MSCPA Firm Leadership Committee
Committee Minutes
Date: May 20, 2011
Place: Columbia, MO
Present: Holly Breuer
Christy Cubbage
Cory Miser
Stan Schmidt – stopped by on behalf of the MSCPA Board
I.
Call to order
II.
Read and approve minutes from previous meeting
III.
Current Business
a.) LinkedIn Group Update
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Cory has moved administrative rights to MSCPA (to Liz and Dena) in order for
them to be able to allow Committee members to join the LinkedIn Group without
needing Cory.
Cory also discussed that the Group does not appear to have enough privacy
settings to allow us to have Committee discussions without the comments
showing up on our LinkedIn pages that can be viewed by all of our contacts. He
has offered to re-look at the settings to see what needs to happen to secure the
privacy.
After establishing the privacy, we should finally be able to use the LinkedIn Group
in order to conduct Committee business and to start our monthly discussions.
b.) Small Firm Networking Roundtable discussion
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Holly attended the St. Louis Small Firm Networking Roundtable and discussed the
topics presented. Holly felt that the format and moderator were presented a
great way to get ideas going and it was well attended.
The Committee did not add topics to the plan for future Roundtables as they have
tended to produce good discussion by the attendees. Stan Schmidt gave topics
that have been discussed at recent Roundtables, noting that often the attendees
are concerned about staffing issues and client retention.
The Committee also discussed that this Roundtable was aptly titled as the vast
majority of attendees were sole proprietors or partnered with only one or two
other CPAs of their firm.
c.) A new Roundtable was discussed
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The Committee discussed adding a new type of Roundtable for those individuals
who have attained a level of CPA firm leadership that is Managerial/Supervisory in
nature, but who may not be owners/partners of a firm. Because the Small Firm
Networking Roundtable discussions were, in the most part, well attended and
successful, this would not replace any of those, but would be in addition to them.
Stan Schmidt and Liz Peuster both asked some questions to get the Committee
talking about what types of topics might be presented and to what MSCPA
members might this most appeal.
Through our initial discussions, the Committee felt the attendees might be:
someone in a leadership role of a CPA firm, generally at a Manager or Supervisor
level. The firm could be large, medium, or small in size, but it would be most
helpful to those who supervise staff and who may be working toward attaining
Partner or Principle at the firm.
Possible topics for discussion at the Roundtable might be: how a manager could
help to keep good staff members if they are unhappy with firm policies that the
manager does not control; how to work to get name-recognition to bring in new
clients; how to work with partners to get to know clients and on client
transitioning. Other topics were also discussed and Holly will ask all Committee
members to give any ideas as well and a list will be forwarded to Liz Peuster.
d.) The ASSET Articles
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IV.
Committee members were asked to think about ASSET article topics and/or if they
would be interested in writing an article. “Guidelines for Writers” from Dena Hull
was discussed. Holly will attach a copy of this to an email to all Committee
members who were unable to attend the meeting and ask for ideas as well.
Next meeting date
a.) All attempts will be made to begin Committee discussions on LinkedIn and then the next
face-to-face meeting will be at Fall Committee Day on September 16, 2011
V.
Adjournment