2010-2011 Year in Review - California Society of Enrolled Agents

YEAR IN REVIEW 

The annual CSEA Year in Review publication provides a snapshot of Society activities and advises Members of finan- 

cial data for the previous year. All Officers, Committee Chairs, and Chapter Presidents are invited to submit statements 

reflecting their work and accomplishments for the year, and the work of their committees and Chapters. This publication 

provides a vivid portrait of the California Society of Enrolled Agents as well as its leaders and Members in 2010-2011, 

thereby serving as a keepsake of our treasured past and a signpost to our future success. 

Introduction 

As anyone who has taken the time to look around will 

attest: There is simply no doubt that CSEA is a Society of and 

for its Members. The hallmarks of member-driven decisions 

abound and active volunteerism is deeply engrained in the 

culture and identity of the organization. But while a talented 

cadre of volunteers worked tirelessly for the Society on more 

than a dozen committees and task forces, an equally talented 

staff worked in tandem with volunteers to implement the Board 

and committees’ vision, working toward accomplishing the 

mission of the Society at every turn. The CSEA staff is proud to 

represent the Enrolled Agent community and is dedicated to 

providing the assistance Enrolled Agents need to succeed. 

Since 1999 this staff team was led expertly by then- 

Executive Vice President Catherine A. Apker, CAE; but in 

mid-2010, Ms. Apker would announce her impending retirement 

plans for the beginning of 2011. Society leaders 

knew at that moment that the year would, indeed, be one 

of transition with the hiring of Ms. Apker’s successor. The 

EVP Search Committee worked diligently to recruit the next 

leader who would assume the helm and, in November 2010, 

selected Scarlett D. Vanyi, CAE as CSEA’s new Executive Vice 

President beginning in January 2011. Since that time Ms. 

Vanyi has been focused on quickly and effectively assimilating 

into her new role as CSEA’s chief staff, getting to know staff 

and becoming familiar with the full spectrum of services 

and products provided by the Society. Ms. Vanyi has placed 

special emphasis on building her staff team so they can best 

serve CSEA Members and getting to know CSEA Member 

leaders and key industry contacts on both the state and 

federal levels. The new EVP has been guided throughout 

this process by a Transition Team led by President Kim Kastl, 

EA, First Vice President Jean Nelsen, EA and Past President 

Connie Ferrell, EA. 

Since July 1, 2010, several changes have been implemented 

in the Society staffing structure to more effectively 

meet Member needs. Joe Calderaro, EA, a tax legend with 

40 years of IRS experience was secured to provide Member 

assistance as a tax resource specialist. Jana Perinchief was 

hired as Communications Coordinator responsible for staffing 

the Public Information & Awareness Committee and 

generating a variety of publications including the magazine, 

newsletter, social media posts, press releases and the Year in 

Review. Peggy Marshall was hired as the Society’s part-time 

Human Resources Coordinator. And Ashley Soy was hired 

in a hybrid capacity to assist with a myriad of projects and 

take the lead in promoting all CSEA offerings to maximize 

Society revenues as the Assistant to the EVP/Marketing 

Coordinator. Meanwhile, the Society decided to outsource 

its information technology needs to a local service provider 

in lieu of maintaining a designated staff position. 

CSEA 2010-2011 Year in Review 

1

STAFF REPORT 

Governance 

The Board’s dedication to good governance is evident in 

all that it does as it continues to implement policy governance 

into its culture. The Board significantly revised the Society’s 

governing documents with the adoption of a new Board Policy 

Governance Manual in January 2010. Meanwhile, CSEA committees 

have been led by strong volunteer leaders who are 

bringing renewed engagement and excitement to the Society. 

These committees have been extremely active, even between 

face-to-face meetings, as volunteers become more comfortable 

with online video conferencing to conduct their business. 

Quite possibly one of the most important, and therefore 

debated and contentious, issues facing the Society this year 

was the possibility of a name change for Enrolled Agents. The 

Internal Revenue Service invited the National Association of 

Enrolled Agents (NAEA) to recommend a name change for 

Enrolled Agents more descriptive of what EAs do and that would 

serve to set EAs apart from a new category of tax preparer being 

envisioned in the next version of Circular 230. After performing 

significant research, surveying members, and hearing extensive 

testimony, the NAEA Board voted 7-6 to recommend that the 

IRS retain the name “Enrolled Agent” in regulation. 

Membership & Member Benefits 

CSEA and NAEA teamed up to coordinate a membership 

drive from November 1, 2010 through January 31, 2011 

resulting in 140 new members, and CSEA’s Membership 

Committee launched a second membership drive on May 1, 

2011. Super Seminars featured the first-ever New Member 

Meet & Greet Reception that welcomed new Members by 

introducing them to seasoned Members and staff as well as 

Society programs and services. 

The Business Partner Program was successfully launched 

and staff has been busy negotiating agreements with several 

partners to provide Members with enhanced benefits and 

discounts. CSEA has devoted significant time to researching 

Member benefits to add to its repertoire including long-term 

care, disability insurance, health, dental, homeowners and car 

insurance discounts. Placer Insurance is now offering bonding 

for Members required to be bonded, and several valued industry 

providers were welcomed into the Business Partner Program. 

A Booth in a Box was purchased by CSEA to enhance 

our professional appearance at tradeshows and events. 

This booth will be used at the Super Seminars, IRS Forums, 

Chapter Seminars, job fairs and other CSEA educational 

events. The booths are also available for Chapter purchase 

at a discounted rate. 

2 CSEA 2010-2011 Year in Review 

Education 

Providing quality education to the tax practitioner community 

is undeniably one of the most important services 

CSEA provides. The Society’s signature educational offering is 

Super Seminars, which provides 24 hours of continuing professional 

education (CPE) to those who attend the seminars 

offered annually for the past 29 years in Las Vegas and Reno. 

All early indicators suggest that the 2011 Super Seminars 

were a resounding success. Total registrations for the two 

seminars totaled nearly 1400 attendees and 56 exhibitors. 

CSEA is extremely pleased and honored that OPR Director 

Karen Hawkins delivered what became the keynote address 

during each Super Seminar drawing nearly 400 attendees at 

each seminar. 

A new badge scanning procedure was launched this 

year to automate attendance tracking, a new full-color brochure 

serving as the seminar program also debuted at this 

year’s seminars, and CSEA provided laptops and projectors 

for speaker use for the first time this year for speaker 

convenience and to run a specially developed presentation 

during intermissions. The Las Vegas Supers again featured 

a technology-centered seminar entitled TaxTech featuring 

sessions to help tax professionals more effectively engage 

technology in their practice. 

As the Year in Review is assembled, preparations for the 

Annual Meeting are well underway. CSEA Staff and volunteers 

from the San Gabriel Valley host Chapter are working 

diligently to put the finishing touches on a week of activities 

that includes an opportunity for Members to participate in 

Society business while earning CPE and enjoying the fellowship 

of tax professionals from across the state. It promises to 

be a fantastic event featuring 19 hours of CPE, Annual Meeting 

festivities and committee and Board meetings. 

Advocacy 

The CSEA lobbying team comprised of staff, Legislative 

Affairs Committee members and advocates at Aaron Read 

& Associates have worked diligently in a coordinated effort 

to represent Enrolled Agents at the State Capitol and before 

a variety of regulatory agencies such as the Franchise Tax 

Board, Board of Equalization and the Employment Development 

Department. 

On the state legislative front, CSEA has worked to incorporate 

language into SB 542 to clarify current law intended 

to exempt EAs from a requirement that EAs become licensed 

as professional fiduciaries in particular situations. The Society 

worked to oppose SB 653 (Steinberg) that sought to expand 

local agency tax authority and continues to oppose nearly 

identical language contained in SBX1 23.

CSEA Members have actively participated in the legislative 

process by becoming involved in grassroots advocacy 

on behalf of their Society and their profession. Not only did 

a large delegation participate in CSEA’s Jim Stern Legislative 

Day in January 2011, but CSEA Members attended a series 

of NAEA meetings in Washington, DC in April 2011 including 

the Fly-In Day, Affiliate Presidents’ Exchange (APEX) and 

NAEA Board meeting. California was well represented with 

a 17-member delegation that met with 13 Congressional 

offices. 

While visiting Washington, DC for NAEA meetings, CSEA 

leaders also met with IRS Office of Professional Responsibility 

(OPR) Director Karen Hawkins who shared historical perspectives 

on the Enrolled Agent designation and advised on 

how the IRS anticipates handling issues related to testing, 

monitoring and education for Enrolled Agents and registered 

tax return preparers in the future. 

Communications and Public Relations 

CSEA publications have undergone a facelift of sorts in 

the past few months. The California Enrolled Agent magazine 

has revised its publication schedule from nine to six issues 

per year and has launched its first edition printed in a full 

color format. A new media kit that includes new advertising 

opportunities and a revised pricing structure was also 

recently finalized. 

CSEA has merged the BEAcon and the SEArchlight into 

one new electronic newsletter called CSEA News & Events. 

This new publication will cover a wide range of topics such 

as state and federal tax news as well as information about 

Chapter and Society meetings, events and education. 

CSEA has sustained efforts to promote the Enrolled Agent 

image through a myriad of media including radio advertising, 

press releases and social media site postings. 

Following the Board’s adoption of a new logo in June 

2010, CSEA began rolling out the new logo on all Society 

collateral, on the website, and even on the exterior of the 

headquarters building, which is now graced with an attractive 

sign that proudly displays our new logo for all visitors 

and passers-by to enjoy. 

Without a doubt, 2010-2011 has been a year of transition 

for CSEA with evidence of remarkable progress on many 

fronts. Staff is proud to be a part of this progress and looks 

forward to serving you in the years ahead. 

Respectfully submitted, 

CSEA staff (year of hire follows title) 

Scarlett D. Vanyi, CAE 

Executive Vice President (2011) 

Karen Clifford 

Finance Coordinator (2004) 

Laurie Cole 

Membership/Projects Coordinator (1992) 

Lisa Kelly 

Office Assistant (2008) 

Peggy Marshall 

Human Resource Coordinator (2011) 

Debi Nogle 

Events Manager (2007) 

Jana Perinchief 

Communications/ 

Marketing Coordinator (2010) 

Ashley Soy 

Marketing Coordinator/ 

Assistant to the EVP (2011) 

Cary M. Steward 

Director of Marketing & 

Member Development (2010) 


3 

STAFF REPORT

STAFF REPORT 

Mission Statement 

The California Society of Enrolled Agents is a progressive, 

professional association dedicated to serving EAs in 

California and abroad, enabling them to grow, prosper, and 

lead as “The” Tax Professionals while serving taxpayers in 

a dynamic, rapidly changing environment with integrity 

and trust. 

Vision Statement 

Core Purpose: 

To assist Members as they protect and serve taxpayers. 

Core Values: 

Service with integrity, accepting challenges as opportunities, 

and valuing relationships. 

Big, Hairy Audacious Goal: 

To dominate the tax profession. 

Vivid Description: 

“Enrolled Agent” is a household word, and the Enrolled 

Agent function is commonly understood. Enrolled Agents 

and other tax professionals actively seek out membership 

and affiliation in CSEA. More than 90% of all active Enrolled 

Agents in California are Members. CSEA is the expert in 

communicating and collaborating regularly with state and 

federal tax agencies. 

CSEA membership and leadership are diverse and 

Member Enrolled Agents are competent to serve a pluralistic 

society. 

All tax professionals and preparers are required to pass 

the Enrolled Agent examination. 

Public awareness and respect for Enrolled Agents are 

universal. Enrolled Agents have become interwoven into the 

fabric of society and are an integral part of tax preparation 

and representation. Legislators, regulators, and the media call 

CSEA first when needing information about issues relating 

to tax or the impact on taxpayers. CSEA is the clear leader 

in legislation and public policy relating to tax and is seen 

as the source of cutting-edge information for the public. 

Enrolled Agents now hold key decision-making positions in 

government agencies and private industry because of their 

expertise. The bottom line on tax information will be to “See 

your Enrolled Agent.” 


Goals 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

To enhance the visibility, recognition and preferred 

acceptance of EAs, Enrolled Agents, as “The” Tax Professionals 

and to promote CSEA Members to the general 

public. 

To be an effective voice in advocacy for the rights of 

taxpayers and Enrolled Agents before all State levels 

of legislative and regulatory agencies and Federal 

agencies as deemed necessary. 

To provide educational opportunities and resources to 

assist our Members in their professional growth. 

To provide effective communication with Members 

and the public. 

To identify and meet the current and future needs 

of Members. 

To strengthen CSEA/NAEA/Chapter partnerships. 

To manage the Society in an effective and efficient 

manner. 

To ensure a stable and growing Membership.

President Kim Kastl, EA 

This year has been dedicated to you, the 

Members. You, the Members, have been the 

core of consideration for all current projects 

and strategic planning for our future. I hope 

as you read the year-end committee reports 

you will see this too; I am particularly proud of 

the hard work and collaborative efforts of this 

year’s CSEA Chairs. 

In this year I was fortunate to have been 

invited to and was able to visit all nineteen 

CSEA Chapters. For me, this was the highlight 

of the year. Thank you for welcoming me so 

graciously to your Board and dinner meetings. 

What struck me most were the similarities of 

all the Chapters. Each Chapter has dedicated 

volunteers who greet its Members and track the 

education. Each Chapter has Chairs who work 

to keep their Chapters growing in both number 

of Members and in promoting the profession 

of Enrolled Agents. Chapters large and small 

alike share the same issues and often work in 

collaboration. Through job-alike workshops, 

such as Legislative Affairs, Public Information & 

Awareness, Education and Membership, CSEA 

and Chapters have been able to work better 

together and achieve more. 

This past year CSEA was able to bring to its 

Members a brand new website! Yay! This truly 

was a team effort between volunteers working 

closely with staff to build a website that is an 

intuitive and useful resource. If you haven’t 

visited the website yet I encourage you to do 

so – it was built for you! 

First Vice President Jean Nelson, EA 

In looking back over the past year, a few highlights 

come to mind. We began the year with 

the resignation of our long time Executive Vice 

President (EVP), Cathy Apker, CAE. The possibility 

of her resignation had hung over our heads 

for some time and when possibility turned into 

reality, I and the other Members of the Executive 

Committee, along with two Past Presidents, were 

charged with the difficult task of locating and 

hiring the person who could best fill Cathy’s position. 

