Today, we’re talking about the elephant in the room, or what Tom Hood would call the dead moose in the room. That thing that’s stinking up the joint but that nobody wants to do anything about – or, more to the point, nobody knows what to do about it. That dead moose is talent. How do you find it? How do you keep it? How do you set your organization apart from all the others out there so people want to work for you? It’s a HUGE problem, and here’s why in three short words: One point five. That’s ...
Jul 29, 2019•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today’s show is all about innovation – which, let’s face it, it’s not something the accounting and finance profession is known for. We’re all about accounting for what has happened, and history tells us that what will happen is not our problem. Except, here’s the thing: We’re living in a world where we’ll be flattened by what’s in front of us if we don’t take the time to look for it, if we don’t take the time to turn around and look for what futurist Andrew Zolli would call those “weak signals o...
Jul 22, 2019•30 min•Ep 61•Transcript available on Metacast We’re going to talk about your career path today. If you’re new to the profession, and even if you’re not, we’re not going to lie to you – things are going to get weird. It’s just the nature of work today. Things are changing at an exponential pace these days and that means your career is also going to change exponentially – so you have to be ready with new skills, a flexible career path, and the ability to shift on a dime when the time comes. More than ever, we all have to be more nimble, more ...
Jul 01, 2019•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast The accounting and finance profession as we know it seems to be under assault. New technologies, staggering legislation and regulations, demographic shifts that are reshaping the face of workforces — we’re experiencing change and complexity on a level we’ve never seen before. Or is that really true? In a way, when you think about it, none of what we’re experiencing right now is new. All of the thought leaders out there are calling this “the Fourth Industrial Revolution.” Know what that means? Th...
Jun 24, 2019•38 min•Ep 59•Transcript available on Metacast Our guests this week have a challenge for all accounting and finance professionals: start thinking in terms of moonshots. Now, you might be asking yourself, what in the world is a moonshot? It’s a huge, seemingly insurmountable quest that is ultimately inspirational and game-changing in nature. It’s something that , when achieved, changes the boundary between possible and impossible – just like the USA’s attempt to land Apollo 11 on the moon almost exactly 50 years ago. Sherif Hallaba and Travis...
Jun 17, 2019•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our guest this week is Brian Solis, who you’re probably already familiar with if you’re conference nerds like us. He describes himself as a digital analyst, an anthropologist, and a futurist; he has studied the effects of emerging technology on business, marketing, and culture; and he’s written best-selling books like Engage , The End of Business as Usual , and What’s the Future of Business? His latest book is called LifeScale – and it could really be a gamechanger for the accounting and finance...
Jun 10, 2019•43 min•Ep 57•Transcript available on Metacast This week we’re talking about the role of the CFO – a role that is changing, and pretty radically. Thanks to advances in technology and other disruptions, organizations are expecting their CFOs to play an increasingly strategic role; to actually help drive strategy in the organization, rather than just leading their department and crunching numbers. It’s a fairly recent phenomenon, but it’s happening quite quickly, and getting up to speed on that is just the latest challenge that finance chiefs ...
Jun 03, 2019•27 min•Ep 56•Transcript available on Metacast Today’s topic is A.I. Artificial intelligence. You might have heard about it? It’s that thing everyone’s been talking about for the last five years or so. Yeah, the hype is out of this world. But here’s the thing, and there’s really no getting around it: this isn’t something entirely new or groundbreaking. The technology itself is new, but we’ve been through this before. Excel was supposed to kill our profession, remember? Then came the Internet, and Turbotax, and the cloud. And you know what? W...
May 27, 2019•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast A lot of folks talk about this notion of becoming future-ready as if it’s some sort of magic trick. They paint a picture of a future where we need to learn all kinds of new stuff — new skills, new technologies, new strategies, and new business models — in order to out-maneuver the machines and remain relevant. And to some extent, that’s true. We’ve got some serious work to do from here on in. But on the other hand, there is a school of thought — a pretty well-supported and powerful school of tho...
May 20, 2019•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Over the past year, we’ve spent a lot of time talking about how the accounting and finance profession is changing – but we haven’t spent nearly as much time talking about how those who regulate our profession are changing. So, on today’s episode, we sit down with Terri Polley, (outgoing) president and CEO of the Financial Accounting Foundation. The FAF is an independent, not-for-profit, private-sector organization that is responsible for the oversight of the Financial Accounting Standards Board,...
