AWSCPA Logo

April 2010

AWSCPA Newsletter

December Banner

In This Issue

Upcoming Events

Special Thanks

Job Forum

Welcome to AWSCPA

Upcoming Events

May 19, 2010 - Arizona income tax update

June 16, 2010 - To be determined

Special Thanks

The Tucson AWSCPA would like to thank the following firms for their generous contributions to our affiliate:
-         Beach Fleischman & Company for hosting our TechCasts. Without their sponsorship, we may not have won a Silver Star award at the 2007 and 2008 Joint National Conference.
-         Arizona Lithographers for preparation of our member directory. Any member who has not received their directory this year or has any corrections can contact Chris Elzy.
-       The Melting Pot for providing their gift certificates for our raffle, which allow all raffle proceeds to go to the scholarship fund.

Job Forum

The Tucson AWSCPA affiliate strives to develop more networking opportunities for our members and meeting attendees. As part of this networking, we are providing the forum for employers with positions available to match these opportunities with individuals seeking employment. This will be a confidential service if you are seeking employment.

For those with positions available, contact any Board member to announce your opening at a monthly meeting or in our newsletter. (NOTE: Newsletter postings must be received by the 5th of the month for inclusion in that month. Ads must be 200 words or less - no logos or tables. All postings may be further edited as needed for space limitations.)

PLEASE communicate this employment connection to your employers for future employment opportunities for others. This is a FREE service for those looking for great CPA's - that's you!

If you have any questions or need additional information, contact Kelly or Kristen.

Job Openings

Finance Manager for Pinal County

The successful candidate will plan, direct, and coordinate the financial activities of the Pinal County Housing Authority, perform highly complex professional accounting work and provide highly complex staff assistance to the Housing Director. In addition this individual will assure compliance and conformance to US Housing and Urban Development (HUD) financial and performance standards, statutes, rules and policies, state laws and regulations, and will be responsible for assuring all HUD and GAAP accounting and financial reporting and recordkeeping is in compliance with required standards; prepare the annual operating budget in accordance with HUD budget guidelines; prepare, complete and submit all HUD forms related to financial statements, and HUD required information within required timeframes; prepare annual financial statements in accordance with GAAP/HUD requirements and submit to HUD/REAC within the required time frame.

Minimum qualifications: Bachelors in Accounting, Finance or a related field. Five (5) years of experience in accounting or closely related field. Preferred: Masters degree and possession of a CPA or Certified Public Finance Officer. Two years experience with HUD based GAAP compliant Accounting programs and regulations, such as Public Housing Authorities or HUD based Multi-Family Housing.

For a complete job description please visit www.pinaljobs.com.

Please contact us if you have a job opening to be posted.

Welcome to AWSCPA

AWSCPA is dedicated to serving all women CPAs. As a member of this national organization, you will find yourself in a supportive environment with valuable resources to help you achieve your personal and professional goals. You will also find rewarding opportunities for leadership,networking,and
education.

Membership in the AWSCPA is open to all individuals (male and female) who are or who are aspiring to become certified public accountants. If you would like more information and a membership application, please contact Nancy Hall. You may also speak to any board member at our monthly luncheons.

We appreciate your support and attendance at our programs! Please feel free to contact any board member if you have questions, concerns or suggestions! You may also visit the website of the AWSCPA National Office at www.awscpa.org.

AWSCPA Mission

The American Woman's Society of Certified Public Accountants (AWSCPA) is a national organization dedicated to serving all women CPAs. The AWSCPA provides a supportive environment and valuable resources for members to achieve their personal and professional goals through various opportunities including advocacy, networking, leadership training, education, and public awareness.

We Want Your Input

As you can see, we're using a new format for our newsletter. And we want it to be useful for all of our readers. Please let us know if there is anything you like or dislike about this new format, and we'll work to improve it!

Please send your comments to awscpatucson@cox.net.

Dear Kim,

081909luncheon1

Well, another tax season is coming to an end. I hope you are all surviving. It will be nice to see all your faces at the next meeting. We have many good CPE sessions coming, and I hope everyone will find something that interests them.

We are setting up the members for the upcoming Board of Directors. Come and be a part of our great team. You will never regret it.