Fortunately we found this person in Scarlett 

Vanyi, who was welcomed in as our new EVP at 

the January 2011 Board Meeting. Scarlett not 

only understood the enormity of the position that 

Cathy had so beautifully filled, but she also came 

with her own unique set of skills and talents, and 

a willingness to jump in and use them. 

We didn’t stop there. CSEA also rolled out 

its recent branding efforts beginning with our 

new logo that reflects both our federal designation 

and the state in which we practice. The 

branding process won’t stop with our shiny 

new logo but will continue on with establishing 

our brand as a Society dedicated to serving 

EAs in California and abroad, enabling them 

to grow and prosper. 

Lastly, but certainly not least, the Society 

found a wonderful new Executive Vice President 

(EVP), Scarlett Vanyi, CAE, to take over 

and lead where Cathy Apker, CAE left off. We 

are fortunate to have found someone who has 

embraced our cause and brought her own set 

of unique skills to help us achieve our vision 

and goals. The EVP Search Committee worked 

diligently to first carefully determine what skills 

were needed in a new EVP, then rank, score and 

interview candidates. Through this deliberative 

process we were rewarded with an EVP who 

is proving herself most excellent in her first 

six months. 

So, dear Members, you can see why I feel 

this has been a most rewarding year. I am 

heartened by how much we can do when we 

work together. Thank you so much for this 

opportunity to serve you. 

Respectfully and sincerely submitted, 

Kim Kastl, EA 

President 

In August 2010, CSEA and the IRS conducted 

joint seminars entitled the CSEA-IRS Representation 

Workshop. This seminar is the replacement 

for the one that in past years was entitled “The 

New Enrolled Agent Seminar.” The name change 

was instituted because it was felt that the information 

that was presented was valuable to all 

Enrolled Agents, not just newly licensed EAs. 

An additional location, Los Angeles, was added 

to the Oakland and Laguna Nigel offerings. The 

result of these changes is that all three locations 

were sold out well in advance. This seminar is 

a one day workshop with subjects such as the 

new Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) 

requirements, Offer-In-Compromise, Collection, 

Examination and Appeals. Sessions are led by IRS 

representatives with extensive background in 

each of their areas of expertise. The last two hours 


5 

OFFiCERS

OFFiCERS 


of the workshop is led by a CSEA representative 

and covers a lot of these topics but from the practitioner 

point of view. Joni Terens, EA has taught 

the Laguna Nigel location for several years and 

Jennifer Mac Millan, EA taught the new Los Angeles 

location, while I taught the Oakland location. In 

a follow-up email received by all of us a couple of 

days after the final presentation in Oakland, Marc 

Zine, IRS Senior Stakeholder and coordinator of the 

IRS portion of the workshop, stated that he was 

“in awe at the level of expertise in the presentations 

of the CSEA instructors.” We were truly well 

represented at all of these locations. 

In late August several CSEA representatives attended 

the IRS Forum in Las Vegas and San Diego. 

I had the pleasure of attending the San Diego location 

along with President Kastl, EA, Cary M. Steward, 

CSEA staff and several other members of CSEA. 

We staffed the NAEA booth, talking to attendees 

about becoming an Enrolled Agent. Several representatives 

from NAEA were also present and it was 

great getting the opportunity to spend time with 

them. President Kastl, George Van Buren, EA and I 

attended the IRS Oversight Committee led by IRS 

representatives Mary Turville and Russell Geiman. 

Preparer regulations and PTINs were the topic of the 

day and we all utilized the opportunity to express 

our collective concerns. I happened to sit next to 

Mary Turville during this meeting and couldn’t help 

but notice that at the end of the hour her notebook 

was full of notes that I am sure she took back to 

Washington, DC with her. Later in the evening, 

President Kastl and I also had the opportunity to 

connect with Office of Professional Responsibility 

Director Karen Hawkins. 

Second Vice President Raven Deerwater, EA, PhD 

Immediately after being installed as Second 

Vice President of CSEA, I won the first EA Idol 

competition. View it at http://www.youtube.com/ 

watch?v=Kg1_t8Sdbfw. 

In May of 2010, I volunteered to review the old 

Board Policy Manual to eliminate duplications and 

evaluate each of the current Board Directives in 

light of CSEA’s transition to Policy Governance®. 

My final report was submitted to the Executive 

Committee for its September 24, 2010 meeting 

in Sacramento, and the changes were approved 

at the January 2011 Board Meeting. 

I served as Cognizant Officer of two very active 

Committees, Education and Legislative Affairs. 

Margy Dunn, EA, Chair of the Education Committee, 

and I worked together developing and 

In early November, I attended the NAEA Board 

Meeting and Affiliate Presidents’ Exchange (APEX) 

Meeting in Alexandria, VA. The APEX Meeting is 

a gift to all the Affiliates. During these meetings 

we received information on two educational 

institutions that CSEA is exploring for possible 

future use, a parliamentary procedure primer, a rebranding 

presentation, a lunchtime presentation 

by Dave Williams, IRS Director of Electronic Tax 

Administration and Refundable Credits, regarding 

the progress of the Return Preparer Registration 

Implementation, and an update from Nadine 

McPhail, Chief of the Case Development and 

Licensure Branch of OPR, on continuing professional 

education (CPE) reporting. We were told 

at this time that the IRS was willing to consider a 

name change for Enrolled Agents, although we 

have since decided after much consideration and 

debate not to make this change. 

Throughout this year, I have felt that my job 

as First Vice President and the Cognizant Officer 

to both Membership and PIA has been to lend 

assistance however I could, fill in the pieces where 

needed and accomplish this while beginning 

to formulate a vision of the future that ensures 

that our organization and its Members maintain 

and build on the resources of those who have 

served before us. It has been a pleasure to serve 

CSEA again this year and I look forward to 2011 

– 2012. 


Jean Nelson, EA 

First Vice President 

editing forms in light of new Office of Professional 

Responsibility (OPR) regulations. These included 

a form for Chapters to use to submit to CSEA to 

obtain course approval and a form that education 

attendees would complete and keep to verify 

their continuing education. 

The Legislative Affairs Committee has also 

used my editing talents. I helped edit a survey 

sent to the membership prior to the Franchise 

Tax Board (FTB) Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights Hearing. 

Gary Anspach, EA, Chair of the Legislative Affairs 

Committee, and I solicited and edited articles for 

the California Enrolled Agent magazine on the 

various legislative advocacy issues. Mr. Anspach 

also asked me to join the Conformity Task Force 

of the Legislative Affairs Committee, which is

looking into issues of California conformity of the 

federal tax code. I also helped edit the CSEA Circular 

230 Task Force letter and the formal response 

that CSEA presented to the FTB for the Taxpayers’ 

Bill of Rights Hearing on December 2, 2010. 

I worked with Robert Cantu, EA, Chair of the 

Awards Subcommittee of the Membership and 

Chapter Development Committee, on fleshing 

out the wording of adopting Instant Runoff Voting 

for the Society Awards. I found a PowerPoint presentation 

using the Muppets which was shown 

to the Board prior to approval. 

Secretary Alma V. Guenther, EA 

What a year this has been! At my very first 

meeting as Secretary, I was informed that the tape 

recorder was broken. So I have taken notes and 

written my quarterly reports based on my own 

notes and recollection. During my contact with 

my wonderful mentees, they told me that they 

wanted an official summary of the Board meeting 

to take back to their Chapters. Since I was the 

Secretary, I agreed to send my report to them. 

First Vice President Jean Nelsen, EA got wind of this 

and that is how the Secretary’s Summary came to 

be posted on the website. I hope all of you have 

taken advantage of this. 

The next thing that made my term special was 

being on the Executive Vice President (EVP) Search 

Committee. Though we all were very sad to have 

to do this, we did our due diligence in reviewing 

job applications, references, resumes and questionnaire 

responses. It was quite an endeavor. One 

Treasurer Don Stacy, EA 

It has been my pleasure to serve as Treasurer 

for CSEA this past year. 

CSEA is continuing to face economic challenges 

along with the rest of the nation, but I must congratulate 

the Board and the Finance & Budget Committee 

for their courage in stepping up to face the 

challenge. Cuts had already been made in spending, 

so the only alternative was to raise Member 

dues despite the hardship that would cause. 

Every year the Board grants the Treasurer 

authority to borrow money if the need should 

arise, and I am happy to report that once again the 

Society has not had to borrow any operating funds. 

However, in February 2011 CSEA activated the 

$110,000 loan extended by Matthew and Connie 

Ferrell last fiscal year, which was approved by the 

Board at that time to offset costs associated with 

the new Membership/Accounting software pur- 

On February 7, 2011 Jean Nelsen, EA, Scarlett 

Vanyi, CAE and I met in San Diego for a 2011-2012 

planning and goals setting session. We were able 

to discuss many ideas to provide for the most cost 

effective and efficient CSEA governance moving 

forward. We also discussed leadership and how 

best to be of service to our fellow volunteers and 

our Members. 


Raven Deerwater, EA, PhD 

Second Vice President 

long weekend in November, we all got together 

to interview the finalists and picked our present 

EVP. I am proud to have been able to serve CSEA 

in this matter. 

I have had two great Chairs this year, James 

Houston, EA of Finance & Budget and Patty 

Kappen, EA of Bylaws. Both Ms. Kappen and I 

were on the Bylaws Committee for the first time 

and it was a learning experience. I truly appreciate 

assistance from Members who had served before. 

I am very proud that Ms. Kappen was nominated 

as Second Vice President for the coming year. 

I now turn over the job of Secretary to Andy 

Stamatelatos, EA. I have confidence in him and 

wish him well. I will continue to serve CSEA and 

my Chapter. 


Alma V. Guenther, EA 

Secretary 

chase also approved by the Board. The loan terms 

are four years at an interest rate of 4% per annum, 

and there is no penalty for early payoff. CSEA has 

operated on a strict budget and we were given a 

“no change” audit by our outside auditors. 

CSEA continues to have significant reserves 

on hand, but we must remain vigilant with both 

our income and expenses to maintain our fiscal 

health. We need to look for additional sources of 

revenue, such as seminars and increased attendance 

at Supers. The Board is looking at reducing 

the number of face-to-face meetings each year 

to cut costs, and we all need to look for ways to 

reduce spending. 

Thank you again for this opportunity! 


Don Stacy, EA 

Treasurer 


7 

OFFiCERS

OFFiCERS 


Immediate Past President and TEAR Task Force Chair 

David A. Shaw, EA 

As the Immediate Past President (IPP), I have 

enjoyed supporting our great organization 

under the leadership of President Kastl, EA. 

During this past year, we have had many successes 

and many unique opportunities. We 

have been faced with the implementation of 

preparer regulations, the hiring of a new EVP, 

the completion of a new CSEA logo, and the 

conversion to new CRM software to better equip 

our Society to meet our Member needs. I am 

always amazed at the dedication and talent 

of our Members who volunteer to meet the 

challenges of our Members. 

One unique opportunity I was asked to 

lead during this past year was the Technology 

Enhancement and Redesign Task Force (TEAR). 

Building upon the work conducted during the 

2009-2010 year, TEAR was able to assist staff 

in implementing a new CRM package which 

is the backbone of the computer system for 

CSEA. While we are tax professionals and not IT 

professionals, working as a team, the new software 

went live in June 2010. During the next 

CSEA PRESIDENTS 

1977–78 Ken Drake, EA 

1978–79 H. Thomas Smith, EA 

1979–80 Franklin D. Lehman, EA 

1980–81 Patricia Naud, EA 

1981–82 Pat Thompson, EA 

1982–83 Jack R. Sells, EA 

1983–84 Nancy L. Nesbitt, EA 

1984–85 Theodore Bernardi, EA 

1985–86 Hayden Wisdom, EA 

1986–87 Hayden Wisdom, EA 

1987–88 Carole A. Atwood, EA 

1988–89 Thomas N. Hunt, EA 

1989–90 Donna G. Nance, EA 

1990–91 Donna G. Nance, EA 

1991–92 Jack Robishaw, EA 

1992–93 Frederick L. Stine, EA 

1993–94 Iris Kelley, EA 

several months, full integration was sought 

and the culmination was the unveiling of the 

new CSEA website in October 2010. Monitoring 

and improvements occurred during the 

next several months and the TEAR completed 

its purpose. As websites constantly change, 

the staff is now able to completely utilize the 

technology in order to meet the needs of our 

Members on a daily basis. Thank you to all 

TEAR members and the staff who made the 

job of TEAR a success. 

As my year comes to a close as IPP, I look 

forward to the bright future ahead for CSEA. 

We have great leaders ready to lead us and I 

know that our Society is in trusted hands. I 

wish to thank the Members for the support 

during my years on the Board and as an Officer 

of CSEA. 



Immediate Past President 

1994–95 Armand J. Baradat, EA 

1995–96 Kirby L. Robinson, EA 

1996–97 Sidney M. Norton, EA 

1997–98 Sandra L. March, EA 

1998–99 Joseph Schwartz, EA 

1999–00 Lois Manning, EA 

2000–01 Salvatore Romo, Jr., EA 

2001–02 James Southward, EA 

2002–03 Connie Lorz, EA 

2003–04 Lonnie Gary, EA 

2004–05 Richard Quarterman, EA 

2005–06 Norman M. Golden, EA 

2006–07 Irene Lawrence, EA 

2007–08 Jennifer MacMillan, EA 

2008–09 Connie Ferrell, EA 

2009–10 David Shaw, EA 

2010–11 Kim Kastl, EA

In the intervening time since the November 

meeting, many issues of significant strategic 

import have crossed my desk. Substantive efforts 

have been applied to resolving lingering legal 

issues, pursuing the Board directive regarding 

development of credible market research in regard 

to the issues surrounding the proposed name 

change, rebranding efforts, continuing discussions with IRS officials on Registered Tax Return Preparer 

(RTRP) oversight, and continuing efforts toward strengthening national/affiliate relationships. 

Following are highlights of our activity 

since November 2010: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Meeting with IRS officials regarding preparer oversight 

issues. One meeting of particular interest was with NAEA 

volunteer leaders and Commissioner Shulman to discuss 

concerns the Enrolled Agent community has with ensuring 

that legacy 230 practitioners receive appropriate treatment 

in the ensuing new regulatory environment. 

Series of focus groups with staff, affiliate leaders, and 

members of the Board to identify major brand attributes 

of NAEA and how NAEA will communicate the brand 

strengths to myriad stakeholders. 

We ended a long-term relationship with our auditor in 

favor of a new auditing firm. This vendor brings in new 

systems and has taken NAEA in a more analytic direction 

with regard to our financial platform. 

