October - 2012
Philadelphia Chapter
Volume 62 Number 2
PRESIDENT
Pam Wenner
Beucler, Kelly & Irwin, Ltd.
125 Strafford Avenue, Suite 116
Wayne, PA 19087
C-484.620.0549
W-610-688-3200 ext 23
PRESIDENT-ELECT
Tracey Bond
Linowitz & Company
217 East Hanover Street
Trenton, NJ 08608
W -609-695-7426
C: 609-707-0543
TREASURER /
FINANCIAL LITERACY
Mary-Claire Corcoran, CPA
324 Woods Road
Glenside, PA 19038
H-215.885.1006
C-215.990.0219
SECRETARY
Judy Maira
Toll Brothers Inc
Corporate Office
250 Gibraltar Road
Horsham, PA 19044
215-938-5224
DIRECTORS
Marian Borzelleca, CPA
Theresa Copeland, MSM
Stephanie Sommers, CPA
Jan S. Spiegel
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
Renee Cooper, CPA
NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS
1-800-326-2163
www.aswa.org
NATIONAL REGIONAL DIRECTOR
Kristin Culliton
www.aswa-phila.org
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Dear Members and Friends of the Philadelphia Chapter:
I’d like to start my message with a request for everyone to make an effort to attend our October 17th meeting. If we meet an attendance goal, our hosts, Mass Mutual Financial Group, will make a generous donation to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. We don’t want to miss out on affecting this important gift. Caren Levine of First Financial Group will be sharing a Pearls of Wisdom seminar focusing on long term care insurance and estate planning. This is certainly a topic that I would like to have a better understanding of. Is it really necessary, when or at what age is a good time to start a policy? Please be sure to RSVP and bring a friend or colleague.
Last month we had our annual student night. I’m happy to report the program went very well. We were fortunate to have many sponsors which helped cover all our costs. I want to thank our panel of speakers. Stephanie Sommers, Renee Cooper and John Hess did such a great job they really made ASWA look good to the sponsors, professors and students, I do want to acknowledge the student turnout was less than stellar. I would like to continue the discussion with all our members of whether we want to consider changing Student Night. September is the earliest I can remember having it. Maybe we just need to go back to having it at the beginning of November. Maybe we change the format of the event to a more intimate structure or maybe we stop the formal event and have smaller meetings at different universities. I would love to hear everyone’s thoughts.
I was lucky enough to be able to attend the PA Conference for Women this week. 6,000 women attended and I can’t tell you how uplifting it is to be surrounded by so many powerful, professional women. It was energizing to be a part of it. The speakers were wonderful and shared a lot of insightful stories. Arianna Huffington was one of the keynote speakers and she shared a story that hit home for me. She spoke about when she let herself get so exhausted that she passed out. She had banged her head on the way down and broke her cheekbone and needed stitches under her eyebrow. It was a wakeup call that led to her renewed relationship with sleep. The lack of sleep can affect you in many ways. It’s harder to handle stress and sleepiness is depressing, it can cause major health problems and it impairs judgment. I have a hard time getting myself to bed at a reasonable time. I have little doubt that it’s affected me in negative ways. I hope those of you that are like me will make the change necessary to ensure you get enough sleep to live happy, healthy and effective lives. And when considering your career, I’m sure Arianna Huffington is right, you can sleep your way to the top – literally.
Pam Wenner
President of the Philadelphia Chapter
EMPLOYMENT /
MEMBERSHIP
Lori Lucente-McKeage, CPA
Diversified Industries, Inc.
121 High Hill Rd
Swedesboro, NJ 08080
W-856-662-1981 x 107
C-609-504-8956
NEWSLETTER / WEBSITE
Jan Spiegel
1854 Lippincott Road
Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006
H-215.947.8617
SCHOLARSHIP
Marian Borzelleca
102 Woods Rd.
Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462
C – 610-745-6659
STUDENT NIGHT /
Renee Cooper, CPA
P.O. Box 1721
West Chester, PA 19380-1721
MENTOR PROGRAM
Gwendelyn L. Ruff
Talent Acquisition Supervisor
Wawa, Inc.