May 13, 2019•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast We’re headed back to Annapolis for this week’s episode, where Maryland’s General Assembly recently put a bow on its 2019 legislative session. It was another busy one, including some CPA-related legislation that will impact accounting and finance professionals, not just here in Maryland but throughout the country. Legislative advocacy, according to our members, is the most important thing that the MACPA does for them, and our president and CEO Tom Hood takes that role very seriously. So, today, w...
May 06, 2019•20 min•Ep 52•Transcript available on Metacast Where are we going to find tomorrow’s leaders? We’ve been doing these podcasts for almost a year now, and as much talking as we’ve done about the future, the missing ingredient in all of those conversations has been leadership. We just haven’t spent much time talking about future leadership, and with 10,000 baby boomers retiring every day, that’s a critical part of becoming future-ready. So this week, we are talking to Emmanuel Gobillot and Katherine Harris, co-authors of Unleash Your Leader: Ho...
Apr 15, 2019•37 min•Ep 51•Transcript available on Metacast If you ask most people — not all, but MOST people — outside of the profession what an accountant does, they’ll probably say “taxes,” or “auditing,” or some variation on the tasks of people who work in public accounting. But they’re missing about half of the profession, of course. You’ve got educators, you’ve got accountants who work for nonprofits and governments, and you have those who work in business and industry, which is arguably the largest segment of the profession – and that’s why, today...
Apr 08, 2019•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast We’ve talked quite a bit in past shows about this notion of “anticipation,” and we’ve talked about this concept as if it’s a skill or competency that you can learn – and it is, but we haven’t spent a lot of time talking about how how you do that. So, how can you become more anticipatory? How can you train yourself to look for future trends and spot the opportunities those trends provide, and then take advantage of those opportunities before your competition does? Joining the show again to help u...
Apr 01, 2019•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today we’re discussing why accounting and finance professionals have a lot to gain from adopting an entrepreneurial mindset. Entrepreneurship isn’t something that many accounting and finance pros have a lot of experience with, but we’re in an era when at least thinking like an entrepreneur can go a long way toward becoming more future-ready. Entrepreneurs just look at the world differently, and adapting an entrepreneur’s mindset might help us evolve a little faster and become just a little more ...
Mar 25, 2019•40 min•Ep 48•Transcript available on Metacast We hope you have your thinking caps on, because today we’re going to be talking about education in this episode – and this is probably the right thing to be talking about for the accounting and finance profession! We talk about skills quite frequently on this show – the skills we’re going to need to remain relevant in a changing and complex world – so it seems appropriate that we spend some time talking about where we’re going to be getting these skills, and who’s gonna be teaching them to us. S...
Mar 18, 2019•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast Everyone talks about the importance of collaboration, but what does it really mean? Working together? Teamwork? Sharing ideas? It’s one of those things that’s hard to define, but we know it when we see it. And because of that, it’s something that everyone defines differently. But here’s the thing – every list of the most crucial future-ready skills for our profession includes collaboration. Every single one. So we have to figure out a definition that everyone can embrace. And here to help us fig...
Mar 11, 2019•37 min•Ep 46•Transcript available on Metacast Just how busy are you? We’re all busy. Some would argue that we, collectively, are busier than ever before – but the reason that’s true isn’t necessarily because we have more work to do than ever. We all make time for the stuff that’s really important and valuable to us. So if we find ourselves really busy with things that aren’t important or valuable, that just means, to paraphrase Ferris Bueller, that our priorities are way out of whack, and we’ve got to do something to get them back in line. ...
Mar 04, 2019•35 min•Ep 45•Transcript available on Metacast We're talking about strategic planning and critical thinking today, or planning strategically and thinking critically, or critical strategy and planning to think – or whatever you want to call it. It's all about looking ahead today; mapping a road to the future and then figuring out how to get there. And here to help us make sense of all this is Jennifer Elder, a thought leader with the Business Learning Institute who works with companies to find creative solutions to their most challenging prob...
Feb 25, 2019•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Are we evolving to meet our clients’ evolving expectations? More and more of our clients don’t want to deal with accounting, finance, or payroll. They want to focus on what they do well and leave all of that other stuff to someone else – and that someone else could be you, if you’re set up to provide it. That’s where this week’s guest comes in. Hitendra Patil is the Director of Customer Success at AccountantsWorld, the author of Accountaneur: The Entrepreneurial Accountant , and one of the 100 m...