Sincerely,

Laura Foley

President

AWSCPA - Tucson Affiliate

April Program

Identity Theft and How to Prevent It

Presented by: Wendy A. Cevallos

At the upcoming luncheon we will discuss a very actual, shocking and progressively spreading problem of Identity Theft crime. Some refer to it as an "absolute epidemic".

Our guest speaker, Wendy A. Cevallos, is a Program Supervisor in the Public Advocacy Division of the Arizona Attorney General's Office. This division enforces consumer protection laws and educates consumers on how to avoid becoming victims of fraud. It also pursues those who prey upon the public and threaten the economic and environmental well-being of Arizonans.

Ms. Cevalos will share her experience in fighting this type of crime and, more importantly, will advise on how to avoid and prevent becoming a victim.

Please join us in this useful discussion!

Meeting Information

Identity Theft and How to Prevent It

Date & Time: April 21, 2010 11:30AM - 1:30PM

            (Please allow time for check-in, lunch served at 12PM)
Cost:            $30 members / $35 non-members / $10 students
CPE:            Counts as one (1) hour of CPE
Place:          Old Pueblo Grille, 60 N. Alvernon Way

Menu:

(1)    Slow Roasted Shredded Beef Machaca, with chipotle garlic mashed potatoes, charro beans, pico de gallo and warm tortillas
(2)    Chicken Fajitas, red and yellow bell peppers, poblano chilies, mushrooms, onions, cilantro rice, charro beans, warm tortillas, sour cream, salsa and guacamole
(3)    Citrus Glazed Grilled Dorado, with pico de gallo served with charro beans and cilantro rice
(4)    Cheese Enchilada, with green corn tamale served with sauteed vegetables and red rice

Reservations: Contact Lisa Gundvaldson at lgundvaldson@cox.net by noon Friday, April 16th.

Note: Participants who sign up but are unable to attend will be billed unless they notify Lisa of the cancellation 24 hours in advance of the luncheon.

Announcements

AWSCPA Virtual Mall - AWSCPA has partnered with several companies, who will donate a portion of each purchase made through the AWSCPA Virtual Mall to the CPE Foundation, which provides national scholarships and helps affiliates with their scholarship programs. See the Virtual Mall on www.awscpa.org (from the home page click the "Useful Links" button, then choose "AWSCPA Virtual Mall") for a complete listing.

Kaplan CPA Review, a long-time affinity partner with AWSCPA, is dedicated to helping CPA candidates pass the exam. Student or professional members of AWSCPA are entitled to a 25% discount on all of Kaplan's Complete Learning Systems and live classes. This discount alone will more than pay for your annual AWSCPA membership investment! To learn more about this discount, contact AWSCPA at info@awscpa.org.

Charitable Endeavors

In an effort to give back to the community, the AWSCPA Tucson affiliate has started a tradition of collecting donations for select charities and other charitable endeavors each year. We also have our own scholarship fund through which we have given scholarships to deserving college students - we awarded three $750 scholarships last year and two $500 scholarships in each of the prior three years. We have also collected clothing for the YWCA Your Sister's Closet. This year we have plans to help the community as follows:

YWCA Your Sister's Closet This worthy organization provides unemployed women with clothing that is appropriate for job interviews and to begin employment. They need professional clothing that is stylish, clean and preferably ON HANGERS. Clean out a closet and bring your gently used items to our next luncheon. You'll receive a receipt for your contribution, and we'll take care of delivering them to the YWCA. Find out more about this organization by visiting their website at www.ywcatucson.org/.

SCHOLARSHIPS The Tucson AWSCPA has a scholarship program for female accounting students who have taken a non-traditional path to their education. We have awarded four scholarships of $750 each this year.

There are several ways you can help fund these scholarships:

$$$ Give and receive... participate in the 50/50 raffle at each meeting - one ticket for $1 or six tickets for $5. The proceeds are split - half to the winner and half to benefit the scholarship fund. OR you can purchase tickets for the next raffle by sending your check (made out to AWSCPA) to: Chris Elzy, AWSCPA Treasurer (fbo scholarship), P.O. Box 41361, Tucson, Arizona 85717-1361. Please indicate "Raffle tickets" and the number of tickets on the memo line.

In addition, you can help this cause through a tax-deductible contribution directly to our scholarship fund at The University of Arizona Foundation. Please contact a board member for information on how to contribute directly to the fund.