The changes brought by the Covid pandemic have forced many firms and businesses to retool their operations: support remote staff and clients, find new efficiencies and, for public firms, expand the client base – all while undergoing massive and sometimes daunting changes. For a business that has not automated, those are game-changing challenges. Even for firms or businesses that have some automation, caution may be called for. There are potential risks and the ROI may not be easily identifiable.

Reimagining the business through automation can bring long term benefits in accuracy and efficiency along with increased client engagement. Join us as Avalara shares stories of how they and other businesses and firms are successfully using automation to redefine their business and key points in evaluating the risks. Topics we will cover:

• • Industry trends driving accounting professionals
• • Key areas where technology can help
• • Measuring the potential impact of efficiency and scalability
• • How to take a low-risk approach for steady results
• • Quick wins in automation

Speaker Bios:

Liz Armbruester, SVP, Global Compliance, Operations Liz oversees global compliance operations at Avalara. She brings more than 20 years of leadership experience from a variety of technology sectors including software, media, and services and is known for her strong track record of innovative problem solving, process optimization, and an ability to deliver automation for efficiency and scale.

Liz’s strong commitment to operational excellence and aptitude for partnering cross-functionally helped her drive value in her prior roles with Vubiquity, a provider of content monetization technology, and Zilog, a computing microcontroller manufacturer.

Sona Akmakjian, Sr Director Global Accounting Strategic Partnerships.  Sona is a certified California CPA with 28 years of experience in transnational tax services and automation. Experience includes working for state agency administering sales and use taxes, Big Four accounting firm, tax software company and mid-market consulting firms. Sona has strong skills in areas such as strategic alliances, executive collaboration, M&A due diligence, project and product management with deep industry experience across multiple market segments including a specific focus in the enterprise segment.

Speaker Bio:  

Byron Patrick, VP of Growth & Success.  Byron is known nationally as an industry thought leader and a multi-year recipient of the CPA Practice Advisor’s 40 under 40 awards. Byron has been actively involved on a national level with the American Institute of CPA’s, has earned the Certified Information Technology Professional credential in 2006, is currently a member of AICPA Council, PCPS Executive Committee, and was previously a member of the Information Management and Technology Assurance Executive Committee.

Solidify your status as your clients’ most valuable asset by becoming their most trusted advisor. In this session, we’ll discuss what advisory actually involves, and how you can leverage the technology of today (and tomorrow) to bring the most value to your clients.

Speaker Bios:
 

Tate Henshaw has always been obsessed with problem-solving. It led him to major in mathematics at the University of Georgia, which led him to Polay+Clark and now co-founding Arc Management. Whether it’s helping design a proprietary royalty database, integrating a cloud-based merchandise fulfillment system for a Grammy-Winner, or running a Net Present Value calculation on a contract proposal for a NBA All-Star, he’s yet to come across a problem he can’t solve. He brings this love of efficiency to the cloud accounting landscape via custom-curated ecosystem’s for his clients. This results in additional free time for his passion in music and quality time with his wife and two young daughters.

Michael Soby is the Partner Account Manager for the Mid-Atlantic region at Xero.  Michael graduated from Wake Forest University with a degree in Economics and has been selling cloud software for 5+ years in Denver. He truly believes in the power of making data accessible from anywhere while remaining secure, and also believes this applies to financial data and reporting.  Outside of work, Michael enjoys skiing, golfing, and cycling.  He is extremely excited to be working with Xero Partners and MACPA members to modernize their accounting practice and technology!

Liz Entin, Director of Health Strategies & Solutions at SIG, discusses opportunities for companies and leaders to continue to thrive in a remote environment, making small shifts in focus that can lead to a more productive and connected workforce post-COVID. Liz shares ways to stay connected with your workforce, the effects of remote work on mental health, offers tips for skillful communication and discusses how burnout is increasing in many industries today. Key takeaways of this presentation include ways to show recognition to employees, the importance of empathy in uncertain times, wellness solutions for a virtual workplace, and lastly, how to focus on resiliency to accelerate in a post-COVID world.

Speaker bio:

Liz Entin is the Director of Health Strategies & Solutions at SIG, An Alera Group Company. Liz assists clients in creating meaningful and sustainable wellness solutions for their employees, identifying cost savings potential through wellness strategies, and analyzing population health data. Liz has experience in employee wellness program creation, implementation and management, public health, and reporting & evaluation. She is a Registered & Licensed Dietitian, and started her career providing medical nutrition therapy in both in-patient and out-patient settings. Liz holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutritional Sciences from Penn State University and a Master of Public Health degree from Tulane University. Liz sits on the board for the Maryland Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (MAND) as the Council on Professional Issues Chair. She also holds her Maryland state Life & Health insurance license. Liz lives in Locust Point, Baltimore, MD with her husband, Brian.

At the very beginning of 2020, finance executives were far more likely to rely on stock market indices than readings from Internet-connected thermometers to inform their forecasts. Since then, companies have contended with challenges they have not previously encountered, so traditional approaches to planning and forecasting are no longer sufficient.

We are approaching the end of 2020 with no certainty around how long the economic environment will remain stressed and finance leaders must work to build plans to sustain the business.

We will discuss best practices around liquidity management during this webinar and the need to plan for multiple economic scenarios to see your business through the next 12-18 months.  Also, hear how organizations can utilize Corporate Performance Management (CPM) software to quickly and efficiently facilitate “what-if” planning to sustain their businesses through these trying times.