Replacement of our long-term legal counsel, Jerry Panaro. 

We are now served by Gary Marx, an experienced association 

legal practitioner with skills in governance, intellectual 

property, membership, and affiliate relations. 

Significant emphasis has been invested in the development 

of a strong governance structure to ensure that the 

Board can deliberate policy issues from a knowledgebased 

perspective. NAEA President Sherrill Trovato, EA, 

USTCP and I have developed committee charges and 

standard operating procedures for all committees and 

we have established procedures to reduce the learning 

curve for new committee members. 

A leadership program is in development that will train 

member volunteers to be more effective in organizational 

areas which will provide a stronger affiliate base from 

which to draw future national leaders. 

FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION 

• 

The largest and most-awaited project is the redesign of the 

website. We have gone through an exhaustive process to 

evaluate our future website needs as well as strategies to 

improve outreach to our stakeholders. NAEA has selected 

and contracted with Balance Interactive, Inc. to begin the 

re-design and implementation of the new website. In addition, 

we are evaluating transitioning to a different web 

board option to possibly coincide with the new website. 

COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING 

• An extremely aggressive media outreach this tax season 

began with the hiring of Planned TV Arts (PTA), a New 

York-based public relations agency, to secure television 

and radio engagements for NAEA members. This effort 

is in keeping with our objective of expanding national 

recognition of Enrolled Agents. 

• Currently, 450 people “like” NAEA’s Facebook fan page, 

which was launched shortly before tax season. The fan 

page has been very successful at increasing engagement, 

as illustrated by the highly increased page activity, 

even during tax season. A recent addition to the fan 

page, “Thursday Tax Trivia,” is proving to be a successful 

tool for engagement. 

• NAEA staff is regularly using Twitter and Facebook to 

get the word out quickly on IRS announcements and 

other items of immediate interest to our members. 

• In response to an IRS query about a possible name 

change for the profession, NAEA launched a major initiative 

to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of 

a name change for Enrolled Agents. Avenue M Group, 

LLC was hired to conduct the research. Full information 

was presented at the April governance meetings and a 

substantial period of time for discussion was reserved 

for the Board of Directors meeting on April 30. 

• NAEA has begun a rebranding project aimed at defining 


9 

NATiONAl ASSOCiATiON OF ENROllED AGENTS

NATiONAl ASSOCiATiON OF ENROllED AGENTS 

• 

• 

a cohesive brand that will differentiate the association in 

the marketplace and improve marketing efforts. NAEA 

has once more contracted with Avenue M Group, LLC 

to guide the association through the process. 

NAEA will launch a new membership brochure for a 

direct mail recruitment effort. In addition, marketing 

for the NAEA 2011 National Conference has begun 

with ads running in the EA Journal, the E@lert, and on 

the NAEA website. 

2011 advertising sales are on track and they exceed 

advertising sales at the same time last year. 

ADVOCACY 

• With respect to NAEA’s key advocacy initiative, the 

regulation of paid preparers, we continue to intercede 

with key IRS decision makers on behalf of Enrolled 

Agents. IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman asked to 

meet with Enrolled Agents to discuss the agency’s 

return preparer oversight. This meeting occurred on 

November 15, 2010 and allowed a half-dozen EAs to 

express their thoughts and concerns. 

• One of the most significant issues is the tiering of 

credentials. The Service appears to be moving to a 

framework in which only those who prepare Form 1040 

and attendant schedules and forms would need to take 

a test and demonstrate competency. 

• On the regulatory front, several items are in play, including 

a revised Circular 230, EA renewal fees, an exemption 

from Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) testing 

and continuing education (CE) for firm members, and 

e-file regulations. 

• The agency agreed with NAEA’s assertion that the PTIN 

fee and EA renewal/application fee were redundant 

and issued proposed Enrolled Agent/Enrolled Retirement 

Plan Agent (EA/ERPA) user fee regulations that 

reduced the fee to $30. NAEA provided comment on 

the proposed regulations. 

• The Government Relations team held its third annual 

Fly-In Day. We had approximately 100 members meet 

with legislators and staff. 

• The Political Action Committee (PAC) closes year five, 

even in another economically challenging year, counting 

265 proud supporters who donated $30,635 (both 

a record dollar level and a record average contribution). 

The PAC Steering Committee established donor clubs 

that will debut in the 2011–12 PAC year. The President’s 

Club—inaugurated by incoming president Sherrill 

Trovato, EA, USTCP—recognizes those who contribute 

$500 or higher during the PAC year. The Board 

of Directors’ Club recognizes those who contribute 

from $250 up to $500, and the Committee Chair Club 

recognizes those members who contribute from $100 

up to $250. 


MEMBERSHIP 

• As of May 13, 2011, NAEA has a total membership 

over 11,840. 

• The marketing department broadcast a series of membership 

recruitment email blasts to an updated list of 

non-member Enrolled Agents provided by the IRS. In 

early December, NAEA sent out the first email to over 

22,000 non-member EAs. The content of the email detailed 

“breaking news” regarding tax preparer regulation 

in addition to PTIN updates and transitioned into the 

many benefits of NAEA membership. In mid-January, a 

second email blast was sent out to the IRS-provided list 

which detailed a number of membership benefits for 

EAs that are particularly useful during tax season. 

• During the winter, NAEA collaborated with CSEA on a 

recruitment effort which included a direct mailing to 

non-member EAs. The mailing included a letter from 

CSEA, a brochure, and a membership application, and 

it showcased the partnership between the state and 

national organizations. The joint effort brought in approximately 

138 new members over the three-month 

period. 

• The Affiliate Council challenge for 2010–2011 focused 

on both recruitment and retention, and five awards 

were presented at the April meeting; the top one was 

for the greatest overall increase for an affiliate, and 

then first and second place for both recruitment and 

retention. 

• Twenty-six states pre-registered for the April Exchange 

meeting. This year’s program included another new 

facet—an “Exchange Extra” session on Thursday that 

dealt with parliamentary procedure, giving participants 

the opportunity to participate in a mock trial. 

MEMBER SERVICES 

• Customer service is an important goal area for membership 

as well as the entire organization. NAEA’s member 

service team created and posted “Frequently Asked 

Questions” on the NAEA website (under About Us), as 

well as an internal “who do you call for what” list. These 

documents complement the member service goals and 

guidelines created earlier this year. 

• Over the next year, NAEA will move to a more electronic 

format for new member welcome kits and establish a 

“your membership has been processed, thank you for 

your support” email. As NAEA continues to look for ways 

to reduce costs but increase messaging to members, 

these types of changes will be important. 

• During the summer last year, NAEA launched a new 

errors and omissions insurance program for Enrolled 

Agents through CalSurance. The program has been 

successful and will be continued for the upcoming 

year, and staff is working to increase the program to 

include associates.

EDUCATION 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Planning for the National Conference is well underway, 

and we have received a very positive response thus far 

not only for the programming but also for the speakers 

and venue. NAEA is contracted with The Mandalay Bay 

Hotel & Casino in 2011 and 2012. 

NAEA taped classes at the 2010 National Conference 

and has made those classes available online. In total, 

fifteen classes offering a total of 33 CPE hours are now 

available. 

Planning for the Special Enrollment Examination (SEE) 

education is also well underway. NAEA will offer five instructor-led 

online sessions as it did last year. The National 

Conference includes a SEE Review track. In addition to 

that, NAEA is considering a SEE Review which would run 

concurrently with the November board meeting. 

Over the past few years, NAEA has held an “EA 101” session 

at the IRS Nationwide Tax Forums and covered why and 

how to become an Enrolled Agent. NAEA taped an “EA 101” 

session in early May, featuring Sherrill Trovato, EA, USTCP 

and Lonnie Gary, EA, USTCP which will be made available 

on the NAEA website and distributed on CDs. 

The Education Committee published a call for writers for 

the pilot Presentations-in-a-Box program and selected 

writers. The presentations will include a PowerPoint presentation, 

speaker notes, handouts, registration forms, 

and evaluations. These materials will be available to state 

affiliates, and NAEA hopes to encourage use of these 

presentations to increase education on the local level. 

CONCLUSION 

As I review the activity noted in this report, I see an organization 

on the move! Every effort is being made to continuously 

reevaluate our programs and strategies and find 

ways to update and reinvigorate them. We are responding to 

evolving technologies, changing lifestyles, and changes in the 

way of doing business with new initiatives in membership, 

education, public outreach, marketing, and recruitment of 

new members and new EAs. New programs and services 

are being added and older ones are being enhanced. The 

NAEA staff is doing an outstanding job pursuing targeted 

opportunities with the goal of improving current offerings, 

increasing benefits, and making membership in NAEA a 

career advantage that makes a positive difference in your 

life. I hope that this hard work is making your experience 

with NAEA membership better than ever. 


Michael S. Nelson, CAE 

Executive Vice President 

National Association of Enrolled Agents 

1120 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste. 460 

Washington, DC 20036 

phone: (202) 822-6232 

fax: (202) 822-6270 

email: info@naea.org 

web: www.naea.org 

NAEA STAFF: Michael S. Nelson, CAE, Executive Vice President; 

Margaret Mitchell, Governance Manager; Sam Matlick, CAE, 

Deputy Director; Tori Martin, Assistant Director of Membership; 

Clarise Diggs, Membership Coordinator; LaSara Kelley, 

Information Coordinator; Holli Jones, Education Manager; 

Gigi Thompson Jarvis, CAE, Senior Director, Communications 

and Marketing; Jackie Gellner, Marketing Coordinator; 

Robert Kerr, Senior Director, Government Relations; Katy 

Drake-Wittenborn, Government Relations Associate; William 

Grutzkuhn, Director of Finance and Operations; Eli “Sam” Hernandez, 

Accounting Manager; Sean Burgess, Web Manager; 

Trey Thomas, Receptionist. 

CSEA 2010-2011 Year in Review 11 

NATiONAl ASSOCiATiON OF ENROllED AGENTS

iNDEPENDENT AuDiTORS’ REPORT 

12 CSEA 2010-2011 Year in Review


iNDEPENDENT AuDiTORS’ REPORT

iNDEPENDENT AuDiTORS’ REPORT 

14 CSEA 2010-2011 Year in Review


iNDEPENDENT AuDiTORS’ REPORT

COmmiTTEES 

Audit Susan P. Growney, EA 

Under the Committee purview is the review of the CSEA 

tax returns prior to filing. The Committee completed the 

reviews and all returns were timely filed. 

The audit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2010 went 

very smoothly again this year despite the changes taking 

place at CSEA, and with the accounting and computer conversions 

still in the final stages. There were a couple of 

adjusting entries that had to be made, but in keeping with 

past performance, Karen Clifford and all staff involved once 

again made CSEA shine through the audit. The draft audit 

report was reviewed by the Committee in September and 

presented to the Board for approval in January. 

Our last item of business this year was the evaluation 

of our audit contract, which was completed with this year’s 

audit. The Committee sent out requests for proposals (RFPs) 

Bylaws Committee Patricia Kappen, EA 

The Bylaws Committee had a pretty busy year. We worked 

on two important Bylaws changes: the Five Year Bylaws 

Review and Comparison and the regular maintenance tasks 

needed to keep CSEA and the Chapters in sync. The first 

task was drafting the language to increase the membership 

dues, which was presented to the Board and approved. It 

was a difficult but necessary change, and the Committee 

did a very good job. 

Next, and much more interesting, was drafting language 

to amend CSEA’s Bylaws to allow online voting by all Members. 

This was a bigger task as this type of change needed to be 

reviewed by our attorney to be sure we were in compliance. 

It took a few drafts to get it correct, and thanks to Irene 

Lawrence, EA we are ready to present it to the Members 

for voting at the 2011 Annual Meeting. This will be a major 

change for all Members as they will be able to participate 

and have their voices heard without traveling to Sacramento 

or wherever the voting will take place. I believe this will be 

one of our greatest accomplishments, as the more Members 

can be part of CSEA the more they will understand and value 

their memberships. 


to multiple companies for bids on not only the annual audit 

but the tax preparation as well. The Committee had multiple 

discussions, not only at Committee meetings but by phone 

conference as well, to be able to present our recommendation 

to the Board for approval in June. 

Thank you to all the Committee members for your 

patience this year and for all the fantastic input, questions 

and insight. A special thank you also goes to the guests 

who attended the meetings, as your input is very much 

appreciated. 


Susan P. Growney, EA – Chair 

COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Pam Blair, EA and Ron Watts, EA. 

We also spent time on reviewing the current Bylaws to see 

how they compare with NAEA’s Bylaws and to be sure that all 

the Bylaws continue to reflect the current needs of CSEA. This 

project still continues, but we have accomplished a lot so far, 

and it has been a very good education for everyone on the 

Committee to read every line of our Bylaws and understand 

what they mean. 

Bylaws are dynamic and ever changing as an organization 

grows and changes. I am pleased that many Members chose 

to attend and be part of this Committee to ensure that we are 

always current and meeting the needs of our Members. I am 

grateful for everyone’s contribution, especially Alma Gunther, 

EA, Laurie Cole, Irene Lawrence, EA and Vicki Mulak, EA. 


Patricia Kappen EA – Chair 

COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Anne T. Arms, EA, Cognizant Officer Alma 

V. Guenther, EA, James E. Houston, EA, Pamela J. Jipp, EA, Thomas 

W. Johnston, EA, Vice Chair Irene Lawrence, EA, Vicki L. Mulak, EA, 

and Jerry H. Satterberg, EA.

Education margaret Dunn, EA 

This was a year of substantial change for CSEA’s education 

programs. The most obvious change is the change of the committee 

name from the Professional Education Production Committee 

(PEPCO) to simply the Education Committee. We believe that 

this more clearly and succinctly describes our Committee and 

its area of responsibility. 

The IRS and Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) kept 

us on our toes throughout the year. With the announcement 

in January 2010 of the new National Tax Preparer Registration 

Program, our Committee recognized that hundreds of thousands 

of tax professionals around the country would be looking for 

resources to help them pass the competency exam that the 

IRS will be requiring. We also hope that those preparers who 

are currently unenrolled will be encouraged by the new testing 

and continuing education (CE) requirements to finally take the 

Special Enrollment Examination (SEE). Whichever road these 

preparers choose to take, the CSEA Education Committee wants 

to be prepared to be the “go to” education provider! 