260 W. Baltimore Pike
Wawa, PA 19063
610.908.5464
BY LAWS/ LEGISLATION
Mary Feeney-Bonawitz, PhD, CPA
Penn State University
200 University Dr, A-122
Schuylkill Haven, PA 17972
H: 570-366-0919
W: 570-385-6085
October Meeting Notice
Event: Long Term Care Insurance and Estate Planning
Location: First Financial Group
2 Bala Plaza, Suite 901
Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004
Phone: 610.766.3083
Date/Time: Wednesday, October 17 at 6:00 pm
Cost: Members: $ 20.00
Non-members $ 25.00
Students $ 15.00
RSVP: Please contact Pam Wenner by end of day,
Monday, October 15, 2012 by email
Topic: Women in this country must clear many hurdles to have a healthy financial future. They need to pay attention to personal finances—single, married or otherwise—because one way or another there is some likelihood they will be doing it alone. The reality is that women live longer than men. They need to extend their retirement income far longer and the probability of needing additional dollars for long-term care assistance is a distinct probability. Food for thought: Bank accounts, Prior debt, Retirement, Insurance
About our Speaker:
Caren R. Levine, CPA*, CLTC, CFBS
Financial Services Professional
“I believe that being a Financial Advisor and a CPA* gives me tremendous insight into tax savings strategies for businesses and individuals. With a dual background, I can provide a portfolio approach that not only includes tax savings strategies but also estate analysis, wealth transfers, business continuation and disability income insurance protection. In addition, I include Long Term Care Insurance as part of tax savings strategies and estate analysis. I have led my agency in sales from 2005-2008, and again in 2010 & 2011. I strive to make a positive difference in people’s lives by offering financial strategies and I am gratified in knowing that our Company is respected in the community and that we’re providing a valuable service in return.”
Caren received her Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania in 1981. From 1981-1984 she worked at Laventhol &
Continued on page 3
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About our Speaker continued from page 2
Horwath, Certified Public Accountants and then continued in private practice from 19841995. From 1995 to the present, Caren has worked as a Financial Services Professional with MassMutual
Financial Group She is a six time FFG Agent of the Year from 2005-2008 and again in 2010 & 2011. Caren’s specialty areas include: Medical and Health Professionals, Families and Small Businesses, Disability Income Insurance Protection, Investment and Retirement, Planning and Long Term Care Insurance
Caren is also the proud mother of Matthew and Meredith, both graduates of the University of Pennsylvania and Morgan, who graduated from Penn State University, University Park. Matthew graduated from the Temple University Beasley School of Law.
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Applications for our Mentorship program are now being taken
What the Program Is:
The ASWA Philadelphia Chapter Mentoring Program provides students with insight into a career in accounting. It achieves this by providing students with the opportunity to interact with established accounting professionals and past student mentees who are also ASWA members. The purpose of the program is:
• / to provide students with more knowledge about the accounting profession• / to grow as an aspiring professional
• / to learn about the various pathways that are available to accounting majors
• / to perfect the finishing touches needed to become the ultimate professional
• / to gain insight on what employers look for from a graduating student
• / to begin to form their network with other accounting students
Who is Eligible to Participate?
The ASWA Philadelphia Chapter Mentoring Program is open to college seniors and current student members of ASWA who wish to become mentees.
The mentor should have three years of practical accounting or accounting-related business experience and be a Regular member of ASWA for at least one year. The mentor should be familiar with the Philadelphia Chapter ASWA members and some of its activities.
If you’re interested or know someone who is, you can go to the Mentoring Program page of our website www.aswa-phila.org/mentor to get the applications. If you have any questions feel free to contact our program chair Gwen Ruff at
Coming up at our November 7th meeting......
Ira S. Rosenbloom, CPA, is the chief operating executive of Optimum Strategies, LLC, a consulting firm focused on helping accounting firms improve their business performance and the entrepreneurial skills of their current and future leaders.
With more than 25 years of experience as a public accountant, Ira has the unique perspective of someone who has achieved success as an entrepreneur leading a mid-size accounting firm, a practice director in the corporate environment of a top-20 firm and a regional partner in a national accounting industry M&A business. Using lessons learned from the front lines and interior offices, he leverages his knowledge to help clients improve their profitability, efficiency and strategic accomplishments.
