Steve Surace, CPA, CFF, MBA, Chief Operating Officer of Adjusters International/Basloe, Levin & Cuccaro and Chief Financial Officer of Adjusters International, recently spoke on the importance of volunteering within your community. The New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants Conference for Young CPAs: NextGen was held on June 6th, and focused on career development specifically for young financial professionals. As skilled volunteer work is a topic near to Surace's heart (he sits on the board of several community groups, including the United Way, and is a member of his church’s finance committee), Surace presented his session on "How to Use Your Skills to Give Back to the Community." Throughout this session, Surace gave many examples of ways that CPAs can assist their local non-profit organizations, who are in dire need of financial volunteers. With recent changes to New York State's non-profit laws that call for more active financial oversight, it is even more important to the success of these non-profits to have CPA volunteers that they can call on.

Surace stressed that volunteering is a major component of professional development for all CPAs, and especially so for those who are just starting out in their careers. "By volunteering, you can be involved in a lot of high-level conversations that can add so much value," said Surace. "This is a great way to develop skill sets at an early age."