We have also been monitoring remarks about what constitutes 

OPR approved continuing education for Enrolled Agents. OPR 

audits revealed that many Enrolled Agents were relying on CE 

hours that did not meet the definition as covered in Circular 230. 

We have developed a more formal process for Chapters to submit 

CE requests to ensure that all education offered under CSEA’s 

sponsorship will pass muster in the event of an OPR audit. 

Our Committee also spent time reviewing and evaluating 

the financial results of all of our educational offerings. Recommendations 

about which programs should be eliminated and 

which should be continued (with even greater profitability) were 

shared with CSEA staff. 

Ethics & Professional Conduct Thomas W. Johnston, EA 

This year the Ethics & Professional Conduct Committee 

continued its commitment to educating Members in their 

responsibilities under Circular 230 and the California Business 

and Professions Code. The “If You Were the Judge” column 

continued in every issue of the California Enrolled Agent 

magazine thanks to participation of all the Committee and 

many of the supporting members. Articles multiplied considerably 

with magazine submissions from Committee members 

and several CSEA Past Presidents, as well as a Professional 

Affiliate. The official articles from the Committee were the 

eye-opening article “IRS CPE Audits” by Anne Arms, EA, and 

an update of the 2008 article “17 Ways to Avoid a Complaint 

to the Ethics Committee” by Tom Johnston, EA. 

Non-Committee articles were: “Return Preparer Registration” 

by David A. Shaw, EA, Immediate Past President; “Basic 

Ethics Issues” by Connie Farrell, EA, Past President 2008-2009; 

“CSEA Addresses Proposed Circular 230 Changes” by Jennifer 

MacMillan, EA, Past President and CSEA Circular 230 Task Force 

The Education Committee recognizes that we must integrate 

technology into our delivery of educational offerings while at 

the same time continuing our ability to deliver the best quality 

product. One of our challenges is integrating the camaraderie 

experienced at events like Super Seminars and Chapter meetings 

into a seminar delivered through the convenience of your computer. 

This will remain a focus of this Committee during the next year as 

we produce some of these “hybrid” events. 

With the retirement of Executive Vice President Cathy Apker, 

CAE in January 2011 and the hiring of Scarlett Vanyi, CAE, the 

Education Committee played a larger role in the delivery of this 

year’s Super Seminars to ensure a smooth transition. I am thrilled 

with how quickly Ms. Vanyi has been able to grasp our culture and 

our educational programs, and I am excited by her commitment 

to leading our organization and programs into the future. 

I would like to thank all of the Education Committee members 

and supporting members for their hard work and dedication 

throughout the year, especially their willingness to participate in 

conference calls that were held monthly. I particularly appreciate 

the hard work and support of Debi Nogle, our CSEA Staff Liaison, 

and the contributions of Cognizant Officer Raven Deerwater, EA, 

PhD and Vice Chair Connie Ferrell, EA. These three were vital to 

providing me with strong support throughout my first year as 

Education Committee Chair. 


Margaret Dunn, EA – Chair 

COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Anne T. Arms, EA, Sandra L. Danioth-Jones, EA, 

Cognizant Officer Raven Deerwater, EA, PhD, Vice Chair Connie L. Ferrell, EA, 

James E. Houston, EA, Patricia A. Pringle, EA, and Sharyn A. Scarrott, EA. 

Chair; and “New Representation Rules – IRS Depositions” by 

Steven L. Walker, Professional Affiliate. 

During the year Irene Lawrence, EA, Past President, and 

Tom Johnston, EA, reviewed the sample documents and 

updated and expanded them to include more engagement 

letters and the IRS disclosure and use documents. After appropriate 

review by CSEA’s attorney the documents were 

added to the new CSEA website. The Committee reviewed 

and revised its charter and procedures. A continuing project 

is the Investigator Training packet. 

Respectfully submitted 

Thomas W. Johnston, EA – Chair 

COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Anne T. Arms, EA, Timothy G. Flavin, EA, 

Robert D. Gardner, EA, Vice Chair Rose Hablitzel, EA, and Irene 

Lawrence, EA. 


COmmiTTEES

COmmiTTEES 

Finance & Budget James E. Houston, EA 

The Finance and Budget Committee (F&B) has the responsibility 

of presenting a proposed budget for the following 

fiscal year to the Board of Directors (BOD) for their 

review and approval at the May Board Meeting. The proposed 

budget approval process is a labor-intensive effort that starts 

with the CSEA staff, followed by F&B and finally the BOD. The 

2011-2012 financial snapshot finds CSEA in a weak financial 

position that has deteriorated over the past several years to 

the point that F&B felt a dues increase was necessary, the first 

in several years. 

But it is my belief that CSEA’s financial recovery must no 

longer depend just upon dues increases and Super Seminars 

to cover their list of payables. Other revenue sources and 

cost-cutting measures must be found. 

One of the more obvious (and least painful) measures could 

be to expand our education course offerings and methods 

and provide education through the Internet, from registration 

to final grade and CPE certificate. As I have mentioned to 

our Education Committee, our competition is either already 

doing this or figuring out how. Our competition is not stupid 

and CSEA has no exclusive on the amount, type or method 

of knowledge that can be offered. Further, if CSEA restricts 

education offerings (and thus income) to Super Seminars, we 

will be eliminating an income source that could be equal to 

or more lucrative than our Super Seminars (SSs). 

I also believe that if CSEA offered more basic and beginner 

courses online, e.g., a Registered Tax Preparer Review Course 

and an EA Exam Review Course (our competition is already 

Legislative Affairs Gary Anspach, EA 

Working from the strong foundation of legislative advocacy 

built in recent years, 2010-2011 was a year of new 

approaches and giant leaps. We reduced the size of the 

Committee to make us more efficient and effective while 

we expanded advocacy participation throughout the state. 

The Chair contacted most Chapter Presidents and Legislative 

Chairs by phone to inform them of the upcoming plans. 

“Tools and training” was this year’s theme and both high 

quality teachers and eager students showed up to make a 

difference. We began the year with clear expectations and 

agreements for the Committee members and a Microsoft 

Office Live workshop to train CSEA Members how to be 

successful in their local district legislative visits planned for 

the summer. The PowerPoint presentation was used at the 

workshop and provided to the Chapters for their use. Also, 

packets for the legislative visits were developed and provided 

to the Chapters. A support structure was created where 

each Committee member was assigned Chapters to provide 

assistance and follow-up. This “grassroots” effort engaged 

many enthusiastic Member EAs in legislative advocacy and 

broadened the participation at Jim Stern Legislative Day 

in Sacramento last January. Those who participated in the 


doing this), we could and would be found much easier by 

beginning preparers who are much earlier in their careers. To 

me it seems this would mean an earlier and longer membership 

by more (and younger) preparers. So my recommendation is 

that we offer carefully selected correspondence and Internet 

courses at all levels, but aggressively go after the beginner 

preparers. 

Correspondence and Internet courses offered at all levels 

would be seen by our entire membership as a valuable (and 

convenient) Member benefit. Our SSs have the requirement of 

attendance and I believe there is a whole additional world out 

there that would love to attend except that they can’t match 

up their schedules or that they can’t afford to go. 

CSEA should also continue to investigate requiring fewer 

Board of Directors meetings and conduct Internet meetings 

as much as possible. 

In closing, I would like to express my sincere thanks to 

the CSEA staff and particularly to Karen Clifford for her great 

support that F&B received during my tenure as Chair. I would 

also like to thank all members of the Finance & Budget Committee. 


James E. Houston, EA – Chair 

COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Cognizant Officer Alma Guenther, EA, Paul 

Cheatham, EA, Margy Dunn, EA, Jamie Gibson, EA, Susan Growney, 

EA, Vice Chair Patti Kappen, EA, Don Stacy, EA, and Joni Terens, EA. 

district visits and Jim Stern Legislative Day reported enlightening 

experiences and testimonials. We expect increased 

participation in the future with this year’s students becoming 

next year’s teachers. 

As evidence of the increasing awareness of the tax expertise 

of Enrolled Agents in the California Legislature, CSEA 

(through the combined efforts of the Legislative Affairs Committee, 

the Legislative Action Fund (LAF) and the Political 

Action Committee (PAC)) is memorialized as the main support 

in the passage of SB 1244 (Walters) (CH 10-522). SB 1244 was 

signed into law on September 29, 2010, and resolves certain 

long-standing conflicts in the interpretation and application 

of various code sections regarding the remuneration of LLC 

members. Vicki Mulak, EA chaired the Tax Agency Liaison 

Committee (TALC ) and ably and passionately facilitated the 

State Tax Agencies Liaison Meeting in September. Questions 

submitted to the agencies came from an unusually 

broad range of Members and provided for an interesting 

and lively day of interaction with high level executives at 

the Franchise Tax Board (FTB), Employment Development 

Department (EDD) and the Board of Equalization (BOE). Vicki 

also presented the oral testimony at the FTB Bill of Rights (FTB

TBR) hearing in December. Input for the CSEA written and 

oral testimony was greatly enhanced by a survey sent to all 

CSEA Members. The survey was used for the first time, and 

the responses were thoughtful and insightful. 

Jennifer MacMillan, EA was the liaison with the NAEA 

Government Relations Committee. She chaired the CSEA 

task force created to review and comment on the proposed 

Circular 230 regulations. Working on one of the hottest issues 

for EAs this year, the task force solicited input by surveying 

all EA Members and developed comprehensive comments 

that were submitted to the IRS on behalf of CSEA. 

A Conformity Task Force (CTF) was formed and met to 

discuss the future of conformity in the wake of the passage 

of Proposition 26 last November, which now requires a twothirds 

majority for any tax increase. Our greatest concern 

was the potential repeal of SB 401, the partial conformity bill 

enacted in April 2010. The provisions of Proposition 26 were 

not clear on this issue with possible egregious implications 

of repeal for taxpayers and EAs. These issues were brought 

to the attention of our legislators at Jim Stern Legislative 

Day. FTB legal guidance has now taken the position that SB 

401, absent judicial action to the contrary, is here to stay. 

The CTF now includes Gina Rodriguez, EA from CalTax and 

Lynn Freer, EA from Spidell Publishing. 

Numerous articles with a legislative focus were published 

in the California Enrolled Agent, keeping the membership 

engaged and focused on the importance of advocacy. These 

articles reported on CSEA legislative activities, proposed 

or enacted legislation impacting EAs and taxpayers, and 

significant support and testimonials confirming the value 

of advocacy. An issue of the SEArchlight was focused on the 

current legislative issues. The BEAcon and blast emails were 

also used effectively to communicate legislative issues of 

The work of the Membership & Chapter Development 

Committee can be best described by two words - commitment 

and collaboration. 

Our committee focused on continued commitment to the 

support of our Members, as well as outreach to new Enrolled 

Agents, non-Member Enrolled Agents, and California Registered 

Tax Preparers (CRTPs). A Member Benefit brochure was 

created and distributed to Chapters, Members, new Members, 

and included in membership drive promotional mailings. The 

identification and development of Member benefits remained 

a top priority. To this end, a Business Affiliate Program was 

launched this year which is designed to attract businesses to 

offer their products and services at discounted rates for our 

Members. 

Three separate membership drives were continued, or 

initiated, by the Committee in the 2010-2011 year. The mem- 

interest to the CSEA membership. The influence of CSEA has 

grown substantially as evidenced by successful legislation 

initiated by CSEA and the outreach of legislators to CSEA in 

crafting legislative proposals. 

We reviewed and revised all Committee documents 

including the CSEA Legislative Positions and the related 

background information, making them all currently relevant. 

Our work, in collaboration with IRS, NAEA and CSEA’s 

local chapters, continued and became more effective. The 

support of the CSEA PAC, which substantially increased its 

contributions to key legislators, strengthened our access 

and our voice. 

I thank all of my Committee members and the multitude 

of supporting members. The geographic coverage of our 

advocacy by these EAs was impressive and inspirational. 

I extend special thanks to Vicki Mulak, EA for her exceptional 

knowledge and skills, to Jennifer MacMillan, EA and 

Bob Kerr, NAEA Senior Government Relations Director, for 

their valuable support on national issues, to Xavier Martinez, 

EA and Gary McKinsey, EA as co-chairs of Jim Stern Legislative 

Day, to Raven Deerwater, EA, CSEA Second Vice President, 

who provided invaluable support, and to Cathy Apker, CAE 

and Scarlett Vanyi, CAE, whose staff support made all of this 

possible. The competence and unwavering willingness of 

these team members is represented by the accomplishments 

of this Committee. 


Gary Anspach, EA – Chair 

COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Cognizant Officer Raven Deerwater, EA, Vice 

Chair Xavier Martinez, EA, Gary McKinsey, EA, Jennifer McMillan, EA, 

Vicki Mulak, EA, Jerry Satterberg, EA, and George Van Buren, EA. 

Membership & Chapter Development Sandy Danioth-Jones, EA 

bership drive for Professional Associates, which began in 

February 2010, was completed in December 31, 2010 resulting 

in an overall increase of 354 new Professional Associates 

joining CSEA during this period. In collaboration with NAEA, 

a very successful state-wide membership drive was held from 

November 2010 through January 2011. With the combined 

efforts of NAEA, CSEA and CSEA Chapters, we welcomed over 

130 new Enrolled Agent Members. As of the writing of this 

review, a 2011 summer membership drive was launched on 

May 1, continuing to August 31. The Membership Committee 

has partnered with the Education Committee in offering an 

incentive of a CSEA Education digiTax session for new Members 

signing up during this period, effectively promoting and introducing 

new Members to our excellent education offerings. 

Continuing the work of the 2009-2010 CSEA E-ACT (EA 

Career Track) Task Force, the Membership Committee was 


COmmiTTEES

COmmiTTEES 

charged with the continued development and identification 

of new areas and opportunities to promote the EA designation 

as a career option and to provide material for Chapters to 

conduct outreach efforts. In response, a Membership E-ACT 

Subcommittee was formed to further explore ideas to support 

these efforts. Subcommittee Chair Joni Terens, EA, the PIA 

Committee and CSEA staff developed, created and presented 

the Booth in a Box (Career Box), a portable, all-inclusive resource 

that can be used at myriad events. This Career Box has been 

approved for PIA matching funds for the Chapters and will 

provide a complete and professional setup for career fairs, 

recruiting events and Chapter education meetings. CSEA 

will use the original prototype for CSEA education events, IRS 

Forums and other venues that CSEA attends. 

