CPA Congress

Nathan Morsillo CPA

I was working away this last weekend before having to travel for CPA Congress and clicked on a link a fellow accountant friend had sent around. It was a song I loved a while ago by Chemical Brothers called “The Golden Path” – which has an eye catching video clip for all us office bound pants shiners. Very briefly, the clip shows a very bored looking office guy who day-dreams (to somewhere else) a world filled with colour, expression and fun. This song is, for lots of people, about the doubts, fears and difficulties in finding some direction for the journey of life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V24TaUJSDe0

Now I don’t know about everyone else out there, but at that moment, while I was beavering away in the office after normal working hours I thought “bugger this for a joke!”. I’ve been to all the Work/Life balance seminars and been to some good coaching in a previous job… that stuff’s all good, but it doesn’t stop it happening now and then. WHY AM I STILL WORKING THESE HOURS?!?

Well. After a coffee and a think, I came up with a sort of answer which will have to do for now.

For me right now it’s because I believe in where I work, (www.clc.org.au) so I can draw on something in my head which makes these long finance hours OK. Some weeks there’s just “this” amount to be done and that’s the job they pay me for. Or other times most of my staff have kids already, so others of us pick up some extra pieces here and there. Or maybe it’s the house payments – but there are reasons. They’re not excuses for not managing time well – but they’re valid reasons, and reasons are important.

Anyways – watch some of this video. Now if this is too close to where you are feeling for the busy accountant lifestyle – probably time to mix it up!

But if you’re like me – there’s probably a good reason the work/life balance is like it is – sometimes it’s good to actually spell it out… otherwise you’ll have a copy room episode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V24TaUJSDe0

Nathan Morsillo CPA, Finance Manager, Central Land Council, Northern Territory.

Paddy Spruce

Now is a good time to do anything. In fact, it is the only time to do anything. Some people and even some countries have a past focus. They used to be better than they are now. They regret. They hold grudges. Some people are future focused. Now is a means to an end. It has little value except to prepare for the future. Productivity and enjoyment are postponed, sometimes until after death.

A now focus is essential for effective management and client service. Of course we need to plan but we also need to do something now that will lead to the goals in the plan. Letting go of grudges or memories of past poor performances, your own and those of others, will help you to focus on what you can do now. If you are always working on the most important task at the moment, your time management will be excellent. When you are listening to others, a determined focus on what they are saying in the present will hinder you from wandering.

So simply, decide what is important and do it now. Be where you are. Get a reputation for being 100% present. Make ‘what can we do now to solve the problem’ your mantra. Closely followed by ‘what can we do now to make sure it doesn’t happen again’.

Now is all you’ve got. Use it wisely. It won’t last forever.

Paddy Spruce
www.paddyspruce.com.au
email: paddy@paddyspruce.com.au

Paul Taylor, GM - European Group

I am delighted that for 2010, Europe launched the CPA Australia congress season in London, our first and by no means the last, truly international event.
 
It was a great team effort from our councillors who helped put the programme together, to our office team, who were literally, up before the dawn to make sure everything went well for delegates and with several important VIP’s in attendance, it was a good opportunity for them to network.
 
During the CPA Congress, we had a number of satellite events, member breakfasts, presentation of an honorary membership, academic lunch to launch our entry into the UK tertiary space, making the use of our VIP guests, Richard Petty, Low Weng Keong, Alex Malley and Jeff Hughes.
 
The feedback from delegates was very pleasing and we exceed expectations and last years event.
 
There were a number of highlights including a Tasmanian double act of Graeme Butterworth from IBM and James Shugg from Westpac.
 
One of the more unexpected events was a speaker that did not show up for their allotted slot, so with twenty minutes preparation, we held an impromptu networking seminar, where we were able to discuss the challenges that delegates faced when they went networking, after the session a presentation was made available for delegates.
 
For the branch team including office staff and councillors, this was definitely a bum clenching moment, as Sir Alex Ferguson (Manager of Manchester United) would say, but in true style and with delegates understanding, we pulled it off.
 
Last week, we delivered a webinar on planning for career success, which gave a ten point plan that members can download and use, as well as providing additional CPD hours, free of charge.
 
So, now we can finally rest for a few days, with the baton well and truly passed to our colleagues in Australia, before we start planning for 2011 and with the Olympics just around the corner in 2012, London will certainly be the place to come and network with fellow members, discover new learning experiences, watch feats of athletic prowess and put your feet up on a well earned holiday.

William M. Isaac

I’m very much looking forward to participating in the Melbourne and Sydney conferences on October 11 and 19. It will be my second visit to Australia and the first for my family.  We are thrilled to be going to the Great Barrier Reef between my talks.

My remarks will focus on the financial events described in my new book, Senseless Panic: How Washington Failed America. The book’s foreword is by the legendary former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, Paul Volcker, and the book has been endorsed by such diverse notables as Steve Forbes, Dr. Arthur Laffer, and political activist Ralph Nader.

The US made serious policy mistakes in the aftermath of the severe banking and S&L crises of the 1980s and those misguided policies led directly to the crisis of 2008-2009. Once the crisis hit in 2008, it was terribly mishandled by the government, creating what I label a “senseless panic” throughout the world.

The recently enacted so-called financial reform legislation in the US does not address the major causes of the crisis and would not have prevented it. Nor will it prevent the next crisis.

I hope we will get some lively dialogue going with members of the audience at the CPA Congress in both Melbourne and Sydney and look forward to signing books after my talks. In the meantime, you might enjoy visiting my website at www.williamisaac.com. 

CPA Congress delegates of a one day package or more can view William Isaac’s presentation on CPA Virtual Congress on Monday 18 October at 2.00pm.