Profession’s Young Guns Keep Steady Aim on the Future
By Kate Prouty

CPAs would rather be precisely wrong than approximately right,” author of The Firm of the Future Ron Baker said half-jokingly at the Third Annual Young CPA Conference on July 24 in Suffolk County.

Of course, Baker made this generalization in jest and meant to characterize an accounting trait he hopes will soon be left in the past. The speech he gave, “Success Leaves Clues: I Wish I Knew Then What I Know Now,” encouraged the young CPAs in attendance to move their firms to value pricing by totally eliminating time sheets and hourly billing. According to Baker, the adjustment would liberate people by creating much more trust between clients and their accountants. Standards of performance also would increase, Baker said of what he considers the next big development in accounting.

The message, delivered in a lighthearted tone, was a big theme of the day. At lunch, New York State Society of CPAs President Jeff Hoops told a joke about CPAs offering “absolutely accurate, yet absolutely worthless” information. The resounding point from both men was that young CPAs have the opportunity to increase the value that their firms offer clients by focusing less on the minutia and more on the overall picture.

The first day’s speakers—the conference took place on July 25, too—also focused on projecting a model for the future of the industry. Jim Metzler, cofounder of ConvergenceCoaching, LLC, used a Wayne Gretzky analogy to encourage young CPAs to anticipate the future. “You have to skate where the puck is going, not where it is or where it’s been,” he advised.

Metzler also referred to the American Institute of CPAs’ Vision Project (www.cpavision.org). Using data from focus groups comprised of CPAs in firms of all sizes, the Project yielded a consensus on what the profession might look like in 2011. Based on the data, the AICPA is working backwards to guide initiatives that will better advance the profession and protect public interest.

And what better audience is there for pitching the importance of the future than young CPAs? Attendees ranged in age and rank, some have been in the industry for more than a decade and some were just one credit shy of becoming a CPA. Regardless, the general sentiment was that of great potential for the group.

Mark Koziel, NYSSCPA Buffalo Chapter president and member of the Young CPA Committee that coordinated the conference, said he has seen a lot of growth since the event started three years ago in Buffalo. He sees the gatherings as ideal venues for young CPAs to fine-tune valuable professional skills that they can then implement in their firms. Much long-term benefit is to be reaped from the short-term cost of a two-day conference, he said.