10^th Annual Meeting

Program Agenda

June 5-8, 2003

Hilton Charleston Harbor Resort

Charleston, South Carolina

Thursday, June 5
8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.	Members’ Golf Outing	Patriots Point Golf Links
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.	Welcoming Reception	Sunrise Terrace
Friday, June 6
8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.	Continental Breakfast	Atlantic Ballroom
8:20 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.	Welcome and Introduction Cornell K. Rudov, President CPASNET.COM Princeton, New Jersey
8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.	State of the Profession Keynote Address Blessed or cursed to live in interesting times? Find out a journalist’s viewpoint who has been covering the profession for over a decade. What does it mean to be the “most trusted advisor” and is that reputation being capitalized upon, trampled upon and/or protected? Howard W. Wolosky, J.D., L.L.M. Associate Publisher / Executive Editor Practical Accountant New York, New York
9:30 a.m. – 4:15 p.m.	Benchmarking, Valuing and Exit Strategies MAP Surveys: You can’t live with them and you can’t live without them. Benchmarks are a useful tool for any business, not just CPA firms. Yet, how should a CPA firm use these statistics? If your firm’s statistics meet the averages in a MAP survey, what does this mean? How can you use these benchmarks to properly manage your firm? Which statistics correlate the strongest with firm profitability and which ones are overrated or inconclusive? Marc Rosenberg, a self-styled “scientist” of MAP statistics, will address these issues and more during his presentation. Rosenberg conducts an annual survey of MAP statistics that he believes is the most relevant survey in the industry because it is not diluted by very small firms and solos, as is the case with all other national surveys. He will also discuss some statistics that don’t often appear in MAP surveys. Exit Strategies There is a crisis today at CPA firms in the partner succession area due to the large segment of partners over 50 years of age. Over the next 5-10 years, billions of dollars will become payable to retiring partners under the terms of their largely unfunded retirement/buy-out plans. Can these firms afford it? Do the younger partners have the ability to keep the firms running to make these payments? Do the older partners have faith in their younger partners’ ability to keep the firm running and write their retirement checks? Attendees will learn techniques used by firms to ensure that younger partners will be able to take the place of the firm’s retiring partners. Here’s your chance to find out the various systems used by firms to make retirement payments to their partners. Learn the pros and cons of each system and which approach best suits your firm. Valuing a CPA Firm The environment in the CPA world of today can be described as “consolidation fizzle and merger sizzle.” Larger firms are aggressively pursuing smaller ones. Smaller firms are courting larger firms, often with an attractive field to choose from. What’s going on? What’s triggering this merger-mania? Regardless of how the deal is structured and what the motivation is, eventually a value must be put on every firm. What are the typical terms of a firm sale? What constitutes value? How is the valuation handled in mergers vs. acquisitions? Participants will get answers to all these questions. They will learn what constitutes value: Clients? Profits? Personnel? All of the above? Rosenberg will share with the group some nuances in firm valuations that many may not be aware of. Marc Rosenberg , CPA The Rosenberg Associates, Ltd. Wilmette, Illinois
10:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.	Refreshment Break
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.	Lunch	Sunrise Terrace
3:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.	Refreshment Break
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.	Dinner Reception: Celebrating 10^th Anniversary Hog Island Buffet A Genuine Low Country Get Together	Rockfish Deck
Saturday, June 7
8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.	Continental Breakfast	Atlantic Ballroom
9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.	Adding Real Value ACCPAC CFO^TM is a powerful financial diagnostic tool that takes the guesswork out of your clients’ business planning process. It allows you to use sophisticated goal seeking and “what-if” style business analysis to identify and show your clients the impact of business decisions—in advance. Designed for small to medium-sized clients, ACCPAC CFO delivers enterprise-strength financial diagnostics at an entry-level price. Learn more about the powerful financial diagnostic tool that takes the guesswork out of your clients’ business planning process. ¡ “What-if” analysis How would cash flow change if outstanding accounts receivable average was reduced from 70 to 60 days? ¡ “Goal Seeking” on results What strategies can be employed to improve cash flow from ($xxx,xxxx) to break even? ¡ Variance reporting Graphical screen display of the relationship between the P&L and the balance sheet. ¡ Graphical presentations Graphically present key performance measures—allowing instant evaluation of multiple strategies. ¡ Comprehensive reports A full range of useful reports from your financial data. Andre Gien ACCPAC CFO Pleasanton, California
10:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.	Refreshment Break
10:45 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.	Quantum Leap Marketing Based on the award winning “Towards Awesome Client Service” program (TACS) that is sweeping the globe, this session will show you how to gain a truly competitive advantage in your marketplace by deploying low-cost, highly effective marketing strategies that attract new clients. (This will be the first U.S. presentation of this program.) Are you getting the rewards that you truly deserve from your accounting practice? Quantum Leap Marketing is a full day of innovative, creative, profitable, low-cost, take-back-to-the-office-and-use-right-away ideas and tech-niques PROVEN to work. You’ll be shown… ¡ The true paradoxical ironies that cause so much frustration among practitioners today – and how to beat them. ¡ How to raise your game without raising your effort or time spent at the office. ¡ The secret desires of most of your clients, what they want, why they want it and how you can provide it – without it costing you a dime. ¡ How to get your team to raise their game and provide you with substantially better leverage that flows straight to your bottom line. ¡ An in-depth look at how you can provide simply AWESOME client service. ¡ Why providing Awesome Client Service is simply good business. ¡ How to start generating an almost endless stream of quality referrals to your firm. ¡ How to turn the average client into a walking-talking billboard for your firm. ¡ Why most accounting firms’ web sites are simply awful – and what they SHOULD contain if they are to be an effective business-generating tool. ¡ Some new twists on old services that can DOUBLE their profitability for you. ¡ How to use all this, and more, in your strategic planning process. ¡ Making your firm a great place to work for both you and your employees. ¡ Developing your practice into a great acquisition target as part of your exit strategy. Stephen McIntyre-Smith, Ph.D. marketingforaccountants.com Mississauga, Ontario, CANADA
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.	Lunch	Sunrise Terrace
3:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.	Refreshment Break
Sunday, June 8
8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.	Continental Breakfast	Atlantic Ballroom
8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.	Outsourcing Tax Preparation Steve Castillo SurePrep, LLC Newport Beach, California
10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.	Member Show & Tell—Paperless Office Carl Baylin, CPA Weil, Akman, Baylin & Coleman Timonium, Maryland
10:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.	Refreshment Break
10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.	Regional Group Meetings
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.	Lunch	Sunrise Terrace
1:00 p.m.	Adjournment

Level of Knowledge: Advanced | Prerequisite: None | Method of Presentation: Live

Recommended CPE Credit: 18 hours

Professional’s Education Network (t/a CPASNET.COM) is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be addressed to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors, 150 Fourth Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37219-2417. Telephone: 615.880.4200. Web site: www.nasba.org