Several of the most influential and respected leaders in the accounting profession are meeting this week, Feb. 15-17, at the Westin Galleria Hotel and Resort in Dallas, for the sixth annual Accounting Thought Leader Symposium. These individuals come from across the accounting spectrum, including small tax-focused firms, general practices, national firms, accounting educators and technology consultants to firms, and all are well-known speakers at tradeshows and CPE events.
[Follow the Symposium on Twitter: #CPAPA_TLS]
During the symposium, these professionals will meet with core development and executive staff of key accounting technology providers to determine and shape the future of the profession, including both short- and long-term evolutions in technology, workflow methods and firm management.
The companies participating in this year’s event include Avalara, Intuit, Sage, TSheets, and Xero. The invitation-only event is hosted by CPA Practice Advisor, a provider of practice management advice, best-practice insight, news, digital resources and technology reviews for professional accounting firms.
Participants come from across the world, with the most distant attendees this year being Donny Shimamoto, a CPA and technology consultant from Hawaii, and Clayton Oates, a former Big 4 accountant who is now principal of an Australia-based technology consultancy.
“As we conduct these meetings, we believe all accounting professionals should think about challenges they have faced in the past year,” said Gail Perry, Editor-in-Chief of CPA Practice Advisor. “How did their firms meet these challenges? What was less than successful and why? And what new challenges have surfaced that will have continuing impact on their firm and the profession?”
These thought leaders will be discussing the same issues, Perry said. “They will be focused on what they can do, considering their visibility and their roles as mentors, teachers, advisors, and solution providers, to help the accounting profession get to the other side of modern obstacles.”
The symposium also hosts the annual Accounting Hall of Fame Awards award and reception. Hall of Fame members include Greg LaFollette, CPA.CITP, Randy Johnston, Rick Richardson, CPA.CITP, L. Gary Boomer, CPA.CITP, Chris Frederiksen, CPA, and Tom Hood, CPA.CITP. A new Hall of Fame honoree will be inducted on Tuesday evening.
The 2016 Accounting Thought Leader Symposium attendees are:
- Jim Boomer, CPA.CITP (Boomer Consulting)
- Jim Bourke, CPA.CITP, CGMA, CFF (Withum)
- Jean Caragher (Capstone Marketing)
- David Cieslak, CPA.CITP, CGMA, GSEC (Arxis Financial)
- Gale Crosley. CPA (Crosley Company)
- Chris Frederiksen, CPA, CGMA, PFS (2020 Group USA)
- Angie Grissom (The Rainmaker Companies)
- John Higgins, CPA.CITP (CPA Crossings)
- Tom Hood, CPA.CITP, CGMA (Maryland Assn. of CPAs)
- Randy Johnston (K2 Enterprises and NMGI)
- Roman Kepczyk, CPA.CITP, CGMA (Xcentric)
- Allan Koltin, CPA (Koltin Consulting Group)
- Mark Koziel, CPA, CGMA (AICPA Firm Services)
- Greg LaFollette, CPA.CITP, CGMA (CPA.com)
- Clayton Oates (QA Business)
- Edi Osborne, CSPM, CPBA, CPVA (Mentor Plus)
- Rick Richardson, CPA.CITP, CGMA (Richardson Media Tech)
- M. Darren Root, CPA.CITP, CGMA (Root & Assoc. and Rootworks)
- John Sharbaugh, CAE (Texas Society of CPAs)
- Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA (Intraprise TechKnowlogies)
- Leslie Shiner (The Shiner Group)
- Doug Sleeter (The Sleeter Group)
- Sandi Smith-Leyva, CPA (Sandi Smith-Leyva, Inc.)
- Brian Tankersley, CPA.CITP, CGMA (K2 Enterprises)
- Rick Telberg (CPA Trendlines)
- Geni Whitehouse, CPA.CITP, CSPM (Even A Nerd)
- Sandra Wiley (Boomer Consulting)
- Jennifer Wilson (Convergence Coaching)
