So here is the conundrum we find ourselves in. I am willing to listen to anybody that disagrees and I am not advocating any particular action, nor am I advocating that anybody be put in any undue danger or cause anyone else to be in danger. I am asking a question that needs to be asked.

How do we balance the need to slow/stop the virus against the need for our vital supply chains to remain operating?

The known values in the equation:
- Amazon, Walmart and all of the grocery chains are crucial. That is how people get their food.
-If the food supply is disrupted, lots of people go hungry.
-If people are hungry, social unrest becomes a very real possibility.
-No amount of cleaning can keep people safe. A casual hello to a co-worker appears to be enough to transfer the virus.
-On the flip side, shutting warehouses down would slow the spread of the virus and save people’s lives.
-Our supply chains are in the middle of a re-alignment, thus already vulnerable. We used to eat at restaurants and go to the bathroom at the restroom where we worked. Now we are doing all of that at home. This shift has caused delays already in getting our necessities (I can’t buy bread flour anywhere - didn’t know y’all were bakers).
-The realignment of our supply chain will happen - but it will take time.
-Also adding pressure to our supply chain is a reliance on a Just In Time inventory system that was promoted heavily by graduates of Ivy-league schools and gained popularity in the eighties and nineties. This eliminated much of the depth in our supplies and contributed to the difficulties we are experiencing now.

Variables in the equation:
-Time. How long before the infection rate peaks?
-Technology. How fast can we find a cure?

Unknowns - these are the riddles we are solving:
-Do we keep the warehouses and transportation systems open, even though they create an enhanced risk of transference of the virus? Or do we shut them down for 14 days? 21 days?

So, if you are the CEO of Amazon, what do you do? Remember, you will be judged forever by the decision you make.

I heard an old song today. Jungle Work by Warren Zevon. I had the album on cassette back in the early eighties and for a moment, I was taken back to 1981 and one of my foundational experiences. A foundational experience is one that helps mold and support you long after the experience has happened.

​In 1981 I was failing. I had dropped out of college and was working for a company that supplied produce to restaurants. It was certainly not where I wanted to be.

I had started lifting weights and found I was pretty good at it. Not great, but pretty good. It felt good. I would go to the gym in the evening and work out the frustrations of not being where I wanted to be.

One of the other guys that frequented the gym was Kevin - a guy that was on the University of Colorado Powerlifting Team. He was everything I wanted to be. He was completing a business degree and was successful in his events. His goal was to someday compete in the Olympics. 

I was working out on a Saturday and he was there. I had been working toward a new personal record on the bench press and that day I was going to lift 405 pounds. Certainly not a record-breaking weight, but one that I was excited to reach. I did my warm-up sets and got myself ready. Kevin helped me lift the bar off the bench and it settled into my palms. I gently took it down to my chest and started moving the bar up. I got it halfway up and stopped - I couldn't take it any further. I failed. Again. And all of a sudden every bit of frustration came bubbling over.

After Kevin helped me take the bar off of my chest and nestle it onto the stand, I put on gloves went and hit the heavy bag for about 5 minutes, trying to take the sting of the failure away.

When I finished and took the gloves off, Kevin came over and sat down. We were the same age, some body type and with the same mental abilities. Yet he was better at everything. And he was wise.

"What happened?" he asked. "I couldn't do it. It was too heavy." I replied.

"That's bull*&#*" he said (The whole conversation was much more colorful than it appears here. This IS supposed to be a family-friendly blog). 

"The bar was still going up when you stopped. That means you quit. You f*&^*&# gave up". "And next time I spot you, you had better never do that again."

I remember that clearly. In the following two weeks, I stepped back a little and built back up and then, two Saturdays later, I bench-pressed 405. Not once, but two reps. And afterward, the only reward I got from Kevin was "I'm glad you didn't give up. You could have done a third rep, by the way."

Eventually I set lifting aside in favor of family, finishing school and career. I have never hit 405 again, even though I returned to lifting in 2011 (30 years later). But the bars are different now. 

Over the years afterward, that experience stuck with me. Never stop while the bar is still raising. It taught me a valuable lesson and it gave me the ability to judge for myself whether I was quitting or whether i truly had good reasons for my temporary set-backs. It has also helped me to judge whether other people were giving their best efforts or not. 

Never quit. 

​They were the best of times, they were the worst of times. What a prophetic quote from Dickens.
 
It seems we are all reeling right now. The world as we knew it has changed. Everywhere we see layoffs, uncertainty and danger.
 