The Awards Subcommittee, under the outstanding guidance 

and leadership of the Chair, Robert Cantu, EA accomplished 

the drafting and approval of a new Public Information 

and Awareness (PIA) award category. The PIA Award, developed 

in collaboration with the PIA Committee, recognizes an 

individual(s) who has made significant contributions and efforts 

in promoting the EA designation and profession. In addition, 

this Subcommittee embraced the insightful recommendation 

of Raven Deerwater, EA, CSEA Second Vice President, in the 

Nominating Committee David A. Shaw, EA 

It was a great honor to serve as Chair of the 2010-2011 

CSEA Nominating Committee and have such a talented and 

insightful team to work with. The Committee had the privilege 

of interviewing a great pool of candidates. The amount of 

talent and leadership within CSEA Members never ceases to 

impress me. As a committee, we reviewed numerous candidate 

packets and held personal interviews in January 2011. After 

a lengthy deliberation process the Committee presented the 

Political Action Committee (PAC) Jennifer macmillan, EA 

The California Society of Enrolled Agents Political Action 

Committee (CSEA-PAC) has a distinct purpose and functions 

independently of all other CSEA activities. While they 

operate under extremely complex regulations, Political Action 

Committees have a singular pursuit; they make political 

contributions in an effort to be influential in legislative affairs. 

With the worthy purpose of protecting California’s taxpayers 

and the voice of Enrolled Agents, the CSEA-PAC made an 

unprecedented number of contributions to key leaders in 

the California Legislature during this fiscal year. 

The CSEA-PAC holds significant funds in reserve (sometimes 

referred to as a “war chest”) for emergency legislative 

action in case of a sudden threat to our profession. In the 


review, consideration, recommendation and approval of the 

CSEA Board of Directors for a new voting procedure for Awards. 

This new procedure, Instant Run-Off Voting, will ensure a lively 

and inclusive system for awards voting and presentations for 

this year and beyond. 

I extend my sincerest appreciation and gratitude to each 

member of the Membership & Chapter Development Committee; 

to the supporting members of this Committee; to the PIA 

and Education Committees and Chairs, Kathy Rocha, EA and 

Margy Dunn, EA (respectively); and to the Committee’s Staff 

Liaison, Cary Steward, and Cognizant Officer, Jean Nelson, EA, 

CSEA First Vice President. Your dedication, hard work, input and 

support was immeasurable. All of you have been an integral 

and important asset to this committee. It has been my honor 

and pleasure to serve as Chair this year. 


Sandy Danioth-Jones, EA – Chair 

COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Anne Arms, EA, Robert Cantu, EA, Margaret 

Dunn, EA, Paul Cheatham, EA, Peggy Hall, EA, Cognizant Officer Jean 

Nelsen, EA, Sharyn A. Scarrott, EA, Joni Terens, EA, Jacquelin Thomson, 

EA, and Robert Woodford, EA. 

best team of Officers to serve as candidates for the 2011-2012 

year. Thank you for allowing us to serve in the process of 

selecting our next leaders. 


David A Shaw, EA – Chair 

Committee Members: Margy Dunn, EA, Connie Ferrell, EA, Lonnie 

Gary, EA, and Jackie Thomson, EA. 

absence of looming and perilous legislation, the PAC has 

the resources to fulfill its parallel goal: to enhance CSEA’s 

visibility and promote Enrolled Agents as “The Tax Professionals” 

among legislators. 

The true success of the CSEA-PAC this year was generated 

by strategic analysis of where our dollars make the biggest 

impact. The Committee determined the types of events that 

led to the greatest amount of time and attention of candidates 

and further refined our strategy of sending Members to these 

select fundraisers. Ultimately, our forte is putting a friendly 

and knowledgeable face with the term Enrolled Agent. This 

strategy accomplished our goals, as many CSEA leaders had 

significant “face time” with our favorite lawmakers: the ones

who write (and presumably understand) California’s tax 

laws. CSEA-PAC primarily focuses on members of the key 

tax-writing committees and candidates for other key state 

offices. During the 2010-2011 year, the CSEA-PAC made 16 

campaign contributions, totaling $25,250. 

Incoming contributions for the year were mainly received 

through optional donations made during Members’ dues 

renewals, as no major fund-raising project was implemented 

based on minimal net benefit achieved in prior years. To 

raise awareness and gently solicit contributions within the 

Enrolled Agent community, the Committee completed an 

overhaul of the PAC brochure, finished the PAC PowerPoint 

presentation, and authorized development of a website 

Public Information & Awareness Kathy Rocha, EA 

The Public Information & Awareness (PIA) Committee 

started the year at a sprint and hasn’t stopped yet! We tackled 

the Action Plans and President’s Charges at full force and 

although our work is never done, we accomplished a great 

deal in a jam-packed year. 

One of the first things that the PIA Committee completed 

was the recommendation to the Membership Committee to 

create a PIA Award. The recommendation was well received 

and approved by the Board. 

Streamlining our current activities was another important 

aspect of our work this year. The PIA Committee voted to 

change the deadline for the PIA Matching Funds Request 

Program to May 31 of each year from the previous June 30 

deadline to facilitate the payments to Chapters and give 

staff more time to get all the paperwork done. The California 

Enrolled Agent magazine is now published six times per year, 

and the SEArchlight and BEAcon have been combined into 

one publication, the CSEA News & Events. News releases 

continued to be written and submitted to PR Newswire. 

Social media is playing an expanded role at CSEA with more 

posts on both Twitter and Facebook and a growing network 

of professionals communicating on LinkedIn. 

Additionally, the PIA Committee worked with other CSEA 

committees to complete some of the President’s Charges. 

We worked with the Membership and Education Committees 

to create and get Board approval for the Booth in the 

Box project to be used by CSEA and individual Chapters – a 

very exciting tool for all! PIA also worked with the Legislative 

Affairs Committee to create an article for the magazine 

written by Jerry Satterberg regarding the EA Promotion Fund 

(EA Promo Fund) and the Legislative Action Fund (LAF) to 

bring awareness and exposure to both. 

Through our conversations and discussions, it was determined 

that Chapters would be well served by a Chapter 

Idea Book for PIA Activities. Currently, the PIA Committee 

which will eventually link to the CSEA website. 

The Committee sincerely appreciates the numerous supporting 

members that gave of their time and talents, with 

special thanks to Xavier Martinez, EA, whose expertise in 

California Political Action Committees expanded our horizons 

and provided valuable insight on numerous occasions. 


Jennifer MacMillan, EA – Chair 

COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Gary Anspach, EA, Treasurer Donald Stacy, 

EA, and Vice Chair Jackie Thomson, EA. 

and staff are working together to complete the Idea Book 

to offer to Chapters as a resource. 

Our phone conferences and workshops were well attended 

and full of information. Committee members were 

assigned Chapter Committee Chairs to work with and kept 

in contact with them. The emails kept flowing throughout 

the year, strengthening the connection between CSEA and 

Chapters. 

The efforts of staff on our behalf have truly been tireless. 

Staff also updated the Disaster Manual with some input from 

the Committee and made that available to the Chapter Presidents, 

Disaster and/or PIA Chairs. To further help our local 

Chapters, our Staff Liaison, Jana Perinchief, working with Cary 

M. Steward, Director of Marketing and Member Development, 

sent media contact lists to our local Chapters to facilitate the 

dissemination of news releases and media notices. 

The PIA Committee also took a motion to the Board to 

replace the current dilapidated sign on the CSEA building. 

The motion was enthusiastically received by the Board and 

passed! Our new logo is depicted on the new sign as it is on 

the website, stationary, magazine, etc. The Board also approved 

a motion by the PIA Committee to use our advertising 

funds for a statewide radio advertising campaign with the 

Bob Brinker “MoneyTalk” program, and the San Diego area 

”Money Matters” program on KOGO radio. 

Further, the Committee revamped the Action Plans to 

remove those parts that had already been accomplished 

and updated them in alignment with our strategic discussions. 

The Committee also visited ideas on how to use the 

EA Promo Fund and the Major Media Marketing Fund (3M 

Fund) for a major statewide campaign. Staff and the Committee 

did outstanding research work concerning airport 

and magazine advertising that will be a great resource for 

future discussions. 


COmmiTTEES

COmmiTTEES 

Our Annual Tax Newsletter was again a great benefit to 

our Members this year. It was published in the California 

Enrolled Agent magazine and made available in PDF format 

on the website. In an effort to reach out to local agencies 

and professionals, magazines are continuously sent out to 

support our PIA efforts. 

In addition to all of the above, the PIA Committee is currently 

working on a video production project that we hope 

to have completed before the end of this fiscal year. It has 

been a great undertaking but we are actively pursuing its 

completion. 

As the Chair of the PIA Committee, I would like to thank 

Gary Anspach, EA 

Robert Cantu, EA 

Paul Cheatham, EA 

Raven Deerwater, EA 

Sandra L. Danioth-Jones, EA 

Margy Dunn, EA 

Tim Flavin, EA 

Susan Growney, EA 

Alma V. Guenther, EA 

Rose Hablitzel, EA 

James E. Houston, EA 


CSEA HONOR ROLL 

Volunteer LEAders for 2010 — 2011 

On behalf of the California Society of Enrolled Agents, its Members and staff, THANK YOU to the following 

volunteers who served as Officers, Directors, and CSEA committee Chairs in 2010–2011. We also express 

our heartfelt thanks to the families of our volunteer leaders, whose loving support has made the Member 

contributions possible. 

Michael G. Huff, EA 

Thomas W. Johnston, EA 

Patricia M. Kappen, EA 

Kim Kastl, EA 

Irene Lawrence, EA 

Steven Leibold, EA 

Jean C. Nelsen, EA 

Patricia A. Pringle, EA 

Nichole C. Ralls, EA 

Jennifer MacMillan, EA 

Mary F. Philippsen, EA 

everyone for their effort and hard work on the important tasks 

put before us. It has been a great pleasure to collaborate 

with so many talented and committed people at CSEA. I am 

honored to have served as your Chair. I look forward to all 

of our future endeavors. 


Kathy Rocha, EA – Chair 

COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Paul F. Cheatham, EA, Gordon Dito, 

EA, Timothy G. Flavin, EA, Vice Chair Peggy Hall, EA, Cognizant 

Officer Jean C. Nelsen, EA, Jerry H. Satterberg, EA, and Robert 

Woodford, EA. 

Kathy Maria Rocha, EA 

Franklin J. Ruedel, EA 

Jerry Satterberg, EA 

Sharyn Scarrott, EA 

Donald M. Stacy, EA 


George A. Van Buren, EA 

Kittie M. Vicars, EA 

Ronald G. Watts, EA 

Howard J. Wiggett, EA 

Robert (Bob) Woodford, EA

Circular 230 Task Force 

To protect the interests of CSEA Members, in August 

2010 President Kastl charged CSEA Legislative Affairs 

Chair, Gary Anspach, EA with the formation of a task 

force to develop positions and compelling testimony on 

the proposed regulations to modify Circular 230 [REG- 

138637-07]. 

As Chair of the “Circular 230 Task Force” I was privileged 

to work with a remarkable team of volunteers: 

Margy Dunn, EA, George van Buren, EA, Anne Arms, EA, 

and David Shaw, EA. The CSEA Officers and senior staff, 

as well as Mr. Anspach, served as supporting members, 

completing an abundant wealth of resources. 

The Task Force closely analyzed the proposed regulations 

and through copious email exchanges and a conference 

call, developed strategies and a timeline for a 

comprehensive response. 

Striving for inclusion of all CSEA Members, the Task 

Force emailed a call for comments and despite a very short 

timeframe, numerous Members rose to the challenge and 

added valuable input. One week and a dozen revisions 

later, our document was finalized for presentation to the 

CSEA Legislative Affairs Committee at their September 

meeting in Sacramento. After further revisions by the 

Committee, the CSEA Board of Directors approved the 

comments, which were submitted to the IRS and subsequently 

emailed to all CSEA Members. 

The final comments articulated CSEA’s chief concern; potentially 

disastrous changes to the qualifying continuing education 

(CE) rules. The proposed compliance rules for CE programs would 

have undermined how CSEA and its Chapters provide education, 

severely restricting the quantity and hampering the timeliness 

of qualifying CE available to Members (at the time of this writing, 

the Final Regulations have not been released, but this provision in 

Circular 230 is expected to be modified or eliminated). CSEA also 

suggested the definition of CE should be expanded to include 

state tax courses that contrast, or relate to, federal tax matters. 

Other significant issues involved distinctions in terminology. 

CSEA voiced strong opposition to identifying Regulated 

Tax Return Preparers (RTRPs) as “practitioners” and suggested 

adding restrictions on the use of the word “enrolled.” Finally, our 

commentary called attention to the shortcomings of “Limited 

Practice” rights and questioned one new sanction provision, 

advocating that failure to e-file returns should not constitute 

“disreputable conduct.” 

It was an honor and pleasure to chair the “Circular 230 Task 

Force,” and I thank all those who contributed their time and talent 

to this crucial undertaking. 


Jennifer MacMillan, EA – Chair 

TASK FORCE MEMBERS: Anne Arms, EA, Margy Dunn, EA, David 

Shaw, EA, and George van Buren, EA. 


TASK FORCE

lOCAl CHAPTERS 

Big Valley 

The Big Valley Chapter of CSEA had another phenomenal 

year! Our focus this year was to review our procedures and 

better organize ourselves. 

We kicked off the year with our Board Retreat and began 

to develop our Chapter Mission Statement and goals. Our 

Board decided that we would plan annual evaluations to 

mark our progress and improvements. And our Chapter 

created its very own Service Award in honor of one of our 

founding Members, George Flavin, EA. We also put in a bid 

alongside the East Bay Society of CSEA to host the 2013 

Annual Meeting. 

We continued with our Themed Dinner nights and our 

annual Christmas Dinner. We began a membership promotional 

drawing to get more Members to our meetings. At 

each meeting, our attendees receive an ticket to be used to 

draw for 3 prizes: a ClientWhys Seminar, a Town Hall Seminar 

or a Quickfinder. 

Big Valley continues to use social media and our website 

to promote the Enrolled Agent designation and to keep 

our Members connected. Our Big Valley Bulletin remains 

the stellar publication that it has always been and is a great 

resource to all of our Members. 

Public Information & Awareness (PIA) efforts were another 

big area of focus for our Chapter. We continued our radio 

Central California 

As is true with most years, 2010 was a good year and a bad 

year. We are a small Chapter, currently around 140 members, 

and we struggle to grow and improve each year. The hub 

of the Chapter is Fresno, and although centrally located we 

are also isolated in many respects. So, our Chapter has a few 

Members who have to travel long distances to attend meetings. 

