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2022-23 ASCPA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

S. Jon Heath, Chair

James White, Jr., Chair Elect

Mandy Barksdale

Stacy Cummings

Keary Foster

Matthew Hilburn

Kendra James

Michael Kassouf

Amanda Paul

Paul Perry

Sarah Propper

Joseph Wynn

Dennis Sherrin, AICPA Council Rep

Jamey Carroll, AICPA Council Rep

James Moody, Past Chair CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Jeannine Birmingham, CPA, CAE, CGMA

Casey Bartok

Becky Sproul

Caleb Taylor EDITOR Megan G. Hughes, APR

Happy March and April means happy Spring - my favorite time of the year. So, welcome warmer weather, longer days, chirping birds, and blooming flowers. And, on the ASCPA front, welcome student scholars, new strategic initiatives, productive busy season work, and our upcoming 104th Annual Members Meeting.

Let me begin there - the 104th Annual Members Meeting. Following last year’s success, ASCPA will meet June 13 in Birmingham at The Club for our annual gathering of Alabama CPAs. We have secured an excellent agenda of speakers and sessions including a Professional Issues Update with the dynamic Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, past AICPA chair and current CEO of KET Solutions. KET Solutions is a consulting firm that focuses on business growth, innovation, strategy, and technology. Many of us have heard from Kimberly over the past few years and will agree that her excellent knowledge of professional issues, coupled with a contagious, positive personality, make her a class favorite. We are thrilled that Kimberly once again accepted ASCPA’s invitation to speak. For a glance at the full agenda, as well as registration opportunities, visit us online at alabama.cpa/AnnualMeeting.

In the area of strategic work, one of this year’s board initiatives was to create a solution offering preferred service providers that Alabama CPAs use or make inquiry of using. In this space, we think of the smaller to mid-sized organizations that do not always have the time to research the who, what, where and why. ASCPA is currently working with a number of technology and cloud-based service providers that we can recommend to you and hopefully save you time. For example, many of you need talent. We hope to make a recommendation to you of a vetted, leased employee company that can fit your needs. We also know that members are searching for ways to be more efficient with day-to-day workflow such as payroll, HR benefits, 401k, credit card processing, and more. Again, we hope to make ASCPA preferred partnership recommendations to you very soon. If you want to know more about this strategy, please feel free to reach out to me. The more we know, the more we can help you grow.

The Alabama Legislative session is off to a late start this year since it is the first year of a new quadrennium, or fouryear cycle. The legislature will begin March 7 with Governor Ivey’s State of the State Address. Here, Alabama will be informed on the governor’s key 2023 legislative pursuits. The legislature has 30 days to do the work of the people with June 8, 2023, being the absolute latest day to be in regular session. One hint of a legislative hot topic, and an area that is of interest to CPAs and clients, is the Alabama Jobs Act, as well as the Growing Alabama Tax Credit Program. Both of these acts are set to expire July 31, 2023, and both programs are vital to Alabama’s ability to continue to attract innovative industries and high paying jobs in our state. Together, there is approximately $350 million in tax credits, including credits to taxpayers who make contributions to economic development organizations for approved projects, medical research and development tax credits, public utilities license credits, and more.

I was fortunate to be able to attend a recent business leaders forum where the guest panelists were Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth, new Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter, and House Minority Leader Representative Anthony Daniels. Each of the leaders agreed that incentives legislation is a top priority. Alabama must stay competitive with neighboring states by not simply renewing the existing incentive laws, but by providing enhancements. For example, the current $350-million cap will need to be raised and mega-sites will need to be developed for new businesses. There are many leaders working to make all of this happen and you may be one who is running numbers behind the scenes for your legislator. It is important for everyone to have a voice. As a reminder, if you have a key connection with an Alabama legislator, please send me an email at jbirmingham@alabama.cpa.

Before we meet again, I want to tell you how proud I am of your ASCPA Board of Directors. This group of CPAs has really taken a keen and active interest in the ASCPA and its goals. Please take a moment to read about Pipeline progress thanks to Stacy Cummings and Matthew Hilburn on page 12.

I hope that everyone is able to enjoy the beginning of Spring and that ASCPA’s team will be able to see you at the 104th Annual Member’s Meeting.

I’m not “good at math.” If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard that in response to sharing, “I’m a CPA,” or “I’m an accountant,” then I would need to be much better with math… and investing! We have an identity crisis that is one of the root causes of our pipeline concerns. We interact with people (I have yet to see that accountant wearing the green eye shade and pocket protector in the closet that speaks to no one – you know, the stereotypical one). We deal with rules, words, people, and process as much or more than “math.” We help our clients, businesses, organizations, governments, and students thrive – not simply “comply.” We serve people and help them build careers, businesses, livelihoods, financial futures, communities, and so many other things. The idea of “doing math” or “doing taxes” barely scratches the surface of what we really do – we serve; we share; and we enhance.

Writing this Business and Industry message reminds me that our members are diverse both socio-economically and in skillset. Can we improve diversity and inclusion in the profession?

