January 2008 | East Bay Chapter Bulletin

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CHAPTER EVENTS

Partners Forum

This will be a big year in Sacramento for CPAs. Hear how future legislative issues will impact you, your employees and those joining the profession. This program is designed for partners, sole practitioners and other CPA executives.
Speakers: Bruce Allen, CalCPA director of government relations, and CalCPA CEO Loretta Doon
Topics: Future Legislative Issues and Future of the Profession and CalCPA
Date: Wednesday, Jan. 30
Time: 11:45 a.m./registration; noon–2 p.m./lunch and program
Location: Scott’s Seafood; Walnut Creek
Cost: By Jan. 18: $25 (after Jan. 18: add $10)
RSVP: (925) 926-0189 or contact chapter program associate Soco Davenport

Honorees Night

Join us for a night of recognition and celebration. Scholarships will be awarded to the best and brightest students at East Bay universities, and an outstanding East Bay Chapter member will be recognized with the Laverne Garcia Award for making contributions to the profession and the community. In a new category this year, the chapter will present its first CPA Executive of the Year award to a member who demonstrates exemplary leadership or community service. Nominations are being accepted.
   Download the form and nominate someone today.
Speaker: Joe Mori, former chair, Dept. of the Accounting and Finance, SJSU
Date: Tuesday, Jan. 22
Time: 6–8:30 p.m.
Location: Hilton Garden Inn; Emeryville
RSVP: Online

New-member Orientation

New members and others interested in learning more about CalCPA and the East Bay Chapter are invited to this gathering prior to Honorees Night. You will also be meeting the movers and shakers who make things happen in the chapter.
Date: Tuesday, Jan. 22
Time: 5:15–6:15 pm
Location: Hilton Garden Inn; Emeryville
Cost: Free
RSVP: Online

Bay Area Regional Education Events

Topic: Federal Taxation of Partnerships & LLCs: Operations and Allocations
Topics: California and federal tax compliance issues involving partnerships, LLCs and LLPs; partner/LLC member loss limits; partnership allocations under IRC Sec. 704(b); forward and reverse allocations involving built-in gain or loss property under IRC Sec.704(c); and allocations of liabilities
Speaker: Gary McBride, JD, LLM, CPA, professor, Cal State East Bay
Date: Friday, Jan. 18
Location: SFSU Downtown Center
RSVP: Online

Topic: Tax, Bankruptcy and Financial Problems: What to Do When Bad Things Happen to Good Clients
Bad financial things can happen to the best of clients. This course explores the tax impact of bankruptcy, divorce, foreclosure, repossession, debt cancellation, and asset protection. Emphasis is given to controlling and eliminating the economic cost of such crisis matters. Methods to anticipate and prevent tax and financial problems will be reviewed and compared. Pre-emptive asset protection, gifting, title and estate planning will be discussed.
Speaker: Arthur Werner, JD
Date: Saturday, Jan. 19
Time: 7:30 a.m./registration; 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m./program
Location: Waterfront Plaza Hotel; Oakland
CPE: 8 hours
Cost: $125/members; $175/nonmembers
RSVP: Online
Thank you to the Education Foundation for donating the classes. Proceeds benefit the Bay Area chapters’ scholarship funds.

Tax Issues in Divorce Mini-Conference

Join the East Bay Chapter Litigation Committee and the Contra Costa County Bar Association at this fourth annual event.
   Topics include property tax deductibility and carry-over value; Sec. 121 clauses; mortgage interest; AMT; domestic partnership; re-characterized child support and more.
Speakers: Beverly Brautigam, Hal Bartholomew, Mary Kay Foss, Leslie Dawson, Hank Levy and Karen Hawkins
Date: Wednesday, Jan. 23
Time: 11:30 a.m./registration; 12:15–5:15 p.m./program
Location: Crowne Plaza Concord; Concord
CPE: 4.5 hours (4 hours MCLE; 4 hours LS/Taxation and Family Law)
Cost: By Jan. 12: $90/conference only; $110/conference and box lunch (after Jan. 12: add $25)
RSVP: Online
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COMMITTEES AND DISCUSSION GROUPS

PFP: Successful Planning with Split-Interest Real Estate Trusts

Speakers: Carol O’Neill, vice president/estate and business Succession planner, Mechanics Bank and Steven Schulman, vice president/senior trust real estate manager, Mechanics Bank
Date: Thursday, Jan. 17
Location: Massimo’s; Walnut Creek
CPE: 1 hour
RSVP: Online