Therefore, the Chapter tries to have the best possible 

monthly meetings to benefit our membership. 

Last year we had great speakers: some “pros” like Karen 

Brosi, EA, Mark Seid, EA, and George Van Buren, EA; some 

Members like Claudia Stanley, EA, CPA, Phil Hollingsworth, EA, 

and Jack Vance, EA; and some up-and-coming speakers such 

as Michael Cash, EA, Lisa Lambert, JD, and CSEA President 

Kim Kastl, EA. They all did a great job. Thanks to all of the 

speakers and to our Education Chair Frank Wong, EA. 

Our Chapter also hosted two other educational events 

last year: the “Town Hall” event, as well as a Form 1041 class 

taught by Art Werner, JD, both in November. The Chapter 

was also involved with a Special Enrollment Examination 

(SEE) class for prospective EAs, taught by Claudia Stanley, 

EA, CPA, which was very successful. 


sponsorship with Capital Public Radio. We also hosted several 

Big Valley Nights with the local hockey and baseball teams, 

the Stockton Thunder and the Modesto Nuts. 

Leadership at Big Valley is outstanding! We have had 

more participation at our Board meetings, as well as increased 

participation at the state level. Members are also involved 

with Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites during tax 

season and teaching classes with the Internal Revenue Service 

(IRS) and the Employment Development Department (EDD). 

Our Chapter continues to work with other local Chapters to 

organize the Town Hall Meeting. We sponsored the Client- 

Whys Seminar held in Stockton in November and IRS Win-Win 

meetings in Modesto and Stockton. Members also attended 

the IRS Liaison meetings, the State Liaison Meeting and Jim 

Stern Legislative Day at the Capitol. Members went out on 

their own to meet with local legislators and to introduce 

themselves as constituents and tax professionals, individually 

and at local events. 

Big Valley has a lively and friendly group that enjoys 

getting together with our fellow professionals to expand our 

education and learn about the experiences others are having. 

In our hearts, we are the Chapter of the Year every year! 

Respectfully Submitted, 

Kathy Rocha, EA – President 

The Chapter is proud to report we started the year in the 

black and ended the year the same way, better than our local, 

state or federal governmental agencies. Maybe EAs should 

be in charge … just a thought. 

We had several events last year, starting with a retreat 

in the spring to plan for the rest of the year, followed by a 

summer barbecue, a fall fling and a terrific Christmas dinner 

dance. Our Chapter believes in working hard and playing 

just as hard. 

We had a really sad event befall our Chapter this last year, 

in that our beloved Betty F. Ratcliff, EA passed away at age 90. 

Betty was an active Member of the Chapter and a Member 

of the Executive Board at the time of her death. We will feel 

her loss for a long time. 

Finally, our Chapter is looking forward to all the new 

adventures we will experience in 2011. We know we have 

surprises in store and we are ready to meet the challenges 

with renewed vigor. 


Vickie Strohl, EA – President

Central Coast 

The Central Coast Chapter is a small but focused and 

dedicated group, and our main goal has always been to 

provide the highest quality continuing professional education 

(CPE) available to our Members, right here in some of 

the most beautiful settings that California has to offer. In July 

2010 the President of the Board needed to step down due 

to health issues and the newly elected First Vice President 

stepped up to the President’s position. With hard work and 

by using the strengths and experience of the entire Board, 

our 2010-2011 was a banner year. We provided our regular 

monthly dinner meetings (May through January) that featured 

various subjects, with presenters including our own 

Members, local attorneys, the local IRS Revenue Agent Group 

Manager, and Lynn Freer, EA. In October 2010 we presented 

our two day tax seminar that featured Vicki Mulak, EA, CFP®, 

Bonnie De Simone, EA, Karen Brosi, EA, CFP® and one of our 

own Members, Faye S. Russo, EA. This annual event always 

draws many Members as well as participants from out of 

the area to experience the wonderful venue and excellent 

education. With 58 total participants, we had 15 from out 

of the area traveling from Ontario, Tehachapi, Carmel, and 

one that came all the way from La Conner, Washington! In 

January 2011 we offered a 4-hour federal and California 

update course with Bonnie DeSimone, EA as presenter. 

Along with providing education for our Regular Members, 

we offered Special Enrollment Examination (SEE) cram courses 

to help our Associate Members and anyone else interested 

Channel Islands 

The Chapter continued with our “Hot August Nights” 

theme of offering two-hour continuing professional education 

(CPE) dinner meetings, with Joel Dinsfriend, EA and 

Margaret Kehoe, EA securing exceptional instructors. Using 

the format of six months of 2-hour CPE and five months 

of 1-hour CPE dinner meetings, the Chapter was able to 

increase the monthly meeting attendance by 13 percent 

over the last fiscal year. 

Continuing on the path of excellent education, four of 

our 11 programs were taught by Members of the Chapter 

– Ethics, COD/Foreclosure, 1031 Exchanges and our famous 

“Round Table”– asking the panel of experts our toughest tax 

questions of the season. 

Nancy Huapaya, EA was the Chair for the Bonnie DeSimone, 

EA Federal and State Year-End Update. The Chapter 

also sponsored a Brass Tax Seminar and the annual ClientWhys 

Seminar. 

Cyndy Scalisi, EA chaired the IRS Practitioners Seminar 

held in January 2011. In spite of roadblocks with advertising 

and other issues, she was able to increase attendance by six 

in getting ready to pass the exams to become an EA. These 

courses were given in sets of six Saturday classes, with each set 

being offered twice in the year. The first set of six Saturdays 

was offered in July and August and the second set was in 

September, November and December. Any person who didn’t 

pass the exam after taking our course(s) was encouraged to 

take them again for free within a calendar year of having first 

enrolled. We also provided forms and information about 

CSEA Education Foundation Scholarships available to our 

students. Four people successfully passed all three parts of 

the SEE exam this year and got their licenses! 

Last but not least, inspired by the Public Information & 

Awareness (PIA) Committee at the state level, we voted to 

greatly expand our local PIA outreach for the 2011 tax season. 

Our prior PIA strategy consisted of placing advertisements in 

the local papers. In the last few years we have written these 

ads to drive the readers to our website, centralcoastea.org, 

where we offer advertising to our Members. This year we 

used a public relations firm to produce Google AdWords, 

Yahoo Behavioral Targeting ads, and Facebook ads. We also 

ran a radio spot on our local talk radio station, KVEC, during 

the commute hour. All of this PIA was designed to drive folks 

to our website. 


Kittie Vicars, EA – President 

percent, making our Chapter one of the few that had the 

same or more attendees as the previous year. 

Donald Graf, EA implemented our Attendance Drawing 

– a chance to inspire Members to participate in attendance 

and benefit from their participation. This has been a great 

incentive to get Members who have not attended in a while 

to come join us! 

On the state level, our Members are well represented by 

an excellent Chair, Robert Cantu, EA. Bob was also the Committee 

Chair at the state level for the new Public Information 

& Awareness (PIA) award. Bob did a fantastic job recruiting 

help to make phone calls encouraging non-Members to take 

advantage of the price cut and join CSEA. The result of all 

of the hard work done by the Board Members and Bob was 

nine additional new Members this year. 

Jennifer MacMillan, EA was very active both in the local 

Chapter and at the state level for both CSEA and NAEA. She 

contributed several articles to CSEA’s California Enrolled Agent 

magazine and one article for NAEA’s EA Journal. She served as 

the Chair for the Circular 230 changes and the Chair for NAEA’s 


lOCAl CHAPTERS


Public Awareness Committee. Ms. MacMillan is dedicated to 

making sure that Enrolled Agents are heard and respected 

at all levels. She also participated in the national radio show, 

Money Matters with Gary Goldberg on April 13, 2011. 

The Chapter has several other Board Members, each of 

whom brings their own personality, knowledge and dedication 

to our Chapter! Thank you Mark Damon, EA for your 

disaster reports, Paula Mixon, EA for your monthly minutes, 

Chuck Taylor, EA for your always humorous legislative reports, 

East Bay 

Following the theme to “Stand as Beacons on the East 

Bay Hills,” the light from the Officers and Members of East 

Bay Chapter has extended from one coast to the other this 

year. New Members have been welcomed with an excellent 

orientation and have increased attendance at monthly dinner 

meetings and the five small group meetings, as well the email 

group that helps with questions. The monthly newsletter 

has increased participation with timely articles. The fall tax 

seminar and mini-seminars have all been successful financially 

and have provided excellent continuing professional 

education (CPE) for the Members and friends of the Chapter. 

The success rate of those passing the Special Enrollment 

Examination (SEE) as a result of our SEE Preparation class is 

impressive. Outreach to students at job fairs was expanded 

locally as well as out of state. The new Speaker Development 

program has resulted in opportunities to outreach to other 

organizations and provide them with speakers for meetings 

as well as to promote the EA designation. This initiative is also 

developing the skills and confidence of our own Members 

to provide leadership within our Chapter and beyond. The 

Practice Preservation group has provided counsel to retiring 

EAs and deceased EA’s families. Our Members have also 

been involved in training Volunteer Income Tax Assistance 


and Linda Wall, EA for your outstanding financial records 

and management skills that have kept the Chapter under 

budget this year! 

2010-2011 has been a great year for our Chapter and I am 

proud to serve as the President and work with all of these 

wonderful people. 


Susan DiMaggio, EA – President 

(VITA) program preparers and in instructing employers in 

the Internal Revenue Service/Employment Development 

Department (IRS/EDD) program. 

On a larger scale the East Bay Member involvement in 

CSEA’s Jim Stern Legislative Day was impressive, as well as 

the many Chairs of Chapter committees that regularly attend 

and serve on CSEA committees. CSEA’s current President is a 

Member of East Bay Chapter and East Bay’s current President 

is Chair of CSEA’s Ethics & Professional Conduct Committee. 

Several Members have contributed articles to CSEA publications 

and the Chapter was honored with the cover and article 

in the September 2010 California Enrolled Agent. Two CSEA 

Past Presidents still serve actively at CSEA and one served 

as a Member of the NAEA Board of Directors. One of our 

Members is very active on NAEA’s Political Action Committee. 

The Chapter has reached out to Big Valley Chapter to co-host 

CSEA’s 2013 Annual Meeting and continues to cooperate with 

other Chapters in hosting the annual Town Hall Meeting. Our 

Public Information & Awareness outreach with other Chapters, 

using radio advertising this year, has been very successful. 


Tom Johnston, EA – President

Far Northern California 

Way back in 1999, I talked about the leadership, talent 

and the work displayed in the Far Northern California Chapter 

(FNCC) by its Members. Well, the Members did it again. 

The excellent leadership and talent of the Chico group, 

Jeff Ross, EA, Dan Vincent, EA and Karol Read, brought us 

a new website with integrated signup for seminars. The 

website also ties in a membership list so that the Chapter 

Secretary, Sandy Lamberson, EA, can broadcast newsletters 

and notices to the membership at the press of a button. 

Well, Sandy would tell you that it’s not quite that easy, but 

it does work. 

The integrated signup for the seminars works very well 

and has allowed us to continue with our Leadership in Education 

program. FNCC held a one-day seminar in September 

because of all the tax law changes that Congress presented 

to us this past year. The seminar covered the aspects of the 

Health Care Act and the Hire Act and how these affected our 

clients’ and our businesses. 

In October, FNCC presented a two-hour ethics seminar 

thanks to a visit from the CSEA President, Kim Kastl, EA. Ms. 

Kastl presented information about CSEA’s current direction, 

presented awards to Jeff Ross, EA, Dan Vincent, EA, Karol 

Read and Susan Eaton, EA and gave us an excellent ethics 

presentation. 

Next, the education continued with a 1040 update using 

a Gear Up Team presented by FNCC. FNCC volunteers put 

together the advertising, the hotel commitment, the catering 

commitment, the registration and the handling of all the 

questions and problems. Gear Up just wrote and presented 

the syllabus. 

Golden Gate 

The Chapter’s Membership Committee has done an extraordinary 

job again this year by retaining and involving the current 

membership and adding 11 new Members. This was achieved 

through our outreach to professional organizations, College of 

San Mateo Special Enrollment Examination (SEE) class, as well 

as the college sponsored career night and job fairs. 

Attendance has steadily increased at Chapter meetings due 

to renewed participation of our membership and the excellent, 

relevant and interesting education presented. Team Meetings 

in San Francisco and Redwood City allow our Members to meet 

informally once a month to discuss tax topics, problems and 

practice management. 

The Chapter launched a new website this year that includes 

the Chapter newsletter, dinner meeting information, seminar 

topics and dates, job bank and tax news updates. Our Chapter 

outreach includes social media on Twitter and Facebook. 

Golden Gate has continued its partnership with the College 

About twenty years ago, Bob Small, EA got Hayden 

Wisdom, EA to come to Redding in January and give a one-day 

seminar, since Congress had enacted new tax law so late in 

the year. Mr. Small called it the First Chance, Last Chance 

Seminar. It was so well received that FNCC has continued 

the seminar which has now evolved into the CalFed Seminar. 

The concept is not only to give that last chance information 

but to give four hours of specific California law because of 

the California Tax Education Council (CTEC) requirements for 

continuing education for California Registered Tax Preparers 

(CRTPs). 

Rose Hablitzel, EA continued to teach the Special Enrollment 

Examination (SEE) course with great success. FNCC 

also presented scholarships to some of the students. Vice 

President Michele Williams, EA, acting as Membership Chair, 

managed to get three new Members. Don’t laugh, that’s a 

three percent increase in membership. Financial statements 

are provided to the Board of Directors by the Treasurer, Jim 

Webster, EA at each meeting of the Board. 

In all this, FNCC provides these education events to 

Members at a reduced rate. The ethics including lunch was 

free to Members. FNCC continues to provide its Members 

with a free Quickfinder and a reduced rate on more Quickfinder 

books. And with all this, free items, reduced rate 

items, networking, and fellowship, FNCC does not require 

membership dues. Why? Because volunteers get the job 

done in the Little Chapter that Can. 


William F. Reilly, EA – President 

of San Mateo to better educate students on tax issues and preparing 

people for the SEE Exam. Golden Gate Members teach 

the SEE Course at the College. Many students from this course 

have become Chapter Members. The Chapter will implement 

a similar course at City College of San Francisco. Glenn Carlson, 

EA and Denis Maurer, EA gave a presentation on “What is an 

EA” to 250 San Francisco State University students. 