Learning Objectives:

1. How to address immediate liquidity needs and beyond.
2. How to determine what scenarios to prepare for.
3. Understand what kinds of information finance leaders require from other departments within their companies, as well as from external sources, to model scenarios.
4. How finance leaders can apply the latest technological advances to develop, disseminate, and refine plans enables their companies to persist and adapt amid uncertainty.

Wayne’s Bio:

For more than 25 years, Wayne has been helping organizations solve their product and business growth challenges. Described as an innovative marketer and results-driven business development specialist, Wayne has measurable success spanning multiple industries and channels with a proven track record for increasing awareness, driving engagement, and revenue creation.

CPA firm and client organizations are becoming more digital and connected, whether it is to data, tools, people or even experiences. While a fully digital, dynamic audit solution has not yet arrived, there are digital on-ramps for audit and other financial statement services being adopted today that help support a forward-thinking, digital culture and process for your firm. This session discusses and demonstrates how a solid technology foundation around your audit and assurance service line helps create a positive, productive work environment for you and your clients regardless of physical location.

Speaker Bio:

Brian Siet, CPA, has extensive experience in sales management, strategic marketing, channel relationship management, and consultation for firms within the tax and accounting profession. Brian is a frequent contributor at National Conferences and online platforms in North America through thought leadership speaking engagements around transformation, automation and workflow. ​Brian joined CPA.com in February 2019 as Associate Director, Alliance Management with a primary focus on building long-term value for the organization by providing strategic guidance to the company’s alliance portfolio. In addition, Brian will also be facilitating the Digital Client Advisory Services Roadmap Workshops. Brian has a Bachelor of Science Degree Cum Laude in Business Administration concentration Accounting Administration from Northeastern University in Boston, MA.

Your clients’ lives have never been more stressed. Firms not deploying solutions that smooth out complex processes via modern technology may frustrate and confuse their clients and impact their relationships. As more of your clients work-from-home and require remote services, the need to offer a high end online experience for clients to differentiate your firm and add value to your services, is critical. This webinar will explore how automation is transforming the tax engagement to support remote client relationships and enable collaboration.

From the engagement letter and organizers to collecting e-signatures and invoicing, client touch points in the tax engagement include tedious tasks that are far too time consuming. Time is money – and in today’s chaotic environment, your firm cannot afford to be inefficient. Automation is transforming the tax engagement life cycle! Now you can automate remote client interactions of tax returns, engagement letters, organizers, K-1s, e-signatures and invoicing to collect payment. Client expectations today revolve around convenience, collaboration, safety, and experience. Learn about the SafeSend Returns Suite and how a secure, intuitive, and guided online tax return delivery experience for clients, including 8879 e-signatures, can elevate your firm’s brand image and fortify your relationship.

Speaker Bio:

Andrew Hatfield, CRO, oversees sales and strategic partnerships at SafeSend. He is a recognized industry speaker and enthusiast for emerging technologies that impact tax and accounting firms. For nearly two decades, Andrew has lent his expertise to help create innovative software solutions – each providing exponential efficiency gains for the tax and accounting profession. Andrew is a past 40 Under 40 honoree in the tax and accounting space and an important contributor to the development of SafeSend Returns®️, a multi-year winner of the CPA Practice Advisor’s Technology Innovation Award. He is a technology industry veteran with extensive experience in solving challenges for public accounting firms.

Part of the 2020 Accounting Ecosystem Webcast Series and the CPA Innovation Summit Experience.

The accounting industry is on track to change more in the next 12 months than in the previous 12 years due to COVID-19, with accounting firms accelerating their digital transformation strategies at a rapid pace. Technologies like automation and AI, once considered “nice to haves” are now a necessary part of a firm’s survival toolkit.

Join Vic.ai’s webinar to learn how to incorporate AI-powered automation into your outsourced accounting strategy so your firm can compete and grow in an evolving world.

Speaker Bios:

David Bergstein, CPA, CITP, CGMA is the Chief Innovation Officer at Bergstein CPA. He has also held high-level positions at the Top 3 accounting software providers. Accounting Today listed him as one of their Top 100 Most Influential People twice. He is the Chair of the FICPA’s Technical Committee and is an adjunct professor of accounting at Valencia College in Orlando Florida.

Mike Sapperstein, CPA, CGMA, MSA is a Manager at Rosen, Sapperstein & Friedlander and heads up the firm’s Client Accounting & Advisory Services Department. He specializes in construction among many other industries and has a focus on operational efficiency, strategic planning and growth strategies.

Todd Robinson is Head of Strategic Accounts at Vic.ai and has over 16 years of experience in the accounting industry and accounting technology. Todd empowers accounting firms to pioneer AI and machine learning in this new era of Intelligent Accounting.

Alexandra August is Director of Business Development at Vic.ai. She is a CPA and before joining Vic.ai she was responsible for digital transformation and cloud technology migrations at EY and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

In a world shaken by a global pandemic, economic unrest and societal injustice, CPAs remain one of the only institutions the public can still believe in. CPAs play a pivotal role in the social and economic heartbeat of this nation and it’s, for this reason, imperative we develop anticipation, agility, and adaptability – the future-proof skills that will see you and your clients through the economic storm.

Simply put: it’s about being an indispensable resource in our roles to our organizations, clients, and our communities. This virtual event will equip you with tools and knowledge to hear from experts in the Accounting Ecosystem with the tools including cloud accounting systems, HR, risk management, AI automation (and more!) and leave with practical, action-oriented takeaways to start implementing right away.