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Yesterday I attended the New Jersey chapter of the National Association of Tax Professionals Annual Meeting (21st) and Conference at the Woodbridge Hilton in Iselin, NJ (no, the Woodbridge Hilton is not in Woodbridge).
As it turned out the person who sat next to me for the day, arriving a few minutes after I did, was a former colleague whom I had not seen in perhaps 20 years! He was one of the college students who had worked for my mentor, James P Gill, during the tax season. I started with Jim in February of 1972 and he joined “the firm” a couple of years later. He stayed with us for several seasons, and had come back on occasion to visit and help out after settling in to full time employment elsewhere.
He recognized my trademark meticulous handwriting, and the fact that I used a ruler to write so straight, as I was making notes on the presentation!
We had a good time reminiscing about the “good old days” of the tax profession and mentor Jim Gill, who has since gone to his final audit, during the breaks and lunch.
This year’s conference consisted of a full day of federal tax topics presented by one speaker, triple threat Alice Orzechowski, a CPA, CMA (Certified Management Account) and EA. Over the course of the day Alice covered the dreaded Alternative Minimum Tax, the Minimum Tax Credit, Form 1041, Settlement (Closing) Statements, and Real Estate Transactions.
Alice is a good and knowledgeable speaker with whom I was familiar from national NATP seminars I had attended in the past. She provided case studies for us to work when dealing with the AMT, and used questions to cover Deductible or Not on the Form 1041 and also for the Real Estate Transactions topic. She provided useful tax planning and preparation tips and strategies in each of her topics.
As I look back on the day, while, again, Alice was a good speaker and covered some good topics, I think I prefer the format that was used last year, and that is used for the January conference, which is several separate presentations by different and differing individuals. I also like having part of the program given by representatives of the IRS and NJ divisions or departments – to get the government perspective and insight on certain issues and concerns.
The room was once again set up with multiple circular tables throughout. While I still prefer the traditional long rectangular table format, the seating was better than last year as chairs were set around only the back-half of the table, allowing for “more better” and less obstructed viewing of the speaker and presentation.
I was truly pleased as punch that, with the exception of a few truly brief mentions in the course of the other presentations, the word “ethics” was not on the agenda! We did not lose two hours of actual tax education by having to listen to the usually obligatory ethics presentation. Kudos to the chapter Education Committee! I wonder if they did this in response to my comments on last year’s program.
The chapter’s Annual Meeting was held immediately following the satisfactory hot and cold buffet lunch held in the same room. The various reports were given via handout and not read. The Presidents report mentioned that the chapter was fast approaching its goal of 1000 members and mentioned the various awards received at the NATP National Conference, held in 2009 in Reno (next year is Austin, Texas – and I plan to attend).
As is the case each year the Annual Meeting included the election of officers, based on geographic “regions”. I had told the Board members I knew that I would be interested in running and had submitted a “resume” to the Nomination Committee for consideration last month, but did not realize that the election would be so soon. In a few of the “regions” a candidate ran “unopposed” – but there was a contest in two of them. As it happened I had “opposition” in my region – and I lost (I knew I should have voted for myself). Several Board members offered condolences and hoped that I would return my hat to the ring next year. I expect I will so do.
The meeting included a brief presentation by Kathy Stanek, Executive Director of NATP, who was billed in prior publicity as the “keynote speaker”. Kathy touched on NJ-NATP history and statistics, touted membership in NATP, and gave out some prizes. There were three admitted non-members in the audience, including my former J P Gill colleague (this was his first NATP or NJ-NATP event), who had, upon my recommendation, decided to join earlier in the day and was given a token gift by Kathy as the “newest member” of NATP.
The Education Committee once again did an excellent job and deserves a “well done”.
To read a more about the day check out my post “This Was A Real Nice Conference” at THE WANDERING TAX PRO.
I truly look forward to the chapter’s excellent New Jersey State Tax Seminar held every year at the same place (Woodbridge Hilton) in January. And I might even attend the December breakfast meeting.
As I said at the end of my TWTP post – “if you are not already a member of the National Association of Tax Professionals you should be! If you decide to join please mention my name as a “referral” and I will get a gift from NATP.”