Feb 18, 2019•35 min•Ep 43•Transcript available on Metacast We sit down with Brian Feldman, a State Senator who represents District 15 in Maryland. Brian is also a CPA, so he brings a lot of those key business and finance insights directly into Maryland’s Senate Chamber. He’s a great partner of the profession and we’ve worked with him many times on a number of key bills. Even if you don’t live in Maryland, we think it’s important that you take a few minutes and listen in on this conversation, and here’s why: We all know what’s happening in Washington the...
Feb 11, 2019•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast This show is called “Future-Proof,” but when it comes to the future, we’ve been focusing on trends, strategies, visions, resources, regulations, skills, competencies, and business models. Do you know what’s missing from that list? People. And people are probably the most important factor in all of these future-ready conversations – because they’re the ones who are going to make all of that stuff happen. So as we work to make ourselves and our organizations more future-ready, one of our first ste...
Feb 04, 2019•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast Artificial intelligence is one of those technologies that we’ve been talking about for years as a possible disrupter for our profession, as a possible job destroyer, and as a possible opportunity generator. Well, you can officially take the word “possible” out of all of those phrases – A.I. is here, and it’s delivering as advertised. And our guest Samantha Bowling, CPA, CGMA, can attest to that. Samantha is a partner with Garbelman Winslow, where she has put an A.I.-based audit solution to work ...
Jan 21, 2019•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Culture is one of the most important factors contributing to the success of your organization. There are some people who will argue this point, who don’t see any connection between culture and productivity, execution, or profits. There are also people who think if they put a foosball table in the break room and let their employees wear jeans, they’ll create a kick-ass culture – and all of those people are wrong. Culture will determine how engaged your employees are, and judging by recent researc...
Jan 14, 2019•33 min•Ep 39•Transcript available on Metacast January 2019 is a big month for CPAs, in Maryland and throughout the country. The Maryland General Assembly begins its annual session on Jan. 9. Not a single bill has been introduced yet, but it’s already shaping up to be an extraordinarily busy session for those of us who are trying to protect our profession. For CPAs nationwide, of course, tax season is ramping up, and there are a number of issues that are already complicating things for tax practitioners: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, The Suprem...
Jan 07, 2019•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast If the past few years have been all about disruption – and it seems like they have been – then 2019 is already shaping up to be the year of opportunity. We already know what the disruptors are, we know about the potential impacts they’ll have on our profession, and we’ve talked about them to death lately – but not nearly as many people are talking about the opportunities that these disruptions offer us. That changes today. Our guest Mark Koziel is Executive Vice President of firm services for th...
Dec 31, 2018•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast We spend most of our time on this podcast talking about the accounting and finance profession – what the future looks like for those of us who work within this rarified profession and how to help others make sense of their finances, their numbers, or their future. But we’re not the only ones struggling in this area. Well-off and working class, unemployed and entrepreneurial, engaged and disengaged, C-suite and on the dole: everybody is struggling with how to make sense of this changing and compl...
Dec 24, 2018•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today, let’s talk about how fascinating you are. But first, let’s break down what exactly “fascinating” means. It goes back Roman times, when that word meant things like captivation and spellbinding. It was almost perceived as an evil curse back then. Now, fascination is more about how the world sees you. In other words, it’s about knowing yourself – and more importantly, it’s about knowing what others know about you and how you can stand out in a crowded market place, which couldn’t be more imp...
Dec 17, 2018•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast When you think about helping your clients become more future-proof, you’re probably thinking about things like helping them innovate, revamping their business models, taking advantage of new technologies, or finding their next competitive advantage. However, you’re probably not thinking about helping them get their finances in order. I mean, that’s not future-proofing anybody’s business — that’s just doing what we’ve always done, right? And yet our guest this week, Lyle Benson, says doing what w...
Dec 10, 2018•28 min•Ep 34•Transcript available on Metacast How about those midterm elections? Now, some of you might already be thinking, “Don’t even go there. I came here for taxes, not politics!” Well, not to worry, dear listeners. This is indeed a show about taxes. But here’s the thing: taxes and politics are joined at the hip right now, and there’s no getting around it. For the past two years, Republicans have controlled both houses of Congress and the White House. That means it’s been relatively painless getting things like the Tax Cuts and Jobs Ac...
Dec 03, 2018•40 min•Ep 33•Transcript available on Metacast 