Absolutely. While we can improve, we should recognize and celebrate the various:

• industries our members serve (too many list);

• ways our members contribute (public, private (business and industry), government, education, volunteer, etc.);

• roles our members play (accountant, internal auditor, tax director, educator, data analyst, CFO, etc.);

• tools our members use (rules and regulations, codes, software, hardware, data visualization tools, project management and workflow tools, etc.); and

• areas that our members touch (accounting, tax, finance, HR, compliance, IT, ESG, etc.).

As we all address pipeline issues, one thing that consistently comes to mind is how overwhelmingly blessed I am to be in and serve our profession. I cannot think of a profession that provides as many avenues and opportunities as the CPA profession. CPAs can literally be anything we desire. We can take our careers and earning potential to any level. The CPA value proposition that needs reinforcing is simple – CPA = unlimited opportunities.

The ASCPA Board and Staff are constantly looking for different ways to help you expand those opportunities for your organizations, owners, and teams today and into the future. We want to position you to maximize those opportunities. You will see examples included inside this issue.

In addition to the great ideas included inside this edition, we are excited about the upcoming 104th Annual Meeting, scheduled for June 13, 2023 at The Club in Birmingham. We will get a Professional Services update from one of the most dynamic speakers in the profession – Kimberly Ellison-Taylor! Based on your feedback from last year’s Annual Meeting, we’ve brought back sessions covering A&A (Jim Martin) and Tax (Karen Miller). We will also address generational diversity with Kristin Scroggin.

As a final note regarding this outstanding agenda, we’re introducing the Leaders Educating Advocating Diversifying and Including the Next Generation – the LEADING Panel. We have three outstanding panel members who have committed their lives, time, and talent to advancing the profession – Dr. Mary Stone (University of Alabama), James White, Sr. (Banks, Finley, White &

Company), and Bill Carr (Carr, Riggs, & Ingram). These innovative influencers in the profession will share with the audience their experiences in, as well as their outlooks regarding, the future of the profession. We are honored that they have agreed to be the inaugural LEADING panel and believe it will be a robust discussion and excellent opportunity to learn from these pioneers of the profession.

Speaking of opportunities, I want to take this one to express gratitude and appreciation. The profession provides us with endless opportunities – we are blessed to be involved in an evolving and bountiful profession. I, and the ASCPA Board, thank you for representing the profession with honor, integrity, respect, compassion, and commitment. We thank you for your trust in, and support of, the ASCPA and for the opportunity to connect, protect, and educate you – our members.

New State Rep. Kerry Underwood (R-Tuscumbia) is hoping to use his certified public accountant (CPA) credentials and mayoral experience to help Alabama small businesses and attract more high-paying jobs to the state.

According to his campaign site, Underwood has been a CPA since 1998. He started his own accounting firm in 2004 and joined a new CPA firm partnership in 2021 in downtown Tuscumbia.

“By profession, we’re not very famous for people skills, but CPAs are conservative by nature...historical [and] analytical,” Underwood told 1819 News in a recent interview. “I think that works well if you can develop some people skills too and the right reasons for doing things. I think the CPA profession itself gives me something to offer to my community here and to the state. I’m going to do my best to be as good as I can in that regard.”

According to Underwood, the firm has about nine employees. He’s also served as the Mayor of Tuscumbia since 2016 before being elected to represent House District 3 in Colbert and Lauderdale counties in 2022.

“I spent more time at the Mayor’s Office than I did at the CPA office,” Underwood said. “I still have a firm here in Tuscumbia. I’ve been doing this since 2007 and have a new partner as of two years ago almost now. I did that because I like politics so much that I couldn’t take care of my clients, so we found a guy that I worked really well with. He fills in the gaps when I’m out of pocket and stuff so I can keep doing what I’m doing.”

According to his campaign site, Underwood’s wife, Anna, works as an occupational therapist for the Colbert County School System. He has one son, Walker and three stepdaughters, Holly, Victoria and Faith.

Underwood told 1819 News that he’d like to focus on two issues: helping small businesses and industry recruitment.

He said he’d favor renewing Alabama’s economic development incentive programs next year.

“I believe in employment and the value that that provides to a family [and] the freedom it provides is unparalleled,” Underwood said. “I’m all about employment and goodpaying jobs and people having options to stay home instead of moving away. That’s what I’d like to focus my time on predominantly.”

Underwood told 1819 News that he hoped the Alabama Legislature “could find a way to be flexible with some [tax] rebates, but be cautious about making sure that we don’t get hit with something that we’re not prepared for” in a possible recession.

“I know it’s being discussed between rebates and lower tax rates,” Underwood said. “Those are healthy discussions to have. What makes it more complicated this time is we’re entering into a recession that we don’t know the length of it, or the breadth of it, or the width of it. There will be some hesitation, I’m sure, regarding how aggressive do you get with it. Had it been a normal year … I think it would have been a pretty simple task to come up with either the one-time rebate or a lower rate. I think at this point, we’ll just have to make sure that we see the trends and make sure where we’re at going forward with how the money is allocated between the General Fund and the Education Trust Fund. It has been some good years lately, and that’s encouraging.”

Thank