In May the Chapter sponsored and participated in a College 

of San Mateo Accounting students’ reunion, with over 300 

attendees. 

The Education Committee has offered quality education 

on a wide range of topics for over 25 years and continues to be 

“The Leader in Innovative Tax Seminars,” due to our fine faculty 

of speakers and the Education Committee, led by Chairperson 

Bob Kern, EA. Our Chapter sponsored five seminars in 2010- 

2011 and produced its own Practice Management Shareshop 

for and by our Members. 


lOCAl CHAPTERS


The Chapter has striven to include new Members on the 

Board of Directors. In this year’s nominations we have four 

Members, or one-third of the new Board, who have not previously 

held office. Glenn Carlson, EA will become President for 

2011-2012 and Don Ellison, EA will become Vice President. 

The Golden Gate Chapter Members have always been 

involved in providing service to the Enrolled Agent community. 

This year Jean Nelson, EA is the nominee for President 

of CSEA. 

The Golden Gate Chapter’s Outreach Committee organized 

two dates to help at the San Francisco Food Bank. The Chapter 

also purchased items needed by our soldiers serving in Iraq 

and Afghanistan, which were mailed overseas. 

Several Members participated in Channel 7 On Your Side, a 

two day call-in program fielding tax return questions from the 

public. Denis Maurer, EA and Don Ellison, EA appeared on the 

Inland Empire 

The Inland Empire Chapter had a fantastic year! We 

have had great participation from our volunteers, mentors 

and leadership. Our year began at our Annual Retreat by 

completely reviewing, discussing, amending, and adjusting 

our Chapter Policies and Procedures Manual. This allowed 

us positive discussions throughout the year regarding expectations 

and changes to our rules and procedures. More 

importantly, it allowed for enthusiasm from volunteers which 

will nurture our Chapter’s future leaders. We had a few minor 

setbacks with the economy and some medical issues, but 

overall, the Board stepped up to the plate, and jumped in 

to help wherever they could to keep the Chapter running 

smoothly – and it did run smoothly! During the year, we 

decided that we no longer needed a “Retreat” and opted, 

instead, for a more positive future and renamed this meeting 

a “Summit.” 

We tried to beef up our line-up of speakers for our monthly 

dinner meetings. Our Chair put emphasis on having topics 

that our Members were requesting, and the experts to present 

them, with a major priority on having our agenda being 

announced months ahead of time. This resulted in greater 

participation at our dinner meetings. 

We changed our Advanced Representation Seminar to 

our new “Hot Topics Seminar,” and continued presenting 

our January Practitioner’s Seminar partnering with the IRS. 

Both seminars are our major fundraisers for the Chapter. 

Considering the economy, I feel we fared well. 


ABC Six O’clock News. The Golden Gate Chapter also organized 

an Enrolled Agents outing to the Giants vs. Dodgers game last 

season. We were welcomed on the stadium scoreboard as “CA 

Society of Enrolled Agents, The Tax Professionals.” 

The Public Information & Awareness Committee completed 

two advertising campaigns. Posters stating “If you Pay Taxes 

call an Enrolled Agent” were prominently displayed in Bart 

Stations. Golden Gate also teamed with Mission, North Bay 

and East Bay Chapters to produce and pay for KGO radio 

advertising. 

I know of no other Chapter that has worked as hard and 

dedicated as much time and energy to promote Enrolled 

Agents and to further our standing in our communities. 


Denis Maurer, EA – President 

Our Public Information & Awareness Chair got our 

Chapter, and the Enrolled Agent name in particular, listed 

in three separate editions of the Inland Empire Magazine: 

as a half-page ad in the January Business Edition, February 

full-page ad in the Hotel Edition, and the Executive Section 

in the April issue. 

Our Chapter was well represented at all the state level 

Board of Directors Meetings, the September State Tax Agencies 

Liaison Meeting, and Jim Stern Legislative Day in Sacramento. 

We had our State Director, our Chapter Representative (our 

next Chapter President), and CSEA’s Treasurer, all Members 

of our Chapter, attending all meetings, together with a really 

positive line-up of additional Members representing us and 

reporting back to the Chapter. 

In addition to all the above items, the remainder of our 

Board functioned like a well-oiled machine. Each and every 

one of our volunteers performed their jobs superbly, resulting 

in a Chapter of which I can say I’m very proud to be a 

Member. 

A well-deserved “high-five” for a job well-done to the 

Inland Empire Chapter! 


Connie Bracher, EA – President

Los Angeles 

Our Chapter maintained a net positive growth in membership 

from 186 to 188, comprising 151 regular Members, four 

Charter Members, four Professional Affiliates and 29 Professional 

Associates. We continue to intensify our membership efforts. 

Our Chapter’s goal for the past year was to upgrade 

knowledge for better service and advocacy. 

In order to provide better service to Members for their 

subscription and membership, we considered Members’ 

input as a major consideration in the choice of topics for our 

monthly education programs. We used a long-range view in 

developing our monthly education programs and our choice 

of topics and presenters in the following areas: 

• Changes in tax laws 

• Changes in practices 

• Changes in technology 

• Update in professional knowledge 

• Business succession 

Our panel discussions maximized the use of the in-house 

expertise of our Members to provide relevant and useful 

information and guidance to Members. Many new EAs acknowledged 

they benefited from such sessions. Besides, such 

sessions provided more informal opportunities to address 

Members’ practical issues among others. 

In the area of advocacy, we focused on: 

• Strengthening our position within CSEA and NAEA. 

Members volunteered to participate in some of the 

CSEA Web meetings. We are still taking steps to get 

Mission 

The Mission Society of Enrolled Agents (MSEA) presides 

over a vast geographic area. In a recently concluded CSEA 

membership campaign, MSEA was able to attract 27 new 

Members, eight of whom joined as Professional Associates. 

MSEA waged a successful campaign and won the contest. In 

an effort to reach grassroots membership, MSEA President 

Jaswant S. Jessie, EA sent personalized letters and Holiday 

Seasons Greetings to as many active and non-active Members 

as possible. This personalized touch helped not only to retain 

some Members who had decided to leave, but also to bring 

back some former Members who had left previously. 

This past year was GREAT for the membership and in 

2010-2011 alone we managed to acquire the largest number 

of new Members in our 34 years of existence, bringing our 

membership to a total of 366. 

Our Public Information & Awareness (PIA) campaign 

this year was a radio campaign on KGO for the 2011 tax 

filing season. The MSEA PIA Committee took the lead role, 

more active participation in future meetings. This 

past year, our Members’ interest in the CSEA Super 

Seminars and the NAEA National Tax Practice Institute 

(NTPI) grew and some of our Members attended both 

programs, not only for the educational benefit but 

also as a way to get more familiar with the workings 

of both organizations. The visit of the outgoing CSEA 

President, Kim Kastl, EA, to our Chapter on November 

9, 2010 was inspiring. 

• Attempting to relate to other Chapters who share our 

vision and collaborate as necessary for the benefit of 

our Chapter and Members. There is still a lot of room 

for improvement in this area. 

• Relating to other associations and agencies for the 

purpose of advancing our goals. 

• Our Members continuing to volunteer as presenters 

at the IRS/EDD Payroll Seminars and other Business 

Tax presentations to Small Businesses. This has also 

helped our Members in their practices. 

As the Chapter looks forward to the year ahead, we are 

grateful to the tireless Board Members and Officers and our 

dependable Members who have always stepped up to the plate 

to uphold our high professional standard and integrity as the 

oldest Chapter. We are very grateful to our Members whose 

commitment continues to make us a viable Chapter. 


Ibhate Regina Imoisili, EA – President 

pooling funds with three other Bay Area Chapters, East Bay, 

North Bay and Golden Gate, to establish the first successful 

joint radio advertising campaign with a major radio station 

covering the entire Bay Area listening audience. 

Our Speakers Bureau presented various topics to business 

groups and organizations on mortgage interest deductibility, 

529 Plans, representation, working from your home 

office and tax saving deductions for your small business. We 

presented a very successful seminar on taxes to foreign and 

domestic graduate students at Stanford University for the 

second year in a row, and created a liaison with the Stanford 

Graduate Student Council to offer similar tax presentations 

in the future. The Graduate Student Council has also added 

a link on their website to MSEA’s “YOUREA.ORG.” 

To meet growing technology challenges and reach 

younger generations, MSEA established a social networking 

Twitter account and sent periodic news releases to local 

newspapers. Our website has been enhanced to offer ad- 


lOCAl CHAPTERS


ditional services, such as a referral link whereby Members 

may identify individuals within our membership to whom 

they may refer clients with requests outside of their area of 

expertise. 

Our education offerings in the past year were a GREAT 

success. We had seven mini-seminars on various current 

issues including Ethics and representation, and of course 

our well-known “Cast in Concrete” tax update. We are most 

proud of our California Tax Education Council (CTEC) 60 

hour basic course at two locations, attendance for which has 

increased from previous years. We also provided a complete 

North Bay 

The North Bay Chapter of CSEA continues to be a strong 

Chapter, influencing our profession beyond our borders. Many 

of our core Members are heavily involved at the state and 

national levels, both as committee Chairs (Sandy Danioth- 

Jones, EA, Jackie Thomson, EA, Gary Anspach, EA) and Officers 

(Raven Deerwater, EA, PhD). This is both a strength and a 

challenge for the Chapter as it requires those who are moving 

into leadership positions to stretch themselves in an attempt 

to fill their predecessor’s shoes, but it also gives new leaders 

excellent insight into what is happening at both the state 

and national levels. 

The North Bay Chapter keeps its tradition of offering excellent 

education. Rob Janes, EA continues to locate wonderful 

speakers on interesting topics. We know that Rob has again 

gone the extra mile when the restaurant hosting our meeting 

is scrambling to set up more tables and chairs at the beginning 

of an evening as people continue to flow through the 

doors. This year we also had a record number of Members 

who attended the National Tax Practice Institute (NTPI). 

In the autumn our Chapter held a mini-seminar on tax 

issues associated with the wine industry. Attendance exceeded 

our expectations and the Chapter experienced positive 

cash flow. In November the Chapter hosted our annual 

Wine Country Seminar, providing updates on Circular 230 

changes, business law for tax professionals, estates and trusts, 

partnerships and LLCs, as well as changes for 2010 tax returns. 

Members worked diligently to reach out to tax preparers 

and hold costs in line, resulting in the seminar achieving 

the financial objectives that we set. Our Last Chance Update 

seminar was very well attended and the instruction, by Vicki 

Mulak, EA, CFP® and Bonnie DeSimone, EA was superb. Again 

the seminar met financial targets. In late May we held a full 


Special Enrollment Examination (SEE) class plus a SEE Review 

Course, with many of the attendees successfully passing 

the exams. In addition, MSEA took the lead role in hosting 

the 2010 Town Hall meeting in conjunction with other Bay 

Area Chapters. 

Altogether, in the past year the Mission Society of Enrolled 

Agents has accomplished a lot. 


Jaswant S. Jessie, EA – President 

day workshop on Cancellation of Debt taught by Lisa Ihm, 

EA, where we were exposed to the full gamut of issues arising 

from foreclosures and other forms of debt. 

Two years ago we structured responsibilities so that the 

Vice President was responsible for the Wine Country Seminar, 

ensuring that whoever steps into the role of President has a 

solid understanding of the internal workings of the Chapter 

and the planning and execution of a major function. This 

works so well that we are preparing to return to having both 

a Second and First Vice President with a presumed natural 

progression. The Second Vice President will be responsible 

for the smaller Last Chance Seminar, allowing two years of 

preparation for the role of President. 

In January our Chapter participated in Jim Stern Legislative 

Day in Sacramento with nine Chapter Members attending. 

We also focused late last summer on making visits to the 

local offices of our representatives to establish connections 

with local staff members. 

This year North Bay teamed with other Chapters in the Bay 

Area to sponsor a regular series of radio spots about having 

taxes prepared professionally and how to find a tax expert, 

which, of course, would be an Enrolled Agent. 

Although the North Bay Chapter has not been immune 

to the impacts of the struggling economy, we continue to 

support both lunchtime and evening Chapter meetings for 

most months outside of the busy season. Undoubtedly the 

quality of our education is a contributor. This, along with our 

informal meetings, provides opportunities for networking 

and encouraging each other. 


Richard Ogg, EA, PE – President

Orange County 

It’s hard for me to believe, but my term as President of the 

Orange County Chapter will soon conclude. Our success over 

the past year is a result of the combined effort of our Members 

and our Board. 

We began the year by expanding our Public Information & 

Awareness efforts. We offered a workshop on social networking 

(Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) and began to digitally deliver our 

newsletter, The Orange County Enrolled Agent. Both efforts were 

well received by our membership. 

We continue to offer some of the best education available. 

This past year Karen Brosi, EA gave a seminar on Weird Real 

Estate and spoke at a dinner meeting. Our dinner meetings 

are averaging over 80 individuals per meeting. 

Our Special Enrollment Examination class continues to be 

exceptionally well attended (every seat was taken last summer) 

and we expect similar attendance this coming year. We have 

also offered a class for California Tax Education Council (CTEC) 

status in the hope that those individuals will then move towards 

obtaining their EA credential. 

We remain committed to making a transition into the digital 

world. Attendees can now register for all of our education op- 

Palomar 

I would like to thank the Chapter Officers, Board of Directors, 

and most of all our Chapter Members and friends for 

making this a wonderful year for CSEA’s “friendliest” Chapter. 

Our Chapter members like to pride themselves on greeting 

people as they arrive and making sure visiting and new 

Members are recognized and made to feel welcome. We 

have tried to not just greet new people at our meetings, but 

to get them involved in Chapter activities. 

We have a yearly round table meeting during tax season, 

where Members bring their problems. Part of our Chapter 

goal is to make sure the Members and their guests can have 

a forum for problem solving as taxes get more complex. 

Using emails to Members, Palomar Chapter keeps our 

Members in touch with coming meetings and events. Our 

newsletter, ENROLLED AGENT FORUM, written by Cheryl 

Kerber, EA is emailed to Members and friends of the Chapter 

and is posted on our website at www.cseapalomar.com. 

Cheryl wrote the last ENROLLED AGENT FORUM this year. The 

Board decided that now that we have an active website, we 

will use it to communicate to our Members. 

