Fifth Edition Marquis Who’s Who INSIGHT 25 JAMES A. PASCHAL, EDD Professor, Director (Retired) Family Counseling Center Atlanta, GA https://www.24-7pressrelease. com/press-release/495587 How have you navigated disruptions in your industry to remain a top professional? I had others who helped me. What excites you the most about your industry? I like knowing that, when people have problems, we can talk to them, and they will come back with smiles later, and they’ll thank us. That means a lot to me. I am always trying to be helpful to others. Once a week, I go to the Kroc Center — with the Salvation Army — to talk to young children. You would be surprised by the problems these kids have, and they have no one to talk to. I was also thinking about renewing my license to go to a church and set up an office. It bothers me when people have problems and have no one to talk to. MARILYNN J. SMILEY, PHD State University of New York at Oswego Oswego, NY youtu.be/I56b5-ATxbs What is the most important issue/challenge you are dealing with in your industry? We need to make others understand the importance of education because it can turn them into better people, not just earn them more money. It can help people get more out of life because they’ll understand everything much more in-depth. How do you feel your industry has changed/evolved? After my residency in 1964 and 1965, Oswego started becoming a liberal arts school. We had professors from more diverse backgrounds and strong language and philosophy departments. We also offered more in-depth courses in music history, music theory and applied music. Our college changed completely, and the attitudes were different — there was this new interest in politics and pop culture. ELLEN V. SPRINGER Founder Springer and Company CPAs PC Kennesaw, GA www.springercpa.com/ What is the most important issue/ challenge you are dealing with in your industry? The constantly changing government regulations and rules. Congress has even changed the rules mid-tax season. The second challenge is talking to government officials (IRS) about notices and updates. Sometimes, we sit on the phone for hours and nobody answers, or we are cut off near a shift change or when the IRS agent answers, their computer is down. What innovations or technologies do you feel will shape the future of your industry? I believe some technologies have complicated our business. I used to be able to talk with a person at the IRS or a vendor and then follow up with a letter or email and the issues would be handled. Now, we have to deal with the latest technology integrated into the websites of different entities and a person isn’t involved. When we try to involve a person, they don’t care or want to be helpful. I feel like I am fighting for everything these days. I believe that scanners and ocular readers that put information into software will continue to make paper obsolete, but a person still needs to verify the data. It still requires a tax professional to review and think about the client’s situation and consider what other tax laws might benefit the client and then provide that information to the software. Software and computers are still limited in their performance and may not catch everything for more complicated tax situations.
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