South Bay Discussion Group: Tax Gap

The biggest issue faced by the IRS today is the tax gap, which represents, in dollars, the annual amount of noncompliance with our tax laws. This session will focus on three components of the tax gap: non-filing, underreporting and underpayment.
Topic: Overview of Compliance Strategy and Tax Gap
Speaker: Sheryl Parker, IRS
Date: Wednesday, Jan. 23
Time: Noon–1:30 p.m.
Location: Massimo’s; Fremont
Cost: $35/each session
RSVP: Online

QuickBooks Users Group

Each year Intuit releases a new version of their QuickBooks products. There is plenty of information available from Intuit on the new product, but what do you and your peers really think? What are the exciting new features that make it worth upgrading? What features got all they hype but don’t work as expected? As professionals, how do we advise our clients? The meeting will start with an open Q&A session for any QuickBooks questions.
Topic: 2008 Update
Speaker: Doug Sleeter, The Sleeter Group, Inc.
Date: Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008
Time: 9:30am - 11:30pm (Registration at 9:30am)
Location: Buttercup Grill, Walnut Creek
Cost: By Jan 30; $15 member; $20 non-member. Add $5 thereafter
RSVP: Online
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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Mark Your Calendars

By Rob Anderson, CPA

Happy New Year … and welcome to busy season!
   We closed out 2007 with some strong events, and with a new year upon us, we have several important chapter events this month before busy season hits.
   We had a strong turnout in December for Gary McBride’s discussion on recent tax developments. A highlight of the event was Bob Jones' presentation to Gary of the 2006 Award for Outstanding Course Materials from the California CPA Education Foundation. Gary was co-author of these materials with Tom Daley.
   Gary’s talk was engaging and informative, and it was terrific to see so many new and old (er, experienced) members.
   We also had the third annual Young Emerging Professionals ice skating event in Walnut Creek last month. It was well-attended, despite one minor inconvenience—due to the weather there was no ice skating. Still, everyone enjoyed the networking opportunity at McCovey’s Restaurant.
   The list of upcoming activities include:
   The Bay Area Regional Education series continues Jan. 19, when Arthur Werner discusses What to Do When Bad Things Happen to Good Clients.
   The always popular Tax Issues in Divorce Mini Conference will be held Jan. 23. Sign up early to be assured of a spot.
   We have changed the annual Scholarship Night to Honorees Night this year. This will be held Jan. 22. Our chapter continues to be generous with scholarship awards and we want to take the opportunity to honor those students who have earned their awards.
   We will also award the Laverne Garcia Award to a chapter member in recognition of contributions to our profession and community. And finally, we are establishing a new award: the East Bay CPA Executive of the Year, which will be given to a business leader who is a CPA, has achieved notable professional success and has given back to our community.
   We are excited to have Joe Mori address our chapter during the event. Joe was chair of the accounting department at San Jose State University for 34 years and is a past president of the California CPA Education Foundation. This should be a terrific event and I sincerely hope you will make every effort to attend.
   Our annual Partners Forum lunch will be Jan. 30. We are again pleased to hear from Bruce Allen, CalCPA’s director of government relations. We will also hear from CalCPA CEO Loretta Doon. I am sure both will discuss the important mobility issue that impacts our abilities to practice across state lines.
   Please don’t hesitate to contact me with your comments and suggestions. I can be reached by e-mail or phone at (925) 296-1007.
   Have a terrific new year and busy season.
—Rob Anderson, CPA
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CHAPTER NEWS

New Members

On behalf of the East Bay Chapter’s officers, directors and members, we extend our warmest of welcomes to our new members: Mary Mullins, Clay Selland, Sandra Gilbert... [see all new members]

Member Anniversaries

Congratulations to our members who are celebrating their anniversaries this month.

Nominations Wanted for CPA Executive of the Year

Nominations are being accepted for the chapter’s first CPA Executive of the Year award. Download the nomination form, which contains award criteria. The winner will be announced at Honorees Night Tuesday, Jan. 22.

2008-09 Slate of Leaders

The East Bay Chapter proudly announces its 2008–09 slate of candidates:
President: Michele C. Day
First Vice President/Program Director: Joelyn K. Carr-Fingerle
Second Vice President/Treasurer: G. Scott Haislet
Secretary: Alan L. Olsen
Past President: Robert Y. Anderson

Chapter Directors
(first year of two–year term)
Thomas O. Hatfield, A.J. Major and Susan D. Tulis
(second year of two–year term)
Ching Fong, Lynn P. Gardner, Jamie S. Menasco and M. Weldon Moreland

CalCPA Council
Robert Y. Anderson, Michele C. Day and Joelyn K. Carr-Fingerle
   Please join us at our Honorees Night Jan. 22 to cast your vote.
   We thank the current board members who are serving this year, as well as those who have joined the slate for next year.
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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.
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RESOURCES:

East Bay Chapter Leadership