President Christine Freeland’s June 2019 Message
A Message from the President, June 2019
In my President’s column at the beginning of tax season, my message was plan, schedule, and take charge. Now that tax season is mostly behind us, it is time to review, craft, and implement. Some of the issues we had during tax season were not within our control — who would have thought we would start the season with the government shutdown in the year of the biggest tax change in 35 years? Now that the season is over, have you evaluated what was good and what you might want to change? Some of you are thinking, I don’t want to do that now, I’ll wait until the fall closer to the next season.
I’ll tell you why I think that may not be such a great idea. Right now, everything is fresh in your mind and you can remember your successes and as well as what malfunctioned. Time changes our perspective on things. While your thoughts are still fresh, plan for next year. Maybe you need to hire more employees or different employees. Maybe you didn’t take credit cards and have more open invoices than you would like. Maybe you have a great front office person but with a little more training they could be invaluable. Possibly you or someone you know had a cyberattack of some kind. Many of your younger clients (this assumes you are getting older like me) want to text you but you don’t want to give out your personal cell phone.
Or maybe, you have figured out you need some additional CPE, but you really need to have some fun but don’t know how you can do both. Maybe because you need to figure out how to raise yours fees without losing half your clients.
As the old saying goes, most people don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan. As I stepped into the NSA Presidency this year I knew without a plan, I would definitely have a D- tax season instead of a B+ one. I planned my appointment schedule much more carefully than previous years and I became a much earlier riser than past years. I couldn’t tell you how many 6 and 7 am appointments I had with the NSA office this season. The plan served me well and although there were many unforeseen issues to be dealt with, I had the time, and the plan, to accommodate them.
So, why do I tell you this? Let NSA help you jump start a great next tax season, now, after all that is why we are here, to serve you.
If you are looking for fun and CPE all in one location, please join us in Charlotte for this year’s annual meeting. In addition to great CPE provided by Wolters Kluwer, we are going to a ball game and have evening of games, including our own Bingo version-N-S-A-G-O! This will be a great opportunity to have fun, and get some great CPE. There is even an opportunity to dine with a member of the Board of Governors and learn about the inner working of NSA.
Perhaps, you have need for Errors and Omissions Insurance or Cyber Insurance or most any other kind of insurance, NSA Member Insurance Program is here for you. Check out our income and fees survey and set your billing plan for next year. Time is money, and we have a one stop shop for self-study CPE, and tax and accounting publications. Make sure you sign up for Verifyle for safe document sharing. Use ZipWhip to text your clients without using your cellphone.
If I were a betting person, I would bet that there are many NSA benefits of which you aren’t aware. Visit the MemberConnect website and see all we have to offer.
Time passes quickly, and before we know it, next year will be here and we will wonder why we didn’t plan better. As one of my favorite authors, Dr. Seuss said, “How did it get so late so soon?” Don’t let it be too late for you.
“Today is your day, your mountain is waiting. So, get on your way!”
Chris
Christine Z Freeland
NSA President