Our decision tree looks something like this:

1. Who is affected by this? Everybody.
2. How can we reach them? We can’t.
3. How can we make a difference? We can’t.
4. So what do we do? We shelter in place.

 
Baloney.
 
Let’s approach this like true leaders.
 
Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonalds, always built more restaurants in economic downturns. He knew that the times would get better and he also knew that the construction would help decrease the pain of the downturn. And the new restaurant would provide much-needed jobs within the community during a time in which they needed it. 
 
This is how a true leader thinks. 
 
For us, it is time to think outside of the boxes we call home. How do we remain connected? How do we influence the times? How do we change the world. From home?
 
Lets look at the matrix again:
 
Who around us is the most affected?
What do they need?
What is the long-term solution to that need?
What are the tools and materials I will have to obtain in order to meet that need?
Who else should be involved that has expertise in this area?
What risks are involved?
How do I quantify those risks?
Am I comfortable with those risks?
 
President George Bush went to the World Trade Center after the terrorists destroyed them and talked about how terrorists could destroy buildings but would never destroy our spirit. As leaders, we are in charge of the spirit of our state and should never let our own spirits be destroyed, much less the spirit of the people we lead.
 
This is what we need to be thinking about. Passively watching the world go by will not help our friends and neighbors.
 
Find something to build. Then build it. Find someone who needs you. And help them. They will be better for it, you will be better for it and the world will be better for it.

Today, I was thrilled to be able to speak to the Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce about what makes our firm special. Below is a video and transcript of the speech.

Open enrollment in the individual marketplace is currently in effect until January 31, 2017, and many people are finding that their premiums are skyrocketing again, and out of pocket exposure is also going up. Have you ever thought about a Health Savings Account?  A Health Savings Account (HSA) is like a savings account; but you can only use the money to pay for qualified health care expenses, and the money you put into the account is tax deductible. To be eligible for an HSA your insurance must be eligible as a high deductible plan, and have no copays. When searching for a health insurance plan they usually specify whether the account is HSA eligible or not.

In the initial hours and days of a Trump victory, the path forward for taxes begins to clarify. Much of this resembles principles that Ronald Reagan promoted in the lead-up to his 1986 overhaul of the tax code, mainly centering around simplification, elimination of preferences and overall fairness (most of which was abandoned first by Bush I and then Clinton, Bush II, and Obama in succession).

The following is an excerpt taken directly from a November 10 Wall Street Journal article by Laura Sanders and does a marvelous job of laying out the plans as they currently sit. As an aside, I believe every person in business, whether that business is large or small, should subscribe to the Wall Street Journal. Their insight is invaluable when planning for the future.

Income-tax rates:
Both Messrs. (President-Elect) Trump’s and (Speaker Paul) Ryan’s plans would consolidate the current rates on “ordinary” income such as wages and interest from seven brackets to just three—12%, 25% and 33%. It would also make changes to the calculation of “taxable income.”

The top rate of 33% would take effect at about $225,000 of taxable income for married couples; currently the top rate of 39.6% kicks in at $467,000 for couples. The top rate for singles under Mr. Trump’s plan would take effect at about $113,000, compared with $415,000 now, according to the Tax Policy Center in Washington.

In 2016 the 33% rate takes effect at about $231,000 of taxable income for married couples and $190,000 for singles.

Mr. (House Ways and Means Chairman Dave) Camp’s plan would also have three rates, with a top one set at 35%.

The upshot is that while most people would have lower tax bills, higher earners would save much more. According to the Tax Policy Center, nearly half the benefits from the Trump plan would go to the top 1% of households—those earning more than about $700,000. It could also increase taxes on many single parents and two-parent families with more than two children, although the Trump campaign said it would make sure this didn’t happen.

Deductions and credits:
All three plans would make it harder for individuals to benefit from specific tax deductions, for several reasons. One is that each plan raises the amount of the “standard” deduction, which gives taxpayers less need to break out deductions for mortgage interest, charitable gifts, state taxes and the like on Schedule A.

In addition, the value of a deduction drops as a taxpayer’s rate goes down. Thus higher earners may want to make charitable gifts this year to reap a greater benefit.

Each of the three plans also imposes other limits on deductions. For example, Mr. Trump’s plan would cap the value of Schedule A deductions at $100,000 for singles and $200,000 for married couples. Mr. Ryan’s plan would eliminate all deductions other than those for mortgage interest and charitable gifts. The Camp plan limits mortgage interest and would only allow charitable deductions above 2% of income.

