This will be an interactive session with multiple polls to garner attendees input on the craziness of it all. We will discuss tax season 2020: what we learned, what worked, what didn't. Come prepared to push yourself to think about tax season 2021.

In the past we thought of earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and cyber attacks as having the potential to impact business continuity and disaster recovery planning. Now the COVID-19 Pandemic has dealt us a new blow in our planning process and exposed areas not previously addressed. Les and Jim have previously dealt with other disasters and now they both have experienced the impact of the recent pandemic. In this session they each will talk about lessons learned from dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and what worked and didn’t work in their previous planning. They’ll also discuss what they will be changing going forward.

The change to completely remote work has challenged the profession in many ways, particularly for A&A. It’s hard for many auditors to imagine not going on-site for an audit mainly because we have always done it that way. Even in the at-client environment, auditors tend not to take full advantage of the on-site face-to-face connection with their client. The challenges from the pandemic have hit your clients as hard as your firm, if not more so. The earth has shifted under all our feet, and forced auditors to retool the way they carry out their work. The result: an audit model that can become the new normal for your firm over the long haul. This session will cover the three critical components and best practices of remote auditing: Computer use, Connection and Corroboration. Regardless of the extent of your remote audit approach, you should focus on the three C’s as the framework.

Time is the only asset we have that is not renewable. It is valuable and at the end of the day, we spent our time on what was most important. We must be intentional in how we use our time, or we will lose it. Many of us are overwhelmed with the magnitude of what we need to accomplish every day. This workshop-style presentation will walk you through how you are currently using your time, evaluating that against what your ideal work day/week looks like, and then implementing strategies to create the change you desire. The attendee will walk away with real action items to address their overwhelm.

Digital transformation is happening and will disrupt most aspects of the traditional finance function & organization. In the new role of strategist and captain, CFO's and Finance have a greater opportunity than ever before to embrace technology and serve as change agent across the entire enterprise. Understanding the capabilities and opportunities of digital intelligence is paramount to taking a leading role in this change. Anjan is leading the transformation of finance across GE and will be sharing insights on the successes and failures of his ongoing journey

Enhancing your Firm’s profitability is more than simply raising rates and working more hours. Join Bill Pirolli for this popular session on how to drive up your Firm’s profits by working smarter, not harder. This session, for Firms of all sizes, will review the most recent MAP Survey profitability statistics and discuss seven key drivers of profitability including staff education, client selection, billing and collection practices and holding yourself and others accountable.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine-learning promise to transform and revolutionize the way virtually every organization does business. But what does a successful adoption and roll-out plan look like? What are the essential steps to successfully deploy AI and where are the best opportunities for rapid ROI? This session explores AI from a practical point-of-view and provides detailed examples of where and how AI can be deployed and leveraged across key business processes.

COVID-19 tax changes made significant changes to TCJA changes including for NOLs, business loss limitations and depreciation. This program reviews the details of these changes with a focus on how they change prior tax planning approaches.

The ability to say no is important inside and outside of the work environment. You should be realistic as to what you can and cannot do. Not prioritizing your time can lead to burnout, stress, depression, and resentment towards others. This interactive session will help you learn how to say no or offer alternatives, which will benefit you both personally and professionally.

Benjamin Franklin is famously quoted as saying 'nothing is certain except for death and taxes', but in today's world, he might have also included 'change'. Leaders are constantly challenged with accelerating change and growing interdependence across the organisation. But how can leaders create an environment that encourages teams to speak up without fear and embrace agile ways of working? Pardeep (aka Paddy) Dhanda will introduce 6 leadership plays from David Marquet's new book, Leadership is Language, that provide a practical approach to embedding a culture of psychological safety within teams.