The website is overseen by Past President Calvin Ellison, 

EA. Chapter Members are always offering suggestions about 

how to make our website as “friendly” as possible. 

portunities through our website and 123 Sign Up. Our Members 

are now embracing this new technology which should lead to 

cost savings for our Chapter. 

Our membership continues to be strong. With over 420 

Members our Chapter remains the largest within CSEA and NAEA, 

and is a credit to what we’ve been offering our Members. 

But I don’t think it’s enough, and our Board agrees. We’re 

continuing to look for other education programs that are not 

being offered but that our membership wants. Our Members 

have told us that they want to have “hands-on” experiences at 

our seminars; we think we’ve been doing that and we aim to 

continue to do so. 

Finally, I’d like to thank the Board of Directors and the volunteers 

of the Orange County Chapter of Enrolled Agents. These 

individuals always answer the call for help when it’s needed. 

I could not have survived without their help, especially Patti 

Kappen, EA, our Past President. It’s been an honor and a privilege 

to serve as President of this extraordinary Chapter. 


Russell Fox, EA – President 

For the past few years Perry Collins, EA has been in charge 

of Quickfinder reference books. We have given one free 

book to Members attending eight meetings or 50% off for 

attending seven meetings. By buying in bulk we have been 

able to reduce the price to our Members. This has been a 

very popular Chapter benefit. 

We had a full schedule of speakers at our monthly meetings. 

Dee Hazen, EA worked hard this past year to bring 

interesting tax topics to our Members. We started off the 

fiscal year with our own Member Miles Lawrence, EA on tax 

law update. Mr. Lawrence also did our 1040/540 Update in 

January to get the Members ready for the tax season. Other 

topics at the monthly meetings were bankruptcy, IRS issues, 

client questions, elder issues, FTB taxes, ethics, and retirement 

planning. 

The Chapter lost Joe Doering, EA and his wife, Vivian the 

past year. Joe was a CSEA Director and had been very active 

in the Chapter. Joe’s good humor and love of all things taxes 

will be missed. 

It has been an honor to serve as Palomar Chapter President 

this past year. 


Lois L. Leonard, EA – President 


lOCAl CHAPTERS


Sacramento Valley 

Sacramento Valley has had a busy and rewarding year. We 

started out with a number of new Board Members who brought 

energy and innovative ideas to the group. Our first concern was 

our low membership turnout at our monthly dinner meetings. It 

was decided that we would offer continuing professional education 

(CPE) that would fit the needs of Members’ practices and provide 

just-in-time information. Next we decided to give Members a two 

for one offer they could not refuse. That meant for the same low 

price they paid in the prior year, they would now get two hours of 

CPE! After this was put into place, we noted a dramatic increase in 

Member participation, moving from an average of 20 to 30 Members 

at our meetings to often 50 or more! 

In addition we addressed education concerns by providing only 

the best in education at our traditional mini-seminars. We held four 

minis and one we fondly called a maxi-seminar, bringing in the 

astoundingly technically competent Lisa Ihm, EA, who provided 

us with an 8-hour session on Cancellation of Debt, an issue that 

is so prevalent in all of our practices. We moved our Year End Tax 

Update from December to January to ensure that we had the most 

updated information to launch our filing season. Two of CSEA’s 

San Diego 

The San Diego Chapter of CSEA saw a membership growth 

opportunity in the current IRS initiative to register all tax preparers 

at the start of the fiscal year, and set out to create a Special 

Enrollment Examination (SEE) class marketed to the California 

Tax Education Council (CTEC) membership in general and more 

specifically to the membership of the California Society of Tax 

Consultants (CSTC) who are facing dual regulation oversight as 

well as overlapping educational requirements. “Why report to ’two 

Masters’ when one will do -- become an EA and be only subject 

to IRS requirements” was our reasoning. That SEE Class will come 

to fruition in July, very competitively priced at $499 for all three 

segments of the test -- please contact Karen Joyner, EA (taxgirl@ 

cox.net) for more details. The class is attractively priced not so that 

it can be profitable (we will do a little better than break-even) but 

so that it can draw attendees who may not want to travel to Los 

Angeles or Orange County, and successfully create new, local EAs 

we hope will become Members. 

Continuing the theme that membership growth is the primary 

goal, we established a series of special Member benefits for those 

participating in our events. Among these benefits are: differentiated 

Member vs. non-Member pricing; monthly drawings at dinner 

meetings for free admission to Chapter education events (as well as 

to Supers); a free membership (or renewal) to CSEA (state Society 

level only so as to appeal to those participants who are not yet EAs); 

a free Quickfinder or TaxBook for those who pre-pay attendance at 

all scheduled dinner meetings for the year; and di minimus perks to 

those who will serve on committees of our Board of Directors. 

Under the leadership of Steven Leibold, EA, Past President and 


most technically astute EAs were our presenters: Claudia Hill, EA 

and Vicki Mulak, EA, CFP®. 

Lastly, Board Member Kevin Young, EA, Public Information & 

Awareness Chair, came up with a brilliant and innovative idea to 

promote Enrolled Agents in our area: Enrolled Agent ads in local 

movie theaters! He single-handedly sought out the vendor, negotiated 

an outstanding rate and located advertisements that were 

already approved for video distribution. We ran the advertisements 

in targeted markets (areas that were of a certain socio-economic 

level and most likely to use professional tax services). The 30-second 

segments were displayed in targeted movie theaters for two months 

at the beginning of the 2011 filing season. Overall, Sacramento 

Valley had an unbelievable year, and we look forward to an even 

more successful year as we already have numerous plans underway 

that will excite the membership to participate even more, and of 

course provide them just what they need, just-in-time! I might 

add that I have been asked to remain on board as President for a 

second year to keep the momentum going. 


Benita Myers, EA – President 

Society Director as well as Chair of the San Diego Chapter Public 

Information & Awareness Committee, we have moved to improve 

and strengthen our communications with both the EAs in our area 

(Members and non-Members) as well as the general public. Among 

the initiatives were improvement in the look and feel of our Internet 

communications tools, use of Constant Contact for dissemination 

of e-blasts, participation in the local Better Business Bureau and 

Chamber organizations, and accepting opportunities to explain 

ourselves (professionally) in radio interviews. 

Notwithstanding the above suggestion that education be a 

driver for membership growth and participation, we undertook an 

aggressive program of stand-alone seminars under the leadership of 

Karen Joyner, EA (separate from and in addition to the educational 

opportunities provided by the monthly dinner meeting). The most 

well-received of these was the recurring Cancellation of Debt class 

(COD in the Real World) taught by Lisa Ihm, EA. This particular class 

is a two-day affair presented in an interactive workshop format 

(bring your laptops). Other well-attended offerings included: IRS 

Collections and Offers in Compromise taught by Jim Demetriou, 

EA; Net Operating Loss (NOL) and Form 1045 Preparation taught by 

Jeff Ward, EA; Business Property Foreclosures & Debt Relief taught 

by Vicki Mulak, EA, CFP®; “C” is for Conversion taught by Vicki Mulak, 

EA, CFP®, to help one navigate the troubled waters surrounding 

entity conversion; and of course our Annual Update in December 

taught by Lisa Ihm, EA and Vicki Mulak, EA, CFP®. 

Kudos to the outgoing Board Members and Officers! 


Roger Garay, EA – President

San Fernando Valley 

As with many Chapters the 2010-2011 year has been 

filled with challenges and obstacles. This was my third 

year as a Board Member, and changing from Dinner Chair 

to President in 2010 was quite an eye-opener for me. If 

not for the tremendous help and support from the Board 

Members, it could have easily been a disastrous year 

instead of a successful one. The 2010-2011 year was 

one of many changes and growth for the San Fernando 

Valley Chapter. There were multiple committee meetings 

held outside the regular Chapter meetings. To make 

Members who were attending the meetings feel welcome, 

we applied the personal touch through phone calls or 

personal letters. New Members were recruited to serve on 

the Board. Our membership contact evolved from a basic 

email letter informing our Members of the meetings to an 

actual website, complete with pictures and biographies 

of upcoming speakers, a calendar of events, Chapter messages, 

financial calculators and Member networking. 

Probably the biggest impact on our Chapter was the 

San Gabriel Valley 

At the time of this writing, as host Chapter for this 

year’s CSEA Annual Meeting, we are in the final stages of 

preparation for that event. Our Past President and current 

Director/Website Coordinator, Jamie Gibson, EA (who also 

serves on CSEA’s Finance & Budget Committee) has been 

instrumental in getting many things done that will help 

make this a successful and memorable occasion. In addition, 

over the past several months he has traveled to nine 

other Chapters to talk to about 250 attendees, and to Las 

Vegas and Reno Super Seminars to promote the Annual 

Meeting. Thank you, Jamie, for your dedication and brilliant 

service to the Chapter and the state organization. 

This past year our Legislative Chair, Franklin Ruedel, 

EA (also a CSEA Director) has, along with fellow EAs in the 

Chapter, made in-person contact with the local office staff 

of three California Senators and two Assembly Members, 

giving them information about our organization as well 

as our official position on issues of concern to our profession. 

We hope to continue this ”up close and personal” 

decision to change our meeting venue. Our Chapter has 

been losing money on dinner meetings for many years, but 

felt we would lose Members if we increased our prices, and 

thus the Chapter absorbed the losses. Through persistency 

and hard work we were able to find a new venue that we 

feel will give us better room accommodations, parking 

and food than our prior location. Best of all, the new 

location will cost our Chapter less per Member, so that we 

can start putting money back into the Chapter by way of 

speakers, education and community awareness. At our 

December meeting our Chapter held a food drive for the 

San Fernando Valley Food Bank to assist those in need. We 

expect the 2011-2012 year will be another challenging yet 

successful year, and the Board looks forward to serving 

its Members to the best of its ability. 


Jennifer Coats, EA – President 

way of maintaining a relationship with our lawmakers in 

the future, and to an even greater extent. 

The San Gabriel Valley Chapter charges no local dues 

and gathers for nine regular monthly dinner meetings each 

year, April through December. Twenty continuing professional 

education units are earned for full attendance, two 

units each at seven meetings, and three units at two of 

the meetings. The cost is very reasonable, and an excellent 

dinner is included. About 40 Members attend on average, 

including several Past Presidents. Some of us also meet 

for roundtable discussions in January through March and 

enjoy an optional brunch at cost. All meetings are held at 

the Embassy Suites on Huntington Drive in Arcadia. Please 

check out our website at www.sgvea.org. 


Joseph David Barnes, EA – President 


lOCAl CHAPTERS


Solano-Napa 

When I took over as President in 2010, a former Board 

Member suggested that the Chapter split up the Board 

meeting into two components – the Committee meeting at 

4:00 p.m. and the Board meeting at 5:00 p.m. The Committee 

meeting handles all Committee business and the Board 

meeting discusses true Board business. In the beginning 

the Committee meeting discussions involved too much 

Board business, but as we were able to adjust the content 

of the Committee meeting to only Committee business, the 

concept works well. Timing the discussion at both meetings 

to finish on time remains a problem. The Vice President 

runs the Committee meeting and the President runs the 

Board meeting. The Officer not running the meeting is the 

time-keeper for the other. Once we begin to complete most 

meetings on time, the concept of a Committee meeting and 

a Board meeting will be an excellent choice. 

In 2010 we instituted the concept of a greeter to ensure that 

South Bay 

Last year was another outstanding year for the South Bay 

Chapter. The first thing that comes to mind is the outstanding 

leadership of this Chapter. This is my twelfth year as a Member 

of the South Bay Chapter, and my fourth year at the helm. I 

can’t say enough about this group of volunteers. 

We launched our own website to try and achieve better 

communication with our Members, and to keep them better 

informed about the local Chapter as well as CSEA and NAEA, 

which is especially needed during the dark months. 

Education is again one of our priorities. We had our regular 

dinner meetings, and we continued our round table discus- 


new Members or prospective Members attending for the first 

time would be appropriately recognized when they arrived. 

A Member of the Chapter offered to do the job and that has 

worked out very well. She recognizes the new person, meets the 

individual, and ensures that he/she gets introduced around. 

The Membership Committee and Chair are a very important 

part of a Chapter. New procedures were instituted for 

the Committee. New Members are called by a Committee 

member or Committee Chair to welcome them to the Chapter 

and to a meeting at Chapter expense. New welcome packets 

are sent to the new Member before they attend a meeting. 

The new Members are also provided assistance in the process 

of going online to sign up for meetings, educational events, 

etc. New Members really seem to appreciate the personal 

touch and the help we provide them in the beginning. 


Don Wulf, EA – President 

sions during tax season. We also continued with our IRS 

Practitioners Seminar, as well as our annual Last Chance 

Seminar. For the first time ever we had a scaled-down version 

of the Tax Practice Management Workshop. 

We have decided on a slate of Officers for next year and I’m 

confident that our Chapter is in good hands going forward. 

We are anticipating an outstanding year for South Bay Chapter 

and look forward to doing our part to add value to CSEA. 


Andy Stamatelatos, EA – President

Japan Society of Enrolled Agents 

Our Society is in good shape and 2010 was very smooth 

thanks to the hard work of our Members. The Tax Seminar 

continued to expand, having Claudia Hill, EA as the main 

speaker along with additional volunteer speakers from the 

Japan Society of Enrolled Agents (JSEA). We appreciate the 

CSEA Members and staff who have contributed in any way to 

the JSEA. With the help of CSEA and our Members, JSEA will 

remain one of the most valuable Non-Profit Organizations 

(NPOs) in the international taxation arena in Japan and will 

continue to offer a quality service to local people. 

Seminars 

JSEA enjoyed another good year. In November 2010 we 

had the Tax Seminar in Japan featuring Claudia Hill, EA. 

Affiliate Chapter 

Online 

The JSEA website plays an important role in making 

the Society recognized in Japan. Also, the JSEA blog is a 

good place for all Members across the country to share 

information. 

Activities for the Next Year 

In 2011, the Society would like to focus on developing the 

activities of the Tax Seminar in Japan, a three-day seminar 

in November. 


Mitsuo Tsuchida, EA – President 


AFFiliATE CHAPTER

“ 

The strength of any organization 

is the combined muscle and 

voice of its Members. 

Thank you for your support of the California Society of 

Enrolled Agents – YOuR professional organization! 


CSEA mEmBERSHiP 

1980: 880 

1985: 1,905 

1990: 3,479 

1995: 3,679 

2000: 3,664 

2005: 3,688 

2009: 4,005 

2010: 4,166 

2011: 

4,231 

”

2010-2011 Year in Review - California Society of Enrolled Agents

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