Michael Davis

We are pleased to announce five full-time hires, three interns, and one part-time staff accountant for our Grand Rapids and Muskegon offices.

Jacob Barton, intern (Grand Rapids)
Jacob is currently in his senior year at Grand Valley State University. He has two more semesters to obtain his 150 hours, which allows him to sit for the CPA exam. In his free time, Jacob enjoys watching and playing sports, and he has a specific interest in college football and basketball. He currently resides in Wyoming, MI.

Michael Glowacki, staff accountant (Grand Rapids)
Mike has been interning with Brickley DeLong since January 2014. He has obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Public Directed Accounting from Ferris State University, and plans to start sitting for the CPA exam shortly. In his free time he enjoys fishing, being outdoors, and spending time with family and friends. He is excited to begin this new chapter in his life and looks forward to the upcoming tax season. He and his wife currently reside in Howard City.

David (D.J.) Hendrickson, staff accountant (Grand Rapids)
D.J. is from Kalamazoo, MI. He moved to Grand Rapids upon his graduation from high school. He attended Hope College, and then Grand Rapids Community College, where he earned his Associates in Accounting and General Business. He is currently attending Davenport University; in December 2015 he will have earned his BBA and MBA in Accountancy. D.J.’s hobbies include painting, photography, and general home maintenance. He lives in Grand Rapids with his wife and 16-month old son.

Bryan Jacques, staff accountant (Muskegon)
Bryan attended Grand Valley State University for accounting. Prior to studying accounting, he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from Central Michigan. He plans to start sitting for the CPA exam shortly. In his free time, Brian enjoys cycling and spending time with his wife. He currently resides in Grand Rapids.

Shelby Jacobs, administrative assistant (Grand Rapids)
Shelby graduated in 2013 from Ball State University with a degree in Advertising. She hopes to continue her education by getting a Master’s in Human Resources. Her hobbies include traveling, kayaking, reading, shopping, and spending time with her dog.

Zachary Meyers, intern (Muskegon)
Zach is from New Era, MI. He is currently in his third year of college, and is attending Grand Valley State University for accounting. He has previously attended both Calvin and Grand Rapids Community College. In his free time, he enjoys golfing and snowboarding.

Joseph (Joey) Nejedlo, intern (Muskegon)
Joey is from a small town in Wisconsin called Hortonville. He has also lived in Nicaragua and India; so, he is able to speak Spanish, Hindi, and Tamil. He received his first degree in Languages and Cultural Arts of Asia from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His second degree was in Education from Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Now, he is in the MSA program at Grand Valley State University. In his free time, Joey enjoys all kinds of outdoor activities, snowboarding being his favorite. He and his wife currently resides in Norton Shores.

Evan Patterson, staff accountant (Muskegon)
Evan grew up in Ravenna, MI. In 2013, during tax season, he interned with Brickely DeLong in the Muskegon office. He has now graduated from Grand Valley State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and Finance. Currently, Evan is working towards his MBA and 150 hours. He enjoys spending summers at his family’s cottage and snowboarding in the winter. It is a privilege to have Evan back with the firm full-time.

Tonya Shackelford, part-time staff accountant (Muskegon)
Tonya is a Grand Valley State University alumnus and a returning employee to Brickley DeLong. She is married and has four children ages 3 to 12. In her free time, she enjoys photography, scrapbooking, and watching her kids play sports, which include a lot of soccer and dance. She lives with her family in Twin Lake.

Brittany Wright, word processor (Muskegon)
Brittany is our newest administrative team member. Prior to her hire, she worked for a law firm in Grand Rapids. Currently, she is attending Baker College for business management. She lives in Muskegon with her husband and two children. Some of her hobbies include being involved in her church, reading, and hanging out with her kids.

For more information on careers or openings at Brickley DeLong PC, please visit our career pages or contact Christine Dill, firm administrator, 231-726-5835 or cdill@brickleydelong.com.

Brickley DeLong PC is pleased to announce the promotion of three senior managers to partner.

