CPA Day of Service 2012

Mark your calendars folks! September 21, 2012 will be this year's official CPA Day of Service nationwide. The purpose of the day is to encourage CPAs, members of state CPA societies, and even guests to serve their communities in a positive way. People can volunteer their time individually or organize a group to help out a charitable organization of their choice.  For some state CPA societies like the Indiana CPA Society, this will be their 10th annual event. Others like the North Carolina Association of CPAs are newbies to this fabulous cause. It's safe to say that this movement is becoming more popular around the US, but I know some state organizations are still opting to hold a day of community service on a different day. To find out when your event is and the specific deets of how you can participate, locate your applicable organization here. If you're currently not a member of your state CPA society, now would be a great time to join.

I was pretty excited to find out about this event and the growth it has achieved across the country. I understand the importance of volunteer work and see this as the perfect opportunity to engage with my community. Not only does it benefit the recipient, but giving back is food for the soul. You can't deny that it just makes you feel good on the inside! I also recognize this as a platform for CPAs to project themselves as leaders in the community and I think that's extremely awesome. Now I just need to figure out what cause I'd like to donate my time to and register with the Illinois CPA Society. I'll keep you posted on what I come up with and blog about my experience later this year.

Do you plan to participate this year or have you done so in the past? What charitable activity would you like to volunteer your time to? Drop a line and let me know!

If you enjoyed this post and want to see more from Noir CPA, please let me know by using the social buttons on the left! -LVH :)

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I'm Back!!!

By: MissGina at My CPA Exam Journey


Well almost 6 months of time without having to study for the CPA exam felt really good!! I want that feeling permanently minus all the things I had to do instead of studying for the CPA exam. Here is all what I did during my time off from CPA studies:

1. Changed Jobs!!!

Its been nearly 5 months at the new gig and I LOVE it! The work has been challenging, very challenging, but I was up for the challenge because of the money, the people, my long term career goals.

At the new gig I am the only tax person for the office!! To say that I am busy is an understatement. I help the outside firm get the all information they need to file our tax returns while also filing the sales and use, property, canadian, some VAT returns myself.  I also do the tax provision (first time by doing it by myself!) and the associated journal entries, explaining the numbers to management and all that jazz. I write a TON of memos because the auditors wanted to have all these memo for there files and too because its good to have the documentation of the thought process for the various code sections and their applicability to our company on paper.

Did I mention my new company is international? So that means it has a whole other level of complexity due to the laws in the different countries the company is located. Thankfully right now the structure is still fairly non complex, but that may be changing soon and I will be there to document the change.

I am one level away from Manger and seeing as though there is no tax manger, once my MST is completed, guess who the Manger will be :) That was my career goal in life to be a International Tax Manager and within the next 2 years (or sooner), that will be me. I'm blessed and highly favored.

My previous job was tax analyst for a domestic company that was previously international. I handled sales and use taxes in every state that had them along with helping the outside big 4 firm for the other tax filings  and provision help etc... I don't miss it there just the location. The people were not as nice.

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If you enjoyed this post and want to see more from Noir CPA, please let me know by using the social buttons on the left! -LVH :)

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Introducing MissGina and Her CPA Exam Journey

As you may know, I've already completed my CPA exam journey and while I can still serve as a beneficial resource, I feel it's very important to share the voice of someone who is currently in the trenches. Yesterday evening a light bulb went off in this little noggin of mine and I reached out to a great gal I met on Twitter while studying for the exam.

Meet MissGina, a Senior International Tax Specialist in Maryland who will be completing her Masters in Taxation this fall. She began her CPA exam journey back in 2009 and experienced the highs and lows that CPA candidates know all too well. After taking a break from the grind to change jobs and continue her graduate studies, MissGina is back on the scene to conquer the CPA exam once and for all. The best part is that she'll be blogging about it as she did in the past and Noir CPA will be a means for you to stay up to date on her quest to CPAdom.

I'm ecstatic to see MissGina back in study mode as I know how much obtaining those three letters means to her. From what I can see, she's an extremely intelligent and determined woman and I have all the confidence in the world that CPA will be behind her name in the near future. Not to mention, she's a sweetheart and I believe she deserves to have her dreams come true! I had the pleasure of meeting MissGina last year shortly after I passed the exam . We had a lovely lunch at Lou Malnati's (do yourself a favor and order a pizza; they ship anywhere in the US), which she treated me to. It was really cool to finally meet someone from #twudygroup and I hope there will be other opportunities to do so.

So there you have it eFam. You'll be seeing MissGina quite often around these parts...in the meantime, check out her blog to catch up on her journey until this point!


If you enjoyed this post and want to see more from Noir CPA, please let me know by using the social buttons on the left! -LVH :)

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