January 2008 | Fresno Chapter Bulletin

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CHAPTER EVENTS

Community Awareness Dinner

Come learn about the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley, a public-private partnership created by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to develop and implement a long-rang plan to improve the quality of life for San Joaquin Valley residents, and provide input on economic development in the region.
Date: Thursday, Jan. 24.
Time: 5:30–9 p.m.
Location: Torninos Banquets; Fresno
Cost: $28/members; $28/nonmembers
RSVP: Online

Litigation Mechanics of Tracing

Learn more about the various methods of tracing and applicable case law.
Speaker: Donald A. Glenn, CPA/ABV CVACFE
Date: Thursday, Jan. 31
Time: 1–4 p.m.
Location: M Green & Company LLP; Tulare
CPE: 3 hours
Cost: $30/members; $60/nonmembers
RSVP: Online
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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Impacting the Future

By Adrienne Cantrell, CPA

As we greet 2008 and another busy season, it is hard to believe how quickly 2007 went by. Our chapter has enjoyed a very active and successful period featuring many achievements to celebrate. Our annual events have raised a great deal of money for our scholarship fund and our board has worked hard to offer value to our membership and the accounting community.
   I am especially proud of a particular 2007 achievement. Following the implementation of our chapter's Promising Accountant Junior College Scholarship, our Scholarship Committee found that there was a gap in the eligible student population that needed to be addressed. Our original Junior College Scholarship policy was designed to assist junior college students who intend to transfer to a four-year university to complete their accounting degrees.
   As applications were submitted, we received several inquiries from students who were going to transfer in the year of our Junior College Scholarship awards. As our parameters required the student be continuing in junior college the next semester, these transferring students were no longer eligible for the awards.
   In response, our committee developed and the board approved a specific award for implementation next spring: the CalCPA Fresno Chapter University Transfer Scholarship.
   The requirements will be much the same as the award for continuing junior college students, but applicants will be those who are actually transferring to either Fresno State or Fresno Pacific University in the fall of the year of the award.
   By adding to our award options, we hope to embrace a wider group of students who can benefit from our financial and moral support of their career goals. Our committee and board are excited about this new opportunity to positively impact those who will join our profession.
   Well, it sounds like I’m writing as if our fiscal year is done. Quite the contrary! Even though our busy season is right around the corner, we do have one more event to talk about: our Community Awareness Event Jan. 24. The guest speaker will be Ashley Swearengin of the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley, a public-private partnership was created by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to develop and implement a long-range plan to improve the quality of life for San Joaquin Valley residents.
   Our valley faces tremendous opportunity as the largest agricultural production region in the world and a growing diverse socio-economic region.
   Swearengin, who is also director of community and economic development for Fresno State University, will discuss opportunities and challenges in meeting the valley’s needs.
   Please take this opportunity to hear her speak and become engaged in the ongoing development of our community.
   In closing, I sincerely wish each of you a new year filled with good fortune and health.
—Adrienne Cantrell, CPA
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CHAPTER NEWS

New Members

On behalf of the Fresno Chapter’s officers, directors and members, we extend our warmest of welcomes to our new members: Crystal Cota, Sam Cox-Pinkley, Jessica Hernandez... [see all new members]

Past President’s Message: Connections

By Kendall K. Wheeler, 1998–99 chapter president

I'm trying to think about how long it was that I first got involved with CalCPA. I think it was around 1992 when I received a call from Don Kanasaki (Fresno Chapter president at that time) to participate in a session made up of young CPAs and CPAs-to-be where they wanted to get our input on what CalCPA could do for us.
   From there, there was no turning back. Kevin Green (former Fresno Chapter president) called me a few years later to see if I wanted to re-launch the chapter’s Technology Committee. Of course, I jumped at the chance to do anything with computers and was committee chair for a few years.
   During my tenure as committee chair, I attended the CalCPA Technology Committee meetings and was asked by David Cieslak to chair that committee for the next few years, which I gladly accepted. At about the same time I took over that position, Doyle Daniel (former Fresno chapter president) asked me if I wanted to be on the Fresno Chapter board. Sheesh, I thought. What was I getting myself into? Well, you guessed it, I said OK.
   I don't remember the exact circumstances, but about three months into my board duties, there was an opening for chapter vice president. Jim Braun (former Fresno Chapter president) asked me if I would like to take over that position. Now I know it's getting really old, but I said, “Sure.”
   A year later, I took over as chapter president and worked with some wonderful people, including Tina Wyneken, Natalie Lay, Denise Patterson, Robert Powers and many others.
   I tell you this history to let you know that it took the people I mentioned above, and others, to help me get involved with CalCPA. And now, these people are more than just acquaintances. Many of them are life-long friends.
   What is life like after being Fresno Chapter president? Well, I spent three years serving on AICPA Council, which was an interesting time. The last few years, I've taken a couple of weeks away each year from the office to travel around the country to teach other accountants about QuickBooks and Lacerte. Indeed, as I write this, I’m on a plane traveling from Baltimore to St. Louis teaching said Lacerte courses.
   I also have been teaching quite a few webinars for QuickBooks Payroll, as I seem to have bubbled to the top as somewhat of an expert in that area. Go figure.
   For the past year, I have been managing partner of Moore Grider & Company, a role I like more and more. I remain heavily involved with technology, as that will always be the love of my professional life, and still setting up and supporting clients on QuickBooks accounting software.
   Just the other day, someone asked me if I was doing what I liked to do. I told them that I knew I wanted to be a CPA since the age of 13 and that I was doing almost exactly what I thought I would be doing even at that young of an age.
   When I got involved with CalCPA, my wife and I had been married only about four years and had no children. This coming year, my wife and I will be celebrating our 20th anniversary. We have one daughter, age 13, who has no desire to become a CPA (where did I go wrong?). I turned 40 last year and I think I'm going to need bifocals within the next year. I used to be able to drink a double espresso at 11 p.m. and drop off to sleep five minutes later. Not any more.
   Things have changed, as they do for all of us as we grow older, but one thing doesn't change: recognizing those who have helped to shape our professional careers, such as those I mentioned above.
   OK, another thing that hasn't changed: at age 13, I loved playing video games on my Atari 2600. And at age 41, I still love playing video games on my PlayStation 3!
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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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