Eric P. Van Dop, CPA	Terry D. Maycroft, CPA	Valerie R. Lewis, CPA

Both Eric and Terry are headquartered in our Muskegon office. Val is headquartered in our Grand Rapids office. We celebrate the achievement of these three individuals and are thankful for their dedication to our firm, clients, and fellow employees.

Our growing firm now has a total of 15 partners and 35 staff members. To learn more about our staff members and opportunities at Brickley DeLong, please contact Christine Dill at (231)-726-5835 or cdill@brickleydelong.com.

Muskegon, MI – Timothy Arter of Brickley DeLong PC has been elected to CPAmerica International’s board of directors. CPAmerica International is a member-driven association of large independent CPA firms.

Chip Helme, leading partner of Thompson, Greenspon & Co., PC in Fairfax, Va., is the new chair of the board. He succeeds 2014 chair, Bryan R. Chandler, leading partner of JamisonMoneyFarmer in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Joseph Ciccarello, leading partner of Gray, Gray & Gray, LLP, has been elected to the vice chair/chair-elect position.

“Last year proved to be a great year and I’m looking forward to what this board will bring to the membership in 2014,” said Alan Deichler, CPAmerica president. “As a member-driven association, the board represents the membership within CPAmerica.”

Among the nine elected board members, returning board members include, J. Brad Steward of Pulakos CPAs, PC; and S. Scott Voynich of Robinson, Grimes & Company, P.C.

The four newly-elected board members include Timothy Arter of Brickley DeLong, PC; John Lauer of HBL CPAs, P.C.; Robert McGowen of McGowen, Hurst, Clark & Smith, P.C.; and Jack Savage, Jr., of CF & Co., L.L.P.

CPAmerica is a unique blend of active members, headquarters staff and expert technical support.

About Brickley DeLong PC:

Brickley DeLong is a full-service public accounting and business consulting firm serving the West Michigan community with offices in Grand Rapids, Muskegon, and Hart. The firm offers personalized services in tax, accounting, audit, consulting and more. Growth in the firm can be attributed to its focus on client relations and dedication to providing quality, reliable services. As a member of CPAmerica, the firm delivers the attention and concern of a local firm paired with the knowledge and skill of a national and worldwide association. Learn more about Brickley DeLong on LinkedIn, Facebook,Twitter, or the firm’s website.

About CPAmerica International:

CPAmerica International is an accounting association of independent, CPA firms that provides practice management support, continuing education, marketing, online services and other programs for the improvement of its member firms. As a member of Crowe Horwath International, the association has more than 670 offices worldwide, and combined firm revenues of the alliance of more than $3 billion. Learn more about CPAmerica on the CPAmerica blog, LinkedIn and Twitter.

As the end of the year approaches, we have some identified helpful articles for individuals and businesses owners to prepare for the upcoming tax season:

Tax Planning Guide 2015

2014 Year End Planning

What’s New for Federal Income Taxes 2014?

10 Year End Tax Moves to Make

For more information on year-end tax planning strategies or to schedule an appointment with one of our CPAs, please contact us at 616-608-8500 (Grand Rapids office) or 231-726-5800 (Muskegon office), and please check out our page on Individual & Business Preparation and Business Consulting.

The Journal of Accountancy published 10 useful Excel shortcuts. As a CPA, I spend a lot of time in excel, and I find shortcuts extremely helpful and they allow me to work more efficiently. These are the 10 listed:

1. The SUM function. Pressing Alt+= in the cell below a column of numbers inserts the SUM function and highlights that column of numbers.
2. Select a range of data. Pressing Ctrl+A inside a range of data selects the data range.
3. Select an entire worksheet. Pressing Ctrl+A outside a range of data selects the entire worksheet.
4. Select a column. Pressing Ctrl+Spacebar selects the entire column where your cursor is located.
5. Select a row. Pressing Shift+Spacebar selects the entire row where your cursor is located.
6. Go to cell A1. Pressing Ctrl+Home moves the cursor to cell A1 (unless you have your Transition navigation keys turned on, in which case pressing the Home key accomplishes this task).
7. Go to the end. Pressing Ctrl+End moves your cursor to the bottom-right corner of the active range. (The active range can be defined as that range from cell A1 to the intersection of the bottommost row and rightmost column in which you have entered data, even if you have since deleted that data.)
8. Hide a column. Pressing Ctrl+0 (zero) hides the current column, or columns if you have more than one column selected. This shortcut even works when you use the Ctrl key to select multiple columns that are not adjacent to one another.
9. Insert the date. Pressing Ctrl+Semicolon inserts the current date.
10. Insert the time. Pressing Ctrl+Shift+Semicolon inserts the current time.

