FAQ

Who attends this event?

The audience for the Symposium is comprised of about 59% nonprofit staff, typically CFOs, Controllers and other accounting staff. About 35% of our attendees are staff of public accounting firms who specialize in the nonprofit industry, and the rest are service providers and government employees. Our nonprofit registrants come from a balance of c3 and c6 organizations.  Approximately 1/3 of our nonprofit attendees have annual budgets of $1-10MM, 40% from $10-50MM and another 1/3 over $50MM. 90% of attendees are from the DC metro area.
 

What kinds of topics are you looking for?

Each year we offer a wide variety of sessions in accounting, auditing, tax compliance and management topics. Our program features hot topics like cybersecurity and technical innovations, but also has a strong base of yellow book and accounting or auditing standards topics. Our audience is sophisticated and expects intermediate or advanced level sessions. A list of all session titles for the past three years follows at the end of the FAQ section.
 

What kinds of speakers are you looking for?  

The Symposium audience has high expectations of our speakers. This is not the venue for an inexperienced presenter, and if submissions don’t include evidence of past professional speaking success, they are unlikley to be selected. The audience appreciates speakers who are confident in front of a large group (breakouts average 100-200), have command of the topic and who welcome Q & A. They appreciate expert perspectives on some issues, but they especially enjoy when they can hear from others in industry with practical experience. Attendees also seem to like when they can hear from both a practitioner and a client who have teamed up to present a case study, or from a panel of nonprofit staff sharing their experiences. The nonprofit sector is diverse and our attendees appreciate when diversity is represented both in the professional experiences and the ethnicity/gender/etc of our speakers.  And of course, accountants do appreciate humor.
 

What session formats work well?

We typically divide sessions into 50 or 75 min breakout time slots, with a couple of longer 100 min "hands on" workshops. Any session format can work as long as the speaker and topic is engaging.  In a two day conference with a lot of sitting, speakers who move around and involve the audience in their session through video, live polling or Q & A do get a better response. Long and detailed PPTs can be nice reference materials, but deviating from slides with examples and storytelling keeps their attention better. Attendees are seated theater style, so physical participation or small group discussion is not typical.
 

Can I submit with a co-presenter or propose a panel?

You can submit with a co-presenter or as a panel, but must be explicit about the role of each person and why you need to have multiple speakers. We will not consider more than 2 speakers for a 50 min session.
 

Can I submit for a general session/keynote?

No, keynote presentations are by invitation of the GWSCPA Symposium Planning Committee only.
 

Does the GWSCPA pay Symposium speakers?

We do not pay speakers for breakout sessions at the Symposium. Speakers do receive a deeply discounted rate of registration for the full conference, if they desire to stay and receive CPE credit.We do not reimburse travel expenses for breakout session speakers.
 

What if I don’t get selected?

This process is competitive and every year we receive more submissions than we have available sessions. GWSCPA will notify all submissions of their status. If you do not get selected, we will keep your submission on file for a year and may contact you to present in a different venue (our monthly Nonprofit Section meetings, for example.)
 

What are the next steps if I do get selected?

The Planning Committee anticipates notifying all selected speakers by July 15, 2017. At that time, you will receive a speaker contract and additional due dates for slides and your preview article about your session for our marketing efforts. You will also schedule a time for a prep call with someone from the Planning Committee over the summer to prepare you for the event. All presenters must participate in a prep call. 
 

All Session Titles for the last three years:

• "WHAT IF..." Assessing risk in the small nonprofit--a practical approach.
• 1  Software for Project-Driven Non-Profits!
• 50 Ways to lose your exemption
• Affordable Care Act
• Navigating the Audit Process
• That Can't Be Legal
• 990 Basics
• Accounting & Auditing Update
• Accounting, Auditing & Particularly Financial Reporting
• Active vs. Passive Investment Mgmt / True Costs
• Adaptive Insights-Tech Demo
• Addressing Low Returns and Higher Market Volatility – Is Now the Time to Consider Alternative Investments?
• Advanced Unrelated Business Income Tax Topics
• Affinity Programs
• Anatomy of an EO Merger
• Are You Leaving Funding on the Table?: The Importance of Calculating an Indirect Rate
• Behind the Headlines
• Best Practices for Retirement Plan Fiduciaries
• Best Practices in Treasury Management
• Beyond Dashboarding
• Bi360 Reporting and Budgeting
• Bridging the 'GAAP' Between the Accounting and Development Departments
• Building an Accounting Career
• Capitol Hill Update
• Nonprofit Turnarounds
• The CFO as COO
• IT Security Risk Assessment
• Changes from the OMB Circular/Indirect Rates---Advanced
• Changes from the OMB Circular/Indirect Rates---Intermediate
• Charitable Solicitation
• Cloud Computing 101
• Coming Soon:  Flexible Financial Statement Format
• Common Plan Failures and Correcting Plan Errors with IRS and/or DOL correction programs
• Contracts: What Nonprofits Need to Know
• Controller Special Session: Managing your Career
• Systems Implementation
• Cost Accounting for Nonprofit Entities
• Crossing the Line: State Nexus Triggers
• Cybersecurity 101: What You Need to Know
• Cybersecurity: Aligning Data Governance Practices with Incident Response Plans
• DC Employers Update
• Designing An Effective Chart of Accounts Structure - Pitfalls to Avoid and Critical Things to Consider
• Development Stages of an Organization and It's Board; What to do when they are at different stages.
• Driving Social Innovation
• e-Commerce in the Not-for-Profit Arena
• Economic Development Panel
• Emerging Trends in Corporate Board Governance, a Lesson for Nonprofit Boards?
• Employee Benefit Plan Fraud
• Employment Law for the CPA
• Enemy at the Gates – Cyber Criminals Take Aim at Nonprofit Organizations
• Enterprise Risk Management for Not for Profit Organizations
• ERM
• Ethical Hacking
• Ethics
• Excel Productivity Tips and Tricks for Nonprofit Organizations
• Executive Compensation:  Best Practices Now and In the Future
• Exemption Issues of 501(c)(4), (5) and (6) Organizations
• Expanding the Donor Base -- Federal and International Funding
• FASB Standards Update
• FASB's Financial Statements of Not for Profit Entities Project
• FATCA Applies to You, Too!
• Firm  Mergers/The Landscape of the Profession
• Flexible Financial Statement Formats - Circa 2014
• Foreign Activities: Raising Awareness of Compliance Issues for Your Organization
• Form 990 Hot Topics
• Form 990 Update
• Form 990: The New IRS Tool for EO Examination Selection
• Fraud  Studies: What can we learn
• Fraud Risk Assessments in Nonprofit Organizations
• Fuel Your Mission with NetSuite
• Good Governance, Sound Policies, Effective Committees
• Has Asset Allocation Collapsed Under Its Own Weight? A lively debate between experts.
• How to Develop Indirect Rates for Nonprofits with Federal Awards
• How to Implement Subpart F Audit Requirements under CFR 200
• Identifying & Documenting Non-cash and In-kind Contributions
• Improving CFOs relationships with their CEO and Board
• Indirect Cost Rates Under the Super Circular
• Intacct-Tech Demo
• IRS Tax Exempt Organizations Division Update
• I've Got UBIT! Now What Do I Do?
• Know What You Own
• Law Enforcement, the Forensic Investigator, and You
• Lobbying and Politics for Nonprofits, the Rules Aren't Red and Blue
• Managing Risks in the Organization
• Microsoft Dynamics GP-Tech Demo
• Mistakes that even "clean" clients make
• Mobile Device Security and Privacy in the Age of Snowden and Hackers
• NAC Perspective for Implementation Panel
• New Market Tax Credits
• NFP Governance: 10 Effective Strategies for Your 10 Most Dreadful Challenges
• Nonprofit Financial Statement Reporting Project
• Nonprofit policy panel-what's coming
• Oh No COSO! A Practical Approach to Risk Assessment and Monitoring of Controls
• Perfecting the Charitable Promotion: Legal, Financial and Practical Considerations for Commercial Co-Ventures
• Principles of Good Governance
• Public Practice Special Session
• Putting Your Finger on the Information (iQ software)-Tech Demo
• Regional Economic Outlook
• Reputation Risk and How to Build and Protect Ethical Culture
• Revenue Recognition Challenges and Solutions for Nonprofits
• Risk Based Reserve Policies
• Show me the money! …And if not the money, at least how to get revenue recognition right!
• "Sip & Snack: Meet the Experts in the Knowledge Lounge"
• "Sip & Snack: Meet the Experts in the Knowledge Lounge"
• State and Local Tax
• State Charitable Solicitation Compliance
• Take Heed: UPMIFA- It's more than Alphabet Soup
• Tallie Expense Software-Tech Demo
• Tax exempt bonds
• Tax Issues Unique to Sec. 501(c)(6) Business Leagues
• Ten Ways Accounting Professionals can Drive Impact on Nonprofit Boards
• The Annual Check-Up: Evaluating the Health of Your Investment Consulting Relationship
• The Basic Law for Nonprofit/Tax-Exempt Membership Organizations
• The Compliance Supplement, De Minimis Rates, and Everything in Between - Auditing under the Super Circular
• The Importance of Allocations to Not For Profit Organizations
• The New COSO; How to Make it Work for Smaller Organizations
• The New Leasing Standard - Better Late than Never??
• The New Normal for NFP Governance
• The OMB’s New “Super-Circular:”  What to Expect
• The Overhead Myth Letter - What's Next?
• The Supercircular-Up Close and Personal
• The Top 10 Legal Pitfalls for Nonprofits
• Turning Conflict Into Consensus:  Building Collaboration @ Work
• UBIT
• Understanding Fiduciary Best Practices for Defined Contribution Plans
• Understanding your lease language and its effects
• Update from Capitol Hill
• Using Data Analytics to Detect Fraud
• What in the World Is Happening? A Practitioner's Perspective on Global Markets & Economy
• What's Special About Nonprofit Mergers?
• White-Collar Criminals: The Psychopath in the Office