The Trump plan is notable in offering a child-care tax benefit, even if the parents don’t pay for child care.

On February 14, 2016, DAPCPA celebrates its 20th anniversary as a CPA firm. We have seen many changes and weathered a our share of storms over the last 20 years and it has been a great ride. Attached is a video of the speech I gave to the Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce on Friday, February 6, 2016 to commemorate the anniversary. The sound quality isn't great, so I included the text of the speech below.

Thank you to everyone who has made the last 20 years possible.

DP

Here is the full text of the speech:

Thank you, Max! I appreciate the introduction. And welcome, everybody to the February Luncheon!
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This month, DAPCPA gets to celebrate its 20th year as a firm.
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As a matter of fact, that anniversary falls ON Valentine's Day. 20 years ago I went to my stunning wife, Melissa and said Honey - how about instead of going out on Valentine's, let's move office furniture into the old Tribune building and eat takeout Chinese food? To her credit, she smiled that gorgeous smile and started planning the move. We haven't looked back since.
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From the very beginning, we designed DAPCPA to be 100 percent focused on client satisfaction. I never wanted to be the biggest, though we are no longer small. But I always wanted to be among the best and to focus all of our efforts on helping our clients succeed.
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This goes way beyond recording numbers. It is all about using our experience and expertise to go beyond the numbers.
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Like when I got a call at 5am on January 1st a few years ago and one of our clients had a fire that consumed their building on New Years Eve. It was brutally cold out and the water from the fire hoses made the parking lot into a skating rink. We dug the smoldering server and laptops out of the rubble and, working in partnership with the IT department at MHP, we had the files restored and we re-built their accounting system, getting the client up and running again within a few days.
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Or four years ago when a former tax client just thought something didn't feel right with his accounting system. We took a look and within an hour found evidence of fraud. Working with the client's attorney, we were able to prove roughly four million dollars of losses over a 13 year period. Our testimony in court led to what was at the time one of the largest civil fraud judgements in Wyoming history.
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Or in 2007, we helped achieve an S-Corp election retroactively back to 1996. This saved the client nearly half a million dollars in taxes and penalties. Or when a client asked us to help them split with the partners in their business. In a very adversarial atmosphere, we designed a methodology for the split that saved the clients and their partners almost four hundred thousand dollars.
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As a result of our commitment to  our clients and our community, we have grown from three clients in 1996 to a firm that has three offices and more than 2,000 clients located across all fifty states and several foreign countries.
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As in the beginning, Melissa remains the Operations Director for the firms and we have Jonath Jackson as the partner in Cheyenne, as well as a GREAT staff, all of whom continue to push me to be my best. That, combined with great clients and awesome competitors have made the last 20 years an incredible ride.
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And I will leave you with this: I am always asked what the best advice I could give to someone starting a business. I always answer by giving the advice that came from my father-in-law, Herb Warner, when I started my firm. Herb was an amazing businessman. And he always made his points by telling a story.
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Herb told me about this old boy from Texas that used to drill wells. There must have been a lot of old boys from Texas, because every story Herb told began the same way - "There was this old boy from Texas". Anyway, When they were planning a well, the legal department at Herb's company would create the contract - and it was a beautiful contract - full of terms of art, all of the i's dotted ant the t's crossed and weighing in at about 150 pages.
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The legal department was very proud of the contract and the old boy showed up for the signing and wrote one line at the bottom of the contract and above his signature. What it said was "regardless of the above, I will drill a well, it will be done on time and it will cost such and such an amount". This drove the lawyers nuts. But Herb told them it was ok. Because the old boy always drilled the well, it was done on time and it never cost more than he said it would.

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So, Herb told me, If you are going to go into business, make it about your WORD.
Make it about TRUST.
Make it about RESPECT.
And doing what is RIGHT for you, your clients and the public you serve.
Make it about treating each client as if they were your only client.
And make it about being the BEST.
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In taking Herb's advice I have been able to develop relationships that matter. For the story of our firm is not how much money we have made or how many engagements we have performed.
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The story is written in the lives of the clients, the employees and the community we call family. We celebrate their victories and we mourn their losses. And it has been an honor to be part of their lives and to serve them all. It is what makes this profession the only profession for me.
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And I have to finish by thanking the Cheyenne Chamber, the entire Cheyenne community and the State of Wyoming for making my dream of owning a firm possible.
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So enjoy the food and the wonderful presentation from our State Treasurer and remember: When you need an accountant, choose a CPA. And when you choose a CPA, choose DAPCPA. Thank you!
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