Meet America’s Tax And Accounting Technology Dream Team

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• January-March 2006 Issue
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From the January 2006 Tax Season Survival Guide

Public accounting is a very special profession. I’m sure you each vividly remember your first day on the job, fresh out of school and … dumb as a box of rocks. Of course, you didn’t know the last part. You (foolishly) assumed that your education had readied you for the actual PRACTICE of public accounting. Little did you know that it hadn’t. You knew theory but not practice. You knew what, maybe even why, but certainly not how. The current demographics of the profession tell me that chances are this happened a very long time ago.

In fact, I recently blogged about an industry leader quipping that “85% of the AICPA membership will retire in the next 15 years,” again emphasizing to you the importance of deep professional experience. When I accepted responsibility for The CPA Technology Advisor, I did so with a visceral belief that the pages within each issue should always reflect such deep professional experience. I believe that the very best content for our magazine comes from practitioners — from thought leaders who are active in the profession. It comes from those who “eat their own dog food.” That’s why I still practice … why I office every day IN a CPA office, surrounded by real, practicing accountants and their trials and tribulations as they seek to serve real, live clients in everyday, typical situations. It’s also why we have assembled the profession’s best and brightest to write for you in every issue. Not as journalists covering a story of which they understand only a little; but as experienced professionals, steeped in years of practice, all with deep professional experience. Each and every member of this team is dedicated to improving the professional lives of America’s practicing accountants.

In addition to providing you with a few stats on each team member, we asked each one to offer a few suggestions or tips for surviving the upcoming season. Let’s meet the team as they take the field together for the first time.

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David M. Cieslak, CPA.CITP, GSEC

David is a Principal in Information Technology Group, Inc. (ITG), a computer consulting firm with offices in Simi Valley and Huntington Beach, Calif. He specializes in micro-computer accounting systems, information security, the Windows operating environment, eCommerce, handheld computing, systems development and project management.

He is currently an instructor for K2 Enterprises and a frequent speaker for the California Society of Certified Public Accountants (CalCPA), the AICPA and other state accounting societies.
He speaks on computerized accounting topics, information security, handheld computing, electronic commerce, Linux and the Windows operating environment. He has taught microcomputer classes for California State University at Northridge and has written articles for CSCPA Outlook, California CPA and the AICPA InfoTech Update. He is currently on the editorial board of the California CPA. He is a Sage ACCPAC ERP and Sage ACCPAC Plus Certified Consultant, a Windows Certified Professional and holds the GIAC Security Essentials Certification (GSEC).

David currently chairs the AICPA IT Executive Committee and serves on the Information Technology Alliance board of directors and CalCPA Council. He is the past president of the California CPA Education Foundation and an active participant with the CalCPA State Technology Committee and Westside Microcomputer Users Discussion Group. He is past chairman of the CalCPA State Technology Committee and former member of the AICPA Information Technology Practices Sub-Committee. He is a member of various other AICPA and CalCPA planning committees for courses, conferences and computer shows.