TAFN
Yesterday I attended the New Jersey chapter of the National Association of Tax Professionals Annual Meeting (21st) and Conference at the Woodbridge Hilton in Iselin, NJ (no, the Woodbridge Hilton is not in Woodbridge).
As it turned out the person who sat next to me for the day, arriving a few minutes after I did, was a former colleague whom I had not seen in perhaps 20 years! He was one of the college students who had worked for my mentor, James P Gill, during the tax season. I started with Jim in February of 1972 and he joined “the firm” a couple of years later. He stayed with us for several seasons, and had come back on occasion to visit and help out after settling in to full time employment elsewhere.
He recognized my trademark meticulous handwriting, and the fact that I used a ruler to write so straight, as I was making notes on the presentation!
We had a good time reminiscing about the “good old days” of the tax profession and mentor Jim Gill, who has since gone to his final audit, during the breaks and lunch.
This year’s conference consisted of a full day of federal tax topics presented by one speaker, triple threat Alice Orzechowski, a CPA, CMA (Certified Management Account) and EA. Over the course of the day Alice covered the dreaded Alternative Minimum Tax, the Minimum Tax Credit, Form 1041, Settlement (Closing) Statements, and Real Estate Transactions.
Alice is a good and knowledgeable speaker with whom I was familiar from national NATP seminars I had attended in the past. She provided case studies for us to work when dealing with the AMT, and used questions to cover Deductible or Not on the Form 1041 and also for the Real Estate Transactions topic. She provided useful tax planning and preparation tips and strategies in each of her topics.
As I look back on the day, while, again, Alice was a good speaker and covered some good topics, I think I prefer the format that was used last year, and that is used for the January conference, which is several separate presentations by different and differing individuals. I also like having part of the program given by representatives of the IRS and NJ divisions or departments – to get the government perspective and insight on certain issues and concerns.
The room was once again set up with multiple circular tables throughout. While I still prefer the traditional long rectangular table format, the seating was better than last year as chairs were set around only the back-half of the table, allowing for “more better” and less obstructed viewing of the speaker and presentation.
I was truly pleased as punch that, with the exception of a few truly brief mentions in the course of the other presentations, the word “ethics” was not on the agenda! We did not lose two hours of actual tax education by having to listen to the usually obligatory ethics presentation. Kudos to the chapter Education Committee! I wonder if they did this in response to my comments on last year’s program.
The chapter’s Annual Meeting was held immediately following the satisfactory hot and cold buffet lunch held in the same room. The various reports were given via handout and not read. The Presidents report mentioned that the chapter was fast approaching its goal of 1000 members and mentioned the various awards received at the NATP National Conference, held in 2009 in Reno (next year is Austin, Texas – and I plan to attend).
As is the case each year the Annual Meeting included the election of officers, based on geographic “regions”. I had told the Board members I knew that I would be interested in running and had submitted a “resume” to the Nomination Committee for consideration last month, but did not realize that the election would be so soon. In a few of the “regions” a candidate ran “unopposed” – but there was a contest in two of them. As it happened I had “opposition” in my region – and I lost (I knew I should have voted for myself). Several Board members offered condolences and hoped that I would return my hat to the ring next year. I expect I will so do.
The meeting included a brief presentation by Kathy Stanek, Executive Director of NATP, who was billed in prior publicity as the “keynote speaker”. Kathy touched on NJ-NATP history and statistics, touted membership in NATP, and gave out some prizes. There were three admitted non-members in the audience, including my former J P Gill colleague (this was his first NATP or NJ-NATP event), who had, upon my recommendation, decided to join earlier in the day and was given a token gift by Kathy as the “newest member” of NATP.
The Education Committee once again did an excellent job and deserves a “well done”.
To read a more about the day check out my post “This Was A Real Nice Conference” at THE WANDERING TAX PRO.
I truly look forward to the chapter’s excellent New Jersey State Tax Seminar held every year at the same place (Woodbridge Hilton) in January. And I might even attend the December breakfast meeting.
As I said at the end of my TWTP post – “if you are not already a member of the National Association of Tax Professionals you should be! If you decide to join please mention my name as a “referral” and I will get a gift from NATP.”
TAFN
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