Of the shortcuts listed in this article, I use many of them; but, the one that saves me the most time is the insert date function. There are lots of internal documents that we use that have specific cells used to document a date of when an item is complete.

We invite you to comment below with your experience with Excel shortcuts… either good or bad.

Attached is a link the article,10 Excel Shortcuts by J. Carlton Collins

Author: Edward J. Elsner CPA, CFE

My name is David Milligan, and I am a staff accountant here at Brickley DeLong. As my one year anniversary here at Brickley DeLong approaches, I wanted to countdown five lessons I learned in my first year here.

1. Tax season does not stop for bad weather.

The weather no longer closes work like it did in college. My first day at Brickley DeLong PC was one of the worst ice/snow storms of 2014. Needless to say, it was a stressful drive; but, if I could make it on that day, then the rest of the tax season would be a breeze. The weather is a significant factor when you are driving toward the lakeshore in the middle of winter.

2. You must experience your first tax season to understand it.

Tax season is nothing like what I thought it would be like in college. During my entire time at Grand Valley State University, I only had to prepare a single 1040 for a class. That was definitely not the case once January approached. Learning everything there was about tax made for a quick study on the whole tax side.

3. Tax returns have a “feel” and “smell”.

Partners and managers have a “feel” and “smell” when preparing tax returns. As stated earlier, I had only prepared a single return through college. When I began preparing returns for clients, I would be asked if the return “smelled” or “felt” right. Over the first couple weeks, you get to know exactly what those smells and feelings are. They develop without any conscious thought; and, before long, I could see the input and know what was supposed to be showing up on the return.

4. Audit and tax are very different.

Audits and tax are not similar in any way, well, at least 1040s and audits. Learning how to do both at once was, in my opinion, like jumping off the proverbial deep end. While this was difficult, it also got me acclimated so much quicker. I am so thankful for all of the experience I got at the time. Learning to manage both and overcome the stresses made me a stronger person than if I had eased into it.

5. Workplace culture is important.

The final thing I learned is that the people you work with make all the difference in the world. The feel and culture at Brickley DeLong is amazing. Having people who care about your learning and education are key to your success and prosper in your future career. So, thank you to all who have helped me learn so far, and those who will help me learn in the future.

For more information on the experience of working in a CPA firm, please visit our accounting career pages or contact Christine Dill (231) 726-5835.

The concept of work-life balance has been something that the corporate world has been addressing for many years. With millennials becoming increasingly more prevalent in the work force, the traditional work week is evolving.

Younger professionals are more concerned about flexibility in the jobs than the generations before them. To retain employees, it is extremely important for companies to adapt to this generational shift. The corporate mindset must change to ensure that professionals have the flexibility to fulfill all to their responsibilities and desires (both work-related and personal).

Flexibility means something different for everyone:

• Some people are more interesting in working from home
• Some people would like work compressed work weeks
• Some people require shorter days, possibly due to family obligations
• Some people prefer to work until tasks at hand are complete.

The Bottom Line…

CPA firms are becoming more flexible to meet their employees’ needs.   Talented professionals will always be sought after by growing firms. These individuals are more than capable of taking care of the responsibilities given to them. The more job flexibility awarded to employees, their ability to succeed in all facets of their lives increases.

Here at Brickley DeLong, workplace flexibility has always been awarded to our employees. We work with employees on adjusting their work schedules to help fulfill their personal duties. In addition, flexibility is important in relation to our clients. With new millennials in the workforce, we are adapting to make schedules work best for both our employees and our clientele.

So, what is your take on workplace flexibility? We invite you to comment on this blog post or contact us.

Author: Ed Elsner, CPA, CFE