Ira’s CPA firm career path provides a perspective that stimulates strong interest in his speaking and writing. He actively presents for the AICPA, to industry associations as well as state societies. Ira is a long time member of the editorial board of CPA Practice Management Forum, a regular contributor to The Practicing CPA and has been published in Accounting Today. Ira is a proud member of PICPA and the state societies of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Licensed in both New York and New Jersey, Ira served with distinction on AICPA’s prestigious Management of an Accounting Practice Committee. Ira has served as a Trustee of the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants and has directed many initiatives for local chapters.
A Little Bit of Humor
The patient’s family gathered to hear what the specialists had to say. “things don’t look good.. The only chance is a brain transplant. This is an experimental procedure. It might work, but the bad news is that brains are very expensive, and you will have to pay the costs yourselves.
“Well, how much does a brain cost?” asked the relatives.
“For a male brain, $500,000. For a female brain, $200,000.”
Some of the younger male relatives tried to look shocked, but all the men nodded in understanding, and a few actually smirked.
Then the patient’s daughter asked, “Why the difference in price between male brains and female brains?”
“A standard pricing practice” said the head of the team. “Women’s brains have to be marked down because they’re used.”
We want to thank our sponsors for a successful Student Night last month.
Gold Sponsors for Student Night:
The Villanova School of Business is nationally recognized for excellence across its undergraduate and graduate suite of programs. Ranked #12 in the nation by Bloomberg Businessweek, the Villanova MBA program is delivered in two flexible options designed exclusively for working professionals. The Villanova Master of Accountancy program helps students achieve the 150 credit hours necessary for CPA licensure, as well as builds upon a traditional undergraduate Accounting perspective with topics such as Negotiation, Ethics & Relationship Management and Performance Measurement. MAC program graduates have had 100% placement success in 2011 and 2012, with a majority of our students entering one of the Big 4 firms
Silver Sponsors for Student Night
Calendar of Events
2012-2013
November Chapter Meeting Wednesday, November 7th
“Ready, Aim, Fire!” – Ira Rosenbloom
A tactical presentation of techniques designed to bolster
business development success
Pyramid Club
1735 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
December Chapter Social Holiday Tours of the Historic Fairmount Park Houses
Details to come
January Chapter Meeting Date to be Announce
Tax Update
Location to be announced
February Chapter Meeting Wednesday, February 5th
“Take Control of Your Work-Day”
Shawn Kershaw Organizing & Productivity Coach
St. Clair CPA
Conshohocken, PA
Deadline for inclusion in the next newsletter is October 20th
Please forward all submissions to Jan Spiegel at: .
Use ASWA newsletter in the subject for all submissions please.
Upcoming Events and Conferences……
Greetings Southeast and Northeast Regional Chapters
I hope you have the May 3-4, 2013 dates blocked off to attend the 2013 ASWA Southeast Regional Conference to be held in Richmond Va. We think it is going to be a good one.
We are looking for speakers in the personal development area and Audit/accounting area. If you know of some good speakers that would be willing to travel to Richmond VA to attend the 2013 Regional conference at a discount and present, please let me know.
Finally, watch for additional information on the 2013 ASWA Southeast Regional conference. Let me know if you have any questions or comments.
Kay Gotshall
ASWA Co chair 2013 Southeast Regional Conference
804-273-6223
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You Should attend if You are…
• Responsible for monitoring developments in accounting and taxation.
• Responsible for the quality and profitability of your company or firm.
• Supervising and/or training accounting and finance staff.
• Interested in developing a network of outstanding professionals.
• Ready to promote your company or product in today’s marketplace.
• A beginner or veteran, with or without a degree, in private or public accounting, financial or academia.
The 2012 Annual Conference for Women in Accounting will be held in San Diego, CA October 22-24 at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina. To make your hotel reservation at the special group rate of $175 per night, call 877-734-2726 or reserve your room online by accessing the following link:2012 ASWA Annual Conference. When calling, please be sure to identify yourself as part of the "2012 ASWA Annual Conference" to receive the group rate. The deadline to make reservations at the group rate is September 28, 2012, subject to availability.