January 2008 | Central Coast Chapter Bulletin

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CHAPTER EVENTS

Human Resource Update

Speaker: Susan Waag, J.D., Waag and Co.
Date: Tuesday, Jan. 15
Time: 4:30–7 p.m.
Location: Steamers Restaurant; 1601 Price St.; Pismo Beach
Cost: $35/member; $40/nonmember; $5/student member
CPE: 2 hours
RSVP: Online
Sponsored by CharityDeduction.com

 

SAVE THE DATE

CPA Day at the Capitol

Date: Tuesday, May 13
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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Ringing in 2008!

By S. Dana Senes, CPA

OK, fess up. What's your new year’s resolution? My plan is to continue with my fitness regime throughout tax season and get a few more pounds off before summer vacation by going to the gym on my lunch breaks and walking with friends and co-workers in the downtown area. I think I'll also continue bringing those healthy lunches and encourage those around me to take better care of themselves during this stressful time of year. It’s amazing how much better you feel when you can walk away from all the paperwork and clear your mind, even if for just a short walk around the block. Don't just take my word for it. Try it!
   Our board would like to thank our members for supporting our scholarship event at the December Tax Seminar. The full ocean view was spectacular and the speakers did not disappoint.
   Thank you also to our Nominations Committee for pulling together our slate of officers and board of directors candidates for approval by our membership at the January meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 15. The night will include dinner and a presentation titled Human Resource Update by local labor attorney Susan Waag. Bring your questions and your staff and come meet CalCPA Chair Teresa Mason, as well. It will be a good way to start a great year.
   Don't forget Cal Poly's VITA program and the EOC are looking for volunteers to help assist in its tax programs. Please consider any time you might be able to contribute to a worthy cause and continue to give back to our community and local university. Look for local contact information below.
   Please also mark you calendars for Tuesday, May 13, for CPA Day at the Capitol. Our profession needs your input this year more than ever, and the chapter needs your voice. We continue to be under-represented here on the Central Coast and we must change that. We are considering this as a van/bus event and want your feedback. More details will follow, but please keep this day open—and we promise to make it fun! Also, let us know if you have some good ideas to make this work.
   Happy New Year Central Coast Chapter! It’s going to be a great year.
—S. Dana Senes, CPA
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CHAPTER NEWS

New Members

On behalf of the Central Coast Chapter’s officers, directors and members, we extend our warmest of welcomes to our new members: Katherine Keltner, Aletha Silverstein, Amy Watkins... [see all new members]

2008–09 Slate of Officers

Please come and vote for the chapter’s slate of officers at the Jan. 15 chapter meeting. We are happy to announce that many of our board members are on the slate for a second term, and we welcome them! The slate is as follows:

President: Rusty Roy, Roy & O’Connor, CPAs
Vice President: Kevin Jackson, CygNet Software
Secretary: Tania Arnold, San Luis Obispo Regional Transit Authority
Treasurer: Terri Harris, Lapp Fatch Myers & Gallagher
Past President: Dana Senes, GBP&B Tax and Business Advisors

Directors
(first year of two-year term)
Greg Peters (second term), RRM Design Group
Karan Pohl (second term), Coast National Bank
Brooke Salvini, Salvini Financial Planning
(second year of two-year term)
Sue Cosper, Barbich Longcrier Hooper & King
Phil Hasel, Philip L. Hasel, CPA
Polly Mead, Polly Mead, CPA

Meet Our Board: Polly Mead, Director

Polly Mead joined the chapter’s board in June to “take her turn planning and implementing programs that benefit and support members,” she says.
   Being a board member, she says, allows her to gain a better understanding of CalCPA operations and resources available to members, as well as opportunities to network with other professionals.
   Recruited by past president Debbie Wacker, Mead says she is glad she joined the board, as it has been a rewarding experience—and not too time-consuming.
   Mead says that she has benefited from her CalCPA membership as a sole practitioner because it allows a way for her to connect with other local CPAs and attend some great monthly education.
   Family is the focus of Mead’s spare time. She has two sons “who are growing up too fast,” she says. Her oldest is at UC Davis and her younger son is a high school sophomore. Mead attends almost all of her younger son’s sporting events, even during tax season, and enjoys reading novels and walking on a warm day with her dog, Bella.
   When not buried under a stack of technical and industry literature, you might find her escaping in the early afternoon for a jaunt down the farm lane.
   Before becoming a CPA, Mead worked in banking, the restaurant business and bookkeeping and eventually went back to school in her late 20s to pursue a business degree at Cal Poly. Since becoming a CPA, she has spent most of her time in public accounting.
   Mead’s practice is based in San Luis Obispo and she specializes in individual and small-business tax and advisory services, though she is interested in estates and trusts. She also teaches in the accounting department at Cal Poly. You can reach her at (805) 541-5599 or by e-mail.

Volunteer for VITA

There are two opportunities to volunteer for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance this year in our county. Both programs serve low- to moderate-income people who cannot prepare their own taxes. Both programs are 100 percent volunteer-driven. Can you volunteer a Saturday or two?
   The Cal Poly program, which uses Cal Poly students trained in tax preparation to prepare the returns and volunteers like you to review them, is going strong. The program will run Saturdays in February and March.
   For more information or to volunteer as a reviewer with the Cal Poly program, contact Debbie Wacker.
   The Economic Opportunity Commission also began a VITA program last year in the North County and will have locations this year in San Luis Obispo, Oceano and Paso Robles.
   All locations will be open Saturdays in February and March. For more information or to volunteer as a preparer or reviewer, contact Carol Fleury.
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CalCPA NEWS

Find a CPA: Update Your Profile and Make Yourself Known

Have you moved recently? Changed contact information? Then be sure to update your records online. And while you’re there, take advantage of the opportunity to increase your visibility and show your expertise to the world by listing or updating your information in Find a CPA—CalCPA’s exclusive database of California financial experts.
   Find a CPA receives thousands of views each month, making it one of CalCPA.org’s most visited web pages.
   Don’t be left out. Update your profile today.

CalCPA Member Discounts on CCH Tax Guidebooks

CalCPA members can order CCH’s U.S. Master Tax Guide 2008 and the Guidebook to California Taxes 2008 at significantly discounted rates:

2008 U.S. Master Tax Guide: $41/members; $61/nonmembers.

2008 Guidebook to California Taxes (Expected ship date, late-January 2008): $39/members; $59/nonmembers.

Order today.
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RESOURCES:

Central Coast Chapter Leadership