa.com for additional information. Finally, watch for the Young CPAs Crunch night coming in February.

Please feel free to contact me with any concerns and/or suggestions you might have for the chapter.

Lauren Kincaid can be reached at 315-472-7045 or at lkincaid@fmfecpa.com.